We have to develop godly habits to express what God’s grace has done in us. It is not just a question of being saved, but of being saved so that “the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our lives.” And it is adversity that makes us exhibit His life in our mortal flesh. Is your life exhibiting the essence of the sweetness of Christ? The only thing that will enable you to go through adversity is your eagerness of allowing the life of Christ to be evidence itself in you. No matter how difficult something may be, I must say, “Lord, I am delighted to obey You in this.” I must say this is the point where many Christians fail it; they tend to see things as they are instead of the way God is seeing and saying it.  If you allow God to take control, believe me, God will move to the forefront of your life and manifest.

Obedience is paramount in the life of Christians. The moment you obey God, His light shines through you in that very adversity; but if you debate with God, you grieve His Spirit (see Ephesians 4:30). You must keep yourself in proper condition to allow the life of Christ to be manifested in you, and you cannot keep yourself fit if you give way to self-pity because it will lead to depression. Our circumstances are the means God uses to exhibit just how wonderfully perfect and extraordinarily pure His Son Jesus Christ is. It is one thing to choose adversity, and quite another to enter into adversity through the orchestrating of our circumstances by God’s sovereignty. And if God puts you into adversity, He is adequately sufficient to “supply all your need” (Philippians 4:19)

Keep yourself properly conditioned to manifest the life of Christ. Never live on your memories of past experiences, but let the Word of God always be living and active in your life so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect in His plan and purpose for you.

Excerpts from utmost.org 14/05/19