Good Morning All,
Romans 12:2; “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.”
Have you ever heard the phrase “I believe
in individuality…as long as we all do the same thing?” It is alright to be yourself as long as you
conform to the norms that are set out.
Even as this may sound like a safe idea, it is the devil and the world
that wants you to conform to the world.
It can occur in very subtle ways.
It can start when we are much younger and
in school. The devil wants you to
believe that you are never good enough; you are never smart enough so just sit
back and fit in like everyone else does.
As this occurs, our sinful nature not only feeds our lowered self-esteem
but it also speaks to our guilt. Not
only are we not good enough to win the prize; we are told that we are not fit
for God’s kingdom either. So a vicious
cycle begins its downward spiral of guilt, self-doubt and self-loathing.
Jesus came into the world to transform
you. He came into this world, into your
life in a way that would completely change us from what we were to what we are. We went from “lost and condemned creatures”
to “redeemed children of the most High God”.
That is a change! Our status is
completely different. We are no longer
conformed to or by the world; we are formed by God through Jesus
Yet the devil continues his whispers against
us. He continually whispers in our ear;
you are handsome enough for her; you are not pretty enough for him. They will look for someone else very soon. You are not smart enough for that job; you
lack the charisma for people to truly like you; it is all an act. The devil will hammer you over and over to
destroy the confidence in God’s promise that we have. Faith is as much a mental act as much as
anything. We don’t “feel” we are saved;
we “KNOW” we are saved. God made a
promise and we need only to cling to that promise.
So now we don’t have to conform to the
world and its view of us. Jesus has
freed us from all that the devil will try to twist us into. We are free to be the disciples which Jesus
sets out to make us. We can trust, by
faith, that God’s will is pure and good for us.
This is part of the promise that God made to his people long ago; a
promise that you and I experience. He
wants to redeem us, to be our God and to let us live our life in full
confidence of our salvation. He wants us
to enjoy our redeemed life as long as we live it here. This is part of the “already but not yet”
part of the story. We are already saved
but we are not yet glorified. We live by
grace and grace is God’s glory not yet finished.
Do not conform to the world; let Christ’s
total transformation give you hope and comfort until life eternal.
Dearest
Father, you sent Jesus to transform us into his disciples. Guard us as your dear children. Be with those whom the devil is attacking
with all those painful salvoes and give them the strength and courage to stand
tall in Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.
God’s Peace,
Pastor Bret
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