Trading Spaces
How to Be Redesigned from the Inside Out
INTRO:
Real salvation is not getting man out of earth into heaven…but getting God out of heaven into man.
- I want to talk to you today about “Trading Spaces” –How to be Redesigned from the Inside Out.
- P/T: When I made that most important decision of my life to become a Christ follower – I gave all I knew of me to all I knew of Him!
- The Bible says that God’s Spirit stepped into my life on that day and His presence inhabited my humanity—I became a dwelling place with a royal resident.
I Corinthians 6:19-20, “19Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
- I traded a selfish life for a surrendered life.
I traded a self-centered life for a God-centered life.
- But God did not stop his redesigning process in my life and in your life just with salvation…He wants to make you more like Jesus.
EXPLANATION OF T.V. SHOW:
Trading Spaces. People agree to let their family or friends or neighbors come in and redecorate a room in their home, while they do the same to the other person’s house. Needless to say, it can get quite interesting with some of the things they come up with. Sometimes things get really messed up and the people aren’t happy. Other times, the rooms were in desperate need for a facelift and it helped a great deal.
“The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7
Women have this thing about getting bored with their appearance. Their hair, their clothing. Whatever. They feel the need to reinvent themselves every so often or they die from boredom. Guys on the other hand don’t care. I have worn my hair the same way since 1990. That’s twelve years. Some might consider that stale. I like to think of it as consistent.
Anyway, when a girl wants a new look, she goes into a salon, and often takes a picture with her. “I want to look like her.” Now in some cases, you know the stylist is thinking something like, “Girl, it would take a lot more talent than I have to make you look like that!” But there’s an image out there that they’re shooting for.
We need a spiritual image to set our sights on as well. We need to find a goal – a target to shoot for. No surprise to many of you, that goal – that image – is Jesus.
MAIN TEXT:
Ephesians 4:22-24.
”You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Before we get into talking about how to trade spaces, we need to know what the end result God wants to see in our lives…
Vs. 24, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
That’s God’s blueprint.
PROP: Now as you allow God’s Spirit to Redesign you from the Inside Out…you need to keep in mind that in the process of God redesigning you to look more like Jesus Christ…He does His part, but you must do your part.
Let me give you 3 RESPONSES we need to take to aide God’s redesigning process in our lives…
I. KEEP YOUR HOUSE CLEAN – Trade Your Sin for God’s Holiness
On Trading Spaces, the first thing they need to do is come in and get rid of everything that can’t be used. They tear up carpet, throw out old furniture. They clean house. They can’t really do much else until all of the old junk is gone.
The reason we don’t feel the need to get rid of the junk in our lives is because we get used to it.
- We’ve lived with our mess for so long that it doesn’t even bother us.
- The hardest part about turning your life around is recognizing the need to do it.
- ILLUS: A group of college boys wanted to keep the football mascot (which was a live goat); so they made some elaborate plans to smuggle the animal into their dorm room.
”But what about the smell?” someone asked.
One boy said, ”The goat will just have to get used to it!”
- College guys may be content to live in a dirty place, but a holy God will not!
- Keeping your spiritual house clean is one of the most important responsibilities you have as a Christian.
- One of the marks of a true Christian is that he feels dirty when he has sinned.
- BIBLE ILLUS: Sin of David (adultery and murder) David cried out, “Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.” (Psalm 51:2)
o Here was a king who lived a life of royalty, bathed in a marble tub, slept on silk sheets, and wore royal robes…YET, he felt dirty when he sinned (“wash me…cleanse me.”)
- The difference between the saint and the sinner is not so much in whether they can sin. (any human being is capable of sinning).
o It is the basic attitude towards sin that makes the difference.
o The saint lapses into sin and loathes it; the sinner leaps into sin and loves it.
o Before I became a Christ follower, I was running into sin…Now that I’m saved, I’m running away from sin.
In I John chapter 1, God gives us a great lesson on spiritual housekeeping…(It has been a personal guide to me and I want to share it with you as well.)
3We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4We write this to make our[a] joy complete.
1. THE CONSEQUENCES OF A CHRISTIAN’S SIN
- This passage speaks of the joy of fellowship we can have with God…however the costly consequence of sin in the life of a Christian is the loss of this joy.
- I’ve said it before…the Christian who is out of fellowship with God is the most miserable man or woman on earth.
- That’s why David prayed, “Restore unto me the joy of my salvation.”
- IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHETHER YOU ARE BACKSLIDDEN AND AWAY FROM GOD…TAKE THE JOY TEST. (It’s very simple.)
Is there in your heart this very moment the Joy of the Lord?
o If not, you are not in fellowship with the Father.
- You say, “Wait a minute…nobody can be happy all the time.” I AGREE! But I’m not talking about happiness.
- Happiness is based on what happens…Joy is based on living in right relation to God.
- There is only one thing that can steal your joy—SIN!
And only one kind of sin can do that—YOURS!
- And by the way, It’s not what others do to you that takes away your joy. It is your reaction to what they do that can possibly take away your joy (It is our reactions, not our actions that show what we really are.)
2. The CONCEALING OF A CHRISTIAN’S SIN
- 1:6, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we (B)lie and (C)do not practice the truth”
- John repeatedly uses the phrase “if we say…”
- 1:8, “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the (B)truth is not in us.”
- There is within the human heart an inborn desire to try and hide sin.
- But the longer sin goes without confession, the worse it gets in its concealment and deception.
- ILLUS: One thing I’ve noticed is that the Christian who is beginning to grow cold (beginning to fall away)…He or she is tempted to put up a front. (He pretends to be in fellowship with God. He wants others to think he is just as spiritual as he has always been.
- BIBLE ILLUS: Moses had an encounter with God on the mountaintop. As a result, his face shone so brightly he wore a veil to hide the glory of God reflecting on his countenance.
Later, however, when the glory had faded, Moses still wore the veil. Only now he wore it not to hide the glory, but to hide the fact that the glory was no longer there.
- Many Christians in our churches are wearing a veil because the glory they once had from God has faded.
3. THE CONVICTION OF A CHRISTIAN’S SIN
- Vs. 5, “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”
- Thank God that He is light.
- Because of this, He turns the searchlight of his holiness onto those areas of our lives that should not belong.
- ILLUS: The Holy Spirit is like a doctor making an examination. If there is sin in our lives, He will put his finger on the sore spot and press hard.
He will speak to us and say something like, “You lied to your wife”
”You were harsh to your son” or “You are filled with jealousy”
4. THE CONFESSION OF A CHRISTIAN’S SIN
- 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sin…
- If God did not forgive and cleanse everything we confess, He would be unfaithful and unjust.
- Forgiveness is not a matter of our own Feelings but of God’s
Faithfulness.
- Some of you are probably thinking, “Surely God’s patience with me must be worn out…He keeps forgiving me but I keep failing.”
- LISTEN: If you have honestly confessed, He will forgive you no matter how many times He has forgiven you in that same area before.
- ILLUS: Man told Pastor, “I asked God to forgive me for this sin I committed in my past at least 1000 times!”
Pastor, “What you should have done is ask him to forgive you 1 time, and thank Him 999 times for forgiving you.”
We need to make it a normal part of our prayer lives to ask God to show us where we need to take out the trash. He will show you. The Holy Spirit is ready and willing to help you identify areas where you need to change.
II. KEEP YOUR DOORS LOCKED – Trade your Thinking for God’s Thoughts
- There is a battle going on for your mind—God wants to control it, but also Satan desires to control it.
- God wants your mind because He wants you…You are His temple (remember)
- It is quite obvious that if He does not control your thoughts, He does not control His temple.
- WHY IS THE HUMAN MIND SO IMPORTANT? Because we become what we continually think about.
o HUMOR: I think it’s a wonder I didn’t turn into a girl when I was in High School…you become what you think about.
o Proverbs 23:7, “For as [a person] thinketh in his heart, so is he.”
- Sow a thought, reap an action; Sow an action, reap a habit; Sow a habit reap a character; Sow a character, reap a destiny—IT ALL BEGINS WITH THE MIND.
