Day #179: Romans 12:2

BACKGROUND:

When believers offer their entire self to God, a change will happen in their relation to the world. Christians are called to a different lifestyle than what the world offers with its behavior and customs, which are usually selfish and often corrupting (Galatians 1:4; 1 Peter 1:14). Christians are to live as citizens of a future world. There will be pressure to conform, to continue living according to the script written by the world, but believers are forbidden to give in to that pressure.

But refusing to conform to this world’s values must go even deeper than the level of behavior and customs—it must go to the transforming of the way we think. Believers are to experience a complete transformation from the inside out. And the change must begin in the mind, where all thoughts and actions begin. Much of the work is done by God’s Spirit in us, and the tool most frequently used is God’s word.

As we memorize and meditate upon God’s word, our way of thinking changes. Our minds become first informed, and then conformed to the pattern of God, the pattern for which we were originally designed. When believers have had their minds transformed and are becoming more like Christ, they will know what God wants and they will want to do it for it is good, pleasing to God, and perfect for them.

SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world." This ties in with the idea of dedication, which we looked at yesterday. One of the reasons we're not dedicated to the Lord is because we're dedicated to the world.

When he talks about world he's not talking about the people in the world. The Bible says God loves the people in the world. He's talking about the world's values system. Don't be caught up in the spirit of the age -- "me first". That's the world's philosophy. Don't be conformed to that. He's not talking about things. He's talking about values. The Phillips Translation says: "Don't let the world squeeze you into its mold." Have you ever felt pressured by the world to conform? "That's the way everybody's doing it!"

How can the Christian relate to the world when he's living in the world but not of the world? The Christian's relationship to the world is not isolation and it's not imitation, it's insulation. Most Christians go to one of two extremes when it comes to relating to the world.

Some are isolationists. "I don't want to have anything to do with the world. Therefore I won't go to any movies, watch any television. I won't dress like the world does. I wear a different standard." They may go live in a monastery and become a monk. That's not the secret. If we isolate ourselves how are we going to win the world.

Some Christians are imitators. They imitate the world. Whatever the world does, I'll do it too. I want to fit in. The Bible says, don't imitate the world's values -- Get all you can, can all you get, set on the can and spoil the rest! If it feels good do it. Dog eat dog world!

It's not isolation or imitation. It's insulation. I love seafood. The first thing you have to do even before you taste it is to put a little salt on it. That sea bass has spent his entire life in salt water and yet when they cooked it and I ate it I had to put salt on it. If God can keep a fish in salt water all its life and let the salt not permeate it's body, God can keep the Christian in a non Christian world and keep you pure. That's insulation.

Paul is saying culture is a totally unreliable source for getting your guidance in life. Don't be conformed to this world. If everybody else is doing it, must it be OK? NO! Most people make their decisions on what is acceptable. We like to conform and we don't like to stick out. Every year magazines like U.S. News and World Report put out articles that tell us what's in and what's out. That's what you call living by the culture of this world. You're going to get your guidance in life from one of two sources -- the world or the word.

If you want to know God's will don't get your cues from the world. The problem today is that many Christians automatically accept whatever standard the world is saying even if God says it's wrong. Exodus 23:2 says, "Don't follow the crowd in doing wrong." The majority is not always right. 1 John 2:17 says, "The world and its desires pass away but the person who does the will of God abides forever."

It's simple logic that most people in the world are not following God's will. It's obvious. If you're following what most people are doing you're not going to follow God's will. You can't discover it by always worrying about what other people think.

Where do you get your cues in life on? Where do you get your guidance? What do you base your life on? the Bible? How many minutes a week do you read the Bible? How many minutes a week do you watch television? Where are you getting your values?

The boob tube is an incredible influence on our lives. What if I call you and say "I'd like to come over to your house and tell you some stories. I'll tell them to you in graphic detail -- juicy stories about adultery, rape, violence. I want you to bring your family and I'll talk with you about this." Of course you wouldn't allow that. But we will watch television and let somebody else tell it to us.

I think America has lost its ability to blush. What is your tolerance level? What does it take before you'll get up and change channels? What's your limit? Psychologists say that everything you see goes into your subconscious. Don't get your cues from the world. It's the principle of G.I.G.O - Garbage In - Garbage Out.


If you want to know God's will first dedicate yourself -- be totally sold out to Jesus Christ. Second, insulate yourself.

Third, is the principle of transformation. "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." He's talking about the Holy Spirit changing us on the inside so we will know His will. The word in Greek is the word we get our metamorphosis. God metamorphosizes us. He changes the very nature of our personality. Psychologists say that your basic personality is set by the time you're aged three or four.

But your personality can be changed. God is in the business of metamorphosis. Thank God I'm not stuck in my past. Maybe you've had a bad past, mistreated, a lot of bad experiences in life, but God says "I can do a metamorphosis. I can change you from a lowly caterpillar into a butterfly." You can be free. You can fly. But the cocoon has got to go. The cocoon is the old ways, habits, patterns. Don't be conformed any more.

1 John 3:2 says, "Dear friends now we are children of God and what will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears we shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is." Scripture says one day when you see Jesus Christ perfectly, when He returns or when you go be with Him in heaven, you are going to be instantly changed to be just like Him. That's the total metamorphosis.

In the meantime - 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, "And we who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory are being transformed into His likeness with ever increasing glory which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit." We're being changed to be like Christ, more and more, on a daily basis, little by little. Unveiled faces? Remember when Moses went up the mountain to get the Ten Commandments and God let him get a glimpse of Him.

When he came down from the mountain his face was shining brightly because he had seen God. The people said, Moses your face is shining so bright we can't stand it! So he had to put a veil over his face to protect the people. The only thing is, after a while that glory faded and Moses didn't want the people to know it was gone so he kept wearing the veil. Paul says, we don't wear a veil but we reflect the Lord's glory.

The word "reflect" -- that's the only time that word is used in the New Testament. It literally means "to contemplate", "to look at". The more I look at God, the more I look at Jesus Christ, the more I'm changed to be like Him.

How do you look at the Lord? through the Bible, His book. As I look at Christ through His book, as I read more and more about Him, I'm changed and I become more and more like Him and I'm transformed.

Romans 12. First step is dedication -- commit yourself totally to Christ. Second, insulation -- separate your self from the world, not physically but in the spiritual sense. Then transformation -- that takes place by the renewing of your mind.

The key to changing your life is to change the way you think. The Scripture teaches that the way we think determines the way we feel, and the way we feel determines the way we act. If I'm acting depressed, it's because I'm feeling depressed, and I'm feeling depressed because I'm thinking depressed thoughts. Most people try to change themselves by changing the way they feel or the way the act, rather than going to the source and changing the way they think. You cannot change the way you feel. You can't command a feeling, but God can change your mind.

All through Scripture the Bible teaches, "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind." All change starts in your thought life. Scripture says, "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he." Ephesians talks about putting on the new mind.

The question then is, "How do I renew my mind?" Psalm 119:9 says, "How can a young man keep his ways pure? By living according to Your word. I seek you with all my heart. Do not let me stray from Your commands. I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You." The way you change your life is to reprogram your mind with the word of God. The more you fill your life, your mind, with God's word the more it transforms your life.

Will you today - commit to God - that you will begin reading His word daily? Come on, go for it. You can do it.

I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course.