Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.

Here is where it really gets good. Unbeknown to us, we have gradually become usable vessels in the hands of God. The sanctification process has been bringing us along to the dynamic place of humility. We have finally started to see that everything good comes from God. We are never going to be good, spiritual, godly, pure, holy, dedicated, special, powerful, wise Christians. We have come to the place where we realize that being and staying connected to God is the only reason we are or do anything godly. Everything we are and everything we do that is good is flowing from Him into us and out of us to others. With this concept firmly implanted in our being, He is able to lift us up and use us for His glory. He can finally do mighty things in and through our lives without it puffing us up with pride and killing us. Praise God!

Here's what has happened to us:
Mark 12:30 (NIV) Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'

Here's what else has happened:
Rom 12:1-2 (NIV) Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--His good, pleasing and perfect will.

Here's more that has happened to us:
Gal 5:19-21 (NIV) The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

We are well on our way to having all of these crowded out of our lives. And, we are well on our way to having the Fruit of the Spirit working in and through our lives.

Gal 5:22-23 (NIV) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Because these things have happened to us, we are well on our way to getting everything that needed to be removed from the inside of us replaced with godliness:

• We have obeyed the first part of James 4:7 "Submit yourselves, then, to God ..." God has taken first place in our life.
• Our relationship with Him is so awesome that we wouldn't go back to anything the world has to offer.
• Eternity is so real that we are no longer confused about how to best spend our day.
• Godliness is so clear that we no longer are conflicted as to how to live our lives.
• God's voice and His heart are so near that we are constantly blessed by His presence.
• We now, for the first time, love Him with everything we are and everything we have.

When we were just dabbling in God and His things. We were mostly miserable. We were caught between two worlds. We didn't have enough of God to really enjoy Him. We couldn't really enjoy the world because we knew it wasn't right. We knew we should be closer to God. So we felt bad that we weren't more committed. Now we have the best of both worlds. We have all of God's world and none of the devil's world. That is the best they both have to offer.