Renew Your Mind
Romans 12:2
Message #12
One of the things I have struggled with most in twenty-three years of formal church leadership is how to help people actually be transformed, in a practical sense, by their faith in Jesus Christ. After my prayers for God’s grace to continue serving him and for God’s protection over my family, one of the things I’ve asked God most for over the years is, “What about the how? How, God? How do I help people actually have their lives truly transformed by their faith in you? Transformed in a real, tangible, and radical way? Transformed so that people can tell. Transformed so that they are a different person.”
Romans 12, verses 1-2, have been a battle cry for me all my ministry years, but we will look at only one section today. Let’s look at Romans 12, the beginning of verse 2 in the ESV.
Romans 12:2(a) (ESV)
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind…
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed. How? By renewing your mind. By getting a complete renovation of your mind. Get a new nature by getting a new mind. Not conforming to the death of this world but by being renewed in your mind and therefore being transformed.
This is the key section in these verses about our transformation, and there’s much more that goes with this statement. But this is the section we’re going to dive into today.
Be transformed – BY – renewing your mind.
We have to renew our minds in order to have our lives transformed. That’s Biblical. And the power is all God, all through the person of the Holy Spirit and the word of God. It’s about our position that’s already been given to us in Jesus Christ… but still, there is a role; there is a part that we have to play.
We have always held up high the truth that if Jesus Christ is genuinely living with full reign in our lives… we will absolutely be progressively “being transformed” into his image. It will show. Does Jesus show? Is the fruit of the Spirit showing in your life? Is there evidence of Christ’s life in you? Are you being transformed progressively into the image of Christ?
However, the thing that gets in the way of God progressively transforming us
That thing that is the hurdle to our transformation
The thing that is the stumbling block to our transformation in Jesus Christ
That thing that is the reason for our lack of transformation
Is US!!!
God’s not the problem. He’s given you positionally everything you need to live a radically transformed life. He’s given you the power to live a radically transformed life. There’s nothing left on God’s part.
The problem is, we have a role in whether our lives are going to be transformed by the life of Christ in us – or not. We have a role, and we are the weak link in the process. And so today, we’re going to talk about how we can join God in him actually transforming our lives.
Last week in our continuing study of the armor for the spiritual battle, we looked at the helmet of salvation. (Salvation for your mind.) And the focus statement we made over and over again was that where you set your mind is where you go. We talked about how the helmet of salvation guards your mind against going where it shouldn’t and guiding your mind into going where it should. And we talked about how there is one result of your salvation designed to renew your mind and transform your life.
We laid out the three results (areas) of your singular salvation.
1). Justification – the initial result – that is, Christ forgiving your sin and giving you the righteousness of Christ in his eyes to allow you into heaven.
2). Sanctification – the ongoing result – the transformation of your life
3). Glorification – the final result – that’s when you actually get to heaven, and you’re glorified, you’re in the presence of God forever, enjoying glory.
Salvation is instantaneous, by God’s grace alone and through faith alone, with no works added. There’s nothing you need to do to add to your salvation. Your salvation is set and is sure the moment you truly put your faith in Jesus Christ, it’s sure. As an equally sure part of that salvation is sanctification. Part of the singular result of your salvation is the transformation of your life, which is called sanctification. And we spent a lot of time on that second result, sanctification. Sanctification is the part of your salvation where your life is actually transformed by your faith in Christ. And right there is where we need to ask the how. How do I do this? We need to know how.
That’s why there’s discipleship. The disciples didn’t know how to follow Jesus; he just said, “Follow me.” And they followed him. And as they followed him, they learned how to follow him. It’s the same today. How do I grow in this sanctification area so that I can live a truly transformed life in Jesus Christ?
That is where we’re going today – to the HOW.
Consider this. In regard to our ongoing spiritual battle, we receive a commandment in Ephesians 6, verse 10.
Ephesians 6:10 (NLT)
10 . . . Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
Be strong in the Lord, but how do you get strong? What is required for you to become strong in the Lord? How do I stay strong in the Lord? I understand the command, be strong in the Lord. It’s not about trying; it’s about training. When God commands you to be strong in the Lord, and you say, “Okay, I’m gonna try harder to be strong in the Lord,” you get taken out every day. It’s not about trying, there’s not enough try in you, and it’s about training. But more on this in a few minutes.
I know a lot of Christians who know a lot of Bible truths about the gospel, salvation, faith, and trust in God. But they are still very, very weak when it comes to actually living a truly transformed life.
After you know the truths of the gospel, what is required for you to become strong in those truths? And what is required for you to say strong in those truths?
