In today’s world, it’s impossible to ignore how the external realities we encounter daily shape the course of our lives to a large extent. When we examine the Scriptures, we see that God did not intend for us to live in this manner; rather, he ensured that we are empowered in such a way that we can determine the state of our lives on our own. In this week’s devotional, we’ll look at living from within to without and how we can weave this essence into the fabric of our lives, but first, read this story about a survivor of the Hiroshima atomic bomb attack during WWII.

In a 1985 article in Heiwa Bunka Magazine, Taeko Teramae (A survivor of the Hiroshima Bomb) wrote, “On the day of the bombing, the walls collapsed, momentarily blanketing the workers in darkness. “I began to choke on the consequent smoke — poisonous gas, it seemed like — and vomited uncontrollably,” Amid the din of cries for help, a single voice called out: “We must endure this, like the proud scholars that we are!” It was Teramae’s homeroom teacher, Chiyoko Wakita, who was herself not much older than her students. Comforted by Wakita’s words, the children gradually quieted down.”

I couldn’t help but wonder what was going through Teacher Chiyoko’s mind as she uttered words of comfort in the midst of chaos. The more I thought about it and tried (with limited success) to put myself in her shoes, the words of Jesus Christ in Mark 4:39 came to mind.

Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. — Mark 4:39 NKJV

One thing I noticed in this passage was that Jesus, as God, was well aware of the situation outside. Nonetheless, the reality within was superior to the reality without, which is why Jesus was able to successfully superimpose the reality within on the reality without to the point where the external succumbed to the power of the internal. The same scenario can be found in Genesis’ creation account, which simply means that Jesus’ approach to the storm in Mark’s gospel is consistent with God’s nature.

The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light,”; and there was light. — Genesis 1:2-‬3 NKJV

God, like Jesus, was able to superimpose His light within on the chaos of the earth outside because what was within was infinitely greater than what was outside. When we consider the morals of the lessons from the above scripture passages, we begin to understand that one of our new creation realities is that God’s very internal make-up is the same as ours. Therefore, to experience the realities of God who dwells on our inside in our world, we must first come to a place where our lives do not sway to the whims of the realities without.

We have the fullness of the Godhead residing in our Spirit through our acceptance of Christ into our lives, (Colossians 2: 9) coupled with the fact that we are created in the likeness of God, which is an even stronger anchor than anything Teacher Chiyoko had subjected herself to that helped her through that period. This means that we have the inherent ability to redefine chaotic situations and experiences in our lives by superimposing the realities within us on the realities without. We can only do this by consistently paying attention to sound doctrine about who we are in Christ and developing ourselves toward the revelation of our revealed identity.

In verses 5–8 of Chapter 5, the author of Hebrews helped us understand that even Jesus had to subject himself to learning, growth, and development during his earthly sojourn. Far too many Christians choose not to believe enough, resulting in ignorance in many areas, or they are too lazy to grow in the direction of God’s revealed word concerning them. As a result, it’s no surprise that many of them succumb to the whims of the chaotic realities around them, despite having the power to change those realities within them.

The world as we know it today is similar to the chaotic earth that God’s Spirit was brooding over in Genesis 1, and many realities have the same stormy demeanour described in Mark 4. To change this narrative, we must take on our father’s posture and begin to re-create the realities without to conform to the standards within. However, we can only do this successfully if we subject our lives to sound doctrine through consistent fellowship with God.

So, as you begin this new week, commit to solid learning of God’s reality about you and leverage on God’s supplied grace to develop your life in that direction. Then you’ll begin to see how the byproduct of this lifestyle pattern is you recreating your external realities to conform to the reality within you.

Have a fulfilling new week

Nonso Orji
@nonso_orji