Romans 12:1-2 (NKJV) 1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be
conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your
mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and
perfect will of God.
o Romans 12:2 New Living Translation (NLT) Don’t copy the
behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you
into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will
learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and
perfect.
-You change yourself by changing the way you think. So much time,
money and energy is spent in this world on all kinds of programs, therapy
sessions, and medications by people who are trying to change themselves.
God said changing ourselves is done by the renewing of the mind. There are
many Christians today who don’t even like the way they are. God says “be
transformed” not by prayer and fasting or by hanging around the right
people, but by “the renewing of the mind”.
-Knowing the will of God for your life is connected to renewing the
mind. How are we going to know Gods will for our lives? Not by asking other
believers or by prayer and fasting but by renewing the mind to the word of
God. If we learn to tune our thoughts into Gods thoughts, we can know and
understand His will for us.
-We are not to conform to this world. We are not to try and blend in and be
like everyone else. I hear many people say “they just want to be real” or
“down to earth” so others won’t think they are weird. That’s a trap of the
enemy. Our job is not to conform, but to be connected to God. We want to
pull people out of this world not keep them bound. The truth is people are
looking for a way out. We as Christians need to be connected to God so we
can help them up and out.
Conform: To fashion alike; fashion to the same pattern
-Don’t conform and don’t make an apology for not conforming. The world is
being led down the wrong path. We are here to connect them to God. Also
we are not here to “Westernize” the world but to spread the Gospel.
Christians need to separate the word of God from Christian tradition or
Christian culture.
Romans 8:10(NKJV)10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead
because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
-After we get saved our spirit is alive unto God, but the mind needs to be
renewed because it’s been learning the ways of the world for so long. It’s
been connected to thoughts of darkness and death. We have to retrain it.
We now need a continuous diet of the word of God, feeding Gods thoughts
into us. When a wrong thought shows up we are to reject the wrong way of
thinking and embrace Gods way of thinking. If we do this the word tells us
we will be changed into another person. We will be more like Christ.
-To be transformed is to be different, to change into another form. God
wants us transformed but He will not transform our minds for us. It’s our
mind and we have to make a decision to go His direction. God will not
control you. Satan wants to possess and control, but God will not. God gave
us a will and he honors that will. Also, the fact we have a will shows what
powerful beings we are. Our lives are in our hands. We can choose to fulfill
Gods will for us or not, it’s up to us.
-The same word transformed in Romans 12:2 is the same word used in
Mark9:2.
Mark 9:2-3 (NKJV) 2 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and
John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and
He was transfigured before them. 3 His clothes became shining,
exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can
whiten them.
-Spiritually shallow Christians are Christians who know nothing about mind
renewal. How spiritual we are depends on how much we meditate on the
Word of God and think God’s thoughts. In other words, our spirituality is
dependent on how much we have renewed our mind to Gods word.
-One of the biggest problems in the church today is people not taking their
thought life seriously. The music, the movies and books we read, everything
we consume mentally we need to ask “where did the inspiration for this
come from?” What spirit is behind what you are consuming? Are these the
enemy’s thoughts or Gods thoughts? Is this demonically inspired or is this
God inspired? Remember one good way to tell, outside of the witness of the
Holy Spirit, is it killing, stealing or destroying something in me? Or is it
bringing life, joy and peace? Is it building my faith or is it making me more
fearful or worried? Satan came to kill steal and destroy, Jesus came that we
would have abundant life and peace.
-Satan is taking the world to hell with window-dressing. Let the spirit of God
lead you regarding art, movies and music. Don’t just consume it because it’s
popular or because someone said it was good. Watch what you are putting in
your mind. Find out where it came from and who or what is behind it.
WHAT IS BEHIND A THOUGHT?
Thoughts are obviously not physical. So what are they? Thoughts come from
the spirit, into the mind, then from the mind into this natural world. To think
is to form, shape or mold images in your mind. Everything starts with a
thought. Everything we use and have first existed as a thought in someone’s
mind. Cars, chairs, telephones, lamps, you name it; it existed in someone’s
thoughts first. This means it existed before we could see it with our natural
eyes. Where did it exist? It existed in the mind as a thought.
All of creation and nature existed in the mind of God first. The world
was a thought of God. Genesis 1 tells us God “said” and it came into being.
That means God spoke the world into existence. We have established in
prior teachings that words are mere thoughts expressed. When you speak,
you are expressing a thought. God spoke and the image of what He had in
His mind came to being.
Hebrews 11:3 (NKJV) By faith we understand that the worlds were
framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not
made of things which are visible.
Genesis 1:26 (NKJV) Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image,
according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the
sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth
and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
-God is The Creator; man is made in His image and likeness, thus mankind
creates. Mankind creates in the same way. We form thoughts and images in
the mind, apply faith and perseverance, and we bring those thoughts and
images into this natural world. We think up a chair, we crate the chair. We
think up a house, we crate the house.
Genesis 11:3-4 (NKJV) 3 Then they said to one another, “Come, let us
make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and
they had asphalt for mortar. 4 And they said, “Come, let us build
ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make
a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the
whole earth.”
Genesis 11:5-6 (AMP) 5 Now the LORD came down to see the city and
the tower which the sons of men had built. 6 And the LORD said,
“Behold, they are one [unified] people, and they all have the same
language. This is only the beginning of what they will do [in rebellion
against Me], and now no evil thing they imagine they can do will be
impossible for them.
Genesis 6:5 (KJV) And God saw that the wickedness of man was great
in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart
was only evil continually.
-What we think on, what we give our minds to we will manifest, we will bring
forth. Spiritual battles are fought in and over the mind. If Satan can get his
image in your mind, he can get you to manifest it in this natural world.
-If God can get His image in you, then he can manifest His will in you
and through you. If all we meditate on is death, darkness and sin what do
you think we will bring forth?
Romans 8:5-6 (NKJV) 5 For those who live according to the flesh set
their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to
the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death,
but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
-We must take responsibility for the thoughts we think on. We are the ones
that “set” our minds. The phrase “set their mind” in Romans 8:5 means to
think on, ponder, observe; direct the mind to think about.
The phrase “set their mind” in Romans 8:5 means to
direct the mind to think about
-We are held responsible because it’s our mind. Satan may be a tempter, he
may help introduce wrong thoughts to us, but we are the ones who make
the decision what we think about, ponder and meditate on. Therefore we are
held responsible. Our hearts can choose to reject evil thoughts and images
or we can receive them and ponder them and let them grow in us.
We all have bad thoughts
-Your mind belongs to you. Think very hard about what you let stay in your
thoughts. We may be a very good person, nice to everyone around us, but
inside we allow evil thoughts to exist.
Bad thoughts come to everyone on the planet; it’s what we do
with the thoughts when they come. Do we let them stay, do we
think on them and meditate on them? Or do we get rid of them
and kick them out?
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (KJV)4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not
carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth
itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity
every thought to the obedience of Christ;