Get Your Mind Metamorphosed by God’s Grace

Dear lovely people,

Permit me to sound this morning like your Pastor – don’t I have reasons…? Just like salvation, success in life is not cheap, you have to earn it. The Bible says in Romans 12:2 "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds." This transformation is to be a metamorphosis, of a magnitude at least comparable to that by which a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. The metaphor expressed here in such a dramatic and astonishing way, emphasizes the magnitude of the change that is expected. It denotes a tremendous transformation that is visible to others and its internal effect should be far greater than what others can perceive.

Primordially, we need to BELIEVE that by God’s endless grace, we can and will be transformed, that this astonishing metamorphosis can and will occur. A strong believe reinforces our faith. Without faith, it is impossible to initiate change or to receive God’s blessing. We must "believe and not doubt"; if we do not believe that God will bless our efforts, or if we are dichotomous in our belief, we cannot expect success.

 

While believe is essential, it’s not all. We must make an act of the will. We must CHOOSE to be transformed, choose to put off the old self and put on the new self, choose to work tirelessly for change, choose to submit to God, etc. in the Bible, we read that God, through Moses, told the Israelites, "See, I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life..." (Deut 30:19-20). God gives us that same choice today and for always.

 

People ask me all the times, what is it then that renews the mind? Simple! The people you associate with, the books you read, the things you think about most of the times, the words you speak most of the times, the actions you take most of the times and above all THE WORD OF GOD. What you focus on, you become. We need the word of God recorded in his Scriptures, and the information we get whether from self-transformational books or from goodwill people that is specifically tailored to our personal situation and needs. When you surround yourself with words and imagery that build your mind positively, it starts becoming part of you over time and when combined with the word of God that is living and active, it works to transform your thoughts and attitudes. The Bible tells us in Mathew 4:4 that "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Father". However, it’s not enough to read self-transformational books, get advice from people or just to read the word of God. We need to let the information we get from these sources, dwell in us, work in us, become engrafted in us, and become a part of us. Scripture speaks often about the importance of meditating on the word of God.

If we would be transformed by the renewing of our mind, be made new in the attitude of our mind, we need to guard carefully what goes into our mind. We need to think on those things that are true, noble, right, pure, etc. Even more important, we need to GUARD against OUR own wrong THOUGHTS. We need to do this not just daily, but moment by moment.

On another level, we need to PRAY always. "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective" (Jas 5:16). Jesus says "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you" (Mat 7:7). The form of the verbs means "keep on asking", "keep on seeking", "keep on knocking". When we keep asking God to change us into better human beings, we unite our will with his and make it possible for him to grant our request.

Newton’s third law of motion states “When one body exerts a force on a second body, the second body simultaneously exerts a force equal in magnitude and opposite in direction on the first body.” You can be sure that there are opposing forces (called challenges or difficulties) to the pressure you exert on your path to success so you have to be aware.  The Bible talks of the enemy who does not want us to succeed and that his purpose is to "steal, kill and destroy" (John 10:10). If he cannot prevent us from being saved, he will try to keep us ineffective. He does not want us to take on the image of God for two reasons: (1) he hates God; (2) he knows that if we do take on the image of God we will be more powerful opponents. So he will do everything possible to distract, discourage and defeat.

Make no mistake. Some of the people you count on could be this negative force I am talking about here. People with low esteem or visionless be them your friends, colleagues, or family are in conflict with you when you start doing the things that matter. Their aim is to bring you down to their level. The image of transforming our minds may sound as easy as taking off one coat and putting on another, but there is an enemy who will resist it stubbornly every step of the way. The people you count on are going to quit, some will call you names and think you are insane, others will find all ways to distract you with ephemeral gratuities.

The primary battleground is the mind. It is the mind that you by the grace of God wants renewed and it is in our mind that the enemy (negative people, the media, bad company, ungodliness, etc.) most often attacks us. Hence, the paramount importance of feeding our minds with information from motivational books, Scripture, praise and communion with God. We fight the enemy, not in our strength, but in God's. "Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power". The weapons we fight with have "divine power". "Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit," says God. Jesus has given us "authority...over all the power of the enemy" (Luke 10:19), but it is only when we submit ourselves to God that the enemy will flee from us. If we recognize the enemy's work, submit ourselves to God, and stand firmly against the enemy, he will not succeed. If we fail to recognize the enemy, fail to submit ourselves to God or do not take a stand against the enemy by acting on our dreams in faith, we may allow him to obstruct or defeat the transformation we seek.

Lastly, "Where there is no vision the people perish" (Proverbs 29:18). We need to keep hold of the vision we have committed to God, to keep our eyes on the promise God has given that we can be transformed into his likeness. We need to focus on the unseen promise, and not on what we perceive in the natural as our shortcomings or the seeming slowness of any progress. We need to keep reminding ourselves that "with God all things are possible" (Mat 19:36), and that God "calls things that are not as though they were" (Rom 5:17). Let us, then, push aside all sense of discouragement or failure, "throw off everything that hinders" (Heb 12:1), and "press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called" us (Phil 3:14).

Always remember that you were born into this world because God created you in the secrecy of your mother’s womb and God created you for a purpose. Never ever let the devil derail you from fulfilling that purpose.