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Introduction

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Psalm 51:10, KJV

Transformation. If you’re like me, you know you need it, but how do we get it? I’ve spent a lot of my life wanting to be different, trying to be changed. And yet, no matter how hard I tried, I seemed to fall back into the same ruts and defeating patterns over and over again. The Bible said I was a “new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17), and yet I felt stuck in the “old,” repeating the same sinful behaviors I’d repented of the day before. Will I ever be what God wants me to be? I wondered.

In this study, we’re going to walk toward Christlikeness together, but let me be clear. This is not a self-help book you’ve chosen to study. Nor is it a do-it-yourself course in character development. This study has one purpose: to give God access to our lives!

So before you begin your study this week, ask the Holy Spirit to speak truth to the deepest part of your soul. Then read your assigned chapters in Having a Mary Spirit, and open your Bible to do the weekly study questions. I believe God is going to meet you in a special way, as He speaks to you through His Word.

Don’t be surprised if your lower nature (I call her Flesh Woman) puts up a fight. She’ll come up with a thousand reasons why you should quit. The questions will feel too personal; your schedule will look too busy to add a weekly study. But for every excuse Flesh Woman offers, I encourage you to simply reaffirm your commitment to the Lord and His Word.

For God has a holy makeover waiting for every one of us.