Repeatedly in the New Testament, Paul uses the athlete to illustrate what is required for us to be strong in the Lord.
1 Corinthians 9:25–27 (NLT)
25 All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.
26 So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing.
27 I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should . . .
Here’s a picture for you. Somebody comes up to you and says, “You’re going to win the next L.A. Marathon. I’ve had a vision, God has revealed it to me, and you’re going to win it – if you’ll start training. You’re going to win. You’ll have all the glory, all the prizes that come from winning, but you better train every day between here and there.” Do you get it? God’s already said you’re going to be glorified, and you’ve got to begin your training. You’re going to win the race, and you’ve got to develop your disciplined training because it’s part of winning the race (the part we call sanctification).
All athletes know that in order to be strong for the race, there are things you must do habitually and things you must eliminate habitually. (Do exercise, eliminate Oreos.) Again, all athletes know there are things that you bring into your life habitually, and there are things that you eliminate habitually. That’s training. In the same way, for us to be strong in the Lord and stay strong, Charles Stanley (in his book “Practicing Basic Spiritual Disciplines”) says the following:
Charles Stanley
We must take into our lives those things that produce [spiritual] strength in us, and eliminate those things that result in weakness, laziness, or spiritual compromise.
We MUST learn to take into our lives those things that produce spiritual strength and must learn how to eliminate from our lives those things that produce spiritual defeat. This requires re-training our brain. THIS requires renewing our minds to be truly transformed.
In order to be strong in the Lord – In order to stay strong in the Lord – In order to actually be transformed by our faith in Jesus – we must train ourselves for godliness.
This is something we, as the Evangelical Church as a whole, need to tell Christians. As soon as you say “the prayer of salvation” (that is putting your faith in Jesus Christ), a lifelong habit of training begins. Because it does. And maybe we as a church are not saying it loud enough or strong enough, but it does. A lifelong training begins.
In 1Timothy 4, Paul says the following to young Timothy:
1 Timothy 4:7 (ESV)
7 Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness;
There is a lot that Paul says when he is teaching his young pastors, “don’t have anything to do with that. Ignore that. Avoid that. Avoid irreverent, silly myths. Avoid babble. Avoid arguers; avoid people who cause conflict, just stay away from them.” He tells young pastors to stay away from a bunch of stuff because there are things you have to habitually bring into your life and things you have to habitually eliminate from your life.
Here’s the point.
… Rather train yourself for godliness;
And that is what we’ve got to do if we truly want to renew our mind in order to truly be transformed. The how – is training. We have to have a plan, a regimen, to train ourselves to godliness. Most Christians do not. Here’s their plan: “I try to pray, you know, and I read my small daily devotional when I have a minute while I’m walking from the kitchen or whenever.” But we don’t have a plan to train ourselves toward godliness, so our lives will be transformed.
It’s not about trying harder; it’s about training better. It’s about having a spiritual regimen to train ourselves, so our lives will be changed.
TRAINING – NOT TRYING.
But, let me pause right here for some brief explanation before we jump into the how.
First, when we talk about training ourselves for godliness, we are not talking about some set of legalistic demands that we must achieve in order to earn some type of religious position or gold star from God. This is not about doing more, achieving more, or being better at looking like a Christian. It’s not “I must…, I must…, I must…” It is not effort, for effort’s sake. We’re not talking about doing more; we’re talking about having a deeper relationship. We’re not talking about achieving more; we’re talking about knowing Jesus better. There is a huge difference.
This is about learning how to allow the life of Jesus Christ to well up inside you until it bursts out in a transformed life. It can’t help it. There’s so much Jesus welling up in that it bursts out. And when it bursts out, it looks like Jesus. It looks like a transformed life.
This is not about a legalistic effort; it is about growing in a supernatural relationship with Jesus.
Next, a pendulum (of sorts) has developed in our part of evangelical Christianity regarding the area that has been traditionally called “The Spiritual Disciplines.” There are some who have taken the spiritual disciplines too far and have gone into Eastern Mysticism and other really non-biblical stuff, and we do need to be careful about the non-biblical stuff. That’s one side…
But then, there are also the Evangelical “Watch Dogs” who attack anyone who uses the phrase “Spiritual Disciplines,” assuming that if someone used that phrase, they must be referring to the non-biblical stuff that some are teaching.
The devil, of course, loves both of these extremes because his only goal is to keep Christians weak, defeated, and (most of all) away from the intimate presence of God, which is what both extreme views do.
