I am convinced that most Christians continue to walk in brokenness for decades even though they have been born again.  The promise of being raised to walk in newness of life or in being a new creation is a potential transformation for the believer.  Many of the promises of God’s kingdom are there for the taking but they must be taken.  In Christ we are given a position of righteousness and holiness but we know our condition does not always match our position.  Transformation is the process that begins to make our condition line up with our position. Although transformation comes by the power and ministry of the Holy Spirit we are required to partner with him in that change.

Many believers recognize their brokenness and their sin but simply feel shame and condemnation while crying out to God to change them.  Many of us are waiting for the “transformation fairy” to whack us with his magic wand while we are sleeping so that we wake up a changed person with no effort on our part.  The radical life change God promises is our promised land flowing with milk and honey.  When God brought Israel from Egyptian bondage to that promised land, he told them the land was there for the taking.  He even promised to go before them to drive out their enemies but they could not sit on the wilderness side of the Jordan while he did all the heavy lifting. They would, in fact, have to enter into many battles with the enemy in partnership with their God to experience the fullness of the promise. In doing so, God intended for them to grow in faith and in their relationship with him. God is relational so his transforming work in our lives will be in partnership with him.

Our part is actually simple.  We only have to open ourselves up to Jesus totally and invite him to come in and do whatever is needed to heal us and set us free.  It’s simple but not so easy because few of us totally trust Jesus with every part of our life…the good stuff, the bad stuff, the hidden stuff, and the stuff we locked away so long ago that we can’t remember where we put it.  For most of us, it is the hidden stuff and the locked away stuff that we hold close and refuse to entrust to Jesus.  We think if he ever discovered those things he would reject us or shame us or not protect us from the engulfing pain of those memories and so we don’t acknowledge then or surrender them to his ways.

Opening yourself up to Jesus is very much like going to a doctor.  First, you must acknowledge that something is wrong that exceeds your own ability to diagnose or heal.  You may deny the problem, mask it, or medicate it.  But if you do, you only burn great amounts of energy attempting to manage or hide symptoms rather than affecting a cure.

Your part is to seek out the physician and tell Him everything.  Having told him everything, you then must allow Him to administer his own tests.  You may have to submit to poking and prodding, deep tissue scans, stress tests, or blood work. But to withhold information or to refuse to submit to His scans will put you at risk. Even after you have submitted to His diagnosis, you must faithfully follow His treatment plan…not just the parts you like, not just when you feel like it, but faithfully and consistently for deep healing to occur.

As we partner with the Great Physician, we must go to him and tell him everything.  We must invite him to evaluate our condition, scan us with his word and his Spirit, and prescribe treatment.  After his thorough diagnosis of our souls, we will still need to take his prescriptions and stick with the regimen until healing and change has occurred.  After that, we will need to return to him regularly for checkups to prevent our old condition from re-establishing itself. Then, we will need to walk out a healthy spiritual regimen to keep the flesh, the world, and the enemy from poisoning our souls once again.

But all of that begins with a courageous decision to abandon our protective walls and trust Jesus with everything in our past, present, and future. That is our part and it requires faith. Your flesh will push back against the decision and demons will scream at the thought.  But Jesus is faithful, gentle, trustworthy, and skilled.  The truth is that he already knows what you are hiding from him and he has not rejected you.  He continues to knock on the door hoping for an invitation to come in and bring his healing touch with him. I hope you will trust him today and give it all to the Healer, the one who died for you.