Sermon Central
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Think The Truth
Contributed by Christian Cheong on Mar 3, 2014 (message contributor)
Summary: Life change is a work of God. Guard what your mind feeds on. Think God's truth daily.
I want to give you this advice today – watch your mental diet.
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will.
The life that we have in Christ is a new life, a born-again life, a transformed life.
• It is different from the pattern of this world. It expresses the will of God – that which is good, pleasing and perfect.
• It is possible only because of Jesus Christ. Chapters 1-12 talks about the problem we were in and how God has in Christ liberated us from sin.
• By His grace and His power, through faith in Christ, we now experience a transformation – a change not of our own doing.
The word translated “transformed” is the word from which we get the English word “metamorphosis”.
• This is an inner change, which has observable outward manifestations. This is not something you cannot do yourself.
• Metamorphosis is actually beyond our understanding. We can only state plainly that a caterpillar will become a butterfly, we cannot explain why or how.
• It is the work of God. Life change is not the result of personal self-effort.
LIFE CHANGE IS A WORK OF GOD
This is our HOPE. Transformation is a work of God. It is “in view of God’s mercy” Paul says, that we are now able to “offer ourselves” to God.
• God is capable of changing us completely and He is doing it today.
• It is not reformation nor rehabilitation that we are talking about. It is a born-again life. God changes us on the INSIDE.
• The OUTSIDE expresses what is on the INSIDE. It is outflow of a new life.
You don’t have to worry about being stuck in your doldrums or problems, or even your sin, actually.
• God is in the business of changing lives and He is more than capable of doing it.
• That is, if you trust Him and allows Him to work on you.
The truth is, not all Christians are experiencing the same change. I wish I can say that every Christian looks like Christ and behaves like Christ.
• While some may be transformed quite drastically, others take a longer time. Their change is more progressive, almost imperceptible.
• Why is this so? What causes it? What really triggers spiritual growth?
This verse gives us a clue – it says we are transformed by the RENEWING of our mind. It is the renewing of our thoughts with His truth.
• It has to do with what is IN our minds, what are we thinking about or what exactly do we believe.
• And the Bible says it needs to be renewed. What was there previously wasn’t right or good or righteous.
What you put into your mind changes you! We become what we think.
GUARD WHAT YOUR MIND FEEDS ON
We need to ask, what am I putting into my minds most of the time? What am I feeding my mind with?
God cannot work in a vacuum. We got to give Him something to work on. Our minds cannot be empty of the truth of His Word.
• An idle mind is the devil’s workshop. Leave it empty and chances are we will let our fleshly desires and the world values fill it up.
• If we do not take the responsibility for what enters our mind, we are letting the devil fools us with his lies – that’s what happened to Adam and Eve.
The world is doing that very well today with its gadgets and the internet.
• Our minds can be filled with tons of information and knowledge at amazing speed.
• But they are information that belongs more to this world, not the Kingdom of God.
We surf the net and read books and get to know how a car works, what food to eat, where to go for best deals, or which way to get home quickest.
• But we know less of what God says or how He works or what is He doing in our world.
• We don’t surf the Scriptures and read its books. At least not as much.
If regular diet can make us either healthy or unhealthy, over time, then our mental diet will do the same, for our spiritual health.
• What does your mental diet looks like today? What are you feeding on? What are you taking in? Are they filtered through?
