Today I really want to share from Rick Renner's "Sparkling Gems From The Greek - Volume 2". This is outstanding!!! And the ladies, in particular, will LOVE this! I also encourage you to check out yesterday's teaching from Rick that led him to today's!
A New Set of Clothes
…put on the new man…. — Ephesians 4:24
In yesterday’s Sparkling Gem, I taught about “purging
the closet” — essentially, ridding your life of anything that is incompatible
with whom you have become in Christ Jesus. Today I want to switch gears and
teach you how to put on new things that are compatible with living a
holy, consecrated life! But before I delve into the Word, I want to relate an
experience from my life that happened soon after I had finished writing
yesterday’s Gem.
After crafting the finishing lines of that Gem, my wife
Denise and I embarked on a trip to Rome that we had been planning for quite
some time. When we arrived, Denise asked if she could go shopping “just to
look” and see what was in the clothing stores. Of course, I know that looking
leads to buying, so I was mystified that she wanted to purchase more clothes
since she had just purged her closet the prior week. In fact, when we left for
Rome, a huge pile of her clothes was still stacked on top of our guestroom bed,
waiting to be zipped up in suitcases and sent to our church where they would be
donated for other women to enjoy.
But now Denise wanted to go window-shopping — which I knew
would result in buying more clothes. I just couldn’t wrap my head around
it. After that multi-day closet purge, her closet was finally free
of those old clothes, and now Denise was going to start filling it up again!
As Denise browsed through one particular shop for two hours,
I sat at a coffee shop down the street and waited. The longer I sat there, the
more frustrated I became. I wondered, Why is she trying to find new
clothes when she just got rid of so many clothes? So finally I got up from
my table and went to the store to confront her with my question. I asked,
“Denise, you just spent days cleaning out the closet and getting rid of your
old clothes. Can you explain to me why you are now trying to refill the closet
with new clothes?”
She looked at me and responded, “It’s about having clothes
that fit who I am now. Those old clothes don’t reflect who I am anymore. I need
clothes that reflect what’s going on inside my life right now!”
I walked out of the store, returned to the very same coffee
shop, and continued waiting. As I sat there over a fresh cup of coffee, I
really pondered what my wife had said. Finally, I called her on her mobile
phone and asked, “Are we close to finishing at this shop?” She answered,
“Please come here. I want to show you what I’ve found.” Over the next 40
minutes, we had a fashion show as she tried on every piece of clothing for me
that she had picked out — and I have to be honest, those clothes were totally
different from anything she had in her “giveaway” pile at home. This
deliberate stylistic shift attested to a deeper change in Denise. She is a
unique, evolving individual, and the clothes she chose beautifully reflected
the changes taking place in her. I finally got it!
This experience brought my mind right back to
yesterday’s Sparkling Gem, where we saw that the apostle Paul exhorted us
to rid ourselves of attitudes that are incompatible with a godly lifestyle.
However, this was not the totality of Paul’s message. After he exhorted us to
“put off the old man” in verse 22, Paul continued in Ephesians 4:24 by saying,
“And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in
righteousness and true holiness.” After telling us what to take off, Paul
proceeded to tell us what to put on — that we need to acquire new spiritual
clothes!
What exactly do these new spiritual clothes look like? Paul
provided more detail in Colossians 3:12,13 when he said, “Put on therefore, as
the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of
mind, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one
another….”
The phrase “put on” is a translation of the Greek word enduo,
which was often used in ancient literature to denote a person putting on a
new set of clothes. Thus, when it comes to spiritual matters, Paul was telling
us it is not enough to simply remove residual hang-ups, bad habits, and fleshly
tendencies that block the true expression of your identity in Christ. We must
make a conscious effort to “put on” new attitudes and characteristics that are
compatible with our new life in Jesus Christ.
And do you know what I’ve discovered from my own personal
spiritual journey? The longer I walk with the Lord and the closer I become to
Him, the higher He calls me and the more He encourages me to change my
lifestyle in order to more closely reflect His character.
As I watched Denise try on all those new clothes in that
shop in Rome, I thought of these verses. Inwardly I surmised, Well, Denise
“put off” a bunch of clothes that no longer matched her style, and now she is
going to “put on” a whole new set of clothes that better fits her evolving
style. When I went to pay her bill, I looked at her and jokingly told her
she was being scriptural. She liked that response!
Take a moment today to meditate on Ephesians 4:24 and Colossians
3:12,13 and see what God wants you personally to put on. The Holy Spirit wants
to dress you in a new and better style, and He is the best Designer on planet
Earth! He knows you; He knows Jesus; and He knows how to make you reflect the
work Jesus has done inside your heart and life!
AMEN! As you continue to grow up in the things of God, there will be continual changes in you, also! In the way you think and speak and act! Be willing to GROW and to CHANGE and to DO all that GOD is leading you, by His Spirit in you, to do! THAT is what we will be rewarded for in Heaven! Here is Hillsong UNITED with "Whole Heart":
Shalom in Him!
