Harmony

   Happy Fall! There are so many transitions for families and individuals this month. Going back to school; starting new programs, or maybe just working through our normal routines. It is so very important that, in the fullness and busyness of our lives, we don’t lose the wonder of what has been done for us in Christ!! He has made us brand new! (2 Corinthians 5:17-18 TPT)
  This is such a powerful verse. The original Greek language instructs us in the idea that this creation is something that has never existed before – a completely new species! WOW! But verse 18 gives us a key thought that is so vital to our living out of this new identity! Let’s look at it from the Amplified Translation: (2 Corinthians 5:17b-18 AMP)
   Help us to never cease to marvel at the miracle of this!! We were completely lost in sin and in a wrong identity but God has made us fresh and new and reconciled us to Himself. Astonishing!!! 
   One of the greatest hindrances to our success in Christianity, and actually in life, is continuing to identify with our old identity and never fully living in the harmony with God that we were created to enjoy!
   Satan loves to disrupt this actuality in our lives and literally in all of the world. From the very beginning he has been trying to bring chaos and confusion to what God meant to be beautiful. (Genesis 1:1-2 NKJV)
   In the very beginning of our Bibles, we see God creating everything. An unfortunate translation of the word “was” in verse 2 gives us a misunderstanding of God’s purpose and perfection. This word would better have been translated “became.” God did not create chaos and confusion – that is the work of the enemy. 1 Corinthians 14:33 says that “God is not the author of confusion!”  God is a Redeemer! And here in Genesis, we see God instantly taking action to restore order from the chaos. The Spirit of God hovers over this disorder and God speaks “Light” into what has been marred by the enemy. He brings order to the chaos and restores perfection! This is the same type of thing He did for us in our salvation. (2 Corinthians 4:4-6 AMP)
   Satan has tried to ravage our lives with chaos and disorder! God, through Jesus Christ and His substitutionary work on the cross, has provided for us a way to live in harmony with God. He does this by completely making us new. He does this! We could not restore ourselves to harmony with God; He did it for us! Now our part is to live out of this new identity and not continue to live in the disorder and false identity that our enemy would like us to. If satan cannot keep us from receiving salvation he will attempt to cause us to live a life of minimal understanding and expression of who we are, Whose we are, and the power that is within us and working through us! 
   We must renew our minds to this quality of harmony! Two primary realties from our text stand out to us: We are reconciled to God! And He has created us to live in harmony with Him! Many of us struggle with this first one! We feel as though we must work, strive, and perform to receive God’s love and favor! NO! His nature is to love us and He cannot not love us less nor can His love increase for us due to our performance! God’s love is true and real and total! (Psalm 86:15 The Message Bible, Ephesians 2:4-6 The Message Bible)
   These are just a couple of the many, many verses that teach us about the love that God has for us! In order for us to walk in our new identity we must be saturated with the reality of this truth and the authenticity of how God truly thinks of us!
    The second important measure for us to practice so that we can live out of this new identity is continuing to live our lives in harmony and alignment with God. This is a daily practice in learning to identify the old ways and old mindsets and replace them with what God’s Word declares about who we are and what we have the capacity for. (Romans 12:1-2 TPT)
   God’s love for us is so vast and measureless! Let’s endeavor to live our lives out of the reality of this beautiful harmony with His Word and to express to everyone around us the beautiful sound of a life in alignment with Him!!!! (2 Corinthians 5:17b-18 The Message Bible)