In the Bible a renewed mind is the key to transforming your walk with God. You will not experience the abundant life of God with an old mentality.
Let’s read the cornerstone passage about the renewed mind.
1 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
2 Do not conform 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.”
Romans 12:1-2 NIV
There are a lot of things in life you cannot change. But you have the power to change your mindset! You can change your mindset by renewing your mind through the truth.
Paul the apostle said “ I beg you, I urge you, I plead with you that you do two things:
1- “Offer your body to God as a living sacrifice” and
2- “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind”.
He was pleading and begging for the believers to offer their bodies as living sacrifices!
He was saying: Serve the Lord , use your body for God’s Kingdom, don’t be lazy, do not neglect to serve the Kingdom of God.
Nowadays Christians say that Jesus is their Lord but they don’t sacrifice their lives, they don’t offer their bodies and their time to God. They don’t have time for God’s Kingdom.
Do you know what it means to offer your body as a “living sacrifice” in a practical way?
Wake up early in the morning for prayer meetings is a “living sacrifice” (it means that you are not going to die if you do that).
When we are tired after a day of hard work and we go to our Cell meetings, or you go to Bible study, or to Conquerors School, when you serve in one of church’s teams, or we visit or disciple someone that needs Jesus. This is a living sacrifice.
I beg you, I plead you, put God first in your life and offer your body as a living sacrifice to God.
2- “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind”
Paul’s second request to the believers was: Change your mindset, because you’re serving Jesus with your old mindset and your minds need to be transformed.
If you serve God with your old mindset you will not experience the will of God that is good, perfect and pleasant. When you change your mindset you change your actions, when you change your mind you will end up offering your body as living sacrifice.
Transformed mind, transformed life!
There is nothing as powerful as a changed mindset. You can change your hair, your clothing, your spouse, your church, your address, but if you don’t change your mind, you will live the same life and commit the same mistakes over and over again, because everything outwardly changed but nothing changed in the inside.
Coming to church is very important but if the word that you receive here doesn’t change the pattern that you were in before you will continue living your life as you’ve always done.
Until you change your mindset (your default settings) you will always go back to being who you were before because you’ve never changed your ways.
You can move countries, you change your friends, you change your addresses, you change your job, you can change everything but if you haven’t change your mind you won’t achieve any new results.
“For as man thinks in his heart, so is he.”
Proverbs 23:7
Your life is the result of your decisions, just as you think, so you are! Where you are today, what you are living today, the diploma you have, what you know about God, is the result of the decisions taken by your mind.
We are transformed by the renewing of our mind. Without a transformed and new mind you will repeat the same mistakes.
You can buy a new car, but if you put your old self in a new car, you still are going to have the old experience. Is not a new house that’s going to give you a new marriage, it’s not a new job that will give you a better life, it’s not a new outfit that will make you a new person, is not the miracle that you are waiting for that will transform your life.
What we need is a transformed mind, then we will have a transformed life.
Jesus said I came to give you life, an abundant life, but new life comes from a new mindset and new way of looking at your life. You cannot enter into the new that God has for you with your old mentality.
I told you in the first part of this message, that after all these years of serving the Lord, I see that there are many people inside the churches with minds have not been transformed by the word of God.
They changed their attitudes, changed some of their behaviours, but they still have a mindset shaped by their family’s traditions, by the culture of their country, by the teachings of their father, their mother, teachers, the internet and things they’ve learned in the world.
Do you know what is the worst part? Many times I have tried to help these people and they do not accept my advices, they insist that say they are right, they are okay.
When you do not obey the principles of God’s Word and you don’t walk under spiritual advice and authority you are destroying your future because of your old mentality.
You can not enter into the new that God has for you with your old mentality.
I have heard people saying: Why do I keep doing to the same thing over and over again? I go to church, I tithe, I fast, I sing.
The Lord is saying to you: your problem is your old mentality which needs to be transformed.
Stop blaming God who is unchanging, stop blaming the devil because he is under your feet, stop blaming people, your leader, your pastor and your church. The Bible says that when you renew your mind through the Word of God you will experience the will of God in your life.
Your life will not be transformed if your mind is not renewed.
Transformed mind, transformed life!
What is important are not the circumstances around you or the size of your problem, but what you believe with your mind. What your mind believes, that is what is possible.
You need to say to yourself: I’m getting ready to change some “defaults of thinking”, I’m going to stop falling back into the same thing over and over again.
I’m going to renew my mind so that I can have a “new normal”!
That’s what repentance is: a new normal, a new way of thinking!
You have to say: I’m going to stop falling back into the same old patterns, the same old default.
To get a good education is to change your default, you need to change your mindset about all you can’t do, what you can’t be, what you can’t have ,
Transformed mind and transformed life starts with true repentance.
Repentance is the first step for a transformed mind, repentance leads to life. It means getting right before God. When you repent, you’re transformed.
Our English Bible often interpret repentance as being sorry, being remorseful. Repentance is a lot more than a feeling of guilt or regret.
Do you know what means to repent? There are two words in the Bible for repentance
Repentance in Hebrew : תשובה, “Teshuva” (Old Testament) means to return. Teshuva is returning to what is right and pure.
Repentance in Greek μετανοέω “Metanoeo” (New Testament) means a change of mind or reorientation.
The word “teshuva” is not a state of mind, it is a decision.
It is deciding to turn away from where you were headed and moving back toward God. To regret a misdeed is only a step in the process of “teshuva” (repentance).
It is regretting our sin and showing remorse, yes. And it is also committing to a new path. Because this return path of correction and truth leads to true freedom.
The Greek word for repentance, “metanoeo”, is about reconsideration .
This term is used to describe the change of one’s mind or purpose for the better.
The three steps found in “metanoeo” are:
- new knowledge
- regret for the previous course or displeasure with one’s self
- a change of action
As you can see, the word repentance means to change one’s will, mind, or purpose for the better. When we repent, we are turning back to God, turning away from sin, and changing our actions to obey His will.
Many people cry, they are emotional but never go through true repentance! Better than being emotional is taking decisions. I dare you to make a decision, to return back to God, to return to holiness, and to change your mind.
Do you remember the prodigal son?
He was in the pigpen, surrounded by pigs. He was smelling like a pig, he was about to eat pig’s food, he was still in poverty but the Bible says that: He came to himself and changed his mind.
He didn’t change his clothes, he didn’t change his circumstances, he didn’t change anything else, but he changed his mind!
The pigs could not hold him, his shame could not hold him, his poverty could not hold him. The disgrace couldn’t hold him. Nothing can hold you when you change your mind. I dare you change your mind. If you change your mind you change your life!
I dare you to make a decision, Better than any emotions is a decision!
Our mind is like a computer, which has a program and the computer obeys the program that has been set. Inside of the CPU (Central Processing Unity) there is a motherboard, which is the brain of the computer and the computer works based on the information that is there, that is the default settings.
The “default” is a particular set of instructions which a computer always uses unless the person using the computer gives other instructions.
If you want the computer to work differently, you need to put new default settings in it.
In the same way that the computer needs someone to change “its way of thinking”, you also need someone to change the old settings of your life.
Please listen to your pastor and leaders, listen to the word of God, because you will need help to change these old settings in your life.
Listen: Once you change the old settings you have a “new normal”!
When you enter this “new normal” even if you sin, you will not living in sinning.
Both the pig and the sheep can fall into mud but the difference is in their default behaviours. The default of the pig is rolling in the mud, and enjoying it. The sheep has a default that says: I don’t belong in this mess. I might be in this mess but I don’t belong here. The sheep will cry and scream and yell and fight because it doesn’t belongs in the mud.
When you have a transformed mind, life might make you worry sometimes, you may be tempted to go back to your old self, but because of your new “default settings” you will say, I don’t belong here, Faith will rise up and drive your worry back and say:
“God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,”
Ephesians 3:20 NKJV
This type of change is only possible where there is the conviction of the Holy Spirit. You need to listen to His voice saying: You are going to the wrong direction, turn back.
That conviction of the Holy Spirit gives you the power to enact change.
This message is for you, this is the moment for you to finally change your old mentality, this is the moment for you to change your settings. This is a time for repentance. This is not about emotions, it’s a decision, you need to make a decision to change your direction.
Repent and offer your body the One who bought you and paid a high price!
God bless you!