You Can be Changed

YOU CAN BE CHANGED by renewing your mind! Paul wrote, "Be transformed by the renewing of your minds" (Rom. 12:2). Jesus went up the mountain with Peter, James and John and was transfigured—the same word as transformed. Matthew wrote, "His face did shine as the sun" (Matt. 17:1–2).

Paul wrote, "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit" (2 Cor. 3:18).

Why should you renew your mind? "Because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so" (Rom. 8:7). The carnal mind (the natural mind) that we are born with needs to be renewed by the Word of God and the Spirit of God. We need to live by godly principles. I like to say, "A child of God will never become a man of God without the Word of God."

O, dear people, set your eyes, soak your soul, saturate your mind with the Word of God. We must spend 30 minutes to an hour a day reading the Word of God in order to renew our minds. It is far more important to read God's Word and to hear from heaven than to watch TV by the hour or devour the newspaper or curl up with a novel or feed on trashy magazines. How you spend your time makes a world of difference—an eternal difference. If you are not being transformed instead of just being informed by what you read and think about, you are cheating yourself. Doesn't that make sense?

We are called to "set our affections on things above, not on the things that are on earth" (Col. 3:2). The word affections is the Greek word phroneo, meaning "to think, to set the mind on." The world talks about "meditation" and "contemplation," but too often people just let their minds think about anything. You can be sure that the devil will let them think on dumb junk.

Prayer: Father, help your children to be transformed to be more like the Lord Jesus daily as they feast on the Word of God. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Quote for the Day: "Don't give up. Moses was once a basket case!" —Author Unknown

Remembering the Mercies of God

"God's mercies are new every morning" (Lam. 3:23). Worship God on the basis that His mercy has spared your life. You could have been killed in an accident or a war. But God spared you and forgave you of the sins that almost ruined you. He brought you out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of light. So "do not be conformed to this world" (Rom. 12:2).

O dear people, we are in the world, but we are not of the world. We ought not to think like, act like, dress like, talk like, or live like the world. We belong to God. Peter wrote, "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light" (1 Pet. 2:9).

Due to God's mercy, we should obey Him. "Children, be obedient to your parents in all things" (Col. 3:20). And "Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you" (Deut. 5:16). Don't be rebellious like the world.

"Women should adorn themselves with proper clothing" (1 Tim. 2:9). The women of the world certainly are not doing this. Women and girls need to dress modestly, not like the women of the world who flaunt their bodies and cause men to love, no, lust, after their bodies. Women can't do that and then expect men to love them and treat them with respect. "Wives, be submissive to your own husbands" (1 Pet. 3:1).

"You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way… and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered" (1 Pet. 3:7). "Husbands, love your wives even as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her" (Eph. 5:25). O, dear people, don't live like the lost world. Be different. Live your life to please God!

Prayer: Father, help us to want to please You and gain Your approval. Help us not to live like the world. Teach us to be a light in a dark generation. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Quote for the Day: "This world is not my home. I'm just a-passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue." —Author Unknown

Celebrating the Mercies of God

We can all thank God for His mercies. Let's thank Him that we aren't in hell right now and that He did not "give us up" to our sinfulness and our stubbornness (Rom. 1–2). Let's thank Him that we are still alive and for the thousands of other mercies that God has granted to us along the way. The Bible says, "The Lord's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness" (Lam. 3:22–23).

 

Because of His mercies, you should gratefully and gladly present your entire body to the Lord. Present your eyes and what you look at to Him: "I will set no worthless thing before my eyes" (Ps. 101:3). Don't look at "worthless things" on TV, in movies, in books and magazines, or in pornography. Present your ears and what you hear through music, radio and video. Present your mouth and your words: "Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth" (Eph 4:29). Present your mind and what you think about: "Meditate on the Word of God day and night" (Josh. 1:8). Present your feet as to where you go. Present your hands as to what you do: "Do all to the glory of God" (1 Cor 10:31). "I stir up your sincere minds by way of reminder" (2 Pet. 3:1).

 

Be a living sacrifice. God is not asking you to die for Him, but to live for Him. Live holy. He says, "Be holy, for I am holy" (Lev. 11:44). Isaiah 6:3 says, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory." Let your whole life be filled with His glory.

 

Be a sacrifice that is acceptable to God. The word acceptable in Greek means "well pleasing," as it is translated in Philippians 4:18 and Colossians 3:20. Enoch "pleased God," and oh, how much more should we! Oh, dear people, dedicate your life to the Lord. Present your body—all of it—to Him.

 

Prayer: Father, you have been so merciful to each of us. We are grateful. Teach us what it means to present our bodies and our lives to You as living sacrifices. Help us to live in a holy manner. We want to be well-pleasing to You. In Jesus' name, Amen.

 

Quote for the Day: "Among the attributes of God, although they are all equal, mercy shines with even more brilliancy than justice." —Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra