Friends in Christ Weekly Message
January 9, 2004

     The interest of the people by now was building. They were all beginning to wonder, "Could this John be the Messiah?"
     But John intervened: "I'm baptizing you here in the river. The main character in this drama, to whom I'm a mere stagehand, will ignite the kingdom life, a fire, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out. He's going to clean house - make a clean sweep of your lives. He'll place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he'll put out with the trash to be burned."
Luke 3:15-17 (Message*)

What does Christ do in our lives if we let Him? John the Baptist speaks powerfully to this question in this passage.

If we allow Christ in our hearts, He will change us from the inside out. Christ ignites the fire of God's kingdom within us. The Holy Spirit comes to live within us, guiding and directing us. This is a new life for us - one at a whole different level than our life without Christ.

This change reorients us. It puts everything in its proper perspective. It brings everything that is true in focus, while everything false is discarded as garbage which distracts us from life in Christ.

Are you allowing Christ Jesus to change you from the inside out? Does the fire of God's kingdom burn brightly within you? Is the Holy Spirit directing your life? Have you let everything go which distracts you from God, allowing everything that is true to find its proper place within you?

Bill Samuel

* The Message version ©2002 by Eugene H. Peterson.

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