So, just to be clear, I am not talking about the non-biblical stuff that is currently being associated with the phrase “spiritual disciplines” in some circles. I am talking about the purely Biblical “training for godliness.” And “training for godliness” is absolutely what creates truly transformed followers of Jesus Christ. This is why the enemy does whatever he can, in any way he can, to keep you from these great truths, because biblical “training for godliness” will absolutely bring real, lasting, radical transformation into your life, which will be a huge defeat for your enemy.
So, let’s just list the primary biblical areas we would consider “training for godliness,” meaning the areas that if you will set yourself to grow in, your mind will be renewed, and your life will be transformed. However, this is not some mandatory list that you must begin doing to get an “A” with God. These are the areas where we truly meet God and where we build a personal relationship with Jesus Christ that will truly transform our lives.
Training for Godliness
1). Meditating on God’s Word (in our quiet time)
2). Taking in God’s Word (by any other means)
3). Prayer (aligned with God’s Word)
4). Worship
5). Fasting
6). Serving
7). Giving
8). Discipleship
9). Perseverance
This is not a definitive or complete list; it’s just to make it clear… there are many ways, and in many areas that God renews our minds and transforms our lives, and in each of these areas, the Holy Spirit trains you for godliness.
Isaiah 30:15 (NLT)
15 This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength...”
So let’s look at the how in just one of these areas today, but know there is a how in each of these areas. You just have to “set yourself” to learning it.
The area we’ll do the how on today is my personal favorite – meditating in God’s Word. I believe the “training” God puts us through during our (correctly approached) quiet time with him is…
The most important of all the training
The most transforming of all the training
Our minds are renewed, and our lives are transformed as we rest in God’s presence, as we are immersed in our relationship with him.
I do realize that different people (different personality types) will be drawn to different “areas” of “training for godliness.” That is why God renews our minds and transforms our lives in each of these training areas. But learning to spend time alone with God, meditating on his Word, and learning to pray and worship in his Word, I believe, is foundational for every relationship with Jesus.
I have taught the scriptural background and focus for this in numerous messages, so I can’t teach it again here. Get the first two messages in “The Fundamentals” series and “Abide in the Word” message in the “Abide” series.
But right now, we’re just going to pull out our secret weapon to help people learn how to do this and go through it. It’s called “The Daily Devotion Journal.”
At the end of this message, there is a page titled “The Daily Devotional.” And I want to show you how to use a simple “pie” tool that we developed in order to train people how to meditate on God’s Word.
The reason I’m doing this is to show you in every area of your “training for godliness,” there is a HOW. So, if you would say, “How do I meditate on God’s Word,” I would say, “Let me help you. Let me show you.” How do I just take in God’s Word? I’ll show you. How do I pray (according to God’s Word)? How do I worship according to God’s Word or in God’s Word? I’ll show you. There is a how for every spiritual discipline, and you have to set yourself to learn. You’ve got to say, “I’m going to learn how to do that. I’m going to do this for God.”
So, this is an example. This is how we teach people to meditate on the Word of God. All the instructions are on the second page or the back if you’re holding the paper we gave you. We call this the Daily Devotion Journal, and it’s been around for years, but it is good to re-visit it and re-teach it.
In the how of teaching this, the process is “bookended” with prayer. It opens with prayer and closes with prayer. And then, there are three simple steps.
Meditate. Apply. Respond.
Our hope is once you use a little training tool like this for a while is that you’ll begin to respond to God’s Word this way out of habit. And you will. If you will take the time to be trained, you will interact with God’s Word habitually, like this. Meditating on it, applying it, and responding to it. And as you do these things, your life will be changed.
Here’s what you do. (I did this morning at 5 am myself, so it would be fresh in my mind.)
You put a scripture on the top. I used Romans 12, verse 2. Then, today’s date.
Pray. Slow down and pray. Pray that God would make your heart ready to hear. Shut everything out, and get alone with God. This is a crucial step. This is the important step. You’ve got to shut yourself in your room. You’ve got to get alone, you’ve got to get your heart ready, and you’ve got to get into the presence of God.
Next, Meditate. Meditate means “to mutter, to repeat, and to sink into something.” You have to grasp it. And I know if your personality doesn’t fit this, I know it’s harder. But it just means to sink into something. To rest into something, to review it in your mind. Read it slowly, carefully. Repeatedly. Check surrounding verses. Don’t misinterpret the scripture. Begin to turn the scripture into a prayer for your life.
