Transformation from Inside Out

In the Age of the Holy Spirit, the resurrection life of Jesus Himself progressively transforms us from the inside out.  That is why He could say that He came to "fulfill the law," not just in Himself, but in us. 

The Apostle John put it this way:

The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work [in the world and in us].  No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's sperm remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God (1 Jn. 3:9).

In the Old Testament, God promised through Jeremiah:

I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts (Jer. 31:33).

If we notice the "law of God" working through us from the inside out, we can be sure the Holy Spirit is at work.  There is a difference between Jesus walking beside us and His working within us.

As a mother with three young children and almost no sleep, I was on edge most of the time.  Fortunately, that was the exact moment The Helper arrived in my life.  Both my doctor and then a young girl prayed for me to receive the Holy Spirit---and I began to notice definite changes from within:

First, I had a hunger for Scripture that I had never had before.  I could not stop reading the Bible, and after a major operation, I had recuperation time to read it.  (God's timing is soooooo amazing!)

Second, with the annointing of the Holy Spirit came a support group of friends who had experienced the same phenomenon in their own lives---I don't know how that happened; I only know they were there as I began to discover the Spirit at work.  As I learned day by day from the Holy Spirit, I had someone to share it with, someone who knew what I was talking about and who could affirm the experience.

Third, I noticed that my "natural" tendency to anger and frustration was slowly receding into the background.  One day, as I came out of the laundry room and saw that the children had found a bag of sugar and emptied it onto the kitchen floor, I started yelling at them, only to realize that I was not really angry inside; I was just acting out of old habits.  Where did the anger and frustration go?  I could not believe that it had been replaced with something like calmness.  That got my attention!  Something was happening in me from the inside out---not the other way around, where we try and try to control ourselves, but still are seething within.

Jesus said that it would be to our advantage that He went away, because then He would send the Holy Spirit.  We have brushed aside the meaning of His words--the Holy Spirit working within us would be more wonderful than the physical presence of Jesus Himself standing beside us!

Jesus Himself will "take up all the causes of my life" (Lamentations 3) and will work out in me the will of God for my life.  What?!?    Can anything be better than this?  How Much Better than my trying to follow the law and do the right thing all my life!  How tired I would get with that!  How soon would I give up the struggle! 

Knowing my weakness, He Himself said He would do it----and He does!   YES!