GOD'S IMPLANT

It seems to be a normal, even casual, thread for man to believe that walking with God is simply adjusting to a better-decision lifestyle.  One would no longer drink so much or use bad language; plus church attendance would be on the rise and doing good deeds would be a must.

Yet, there is something major missing in the above generalized formula for being considered Christian.

God.

God is subtly left out of His own system by many of us who claim to be indebted to Him for our new life. We have replaced old habits with better habits; but they are still known as habits.  On the other hand, we have not shifted from powerlessness to powerful.  This would be God's goal for His people (II Tim 2:1-5).

God's desire for His children is the transformation from inadequate to adequate; not of ourselves, but of Him in us.  And such confidence we have through Christ toward God.  Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God (II Cor. 3:4-5).

At baptism our sins are washed away and the Holy Spirit is implanted into the individual--Acts. 2:38, Romans 6:1-6.  It is this implant that reverses our mediocre and fumbling daily walk.  A newness comes upon us that is neither of our own management nor our own energy.  The Living God is implanted into the common man and woman.

One of the reasons communities balk at the religious among us is not only our hypocrisy; but our clear powerlessness.  In such cases we would also be found to be prayerless and praiseless.  Sadly, we are found to have opted for what we would regard as a cleaner life while the God Implant, the Holy Spirit, is obviously absent.

We need the Holy Spirit for we can do nothing beyond fleshly attentiveness without Him.  This God Implant is a must; He is not an option.  Either He is within us and we get beyond our imagination things done (Eph. 3:20) or else we are yet another group of religious wannabes who go to exercise class without ever taking the field.

We are not in need of something.  We are in need of a Person; God in Spirit form. This will always be the need as well as the solution.  I urge you to be reminded once again that kingdom life isn't up to you; but it is up God's Implant within you.