Today is August 5.


The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.   
  
Take a moment and quiet yourself. Take a deep breath. Welcome God’s presence. And say, “Come Holy Spirit.”    
   
Today’s reading is from the book of Ephesians, chapter 4.  
  

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed. That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. 
  
  
The early Christians Paul was writing to needed to maintain relationships with Gentiles, while navigating their new, counter-cultural mindsets. Persecuted and surrounded by hostility, they were expected to maintain a positive, Christ like attitude among the people, who didn't understand, accept, or even like the idea of Jesus. As His followers, they wanted to think like Jesus did, but He had His Father guiding Him through the darkness, ignorance, and hate of the faithless world. His perfect mindset kept Him connected to the Father and allowed him to live in a world that contradicts the Word. Talk to the Lord about how you navigate these kinds of spaces. 
  
What qualities define this new mindset: Compassion. Loving. Humble. Righteousness and holiness. 
But also, relaxed. Jesus never hurried past people. He remained present, focused on who was in front of Him, and trusted in God's ability to finish the rest. He surrendered in the security of the power of God. His certainty that He was only doing the will of His Father took the pressure off of Him. He lived freely because of this connection to God. How much pressure do you carry with you? Where do you struggle because you're under too much pressure and won't let it go? As you listen again, call to mind an area of pressure you need to give to the Lord so that you can have a more Christ-like mind? 
   
As we end our time of prayer, consider what it could look like for you to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Ask God to lead you towards becoming the person He made you to be.

Music: Take My Life - Vineyard Worship - (YouTube)