Creation from Nothing: Foundation Two- You Can't Change Yourself

"When you send forth your Spirit they are created, and you renew the face of the ground. May the glory of the Lord endure forever, may the Lord rejoice in His works. Create in me a pure heart, Oh God. Renew a steadfast Spirit in me. This is what the Lord says: 'Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord. But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? I the Lord search the heart and test the mind..."
-Psalm 104:30-31, 51:10, Jeremiah 17:5-10

We live in the age of self. We have always been about self, but now more than ever before, Self is King. Self is god. Self is gospel. It's subtle, and sneaks into our mindset. Facebook memes fill the news feeds of millions of how important self is. It's a thin line. We don't reject ourselves in the way of not taking care of basic human needs. The self mindset today is tied more with identity and gratification of flesh. Sometimes we set out to reinvent self for the thrill of it, or because we really are tired of being a certain way. It doesn't matter where you move, or what you wear, what you look like, or what friendship you break off. These are all outward things, it doesn't change your heart and inward being. God our Creator changes us from the inside out, and that makes the difference! It's the inside that holds the problem of sin. When you get down to it, everything is meaningless; beauty, fashion, location, spouse if God hasn't changed you on the inside. If God hasn't taken your stone heart and replaced it with a soft heart where He is the King. The Prophet Ezekial penned the LORD saying, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." (36:26) Jesus is quoted as saying often if you want to find yourself, loose yourself in Me. There is a familiar worship song Hillsong wrote called, "From the Inside Out" that resonates with these thoughts, here are some of the lyrics:
In my heart and my soul
Lord I give You control
Consume me from the inside out,
Lord, let justice and praise
Become my embrace
To love you from the inside out
Your will above all else
My purpose remains
The art of losing myself
In bringing You praise
And the cry of my heart
Is to bring You praise
From the inside out
Lord my soul cries out
When we have feelings of needing a change because of desperation, or hopelessness; we don't feel right in who we are. When we feel like we have nothing left to hang on, or we have become nothing. That's the perfect set of circumstances God can work with. If you have tried everything, offer God your nothing and confess you can't change yourself. God who alone creates yesh ma'ayin, "everything out of nothing." Hebrew for Christians writes:

In your nothingness look to Him: your affliction distills the truth within your heart. These words comfort those who are "poor in Spirit," that is, those who are undone by their sinful nature and radically understand they are powerless to change themselves apart from divine intervention, just as they offend those who trust in themselves and who believe that they can "make it" by means of their own resolve, energy, and virtues."

Jesus, by His Spirit, through God (Trinity), enables us to live the life He has called us to live. We cannot enable ourselves to be what God wants us to be. Nothing we come up with will ever be enough, recycling, doing good deeds, being a good driver, or a good worker. Good works doesn't equal Jesus.
Once Jesus heals our heart and becomes apart of us, and makes us a new person we begin to once again rightly image God as we were created to do. We need Jesus and His people surrounding us so we can reflect off each other and reflect back to Him. (2 Corinthians 2:18).
We also don't aimlessly float through life either. I have learned life is a battle that must be fought. It is made up of choices in the free will God gave us. God gives new life and will change us, but it takes effort on our part as well. God said to a church once, I wish you would make up your mind and be either hot or cold! But you are neither, lukewarm, so I will spit you out. God is willing that we would burn hot for Him and His Kingdom, but it takes us making our mind up. Don't return to the former things once God has changed you. We are met daily, and up to 1,000 times a day with the battle of God vs. Self on throne of our decision maker. Put to death self, and once again turn to God. With every choice in turning to God we lay a foundation, with a faith that grows and builds in knowing that all the circumstances we face God will make a way when there is no way. We know a direction we are going, not floating wherever the wind blows on one philosophy to the next. We will know the truth.
The Creator God, who took dirt and breathed His own life into it to make man, can breathe new life into you right now. Believing Him only takes an instant. Every other religion tells you to find your own way, and that self will lead you to the truth. Jesus doesn't leave us on our own, He said He is the way, He is the One Savior that helps the sinner. He does all the work. He saves, heals, frees, changes. I think that's really powerful. Seek Him today.