Renew - Give fresh life or strength to. Romans 12:2 - And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
The Renewal is a necessary must for those who call the name of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. The definition in the first sentence says a lot about what actually needs to happen in the lives of believers today. A renewal is not an impossible event, but it will be a very difficult event in the lives of individual believers, as well as, the church as a whole. Why? Because we have become comfortable. Comfortable with sin, comfortable with not serving, comfortable with no power, comfortable with God. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom as scripture says in Proverbs 9:10, and I am not seeing much fear of God these days. Why? Pride!! We have become self sufficient and the sufficiency from God no longer appeals to us because we believe we can handle all things on our own. Dumb! We have no strength or power in our lives apart from God and powerless lives that are moving in their own direction are dangerous lives out of control.
It's like pointing a cart with no brakes down a steep hill and hoping no one will get hurt. Gravity will push that cart out of control and crash it when it gets to the bottom. We are on that cart spiritually right now and to expect anything different than a crash is unrealistic and wrong. You may wonder, "Where does that put me?" Right where you need to be. At the top of the hill with the power and wisdom to make a decision to walk away from the steep hill and go the other way. The Bible calls it repentance. The steep hill is a reality that lies before you, but you have the power to turn away from the adventure of riding down the hill and walk the other direction on level ground. It is the smart move and it is the best move. It may not have the adventure of the steep hill, but the adventure of the other direction is made by us and not the gravity pushing on us. On top of the hill you have those who are saying "Go ahead and go down. What can it hurt?" There will always be those people who try to guilt you into doing what they want and not what God wants. You cannot listen to them or to that voice that tries to control you at the top of the hill. Proverbs 14:12 says "There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death." Appearances can be deceiving and in a fallen world the evil one always paints a pretty picture when it comes to sin. Renewal will have to come from hearts that are totally turned back to God and like David wrote in Psalm 51:10 Psalm 51:10 - Create in me a pure heart, Oh God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. The transformation from worldly to Godly comes from a heart that is renewed and the commitment is fresh once again. Then we will have the ability to prove and know God's will for our life and He will set us back on a course of purpose and meaning again. Here are some visible steps to follow through with the renewal.
1. A burden for change
2. A commitment to change from a pure heart
3. A fresh outlook on your faith and an openness to the Holy Spirit
4. A strong follow through to the transformation process at all costs
5. True transformation
Today is the day for renewal and transformation. This transformation will mean you need to leave old ways behind and embrace the totally new direction Christ has planned for your life and follow it completely. Don't accept the status quo for your life's direction anymore. Don't "settle" when it comes to making the change complete. Be willing to allow God to do a new thing in your life and give Him complete control in making the changes necessary to make it happen. Renewal is real and transformation is the result. Do it today!
The Pilgrimage continues.....
David Warren
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