Daring to Transform Compilation

 In the world today we are exposed to the ideas of singularity, conformity and pop culture. We are told many things that go against the Bible are perfectly acceptable to do. We know this to be common occurrences with in the church and lead many to fall away from the teachings of Christ. Giving way to this line of thinking allows a separation to begin between God and us. In my previous blog, Helpful Points Missions*, I discussed this idea in length. For those of you who read my section on this before we will be reiterating most of what was talked about before. For those of you who are new joining us (those who did not follow HPM) this will hopefully be a fresh take on a commonly used topic within the church.

The verse in the Bible that best describes this idea is found in the book of Romans vereses 12:1-2. In these vereses the apostle Paul writes that we are to give ourselves as sacrifices to God and to be not conformed to this world but, transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we can see God's will for our lives. Now before we go any further, let's look at that word "sacrifice" and understand what it truly means. When we hear the word sacrifice we think to kill something or burn it. Where we are not wrong in this thinking, the word sacrifice also means to give something up. In this verse it refers to giving up our sinful nature and allowing God to take over. This in a sense is the laying to rest of our sinful nature and the beginning of our transformation. We are to give up everything to God and lay it all at His feet; our pride, wealth, family, marriage, friendship, career, everything is supposed to be laid at His feet. When we sacrifice our lives to Him and give Him an empty shell of ourselves, we allow Him to fill us and raise us up to be the completed figure that He intended us to be. It is only when we are broken and before His feet can we truly see His face and His plan for us. When we stand completely abandoned of all things and remain silent to hear His voice we have surrendered our lives to Him. He takes us at this point and creates a new person out of our beautifully broken mess and makes all things new. We are broken and destroyed in our state before Him and stand completely separated from His will but, when He fills us He does not destroy the shell; He creates a new beginning for us with a new set of goals and out look on life. He does not create all new things instead makes all things new. He is not a god of destruction and chaos; He is a God of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control. In Him all things are not destroyed but, transformed into something new and beautiful. So with this, I dare you to not allow the patterns of this life to to consume you but, to allow the powers of God to renew you and complete the work that He started in you.

"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. 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)
*Helpful Points Missions was dissolved late 2012. The blog is no longer available for viewing. 

After the last time we met, the Dare to Series blog went under some major renovations. Ironically enough this happened after the topic of transforming our minds and not being conformed to the world. After some thought I decided to continue on this topic of transformation for just a bit longer as a mini series.  In the next few days I will be adding tabs to make the navigation of these series easier to follow. What I really want to talk about here is the life after the transformation of our minds.

After we give our lives completely over to Christ, we must remember that He controls all things and knows how everything will end up for us. Everyday we breathe a new breath, the idea of Christ holding us together and allowing us to do so becomes overwhelming. This is no better talked about in the letter from Paul to the Philippians. In the book Paul says "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain" (Phil.1:21 NIV). This statement is the purest form of surrender and trust. In this one statement Paul states that he does not worry about the next hour, day, week, month or any length of time. He knew everyday was a gift and was given to us because Christ has a purpose for our lives. The only reason we are alive is because we have a purpose. Even with this profound declaration, Paul takes it to a whole different level when he said for him to die would be gain to him. He had nothing to fear, no second thoughts of what awaited him after the grave. He showed no fear because he sought the face of Christ for strength when all seemed to be going wrong. Even when he waited for the day of his execution, he showed no less faith then he did at the beginning of his ministry. If Paul could trust Christ to the graves of martyrdom, why can't we trust him with our daily lives. Paul trusted Christ so much he did not fear death but, found it to be a reward. If we are to truly trust Christ we need to put our daily lives into His hands and have faith enough to know He will take care of us. We should not fear what tomorrow brings because Christ is in control and will not allow anything to happen to you that is not for the good of the kingdom. Everything can be used of Christ. So, if you allow your mind to be transformed now is time to begin anew and not fear because if Christ is for us, then who can be against us. Dare to start over and not fear because to live is Christ and to die is eternal gain.