AHF Study 16(2): Renewing Your Mind 2.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Rom.12:2)
Knowing The Perfect will of God.
It is not possible to fulfil God’s purpose for our lives without knowing His perfect will. However, If our minds are not renewed, we can’t know God’s perfect will for our lives. This is so because we are faced with choices at every point of decision, of which only one is God’s perfect will. We will never make the right choice except we have a renewed mind.
Our decision determines who we become, hence, the necessity of renewing our minds. We are faced with different choices every day of our lives. The point of decision is where we either terminate our Christian journey or continue with it.
Your experience of conversion isn’t what determines your relevance in God’s plan, regardless of how authentic it is. To remain a Christian is a decision. You might start the day as a Christian, but if you make the wrong choice at the point of a decision you will cease to be a Christian.
Don’t Be Trapped In The Past
The righteousness or the waywardness of the past has nothing to do with the present. It is in continually doing the will of God that you maintain your status with God. You must ensure that you erase the past from your memory.
Many times our commendable past traps us from entering into the glorious future that we are yet to explore. Remember the prodigal son? The waywardness of his past had nothing to do with the father’s celebration, neither did the past righteousness of his elder brother had anything to do with the father’s decision. It was all about their present decision.
We will always come to a point in our life when we have to make a choice. Our choice determines whether the righteousness of the past will be cancelled or it will be connected with the present, such that we win credibility with God as a beloved son or daughter, which in turn determines our entering into purpose.
You’re Not Alone In Making The Right Choice
God is always available to help us make the right choice. The Bible is also at our reach to guide our decisions. The Holy Spirit is likewise available to help us make the right choice. We shouldn’t make our decisions based on what we see, rather on what we hear from God.
Your choice determines if the things God has spoken concerning you will be established or transferred. Christ had handed over the keys of the Kingdom to Peter. But there came a point in his life when he had to make a decision. God had appointed him as the apostle of the gospel to the Jews and Gentiles, but he lost that appointment when he made the wrong choice in Acts 10:9–16 — he refused God’s offer for him. The appointment was then transferred to Paul.
If you do not permit the teachings you hear, the word you are exposed to, and the dealings you have under God to do thorough work in your mind, it might lead to your downfall tomorrow. Peter had the vision three times, and he refused God’s offer each time because he never permitted God’s word to renew his mind.
Change Your Belief System
By renewing our mind, we are renovating our belief system. Many times, the things we have heard decades ago form our mindset, and we hold on to it so tightly, thereby demoting us in God’s plan. We must be ready to let go the knowledge of yesterday to lay hold of the fresh revelation from God.
Our thinking pattern should be based on the word of God and not the configuration of the old man. Until we are willing to bend the old for the new, we will forever remain the same way we are when we came to Christ. We will never fulfil God’s purpose that way.
Naturally, the human pattern of thought challenges God’s authority. We question Him on things He says which seems unreasonable. Abraham wasn’t like that when God told him to sacrifice Isaac. If Abraham’s mind wasn’t renewed, he would have questioned God severally:
Why would God have promised me a son for 25 years and still request for the same child as a sacrifice? Could it be the same God that said I should send Ishmael away, that He would call out my seed from Isaac? Could God be asking me to sacrifice the same Isaac through whom the nations of the earth will be blessed?
Most times when we ask questions like this, which challenge God, we lose our sleep. How long will you continue this way? Do you want the old life to deny you of the inexhaustible freshness of the new life? See to it that your mind is renewed, and you’ll enjoy Christ’s life.
This article is extracted from a series of Bible Study Teachings AT HIS FEET. Click here to download the full audio message or watch the video below:
