Awakened: Coming Alive in Christ
Romans 12:1-2, Colossians 3:1–4
January 18, 2026
Last week, we prayed a simple but dangerous prayer.
“Lord, awaken my heart.”
And for some of you, you felt it. You maybe prayed it again during the week when you felt yourself drifting.
Maybe there was a stirring. Maybe a hunger you hadn’t felt in a while. But here’s what we can often discover - - - -
Change is difficult. It’s not easy to simply say I’m going to stop doing this, or I’m going to do this. We have lots of distractions.
Our day to day living can lead us to live life in such an undisciplined way, that what we hope and want to do
. . . . . we just don’t do. You know what I mean?
One of the things I’ve learned is this — We can wake up spiritually … but still think the same old thoughts. Have you ever been there? You’re making changes, but the same old thoughts seem to creep back in, even though they’re totally unwanted.
You can feel close to God on Sunday, and still wake up Monday trapped in fear, anxiety, negativity, shame, or exhaustion.
You see when our spirits are being moved, it doesn’t stop the heart and the mind from doing what they do. Solomon told us in Proverbs 4:23 - - - -
23 Guard your hearts, for all of life flows through it. - Proverbs 4:23
It’s a pretty simple passage which can get lost in the midst of so many other amazing proverbs. For me, it’s the most powerful proverb. Guard your heart! Protect it! That’s not always easy to do. Too often we continue to let so much junk, so much of our past history . . . filter in.
On top of that, the world is throwing all kinds of stuff at us, and if we’re not careful, even in the midst of waking up our spirits, and gaining passion, we will constantly be brought back to those same old destructive heart longings and thoughts.
I’ve been there. Been there for 66 solid years. And even though they might come back, I’ve worked with God so that they will not come back and rule me.
But that takes work and it takes trust in God that I’m good in His eyes and frankly what anyone else says, doesn’t matter.
So guard your heart! The voices from around the world will beat you up. It’s a vicious world. It can come from your family, your friends, from outsiders.
Imagine if we listen to all of the noise and let it filter into our heart. It can easily destroy. So, as Solomon said, guard your heart, because all of life gets filtered through your heart.
And then Paul tells us in Romans 12 - - - -
1 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. 2 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
If God doesn’t renew the mind, the heart will drift back to sleep.
Notice what Paul assumes. He assumes there’s a pattern shaping you. The question is not whether you’re being formed — the question is — what’s forming you?
Your mind is being shaped every day by:
What you consume
What you replay
What you believe about yourself
What you fear
Consider what you consume? Consider your time on social media? Your time watching programs that are not edifying to God. I would say many of us watch programs which bash God, and we keep watching.
Last year Debbie and I stopped watching a program exactly because of that. We didn’t need to keep filling our minds with their junk.
How much doom scrolling do you do in a day? What are you reading? Don’t expect Sunday’s to suffice for your Bible reading. Are you reading the Word, listening to the Word, trying to learn and understand who Jesus is and who He is calling you to be.
And, if we’re honest, many of us let the world do more discipling of our minds than Scripture.
We ask God to awaken our hearts … but we let our thoughts and our minds run unchecked.
It’s easy to day dream and get stuck on totally unhealthy day dreams and then dismiss them when we’re done. They just don’t disappear that easily.
As I stated last week, my vision for us this year is, we will - - - -
Awaken to a deeper faith and stronger unity, coming alive together in Christ to accomplish His mission.
We’ve looked at awakening. Granted that’s not always easy to do. How many of us in the morning hit the snooze button repeatedly. So, we know physical and spiritual awakening is not easy. And how many of us are hitting the spiritual snooze button?
So, as we move forward . . . how do we gain a deeper faith? Honestly, it takes work. It takes time. It’s not always easy and fluid. But the benefits and outcomes of spiritual growth outweigh the malaise and spiritual sleep.
I can give you a litany of things to do . . .
Read and study the Bible
Pray and listen to God
Praise & Worship God
Choose and practice forgiveness
Be thankful
Choose joy
Go to Bible Study / Sunday School
Serve others
Practice gratitude
Give your offerings
Practice spiritual disciplines
That sounds exhausting.
In reality, we can’t do all of those and feel like we’re accomplishing something, because it would lead us to check boxes simply finishing a task.
You see, Scripture never treats the mind as neutral. I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about that. God doesn’t look at us with neutral minds. Our minds are always filled with something. What is it?
What you think about God shapes how you trust Him. It also shapes how you live your life. What you think about yourself shapes how you live. What you think about the future shapes how you hope.
And here’s an uncomfortable truth - - - -
An awakened heart trapped in an unrenewed mind will eventually burn out.
Because old thinking pulls us back into:
Fear instead of faith
Cynicism instead of hope
Control instead of trust
It’s the image of putting new wine into old wineskins that Jesus spoke about. The new wine will ferment and burst the old wineskins and we’ll be crying over spilled wine.
And it also leads to unresolved shame. We shame ourselves for never becoming the person we really believe God called us to be. We can’t get past that . . . . until we make the spiritual changes.
Solomon tells us to guard our hearts. Paul tells us to renew our minds. Don’t be conformed to the world. It’s so easy to be conformed to the world and just settle for what the world offers.
Yet, God offers us something that is so much greater. He offers Himself. So, renew your minds. We already have something on our minds. And we need to change or at least filter what we’re allowing in.
Am I saying you can’t watch a movie or TV show or not listen to music? NO! Enjoy life, but be aware of what’s going in. What goes in, must come out.
The goal is to allow God to transform you. Allow God to enter into you. We’re going to talk about this very aspect in 2 weeks.
It’s seeking from God what is truly a good, acceptable, and perfect use of my life for His purposes and not just for my own. And that’s not easy. Because we have our wants and desires that often go against what God wants for us.
