There’s so much self-help for a Christian to do:

“Repent.”
“Fight the good fight of faith.”
“Resist the devil.”
“Draw near to God.”
“Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.”
“Press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling God in Christ Jesus.”
Bring “every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”
“Think on these things.”
“Put off” the old man and “put on” the new.
“Take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”
“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who works in you.”
“Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.”

Discipleship is Spirit-led self-help. It is empowered by and obedient to the risen Jesus — “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Let what you do and say be prompted and guided by what Christ does and says inside of you and thus engage in Spirit-led self-help. To work as God intends for us to, we must make every effort to be led by His Spirit, not by our desires, by our emotions, or by our logic. Spirit-led self-help is supernaturally powerful!

Just because you believe Christ is safely tucked away in your heart doesn’t mean He’s actually in there. Seek to be absolutely certain that He is. If the 9 qualities of “the fruit of the Spirit” (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control) aren’t steadily growing and increasing inside of you, then there’s a strong possibility that Jesus is on the outside of your heart looking in. (If you’ve kept Jesus out of your heart, then He’s not in you.)

Throughout each day prepare the way of the Lord so He can have His way with you. Continually cultivate your heart and make more and more room for the risen Jesus to plant and produce an ongoing harvest of His fruit within you. Wholeheartedly welcome Christ to make His home in you and strive to get out of His way so that He can take full control of your thoughts, feelings, desires, words, and behaviors.

Always break up any hardened ground in your heart. Throw out all the stones. Pull out all the weeds. Make the Lord’s path’s straight. Then you’ll know for certain that Christ is in you brightly shinning His majestic hope of glory on your lampstand for all to see.

Christ in you is not a religious belief, a parable, or a teaching. He’s the ultimate reality — the living hope of glory. If there’s nothing amazing happening in your heart, then Christ probably isn’t living and working in there. If Christ is living in you, you really don’t what to ignore and miss out on what He’s saying and doing in your heart. Make every effort to cultivate your awareness of His presence. (You can’t consciously interact with Jesus if you’re unaware of His presence.)

Christ doesn’t sneak into your heart when you’re not paying attention. He patiently knocks and waits for you to open the door. Work to keep all the doors in your heart wide open to the living Jesus.

If Christ is in you
And you find yourself bored,
It’s because you’ve ignored
The resurrected Lord.
If you lock your heart down,
You probably won’t even notice
When Christ is around.
Prepare the way for Jesus
Through Spirit-led self-help.