transformed | Thoughts About God

Be Transformed

Thoughts_About_God — Mon, 21 Feb 2022 09:03:22 +0000

Heavenly Father, Guide me and grant me wisdom so my heart will be transformed.

Proverbs 27:19 says, “As water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man.”

Have you ever struggled with stubborn sin in your life and become discouraged because you just couldn’t seem to overcome it? I have. There was a time when I desperately wanted to change some things the Lord had revealed to me about myself. It just seemed, however, that the more I thought about them and prayed about them, the worse they became. Then the Lord revealed to me that I wasn’t changing because I was focusing on the problem, not on Him.

There’s a principal I learned about displacement and replacement. It had to do with self-esteem. Picture a bucket filled with water. The water represents the good things about you. Then, as people chip away at your self-esteem by saying negative things, the negatives are like pebbles. When you drop a pebble in the bucket, the water, your good qualities, splashes over the edge and out of your bucket.

Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.“

The Bible also says in Ephesians 4:22-23,

“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.”

So the question is, “How does this transformation take place?” We find the answer in Philippians 4:8,

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.”

It is the Word of God that renews our mind! In my bucket, I look at the water as my old self, the sin I want to remove from my life. The pebbles are God’s Word. So each time I focus on God’s Word, His pebbles are dropped in my bucket. It is God’s Word which displaces the sin in my life and replaces it with His righteousness and holiness.

Prayer: My most gracious and holy Father, I come to you today with stubborn sin in my life for which I ask your forgiveness. Keep me focused on your Word, Lord, that through your power my old self will vanish and your righteousness and holiness will reign in my heart and actions. Guide me and grant me wisdom so my heart will be transformed to one which reflects you, O Lord. Praise and glory and honor be to you throughout eternity. Amen.

by Sherry Yarger
Used by Permission

Transformed

Thoughts_About_God — Mon, 21 Feb 2022 09:01:51 +0000

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing, and perfect will.” Romans 12:2

Thoughts on today’s verse:

Don’t be molded by the world. Wow, isn’t that a tough one to obey? It’s a reminder that what we think is one of the places of greatest spiritual warfare. Sloppy thinking is more than sloppy, it’s dangerous because we are fed messages constantly that distort God’s truth and holy values. But rather than being incensed by the world acting like the world, let’s be transformed by renewing our minds and doing what Paul said he did — take every thought, every word, captive for Christ. We often think a tithe is giving ten percent of our money, but an even more vital tithe is giving ten percent of our thought time totally to the things of God!

Prayer:

O Lord, please guard my soul from pride, my heart from callousness, and my mind from too much focus on unimportant things and not enough on your things. Teach me in my heart what it means to be about my Father’s business, especially in the world of my thoughts! Through Jesus, my greatest example of time spent with you. Amen.

by Phil Ware
used with permission

You can also follow Phil’s daily devotionals on https://www.verseoftheday.com

Changed by the Spirit

Thoughts_About_God — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 08:01:35 +0000

So many Christians that I’ve talked to recently are not experiencing the power of God in their lives. In different ways they share how life has become dull and grey and their days tend to ebb away with busy activity. Several have used the word “frenzied”. Oh, their faith is still intact, yet their lives lack that dynamic sense of energy and enthusiasm and purposefulness that is the birthright of God’s children.

I’ve thought and prayed about it lately because some days I feel it too. God nudged me to look again at the Holy Spirit; the Helper He gives every believer. The Holy Spirit in our lives offers us the power to be able to live above the frenzy with purpose and enthusiasm and divine energy.

Let’s encourage one another to tap into the enabling power the Lord intended for us to live in.

Let’s become people more dynamic in our faith and victorious in our walk.

The role of the Holy Spirit is to transform us to become more like Jesus; to be filled with the fresh dynamic of His power, willing to undergo the changes He may ask us to make; ready to grapple with our part in spreading the Gospel with energy and purposefulness.

Paul, that dedicated world changing follower of Jesus, understood this and was led by the Holy Spirit to urge others to offer themselves to God as an act of worship. The invitation and instruction remains for you and I today.

“Do not be conformed any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Romans 12:2

Peter was another follower who understood the dynamic of following Jesus. He talks to those of the faith and encourages us in much the same way.

“Prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. …For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver and gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ…” 1 Peter 1: 13-18

The first step in our journey of exploring the Holy Spirit in our lives is to allow our minds to be transformed and our hope set fully on the grace that redeemed us from an empty way of life. Join me as we remind one another that it all begins with the way we think.

Prayer & reflection: Holy Father, I need You. Teach me more about Your Holy Spirit. I offer myself to You as my act of worship. Transform my mind. Help me to be self-controlled. Enable me to look beyond the distractions of this life. Show me afresh the dynamics of life filled with Your power as I grow in understanding my part in Your work. In Jesus’ powerful name I ask this, amen.

by Gail Rodgers
Used by Permission

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