Then, we justify a lot of what we do, because we’re not grounded in who God has called us to be. So, the call is to have a deeper faith, a passionate faith, a growing faith.
Listen to what Paul wrote in Colossians 3. It’s a call to a new direction in our lives - - - -
1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
Notice how Paul wrote this, and remember, he’s writing to believers. He starts out with IF — —
If you have been raised with Christ. If that’s true, then Paul tells us we should be seeking the things that are above. We should be focused on the things which are of God, not the world.
Then as we seek what’s above, we set our minds on the things that are above as well. Again, Paul says, not on the things of the earth. Not on the worldly pursuits, but on the God ordained pursuits.
Does that mean you can’t seek a better job or a pay raise? Of course not!
Does it mean you can’t buy a new home or car or clothes? Of course not!
But what is the guiding or underlying hope and purpose you have in acquiring those possessions? That’s a God issue.
Believing in Christ is great, we have this amazing hope of eternal life, but life in Christ is not just about eternity. It’s about living the life God has given us. Living it passionately for Jesus, making a difference in the world.
You don’t just feel differently — you think differently. Awakened people learn to ask better questions:
“Is this thought leading me toward God or away from Him?”
“Is this story I tell someone else breaking a confidence?”
“Am I gossiping or slandering, are these words going to glorify God?”
“Is this fear rooted in truth or assumption?”
“Is this narrative shaping my faith or shrinking it?”
Let’s name it plainly. We fall asleep mentally when:
We replay worst-case scenarios
We rehearse old wounds
We assume the worst about people
We interpret life through fear instead of faith
And here’s the edge:
Sometimes we think we’re spiritually oppressed — when in fact, we’re spiritually undisciplined.
I know that’s brutal. But it’s true. I am one of the undisciplined. I can’t tell you how many times my pastor friend Tim and I talk about spiritual disciplines, and then the next year, we’re still talking about them.
We say we’re going to read the Bible and then we don’t. We make excuses. We say we’re going to pray, and we don’t. And we feel shame. We say we’re going to attend worship, but something comes up and we don’t!
The world pulls at us, that’s why Paul tells us set your mind on things of God, not on the earthly things.
Paul doesn’t say, “Pray harder and hope your thoughts change.”
He says: Renew your mind. Let me give you my belief on this. I believe we avoid the renewing of our minds, because we base too much of life on our feelings. It seems easier to do.
And when we base life on feelings, we start asking questions like - - - -
How do I feel today?
How does my heart feel? You know, follow your heart.
How do I feel about my job?
How do I feel about my wife?
How do I feel about worship?
How do I feel about the preacher? And on and on
When we live this way, we miss out on the transforming power of God, because it ignores the renewing of the mind.
Yes, God gave us an ability to feel and think. There’s nothing wrong with both. God has given us the gift of compassion and feelings and at the same time commands us to be transformed by our minds.
But if we live life according to our feelings, then we’re missing out on really knowing and experiencing God’s power.
We can’t just sit back and look at our feelings and then do whatever. Instead, we must consider what is true according to God’s Word.
For me, it’s a duality, guard your heart and renew your mind.
It means being open to be that vessel which allows God to pour into us.
Then, Paul tells us in Philippians 4 — What you feed will grow - - - -
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, THINK about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me — practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. - Philippians 4
Paul’s simply telling us to do what? To THINK about all of these whatever's. Keep your mind focused on God! Not on the world! Think about whatever is . . .
true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable
That’s not Mel Robbins power of positive thinking. That’s holy focus. Paul’s telling us - - - - we don’t have control over every thought that enters our mind — but you have responsibility for what you dwell on.
What you feed grows. What you starve weakens. And some of us are feeding the wrong things.
So, Paul adds, whatever you’ve learned, received, heard or seen, practice them.
And when we start doing that, Paul adds, the God of peace will be with you.
That’s not a heart decision, that’s a transformed mind making those decisions. And because of this, we begin to experience something new and different.
Remember the call from last week? From Ephesians 5:14 - - - -
14 “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
You see, we don’t stay spiritually awake by emotional moments alone. We stay awake by choosing what we allow to shape our thinking.
We guard our minds and we deepen our faith. Awakening isn’t sustained by hype, hype always comes to an end — it’s sustained by renewed truth.
Have you ever seen a sports team get all hyped up before a game? Then the game starts and after they lose, they talk about being flat and not ready! What happened to all of the hype? It quickly fades.
Let me bring us home — — —
God is not asking you to empty your mind. He’s asking you to fill your mind with Him. He’s asking you to submit your mind to Him. Let God change your mind and your heart.
God doesn’t want to shame us for every wrong thought — instead He wants us to invite Him into the conversation. That changes us.
Transformation doesn’t happen when feelings change — it happens when thinking does.
I want to slow down as we come to the end.
Ask yourself:
What thought pattern keeps pulling me back?
What lie do I keep believing about God or myself?
What fear has defeated God’s Word?
Last week, we prayed the simple prayer,
Lord, awaken my spirit!
I want to give you a thought for this week.
This week, when a negative or anxious thought shows up, or you’re feeling fear or shame . . . or words are ready to come flying out of you, ask 1 question - - - - -
“Is this thought leading me toward Christ — or away from Christ?”
If it leads you away — release it.
Replace it with God’s truth.
Even if it feels forced at first.
Awakened hearts require renewed minds to stay awake. We are not powerless over our thoughts.
We have been raised with Christ. AND
We are being renewed by His Spirit. AND
We are learning to think differently.
Go this week:
Not ruled by fear
Not trapped by old narratives
Not asleep in your thinking
But awake.
Awakening begins in the heart — but it is sustained in the mind. Be transformed by the renewal of your mind.
