I'm not who I used to be

2Co 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
2Co 5:18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,
2Co 5:19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
2Co 5:20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
2Co 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

I'm not who I used to be, I'm a different man because of my faith in Christ. I am, as Paul writes, "a new creature." Now, I'm not a superman, I don't have special powers that I can suddenly use if only I took off my "suit." But I am a different man. I am now indwelt by the very spirit of God, I have his Holy Spirit in me, his very presence giving me the ability and power to live the life I can't live on my own. In some ways I am like superman- there is something others can't see, there is a power available to me that I can depend upon. It's God's power, working in and through me, to conform me to the image of Christ.

Now here is the secret that most people don't know- my old man, my sin nature, NEVER gets any better. No matter how hard I try the me who needed Christ so badly is still in desperate need of him every moment. I am always going to be a fallen man in need of a savior.

I am only different as I allow the Spirit of God in me to live HIS life through me. It's God in me, living through me, that makes me different. Only as I "unzip" me and allow HIM to live through me will people see God in my life.

It's encouraging to me that He is all I need for life and godliness, and makes it available to me whenever I allow him to be Lord in my life.

I don't look like him yet, but every day he is working in me, and soon, one day, perhaps I will hear it......someone will say, "Hey, you looked like Jesus when you did that! Well done!"