Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:06 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing, you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12 two. Hey, welcome back to the podcast. I I'm really excited just to dive into this verse and I'll tell you why. Um, two weeks ago, I, I actually spent, I tried something. I tried to meditate on this verse for up to 30 minutes at a time, just this verse. And I think I got to about 20 minutes, but I did it three times over the course of a week. And I just focused on this verse and I was mainly asking God, a question. What does this mean for me today? Like what does Romans 12 two mean for me today? And here's kind of what I got out of this, literally an hour of just marinating on this, this verse, it's very powerful. Do not be conformed to this world. So the Lord started showing me the natural versus the spiritual.
Speaker 1 00:01:24 So we're all born into this world. And, and apart from Christ, we're operating in a natural mindset. So think about that when we're in this world and all the things that we're doing in this world, we're up against people who are just flowing with a natural mindset, thinking natural things like to have a spiritual mindset only happens when we become born again. When we actually receive God's salvation through his grace and we come alive in the power of the holy spirit and we're plugging into God's community. Always remember that scripture won't make sense if you're just looking at how it applies to me, that's important. It's the question I spent an hour on over this verse. What does this verse mean for me today? But the entirety of Romans actually Romans chapter 12, actually that whole chapter pulls very quickly into the community, pulls very quick, quickly into the plurality.
Speaker 1 00:02:30 So all of this fits into the expression of community brotherhood. You know, your band of brothers. I mean, this is like not just about you. So being born of the spirit is going to take your mind off yourself and plug you into God's greater context, which is his family, his global kingdom spreading the gospel and the, the, the power of his authority into the earth, into the fabric and the framework of this earth. And we're constantly going up against the natural mind, do not be conformed to this world. Very powerful. Don't be conformed to the natural way of thinking, but be transformed by one key thing. And that is the renewal of the mind. Now I think about this, right? And the, the renewal of the mind. It's like when I give my life to Christ or I receive his salvation, I come alive in the holy spirit.
Speaker 1 00:03:40 It's like my inner man comes alive. That indwelling spirit, that fire comes inside. And it's like that part of us is born anew, right? It's received the full work of the cross. And we're still trying to figure out all of the applications we're catching up to the power of salvation. I mean, that finished work of the cross is mighty and it's powerful and our mind is still in need, great need of catching up to it. So when I surround myself with community, I now have friends. I have, uh, a people, the people of God helping me on this journey of renewal of the mind, which actually is my transformation. I'm transformed. And I've tap into the power of heaven through the renewal of my thinking through the renewal of my mind. So I'm thinking that the spiritual disciplines radically apply here, right? Like time in the word, time, meditating time with my brothers in Christ, right?
Speaker 1 00:04:52 My prayer life matters for my life, for my family, for my community. You think about Jesus' disciples of all the things they could ask them to teach them. They said, teach us to pray. I mean, think about the prayer life of Jesus and his disciples were close enough to that, to where they were like, oh my gosh, I want that. I want you to teach me that. What the heck? <laugh> the intimacy that would pour out of him, the authority that would pour out of him and, and just to be an earshot away from his prayers to the father. I mean, there are no better prayers than the prayers of Jesus. So I'm working through this here, right? Like that's the key to transformation is engaging the spiritual disciplines, renewing my mind. Now. I wish with all my heart, man <laugh> oh my gosh. I wish that just as much as receiving God salvation gets the inner man fired up and born anew don't you wish it would work that way with your mind.
Speaker 1 00:06:05 Like, let's just do both at the same time, spirit, mind, boom. Done, done deal. We're all where we need to be. You know, we're thinking cuz like as a man thinks, so is he right? And, and you know who you surround yourself with, right? You remember that old statement that people say, show me your friends, I'll show you. Your future has a lot to do with your thinking, right? Like where the mind goes, the body follows, right? The emotions follow it's. Like what are you pumping into your mind? Like I remember back in my beginning days of leadership development, they would always say garbage in garbage out. Right? So what are we pumping into our minds and how are we renewing our minds? Now it's interesting here because the next part of this verse actually goes into something that's kind of surprising when I spent an hour just, just looking at this verse.
Speaker 1 00:06:58 I was like, oh my gosh, this is intense. It's like the next part is that by testing and I looked, I started looking at testing in a whole new perspective. It was like, wow, don't be conformed to the natural world, to the natural mindset, the natural way, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind. So that by testing. So the things that come at us in life, right? Those things that test us, your children, right? Your job, uh, gas prices, right? Inflation, um, the craziness of our world right now, you know, the, the testing that that brings to your life and to your existence, those are the things that are testing, what mindset we're operating in. It's testing to the depths of who we are like are in the testing. Are we conforming to the world? Are we bowing down to fear? Are we what's our mindset on, are we just fixated on the problems or are we being transformed in the renewal of our minds so that we can be focused on our father focused on his power, his glory and all the things that surround his throne, right?
Speaker 1 00:08:24 So that by testing, we could in the earth and in our own lives, we could discern, we could actually discern what is the will of God? What is good and acceptable? And what is perfect. I mean, very powerful words in this, this one scripture that we could discern, what is his, will, you know, how are we abiding in your will? What can I do to bring this good and acceptable and perfect will of God into the earth? It seems like the gateway for it is in our mindsets, which actually fleshes out into the rest of us, partnered and activated by the power of the holy spirit to bring the will of God, this good and acceptable and perfect thing into the earth. So the church ought to be active in our communities, active in our jobs, our neighborhoods active in bringing the consciousness and the voice of God into the naturally minded, um, world that we live in and kind of like being the pulse of consciousness, the pulse of, of all that is good and all that is acceptable and all that is perfect. So we have a lot to bring into the earth. I think the church has maybe never known that or lost that whole idea of bringing heaven into the earth, but that's what we're doing. So Hey, be blessed today. As you listen to this podcast and remember that no one can serve two masters, you're gonna hate the one. You'll love the other. You'll despise the one you'll be devoted to the other.
Speaker 1 00:10:24 Take all of this with you. Take this podcast and begin to ask yourself the questions. Am I conforming? Or am I transforming? How am I doing with the current testing that my life is going through? Am I discerning how to bring the perfect, acceptable, good will of God into my circumstance, into the earth? How does it apply? How does it change the world? This is our task. This is our honor as sons and daughters of the living. God. So now go forth in a strong way. As Paul started off Romans 12, I appealed to you therefore brothers to be a living sacrifice. So may you go today and be a living sacrifice in a very powerful way and in a very simple way. And until next time live upright.
