{"id":3230,"date":"2014-05-28T12:38:14","date_gmt":"2014-05-28T12:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/?p=3230"},"modified":"2014-05-28T12:38:14","modified_gmt":"2014-05-28T12:38:14","slug":"mountains-and-a-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/?p=3230","title":{"rendered":"Mountains and a Beach"},"content":{"rendered":"

We are undergoing a few changes in our household. I\u2019m painting a couple of rooms. I\u2019m moving furniture from upstairs to downstairs and vice versa. I\u2019ve purchased a few new pieces. There are a lot of changes going on.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

You see Mom will be visiting shortly and she will be here for a while. She\u2019s got a bum knee which makes it difficult to walk up and down stairs. For her safety and to relieve some of her pain, I\u2019m making my office into a bedroom for her.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Now you may think I\u2019m giving up something pretty special. My office. But my new office will be much cooler. It\u2019s the front bedroom of our home which faces the mountains. And it\u2019s my beach-themed room. So I get the view of the mountains plus the feel of sitting on the beach. To be honest, I don\u2019t know why I didn\u2019t choose that room in the first place.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Daytona<\/a>But to be honest, right now I\u2019m overwhelmed with this change. Monday morning I woke up thinking, \u201cI have to do all of these projects today.\u201d Hah! No wonder I\u2019m overwhelmed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So I\u2019ve prioritized the changes that need to be made. I\u2019m working on them one at a time to get them done in an orderly fashion. And I\u2019ve already crossed off two items on my \u201cto do\u201d list!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Change will always happen. There\u2019s no way around it. Our spiritual lives must always be changing as well. If we aren\u2019t changing, we become stagnant. We aren\u2019t following God\u2019s instructions for our lives. God\u2019s plan clearly includes change. He speaks of a new creation, transformation, taking off the old, putting on the new, and spiritual maturity.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Change<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In Matthew 18:3, Jesus tells the group that change must occur. That change must include trust and great faith in what God is able to do. \u201cI tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.\u201d<\/em> Without change, the kingdom of heaven is a far off dream.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

New Creation<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cTherefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!\u201d<\/em> (2 Corinthians 5:17) With Christ, we become new. A new creation. He created us. He redeemed us. He fulfills the re-creation of us through His sacrifice.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Transformation<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Paul shares with the Corinth church that being transformed into Jesus\u2019 likeness is part of the process. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, \u201cAnd we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord\u2019s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.\u201d <\/em>Transformation is accompanied by radiance that is from the Lord.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Taking Off the Old, Putting On the New<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ephesians 4:22-24 tells us that we must take off our old lifestyle and put on a new lifestyle. Not just at the moment of salvation, but for always. \u201cYou were taught with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by it is deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Spiritual Maturity<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cSo then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.\u201d<\/em> (Colossians 2:6-8) We move toward spiritual maturity when we live in Christ and are rooted and built up in Christ. Our faith is strengthened so that we are less susceptible of being deceived by false teachings.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We must not become stagnant in our spiritual lives. We must continue to learn, study, and apply all that God\u2019s Word has to say to us. We must also share our story with others. Who have you shared your change of heart with?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I can\u2019t wait to get these changes done in my home. I look forward to sitting in front of the window and looking out toward my beautiful Rocky Mountains. But like anything worthwhile in our lives, it takes effort on my part. So all I can say is, let\u2019s \u201cgit \u2018er done!\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Donna<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We are undergoing a few changes in our household. I\u2019m painting a couple of rooms. I\u2019m moving furniture from upstairs to downstairs and vice versa. I\u2019ve purchased a few new pieces. There are a lot of changes going on.   You see Mom will be visiting shortly and she will be here for a while. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_s2mail":"yes","_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,17,21],"tags":[801,357,705,2393,852,2392,2391,2395,2394],"class_list":["post-3230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-following-god","category-obeying-god","category-trusting-god","tag-2-corinthians-318","tag-2-corinthians-517","tag-change","tag-colossians-26-8","tag-ephesians-422-24","tag-matthew-183","tag-mountains-and-a-beach","tag-spiritual-lives","tag-stagnant"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3230"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3230\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3231,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3230\/revisions\/3231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}