Mornings With Jesus 2016: 7-Day DevotionalSample

My husband and I were thrilled to buy our first house. It was the cheapest property in the area listings. Fleas infested every corner, windows wore amber stains from years of cigarette smoke, and mold bloomed across the bathroom walls. But with love and effort, we created a home. How strange would it have been if the previous owners said, “Yes, you bought the house. You own it now. But you aren’t allowed to change anything.”

Jesus bought me with a price too. In fact, it cost Him everything—His suffering, death, and Resurrection. He showed tremendous love to leave the glories of heaven and come into our world, a place far from inviting. And that love became personal when He took up residency in my heart, another place every bit as decrepit and damaged as that old first house we bought. He comes to live among the mess of my life. In the same way my husband and I worked to clean up and remodel our house, Jesus is eager to transform my life.

Even though I’m now the former owner of my life, I sometimes try to dictate what Jesus is allowed to do with the new place. Perhaps we’ve invited Jesus to live in our hearts, but fear His transformation in our lives.

Instead, let’s celebrate the new ownership. Let’s invite Him to rip out the rancid carpets of selfishness and add a new room of service, to tear down suffocating walls of fear and build a skylight of faith. Because of His presence within us, we can become the beautiful temples He intended us to be. —Sharon Hinck

FAITH STEP: Write a deed to your life and tuck it in your Bible as a reminder that you are under new ownership.