Change From the Inside Out

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. -Luke 4:4

Man is a three-part being. He is a spirit; he has a soul, he lives in a body. The Bible says he has an inward man and an outward man. (2 Cor. 4:16.)

The outward man is just your “earth suit.” It’s the vessel you live in that keeps you here on the earth. The outward man, which includes the soul and the body, is the part of you that everyone else sees; and it is probably the source of most of the problems you deal with.

The Bible says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new” (2 Cor. 5:17). Where are old things passed away? Inside your spirit! You have the same body and mind you had before you were saved. Your body has to be healed and strengthened and your mind has to be renewed through God's Word. However, your inner man is a brand-new creation.

The inward man is the spirit man. The outward man is simply a reflection of the inward man. So if I’m having problems in one area of my outward life and I hammer away on those problems from the outside, then I’m wasting my time. I’d better go back and make some adjustments on the inward man. Then the change that occurs on the inside will reflect on the outside.

For instance, suppose I’m having trouble in the area of healing and health. What should I do? I should find out what the Bible says about healing and health and then feed my spirit a steady diet of that truth. I have to read it, meditate on it, think about it and say it until it gets planted deep in my spirit. Jesus talked about the process when He said, “Let these sayings sink down into your ears” (Luke 9:44).

So eat some “faith food” from the Word of God. When you get full of the Word on the inside, it will show up on the outside, bringing peace to your mind and health to your body!

CONFESSION:

I attend to God’s words, and they are life to me and medicine to all my flesh. God’s Word works mightily in my spirit to bring health, strength and wholeness to my outward man.

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999