welcome to today's encouragement from our daily bread my name is Amy Boucher pie and I called our reading today true change
 race in a turbulent home in South London Claude started selling marijuana at 15 and heroin when he was 25 needing a cover for his activities he became a mentor to young people soon he became intrigued by his manager a believer in Jesus and wanted to know more
 after attending a course exploring the Christian faith he dared Christ to come into his life I felt such a welcoming presence he said people saw changing me instantly I was the happiest drug dealer in the world
 Jesus didn't stop there when Claude wait up a bag of cocaine the next day he thought this is madness I'm poisoning people he realized he must stop selling drugs and get a job with the help of the Holy Spirit he turned off his phones and never went back this kind of changes what the Apostle Paul referenced in Ephesians chapter 4 when he wrote to the church at Ephesus calling the people not to live separated from God he urged them to put off your old self which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires and instead to put on the new self-created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness
 the verb form Paul used implies that were to put on the new self regularly as with Claude the Holy Spirit the lights to help us to live out of our new selves and become more like Jesus
 today's our daily bread devotional scripture reading is from Ephesians chapter 4 verses 17 through 24
 so I tell you this and insist on it in the Lord that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do in the futility of their thinking they are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts
 having lost all sensitivity they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity and they are full of greed
 that however is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and we're taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus you were taught with regard to your former way of life to put off your old self which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires to be made new in the attitude of your minds and to put on the new self-created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness
 let's pray love and God thank you that you never give up on anyone reveal to us how we can become more like you as you change us through the work of your Holy Spirit we pray in the name of Jesus Amen thanks for listening today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries