ANSWERING the HARD-KNOCK

I’m not who I used to be, and I say that emphatically. And this is not an identity crisis, but an identity that Christ is! I despise that man of old and he can live in my present no more. He knocks for me to answer, but Jesus knocks harder as the Answer. And it has been through the hard-knocks of life that I’ve learned to decipher each knock. My past man knocks hard to get back in my good graces, and if I answer him, it only leads to disgraces. But thankfully, Jesus uses hard-knocks to knock on my heart so as to lock me into His good graces. Both knocks come from the same place--the heart--but both have a different face.The man that I used to be pulls me back to the identity that bleeds crisis. Pride. Arrogance. Selfishness. Destruction. Faces of sin. But the man that I’m supposed to be is put on as the identity that bleeds Christ. Humility and balance. Selflessness and inspiration. The Face of the Son.I have to answer either knock daily. “Knock-Knock!” And If my past man wins, I always lose. "Knock-Knock!" I have to choose one of the faces, so I pray daily that I may know the difference.“Help me O Lord to answer the right door, for my past haunts me and my future taunts me.  I need to enter You in my present to keep me from living without Your presence.  I thank You O Lord for the hardknocks of life, for they have shown me clearly that it is not about who knocks harder—me or You—but whose way is easier.  I choose You, the door!  And I hear You now more than ever before. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen!”“I am the door.  If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved…” (John 10:9).