Here’s what I wrote for this verse, just to give you an example. (There is no “right way.” This is just an example.) Looking at this section of Romans 12 verse 2: Don’t conform. Don’t think like the world, don’t respond, don’t act like them. Instead, let God transform me. Give me a new nature. Change me at the core by a complete renewal of my mind. New ideas, new responses, new choices. Put off the mind of the world by letting God transform me by completely renewing my mind.
This is just how I write in little staccato thoughts. You’ll write differently. Some of you will write more fluidly and flowery, and some of you guys will draw like a shotgun or something. I don’t know. But everyone will be different. But it is a time where you just sink in, and then you think through the pen. Jonathan Edward’s father taught him this when he was very young. And Jonathan Edward wrote so much stuff as he was moving from place to place. Think through the pen. Have a pen in your hand and just write what God is speaking to you. There’s a meditation that you have to learn how to do. You have to learn, and you have to train yourself.
Next is Apply. How does this scripture apply to your life today? Be specific and personal. What is God speaking to you about your life through this scripture today? Here’s what I wrote about Romans 12, verse 2: God is the power. If I will immerse my mind in him, he will blow out the world’s ways. If I join him in “putting them off” (meaning the world’s ways), he will give me the mind of Christ. Renewing how I think and transforming my life.
It’s an understanding of how does this verse apply to me? What does it mean to me? What is my opportunity in Christ here? What does God want to do with this section of verses?
And then, third, we Respond. What specific actions will you take? There must be an application, and there must be obedience. There must be. There must be an applying of God’s Word, the sword of the Spirit, and there must be obedience, a response to God. Remember, no response, no relationship. Every time God speaks, he speaks for application and response. Every time.
So, here’s what I wrote for my response. It’s a little thing that comes to my mind, and so I wrote it. What I wrote was: Recognize, repent, receive.
It’s a counseling thing that I use. Recognize the problem. Repent of the sin. And receive God’s way. Receive God’s truth. Recognize, repent and receive, which means that I need to recognize – that the world is constantly after my mind, and my tendency is for my mind to be away from God. Repent of that. Repent of the things that are influencing my mind, that are contrary to God. And then receive God’s truth. Meaning, think on these things, as Philippians 4:8 says. Think on the things of God.
And so, I wrote: I will monitor my mind; I will monitor what my mind is soaking in. I will regularly make an environment where I soak in God’s presence and his Word, allowing it to restore, revive and renew my mind.
Without fail, without fail, every time I soak in God’s Word, he restores me, revives me, and renews my mind. Every single time. You just have to learn how to do it; you have to learn how to soak into God’s word. And if you would say, I don’t really know how to do that, I would say, I know. I know. And God knows too. That is why he said train yourself for godliness. Set up a regimen, and then work at it. And again, I understand not all of you will be this personality type that can sit for hours with God. That’s okay; God has other ways. He has individual ways that you can train yourself to renew your mind and thereby be transformed.
Finally, we Pray. We pray at the beginning; we pray at the end. Three steps in the middle, how we should always interact with God – meditate, apply and respond.
Here’s my prayer (just so you know I did it): Thank you, Jesus, for this supernatural life with you where you transform me, by me being in your presence, by me pouring you into my life. By me meditating on your Word. You are renewing my mind; you are transforming my life. I am your poema, your work of art; please continue your great work in me. Amen.
Listen, I’ve been studying Romans 12, verses 1-2 for – well, I have 36 years following Jesus. And I can’t even remember the first time I studied Romans 12:1-2, but I remember where I was, and I remember how it hit me, and it was big, and it was at least 25 years ago or so. But it’s fresh again today. It’s new again today. Its truths are real again today.
Read the instructions. Ask us for the scripture because you don’t know where to start. Someone may tell you the place to start is a verse-by-verse study of Leviticus or Job. Ask us, and we can tell you, try Philippians or try Mark (the shortest, fastest-moving gospel). Try John to fall in love with Jesus. Try – this or that. Listen, read the instructions.
We have about fifteen topics right now that we have scripture in thirty-day sections right now that you can focus thirty days of scripture on, and we’ll make you new ones.
Ask us for the scriptures. They will tell you to focus on how to deal with depression in your life through God’s Word by meditating on his Word for thirty days. It will impact your depression. Topically, it will impact your fear. It will impact your anxiety. It will impact your anger. It will impact your lust. It will impact your forgiveness. It will impact your hope. It will impact the things that we already have the scriptures laid out about.
Joshua 1:8 (NLT)
8 Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.
ESV = so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it
2 Corinthians 3:18 (ESV)
18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
We need to train ourselves to live in daily devotion to Jesus Christ, not just in meditating on his word, but living in devotion to him in all that we do, whether that is raising babies at home. Taxiing teenagers around the world. Working at a job in the world. Or anything else we find ourselves doing. Our daily devotion can be in the midst of whatever it is we’re doing. We can live “right there” in devotion to God.