- Satan also wants to capture, control, and corrupt the thought life of every person here.
- You might ask, “How does the devil gain entrance into a Christian’s thought life?” HE COMES THROUGH UNGUARDED DOORS.
- ILLUS: The Great Wall of China did not keep out the enemy. All that was necessary was to bribe the gatekeeper and the enemy came in.
UNDERSTAND THIS: Only you can control the doorway to your mind.
How Can I Keep the Doors of My Mind Locked…What Should I do when the enemy brings these negative thoughts:
1. Reject them: Stay on the offensive and be aggressive.
You can choose what you will think about.
Just because a negative thought enters your mind, does not mean that you need to sit and ponder and think about it.
- God has so engineered your mind that you cannot think 2 thoughts at one time. (So if you are thinking what is right, you cannot be thinking what is wrong.)
2. Replace them: Find a verse of Scripture to replace it.
- “Your never going to be successful” – Prov. “No good thing would you withhold from those who walk uprightly” / When I delight in you, you will give me the desires of my heart.
- “You have too many weaknesses” – 2 Cor. 12:9
- You have to fill your mind with God’s Word
- We’ve got to keep our minds filled with God’s Word…reject those negative thoughts and dwell on the promises of God’s word.
- John 8:44, The enemy cannot tell the truth.
When he brings lies about you and your family…turn it around and tell the devil just the opposite.
- Satan keeps telling you, your family isn’t going to serve God…You just keep hoping in faith (As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord)
3. Respond in just the opposite of what Satan is telling you.
- Sometimes when I feel Satan telling me not to do something (I just got confirmation…Satan said NO that means God says YES)
- Learn to think positive thoughts about your life and future.
Colossians 3:2, “Set your minds on what is above, not on what is on the earth.” (Set your mind and keep it set on the higher things.)
- “Set your mind on what God’s Word says about you…”
- IF you have a positive mind, you will have a positive life.
- Some of you may be going through some difficult times in your life
- Don’t go around thinking that your problems are insurmountable. Your own thinking will keep you in bondage and defeat. (Keep thinking about what you’re thinking about)
- You see, When you are negative, you are in agreement with the enemy…but when you are positive you are in agreement with God.
- So instead of going around thinking about your problems (how impossible everything is)…. you need to cast down those thoughts and be thinking that God is in control and he is on your side.
- You may have some high obstacles in your path, but you have to know that we serve the most high God.
*You need to quit thinking about how big your problems are, and start thinking about how big your God is.
*The bigger we make our God, the smaller our problems will become.
- Don’t let the enemy fill your mind with thoughts of unbelief and doubt
- Isaiah 26:3, “You will keep in perfect peace
the mind [that is] dependent [on You],
for it is trusting in You.
- If you want to have peace today? (frustrated, upset, no joy) then you need to ask yourself, “What am I thinking about?” What kind of unguarded doors is the enemy bringing these thoughts into my mind.
- You’ve got to get your mind going in the right direction.
ILLUS: You probably have heard the old joke of the family from the hills that made their very first visit to the big city. It was an amazing series of first experiences for this group, as they stared in awe at the size of the buildings, the noise and thickness of the traffic, the speed of the city, the bright lights, the noise of it all … it was incredible.
At some point, they stepped inside the hotel where they had secured reservations. This process took a while, and the family was a bit separated. While father and son waited at the big desk, mother and daughter wandered off, still taking in the incredible sights. None of them had ever seen anything like it.
Across the lobby was an elevator. Now you know what an elevator is, but the old man from the backwoods had never seen anything like it. He studied it carefully. The big doors on what appeared to be a big box opened, and lights blinked above the big box. Eventually, the people got out of box. Strangely, they all looked different. Something happened inside the box that changed them, the old man observed.
As he watched, an old woman slowly walked toward the box, pushed the button, and when the box opened, she stepped inside. She was bent over a bit. She had a cane. She wore the evidence of many years. Her hair was white, and in a bun.
In a few moments, the same box opened, and a beautiful, younger woman stepped out. She had long, flowing hair. Her dress spoke of the latest fashions, and her beauty was heart-stopping.
Father and son were mesmerized. Finally, the old man broke the silence.
“Son,” he said slowly, and with a lot of thought … “Go get your mother …”
Transformation, he thought, might be a grand idea!
The Good news is that God can transform you by renewing your mind.
TRANS: The doors of your temple can be shut to the enemy while its windows are open to the Lord…
III. KEEP YOUR WINDOWS OPEN – Trade your Self-Filled Life for a Spirit Filled Life
- My wife, Carrie has this new tradition she’s started in our home. Every morning when she gets up, she opens up the window in our bedroom (a fresh cool breeze blows through the entire house.)
- We need to open up our lives and allow the Holy Spirit of God to fill us.
- Someone once wrote, “The children of God have the Spirit of God to help them become like the Son of God.”
The Requirements for the Spirit Filled Life
- It is not your responsibility to persuade God to fill you with the Spirit
- “Oh God, If I could just tell you how bad I need to be filled…”
- It is not your responsibility to persuade you with the Spirit but to permit Him to do so.
- God wants to fill you with the Spirit.
PRINCIPLE 1 – Complete Commitment
- Don’t get the idea that the Holy Spirit is a force, He is a person
- When I am saved, I am filled with a person
- Never call the holy Spirit IT, but HE
- To be filled with the Spirit is to be occupied by a person.
- You are a temple and He is a person….He wants to come and take complete control of His temple.
- ILLUS: We have guests come…we are so glad to have you here…show them around the house. “Just make yourself at home, my house is your house.”
You come home and find your guests in your room, reading your bank statements, reading your old love letters, reading your will.
(Didn’t you say, make yourself at home.)
- I wonder if that is exactly what we are doing to the Spirit of God
- QUESTION: Is there any area of your life that is out of bounds with the Holy Spirit (Financial life, personal life, ambitions, etc.)
a. Have you given him the key to every room, every closet, every desk?
b. Is there any part of your life that is “off limits” to the Spirit of God that is living in you?
c. The Holy Spirit must have the key to your business life, your social life, your thought life, everything!
d. To be filled with the Spirit means that Christ occupies everything.
e. It means a complete commitment
PRINCIPLE 2 – A Continual Control
- Many times we make a commitment, but we forget the command to “Be being filled”
- Notice the contrast, “Don’t be drunk, but be filled.”
a. Liquor has been called, “The devil in liquid form.”
b. Satan uses it to take over a man’s life, his walk, his talk, he conduct, his morals all change for the worse
- But he’s also using a comparison…when a person is drunk, he is under control by that alcohol (timid person thinks he can whip every man in the bar)
- He’s saying, “Let my spirit come in and CONTROL your thoughts, your speech, your actions.”
- How does a person get drunk? By drinking.
- How does a person stay drunk? By Continually drinking
- “BE BEING FILLED!”
- I know too many Christians who were once Spirit filled but have now sobered up!
- ILLUS: Brandon’s magic coat. (Coat stand up, wave your arms, hold my Bible up).
1. You’re thinking, wait a minute…that’s not the coat, that’s the man in the coat.
2. YOUR EXACTLY RIGHT…It is God in the Man, God in the woman
3. God wants to wear you like a suit of clothes.
PRINCIPLE 3 – A Conscious Claim
- How did you get saved? You claimed Christ as Savior
- How do you get filled? You claim The Holy Spirit Filling
- Remember it is not your job to persuade the Holy Spirit to fill you but to permit Him to do so when you give him the key to every room in your house.
CONC:
- Jesus gave his life for us, in order to gives His life to us, so that he might live His life through us.
- The issue is not so much our responsibility as it is our response to His ability.
God wants to redecorate our lives, and He wants to pour himself into it.
You can’t have a genuine encounter with God and remain the same
We God gets a hold of your life, you become a different person
He wants to come in and get rid of all of your old junk, that old way of living that seemed so great. He wants to change your thinking about the way you live. And he wants to clothe you with His way of living, so that you can be the kind of person God wants you to be. Trading Spaces—that’s what God wants to do with you. Why wouldn’t you want was he has to offer?
