“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.”
-John 15:5
Ministries will not transform us —
Praying harder will not change us —
Serving MORE will not make us like Jesus —
Having the correct answer, prophesying, healing, giving to the poor…
These are all outward works, and yes, they are good, but none are what makes us Christian.
We can become religious on the outside and look like we’ve “arrived,” while the inside stays bound to selfishness, a critical spirit, inner insecurities, greed, jealousy, and pride.
But when we Know Him.
Truly KNOW Him, with a willingness to yield to His ways, allowing Him to mold and shape us in the secret place, correcting wrong thoughts, and ensuring our motives are pure…we will not come out looking the same way we walked in —
We will come out looking like Him.
Seeing others through His heart and loving them well.
Serving from a place of freedom, not a pressure to look good.
Giving when no one can see because living for an audience of One is all that matters.
Sitting with the sinners, the broken-hearted, the lonely, the ones who recognize their need become the people you long to go after because you know, you know, one touch of Jesus through you will change them forever…
Going through the motions, playing church, and making yourself look good in front of others is no longer your driving force — He is.
You can’t help it.
He’s in you.
You have His heart and mind, a living vessel — His hands and feet.
A Christian is to be like Christ, and we cannot accomplish this transformation apart from Him — He is the Vine, and we are the branches.
Yield to Him.
Father, I’ve been going through the motions, projecting an image rather than becoming a purified image of You. I’m done playing church. I’m done carrying the pressure of performance that leaves me feeling weighed down, burnt out, and unchanged from the inside. I want to get real with You in the secret place. I’m ready to look at the areas in me that don’t honor or glorify You and willfully choose for You to have Your way in and through me. Holy Spirit, highlight the mindsets that hinder me from becoming more like You. Reveal all self-centeredness, jealousy, insecurities, pride, greed, and anything else in my heart that prevents me from living as a new creation. I’m done having the right answer…I want to know the Answer — You are Him. I’m surrendering all of me in exchange for all of You. Holy Spirit, have Your way in me until what comes out of me is an effortless flow of Your very nature so that when others see me, they meet You. In Jesus name, I pray, amen.