As we train ourselves to do that, God will renew our minds – and by renewing our minds, God will transform our lives.
Romans 12, verses 1-2, have been a battle cry for me all my ministry years, but we will look at only one section today. Let’s look at Romans 12, the beginning of verse 2 in the ESV.
Romans 12:2(a) (ESV)
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind…
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed. How? By renewing your mind. By getting a complete renovation of your mind. Get a new nature by getting a new mind. Not conforming to the death of this world but by being renewed in your mind and therefore being transformed.
This is the key section in these verses about our transformation, and there’s much more that goes with this statement. But this is the section we’re going to dive into today.
Be transformed – BY – renewing your mind.
We have to renew our minds in order to have our lives transformed. That’s Biblical. And the power is all God, all through the person of the Holy Spirit and the word of God. It’s about our position that’s already been given to us in Jesus Christ… but still, there is a role; there is a part that we have to play.
We have always held up high the truth that if Jesus Christ is genuinely living with full reign in our lives… we will absolutely be progressively “being transformed” into his image. It will show. Does Jesus show? Is the fruit of the Spirit showing in your life? Is there evidence of Christ’s life in you? Are you being transformed progressively into the image of Christ?
However, the thing that gets in the way of God progressively transforming us
That thing that is the hurdle to our transformation
The thing that is the stumbling block to our transformation in Jesus Christ
That thing that is the reason for our lack of transformation
Is US!!!
God’s not the problem. He’s given you positionally everything you need to live a radically transformed life. He’s given you the power to live a radically transformed life. There’s nothing left on God’s part.
The problem is, we have a role in whether our lives are going to be transformed by the life of Christ in us – or not. We have a role, and we are the weak link in the process. And so today, we’re going to talk about how we can join God in him actually transforming our lives.
Last week in our continuing study of the armor for the spiritual battle, we looked at the helmet of salvation. (Salvation for your mind.) And the focus statement we made over and over again was that where you set your mind is where you go. We talked about how the helmet of salvation guards your mind against going where it shouldn’t and guiding your mind into going where it should. And we talked about how there is one result of your salvation designed to renew your mind and transform your life.
We laid out the three results (areas) of your singular salvation.
1). Justification – the initial result – that is, Christ forgiving your sin and giving you the righteousness of Christ in his eyes to allow you into heaven.
2). Sanctification – the ongoing result – the transformation of your life
3). Glorification – the final result – that’s when you actually get to heaven, and you’re glorified, you’re in the presence of God forever, enjoying glory.
Salvation is instantaneous, by God’s grace alone and through faith alone, with no works added. There’s nothing you need to do to add to your salvation. Your salvation is set and is sure the moment you truly put your faith in Jesus Christ, it’s sure. As an equally sure part of that salvation is sanctification. Part of the singular result of your salvation is the transformation of your life, which is called sanctification. And we spent a lot of time on that second result, sanctification. Sanctification is the part of your salvation where your life is actually transformed by your faith in Christ. And right there is where we need to ask the how. How do I do this? We need to know how.
That’s why there’s discipleship. The disciples didn’t know how to follow Jesus; he just said, “Follow me.” And they followed him. And as they followed him, they learned how to follow him. It’s the same today. How do I grow in this sanctification area so that I can live a truly transformed life in Jesus Christ?
That is where we’re going today – to the HOW.
Consider this. In regard to our ongoing spiritual battle, we receive a commandment in Ephesians 6, verse 10.
Ephesians 6:10 (NLT)
10 . . . Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
Be strong in the Lord, but how do you get strong? What is required for you to become strong in the Lord? How do I stay strong in the Lord? I understand the command, be strong in the Lord. It’s not about trying; it’s about training. When God commands you to be strong in the Lord, and you say, “Okay, I’m gonna try harder to be strong in the Lord,” you get taken out every day. It’s not about trying, there’s not enough try in you, and it’s about training. But more on this in a few minutes.
I know a lot of Christians who know a lot of Bible truths about the gospel, salvation, faith, and trust in God. But they are still very, very weak when it comes to actually living a truly transformed life.
After you know the truths of the gospel, what is required for you to become strong in those truths? And what is required for you to say strong in those truths?
Repeatedly in the New Testament, Paul uses the athlete to illustrate what is required for us to be strong in the Lord.
