to restore to freshness, vigor, perfection
to make new spiritually
to begin again
to restore to existence
to make extensive changes
to be born again
"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." (Romans 12: 1-2)
Do you know what is in short supply in today's world? Thinking. Or to be more specific, correct thinking.
When was the last time that you just thought about your life, the reality of whatever situation you find yourself, and the options available to you in this moment? If you are like the majority of people today that answer is probably not anytime recently. It takes a jumpstart to sometimes reveal our choices and God wants to help us achieve that today.
Isn't it amazing that the brain power that we possess, coupled with the wisdom of God in His Word, partnered then with communication with the Almighty Creator of the Universe is sometimes the last resort when we are facing struggles in our lives?I would gently remind us that in so many ways we have outsourced our conscious minds to the devices that we keep on hand, 24/7, to relieve us of the work, discipline, and responsibility of thinking. And the conscious mind is where the majority of our battles in this life are being waged. See that truth for yourself in the verse below:
"For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ . . . " (2 Corinthians 10: 3-5)
Make no mistake, thinking is hard work. It takes effort to accomplish anything of value but our enemy has really focused his attention on shaping our culture to live our life on auto-pilot. We are, for the most part, wasting our lives and diminishing our selves when we hand over our thoughts, which is ourselves, to our screens.
So before the renewing of our minds can transform us, we have to do the work in verse one.
Presenting ourselves before God means that we make a conscious decision to stop and direct our attention on the One who created us. To step into His presence and gaze into His eyes through His Word. To allow Him to love and care for us. When we take a step toward God, He is faithful to reward our efforts. "Draw near to me and I will draw near to you." (James 4:8)
Once our minds start to become properly aligned it is far easier to discern our true position. We can start to see more clearly the patterns and traps that the enemy has prepared for us, and then avoid those things that are meant for our harm. Our focus shifts from this temporal world to the eternal One, to His Kingdom, as we are reminded of all that He has done for us in our lives.
Because only after we have started to renew our minds through reading His Word, meditation on His goodness, and communicating with Him through prayer, can we then discern the will of God, which will be good, acceptable, and perfect. But you can't shortcut the process, there is no way to get the results of the second verse without doing the work required in the first verse.
Most of us are going to require a major transition in our habits and lifestyles to properly renew our minds before God. Not sure how to accomplish that? I encourage you to check out this recommendation from John Ortberg, "First of all I would encourage you to discover how you learn. What method is the easiest for your to consume new information? Visually? Reading? Doing? Whatever it is that is the way that you want to start learning new habits and patterns in your life. For example, if doing works best for you then make sure that you partner activity with your time of meditation. But recognize on the front end that this process will not be easy, which is why the majority of people walk around with their eyes closed. Thinking is in very short supply because it requires a counter cultural response to our problem."
Our natural tendencies are not toward order and discipline, because our minds, unaided, will gravitate toward chaos. And the result of chaos is anxiety, followed by worry, and culminating in anger. It is impossible to see your life as it really is when you are spending the majority of your time living in a false reality.
But there is hope!
The Apostle Paul reminded us of that hope, "So do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)
And check out this verse, written again by Paul, as he sat chained to two guards in a Roman prison. “Do you not realize about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you?” He is reminding them that in everything that they were facing, any suffering that they were enduring, they had Jesus Christ in them.
He will never leave us, forsake us, or turn away from us. He is a faithful friend who will walk every step of life with each one of us if we choose to let Him.
And what is the result of practicing this new type of thinking? "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6-7)
Look at the wonderful promises that God gives us in this verse, peace, and not just any peace, but the peace of God that will settle in our hearts and our minds!
How about this last verse as we end this blog post, "“I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” (Galatians 2:20)
