“Your Spiritual Strength Renewed” by Pastor Tim Burt
2 Cor. 4:16 (NIV) “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”
Renee and I learned a very valuable lesson when we sold our first house. It was our first house - a wonderful but small house that we lived in for 14 years. When our family grew to six and size and the children’s bodies grew bigger, we ran out of room. We put our house up for sale and began the quest of looking for a new one.
Before we could sell our old one, the procedure in the community which we lived was, the housing inspector came out to inspect it and he would make a list of everything that had to be fixed before it could be sold. The list had about ten items that had to be fixed or brought up to code. We had to spend some money and knock off each fix on the list. Then we were advised by the realtor to spruce up some areas of the house to make it more sellable. It didn’t carry the price of a full scale renovation but it definitely took some sweat equity. When we were done, we thought “Wow, this place looks and feels a lot better.” Well the house sold quickly and so we only got to live in it for one more month. We left that house thinking, “We put money and a whole lot of sweat into that house – all for someone else. We could have done that years ago and enjoyed it for ourselves. We’ll never do that again.” It was amazing all the little inconveniences we put up with.
When we moved into our new home, we remembered that lesson and tried to take on at least one project in our new home each year so that we could enjoy the improvements we made. We’ve pretty much done that and after each improvement, it always felt so good.
This year we took on a project that we’ve wanted to do since the day we moved into the house. We took on one of our bathrooms. Because of the cost, it took fourteen years to get to it, but when it was renovated, it felt so good.
God knows how much we need spiritual renovation. It can’t wait fourteen years. The truth is, it can’t wait a week. God wants us to experience spiritual renovation day-by-day. That is what our Fresh Manna verse says today. “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”
This is a verse to meditate on. The Holy Spirit will bring deeper insight if you do. It’s important to notice that the cost of not experiencing a daily renovation in your heart – “being renewed day by day,” is that you will lose heart. You will get discouraged. Between personal health, and relationships, and the workplace, and the bad news of the world, and the persecution that comes from being a vibrant Christian, discouragement finds its way in. This is why we need to be “inwardly renewed day by day.”
The fact that you can be inwardly renewed day by day is just one of the countless ways God is willing and desirous to bless our lives. He actually can and will renovate us inwardly – daily. God’s word has that kind of power!
Hebrews 4:12 (NLT) says, “For the word of God is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires…” The Word of God sorts through all the tangled mess of our minds and gets down to the nitty gritty. It exposes wrong thoughts and attitudes and brings right thinking and promise to us.
Proverbs 19:7 says, “Gods Word and precepts are perfect, reviving – bring new life to the soul.”
There have always been countless opinions that bombard mankind, but in this Internet age, they seem to come at us with an unparalleled fervency. Who says any of them are right? Do they have the power to encourage your heart and determine the truth from a lie and lift you out of the pit? Isaiah 40:8 (NLT) says, “The grass withers, and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever."
When we are going through hard times and this world has little to offer to encourage us, God’s Word always has the power to renovate and renew us from the inside out. Psalm 19:8 (NIV) says, “The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. “
Although we made improvements to our first house – we made most of them in the first few years we lived there. Then we stopped. We did nothing for years until we were forced to in order to sell it. In our present home, we renovate little by little ongoing. It creates an ongoing good feeling.
To renew yourself inwardly is a choice. God promises to meet us and lift us up day by day - IF we will feed our spirit the Word of God. If we do, then no matter what happens around us, we will have God’s Word lifting us up in His truth, His love, and His promises. He promises us much and it is a renovating power that renews us day by day, and that feels so good!
Jeremiah 31:3-4 (NIV) “The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt...”