1 Corinthians 9:25–27 (NLT)
25 All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.
26 So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing.
27 I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should . . .
Here’s a picture for you. Somebody comes up to you and says, “You’re going to win the next L.A. Marathon. I’ve had a vision, God has revealed it to me, and you’re going to win it – if you’ll start training. You’re going to win. You’ll have all the glory, all the prizes that come from winning, but you better train every day between here and there.” Do you get it? God’s already said you’re going to be glorified, and you’ve got to begin your training. You’re going to win the race, and you’ve got to develop your disciplined training because it’s part of winning the race (the part we call sanctification).
All athletes know that in order to be strong for the race, there are things you must do habitually and things you must eliminate habitually. (Do exercise, eliminate Oreos.) Again, all athletes know there are things that you bring into your life habitually, and there are things that you eliminate habitually. That’s training. In the same way, for us to be strong in the Lord and stay strong, Charles Stanley (in his book “Practicing Basic Spiritual Disciplines”) says the following:
Charles Stanley
We must take into our lives those things that produce [spiritual] strength in us, and eliminate those things that result in weakness, laziness, or spiritual compromise.
We MUST learn to take into our lives those things that produce spiritual strength and must learn how to eliminate from our lives those things that produce spiritual defeat. This requires re-training our brain. THIS requires renewing our minds to be truly transformed.
In order to be strong in the Lord – In order to stay strong in the Lord – In order to actually be transformed by our faith in Jesus – we must train ourselves for godliness.
This is something we, as the Evangelical Church as a whole, need to tell Christians. As soon as you say “the prayer of salvation” (that is putting your faith in Jesus Christ), a lifelong habit of training begins. Because it does. And maybe we as a church are not saying it loud enough or strong enough, but it does. A lifelong training begins.
In 1Timothy 4, Paul says the following to young Timothy:
1 Timothy 4:7 (ESV)
7 Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness;
There is a lot that Paul says when he is teaching his young pastors, “don’t have anything to do with that. Ignore that. Avoid that. Avoid irreverent, silly myths. Avoid babble. Avoid arguers; avoid people who cause conflict, just stay away from them.” He tells young pastors to stay away from a bunch of stuff because there are things you have to habitually bring into your life and things you have to habitually eliminate from your life.
Here’s the point.
… Rather train yourself for godliness;
And that is what we’ve got to do if we truly want to renew our mind in order to truly be transformed. The how – is training. We have to have a plan, a regimen, to train ourselves to godliness. Most Christians do not. Here’s their plan: “I try to pray, you know, and I read my small daily devotional when I have a minute while I’m walking from the kitchen or whenever.” But we don’t have a plan to train ourselves toward godliness, so our lives will be transformed.
It’s not about trying harder; it’s about training better. It’s about having a spiritual regimen to train ourselves, so our lives will be changed.
TRAINING – NOT TRYING.
But, let me pause right here for some brief explanation before we jump into the how.
First, when we talk about training ourselves for godliness, we are not talking about some set of legalistic demands that we must achieve in order to earn some type of religious position or gold star from God. This is not about doing more, achieving more, or being better at looking like a Christian. It’s not “I must…, I must…, I must…” It is not effort, for effort’s sake. We’re not talking about doing more; we’re talking about having a deeper relationship. We’re not talking about achieving more; we’re talking about knowing Jesus better. There is a huge difference.
This is about learning how to allow the life of Jesus Christ to well up inside you until it bursts out in a transformed life. It can’t help it. There’s so much Jesus welling up in that it bursts out. And when it bursts out, it looks like Jesus. It looks like a transformed life.
This is not about a legalistic effort; it is about growing in a supernatural relationship with Jesus.
Next, a pendulum (of sorts) has developed in our part of evangelical Christianity regarding the area that has been traditionally called “The Spiritual Disciplines.” There are some who have taken the spiritual disciplines too far and have gone into Eastern Mysticism and other really non-biblical stuff, and we do need to be careful about the non-biblical stuff. That’s one side…
But then, there are also the Evangelical “Watch Dogs” who attack anyone who uses the phrase “Spiritual Disciplines,” assuming that if someone used that phrase, they must be referring to the non-biblical stuff that some are teaching.
The devil, of course, loves both of these extremes because his only goal is to keep Christians weak, defeated, and (most of all) away from the intimate presence of God, which is what both extreme views do.
So, just to be clear, I am not talking about the non-biblical stuff that is currently being associated with the phrase “spiritual disciplines” in some circles. I am talking about the purely Biblical “training for godliness.” And “training for godliness” is absolutely what creates truly transformed followers of Jesus Christ. This is why the enemy does whatever he can, in any way he can, to keep you from these great truths, because biblical “training for godliness” will absolutely bring real, lasting, radical transformation into your life, which will be a huge defeat for your enemy.
