1719 You’re a Changed Girl

BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

Did you know that water baptism as Jesus instructed is a very visual representation of what happens when we accept him as our Savior? Who we once were is to be washed away, and we are to rise up with Jesus in living a new life.

Have you been rising up from how you used to live, or have you been struggling with some of those old thought patterns and routines? A new person has no business wallowing in their old ways. Christ changes us from the inside out, therefore our lives simply can’t stay the same.

Colossians 3:1, “You have been raised to new life with Christ …” What does this mean? To understand, we should look at how Christ lived when he himself rose from the grave. After his crucifixion, he was buried for 3 days, then Easter came and the stone was rolled away. For 40 days, Jesus walked the earth again on his mission before returning to Heaven. The question is, how did Jesus live in those 40 days after arising? He’s showing us how to live this new life!

1. Jesus left the tomb. Yes, he walked on out of the darkness that had held him, and so should we! You can’t stay stuck in your struggle and wallow in that darkness. A girl who has been raised to new life gets out of that pit, out of that cave, out of that prison, out of that tomb. Honey, whatever has been hurting you, whatever has been threatening you, whatever has held you back in darkness, absolutely MUST be left behind.

There’s a song called “Ain’t No Grave” by Bethel Music that gets me all fired up. You should listen to it today. There’s a line sung on repeat at the end, growing with intensity each time. It says, “Oh, if you walked out of that grave, I’m walking too! Oh, if you walked out of that grave, I’m walking too! Yeah! Oh, if you walked out of that grave, I’m walking too – I’m following Jesus!”

The girl who has been raised to this new life with Christ walks right out of old graves, and she doesn’t go back! If you’ve walked out, don’t you dare go back! That’s not where you belong. That’s where the enemy wants to hold you captive again. Don’t go there.

2. Jesus spent time with his disciples. He blessed them, and allowed them to bless him. As God’s chosen girls, raised to a new elevated life, we can’t do this alone. When our whole world becomes hyper focused on what we’re going through, our world suddenly gets so much smaller … and darker. But when you become “others focused” and see there are others going through things too, suddenly you’re not so darn overwhelmed with your own issues.

Even Jesus didn’t make it all about himself. When he came back to spend time with people, he showed up on the shore of a lake and had breakfast waiting for his friends who had been out all night fishing without any luck. Literally, this is what he did!

Quit thinking you don’t need anyone, and no one wants you. That’s a lie from the pits of hell. We were each made for community. We are designed for connection. If you are suffering the best thing you can do is get to serving.

3. Jesus lived in supernatural power to do impossible things. Jesus didn’t rise up out of the grave to then play little. No, he showed up with power and intention to make things happen! And this same power has been given to you and I through the Holy Spirit.

When we play little and assume a position of anxious overwhelm, we are forfeiting the power Jesus has offered us. We have settled for living far below our Spirit enabled potential. We have sacrificed impossible things for the smaller possible things and dismissed ourselves from stepping into the fullness of life Jesus came to give us.

Is that what you want? Do you really want to miss out on living the big, beautiful life Jesus is offering? Do you really want to play little when there’s so much more available to you? Do you really want to sit there stuck when the power to rise on up out of this is already inside of you?

It’s a ploy of the enemy to make you think you’re powerless and hopeless. YOU’RE NOT! Not at all, beautiful girl, not at all.

After you’ve decided to rise up with Christ in this new life, Colossians 3:5 says, “So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you.” You can’t go back to what had you stuck. That’s not where you belong. That old way of living must be put to death.

Do you know how you kill that? You starve it. All those old habits and tendencies that brought you to that pit of darkness before … yeah those simply don’t get fed anymore. You’re starving out that old crap! You don’t give it your thoughts. You don’t give it your time. You don’t give it space in your conversations. Anything you give it feeds it, then old ways start growing and taking over again. No, girl, you’ve been charged to PUT THAT TO DEATH.

That old you, how you used to think, how you used to talk, the things you used to do … that all gets thrown out like old clothes that no longer fit you. You have absolutely NO REASON to keep that wardrobe. It doesn’t work for you anymore.

But, here’s the thing, a girl can’t live without clothes. She’s got to put on something. If all you do is try to throw out the old without ever giving yourself something new, you will eventually go out and drag back in that old stuff. Have you ever donated a bag of clothes to a thrift store, and sometime later gone shopping in that thrift store and found your old clothes. Is anyone like me and felt sudden regret over giving it away and wanting it back when you see it there on the hanger? You have to remember you got rid of that for a reason. Don’t pay the price and drag it back home with you! (And you know I’m talking about far more than just clothes here, right?)

And this is why Colossians 3:10 says, “Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.”

These are your new clothes, put them on. If you have a new, better wardrobe, there’s no possible way you would want the old stuff back. New clothes … put them on today. This is your new way of being once the old you has been starved out and those old thought patterns, habits and routines are no longer being fed. You intentionally choose a different mood, a different perspective, a different attitude. You choose your energy. Just like you open your closet doors and choose what you will wear for the day to clothe yourself, you choose how you show up and who you show up as.

Verse 14 says, “Clothe yourselves with love.” Putting on love today is a choice. And it’s a choice Jesus says represents your Creator and your Savior best. But girl, before you decide to go out into the world and love everyone today, start in these two places first:

1. Could you possibly love yourself? Love yourself as God’s creation he himself declared as a masterpiece. You’ve tried hating yourself and that really didn’t work. So, how about loving yourself. Caring for yourself instead of punishing yourself. Talking nice to yourself instead of tearing yourself down. Showing up for yourself instead dismissing yourself from doing the things that would make you feel so much better at the end of the day. Put on LOVE for YOU today.
2. Love your people. Yes, the people you share most every day with. The people who get on your nerves and you generally take for granted. LOVE THEM. What good is it to go out into the world and spread all this love to strangers if the very people you live and work with are not being loved well by you? Put on LOVE for others today, and let it start close instead of far.

It’s time to get dressed, Sis. That old stuff doesn’t work for you. Don’t hoard it, get rid of it! Give yourself the gift of a new wardrobe in your new nature like Jesus. Choose it. Intentionally put it on. Show up like that! This is your mood, your perspective, your attitude, your energy. It’s all your choice.

And remember, a girl who has been raised with Jesus strives to live like the risen Jesus lived. We get out of the place we’ve been stuck before, we seek to be a blessing to others and also let them be a blessing to us, and we use our supernatual powers to do otherwise totally impossible things! This is how we change, from the inside out, showing up in new clothes.

Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela
Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim
Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com