So, let’s just list the primary biblical areas we would consider “training for godliness,” meaning the areas that if you will set yourself to grow in, your mind will be renewed, and your life will be transformed. However, this is not some mandatory list that you must begin doing to get an “A” with God. These are the areas where we truly meet God and where we build a personal relationship with Jesus Christ that will truly transform our lives.
Training for Godliness
1). Meditating on God’s Word (in our quiet time)
2). Taking in God’s Word (by any other means)
3). Prayer (aligned with God’s Word)
4). Worship
5). Fasting
6). Serving
7). Giving
8). Discipleship
9). Perseverance
This is not a definitive or complete list; it’s just to make it clear… there are many ways, and in many areas that God renews our minds and transforms our lives, and in each of these areas, the Holy Spirit trains you for godliness.
Isaiah 30:15 (NLT)
15 This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength...”
So let’s look at the how in just one of these areas today, but know there is a how in each of these areas. You just have to “set yourself” to learning it.
The area we’ll do the how on today is my personal favorite – meditating in God’s Word. I believe the “training” God puts us through during our (correctly approached) quiet time with him is…
The most important of all the training
The most transforming of all the training
Our minds are renewed, and our lives are transformed as we rest in God’s presence, as we are immersed in our relationship with him.
I do realize that different people (different personality types) will be drawn to different “areas” of “training for godliness.” That is why God renews our minds and transforms our lives in each of these training areas. But learning to spend time alone with God, meditating on his Word, and learning to pray and worship in his Word, I believe, is foundational for every relationship with Jesus.
I have taught the scriptural background and focus for this in numerous messages, so I can’t teach it again here. Get the first two messages in “The Fundamentals” series and “Abide in the Word” message in the “Abide” series.
But right now, we’re just going to pull out our secret weapon to help people learn how to do this and go through it. It’s called “The Daily Devotion Journal.”
At the end of this message, there is a page titled “The Daily Devotional.” And I want to show you how to use a simple “pie” tool that we developed in order to train people how to meditate on God’s Word.
The reason I’m doing this is to show you in every area of your “training for godliness,” there is a HOW. So, if you would say, “How do I meditate on God’s Word,” I would say, “Let me help you. Let me show you.” How do I just take in God’s Word? I’ll show you. How do I pray (according to God’s Word)? How do I worship according to God’s Word or in God’s Word? I’ll show you. There is a how for every spiritual discipline, and you have to set yourself to learn. You’ve got to say, “I’m going to learn how to do that. I’m going to do this for God.”
So, this is an example. This is how we teach people to meditate on the Word of God. All the instructions are on the second page or the back if you’re holding the paper we gave you. We call this the Daily Devotion Journal, and it’s been around for years, but it is good to re-visit it and re-teach it.
In the how of teaching this, the process is “bookended” with prayer. It opens with prayer and closes with prayer. And then, there are three simple steps.
Meditate. Apply. Respond.
Our hope is once you use a little training tool like this for a while is that you’ll begin to respond to God’s Word this way out of habit. And you will. If you will take the time to be trained, you will interact with God’s Word habitually, like this. Meditating on it, applying it, and responding to it. And as you do these things, your life will be changed.
Here’s what you do. (I did this morning at 5 am myself, so it would be fresh in my mind.)
You put a scripture on the top. I used Romans 12, verse 2. Then, today’s date.
Pray. Slow down and pray. Pray that God would make your heart ready to hear. Shut everything out, and get alone with God. This is a crucial step. This is the important step. You’ve got to shut yourself in your room. You’ve got to get alone, you’ve got to get your heart ready, and you’ve got to get into the presence of God.
Next, Meditate. Meditate means “to mutter, to repeat, and to sink into something.” You have to grasp it. And I know if your personality doesn’t fit this, I know it’s harder. But it just means to sink into something. To rest into something, to review it in your mind. Read it slowly, carefully. Repeatedly. Check surrounding verses. Don’t misinterpret the scripture. Begin to turn the scripture into a prayer for your life.
Here’s what I wrote for this verse, just to give you an example. (There is no “right way.” This is just an example.) Looking at this section of Romans 12 verse 2: Don’t conform. Don’t think like the world, don’t respond, don’t act like them. Instead, let God transform me. Give me a new nature. Change me at the core by a complete renewal of my mind. New ideas, new responses, new choices. Put off the mind of the world by letting God transform me by completely renewing my mind.
This is just how I write in little staccato thoughts. You’ll write differently. Some of you will write more fluidly and flowery, and some of you guys will draw like a shotgun or something. I don’t know. But everyone will be different. But it is a time where you just sink in, and then you think through the pen. Jonathan Edward’s father taught him this when he was very young. And Jonathan Edward wrote so much stuff as he was moving from place to place. Think through the pen. Have a pen in your hand and just write what God is speaking to you. There’s a meditation that you have to learn how to do. You have to learn, and you have to train yourself.
Next is Apply. How does this scripture apply to your life today? Be specific and personal. What is God speaking to you about your life through this scripture today? Here’s what I wrote about Romans 12, verse 2: God is the power. If I will immerse my mind in him, he will blow out the world’s ways. If I join him in “putting them off” (meaning the world’s ways), he will give me the mind of Christ. Renewing how I think and transforming my life.
It’s an understanding of how does this verse apply to me? What does it mean to me? What is my opportunity in Christ here? What does God want to do with this section of verses?
And then, third, we Respond. What specific actions will you take? There must be an application, and there must be obedience. There must be. There must be an applying of God’s Word, the sword of the Spirit, and there must be obedience, a response to God. Remember, no response, no relationship. Every time God speaks, he speaks for application and response. Every time.
So, here’s what I wrote for my response. It’s a little thing that comes to my mind, and so I wrote it. What I wrote was: Recognize, repent, receive.
It’s a counseling thing that I use. Recognize the problem. Repent of the sin. And receive God’s way. Receive God’s truth. Recognize, repent and receive, which means that I need to recognize – that the world is constantly after my mind, and my tendency is for my mind to be away from God. Repent of that. Repent of the things that are influencing my mind, that are contrary to God. And then receive God’s truth. Meaning, think on these things, as Philippians 4:8 says. Think on the things of God.
And so, I wrote: I will monitor my mind; I will monitor what my mind is soaking in. I will regularly make an environment where I soak in God’s presence and his Word, allowing it to restore, revive and renew my mind.
Without fail, without fail, every time I soak in God’s Word, he restores me, revives me, and renews my mind. Every single time. You just have to learn how to do it; you have to learn how to soak into God’s word. And if you would say, I don’t really know how to do that, I would say, I know. I know. And God knows too. That is why he said train yourself for godliness. Set up a regimen, and then work at it. And again, I understand not all of you will be this personality type that can sit for hours with God. That’s okay; God has other ways. He has individual ways that you can train yourself to renew your mind and thereby be transformed.
Finally, we Pray. We pray at the beginning; we pray at the end. Three steps in the middle, how we should always interact with God – meditate, apply and respond.
Here’s my prayer (just so you know I did it): Thank you, Jesus, for this supernatural life with you where you transform me, by me being in your presence, by me pouring you into my life. By me meditating on your Word. You are renewing my mind; you are transforming my life. I am your poema, your work of art; please continue your great work in me. Amen.
Listen, I’ve been studying Romans 12, verses 1-2 for – well, I have 36 years following Jesus. And I can’t even remember the first time I studied Romans 12:1-2, but I remember where I was, and I remember how it hit me, and it was big, and it was at least 25 years ago or so. But it’s fresh again today. It’s new again today. Its truths are real again today.
Read the instructions. Ask us for the scripture because you don’t know where to start. Someone may tell you the place to start is a verse-by-verse study of Leviticus or Job. Ask us, and we can tell you, try Philippians or try Mark (the shortest, fastest-moving gospel). Try John to fall in love with Jesus. Try – this or that. Listen, read the instructions.
We have about fifteen topics right now that we have scripture in thirty-day sections right now that you can focus thirty days of scripture on, and we’ll make you new ones.
Ask us for the scriptures. They will tell you to focus on how to deal with depression in your life through God’s Word by meditating on his Word for thirty days. It will impact your depression. Topically, it will impact your fear. It will impact your anxiety. It will impact your anger. It will impact your lust. It will impact your forgiveness. It will impact your hope. It will impact the things that we already have the scriptures laid out about.
Joshua 1:8 (NLT)
8 Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.
ESV = so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it
2 Corinthians 3:18 (ESV)
18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
We need to train ourselves to live in daily devotion to Jesus Christ, not just in meditating on his word, but living in devotion to him in all that we do, whether that is raising babies at home. Taxiing teenagers around the world. Working at a job in the world. Or anything else we find ourselves doing. Our daily devotion can be in the midst of whatever it is we’re doing. We can live “right there” in devotion to God.
As we train ourselves to do that, God will renew our minds – and by renewing our minds, God will transform our lives.