FUNDAMENTALS
OF DISCIPLESHIP
Romans
12:2 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 Elohim.
Last
week’s post ended with this comment:
|
During our study of a Kingdom Heart, we have
frequently referenced our verse for today. It is important for us, at
this point in our study, to look at its contents a little more carefully.
"And be not
conformed to this world:" - Conformed to the world is how Elohim found
us. While we lived "with the lights turned off" in our human
spirit we knew only the input of the world. We learned to talk like the
world, walk like the world, be ambitious and selfish like the world, think like
the world, and worst of all...to reject Truth like the world. Now that we
have bowed our knees and heart to Messiah, the life of IAUE has lit the candle
of our spirit, and for the first time we have become "alive unto
IAUE." However, this act of becoming a disciple of Messiah Yahushua
did not automatically rewrite all of our mental programming. It did not
erase the influence of all of our experiences and their resulting thought
patterns and habits. It did not instantaneously delete all of our errors
in judgment. It did not supply us with a new mind. We still live in
bodies marked by corruption and mortality (1 Corinthians 15:50-54), and we must recognize our limitations and respond
to the grace of Elohim to overcome them.
Imagine a man who walks home from work
late at night, and always passes by the same old three-story house that has
been unoccupied for as long as he could remember. Night after night, for
years the man walks home passing this darkened old house. Then one night
as the man passes by the house, he notices for the very first time, a light
shining through the curtain in one of the rooms of the house. His
surprise is measurable; and as he slows his pace, he studies the old house staring
at that window wondering what he might see, wondering if he will detect
movement from behind the curtain. The next evening, he walks past and
notices the light is on again shining through that same window. This goes
on for days, and eventually, it is no longer a novelty that the old house has a
light on in one of its rooms. Eventually, the man hardly notices it at
all, as it has become routine to him.
Our soul was dramatically impacted by
our new birth in Yahushua, because after all of the years we lived in darkness,
the conscience of our heart was finally activated, and began providing us with our
first-ever awareness of the world of the spirit. Our soul marveled at the
change in its environment and was in awe of the new input from this awakened
sixth sense. Light was now shining from
a place where once there had been only darkness and stillness of quiet.
After days, weeks or months, the novelty of this new sensory input eventually
wears off; and so does the soul's fascination with and attention to that which
has now become routine. The input from our heart is new and wonderful;
but it is the input from our five physical senses that our lives have learned
to trust in the everyday affairs of life. Into this scenario we discover the precious wisdom
of the Holy Spirit through our brother Paul.
"but be
ye transformed" - The cure for conformity to the world is
“transformation.” This word in the Greek is "metamorphoo" which means "to change in form." It is the same word that describes the change in
form (metamorphosis) of a caterpillar as it turns into a
butterfly. The wonderful truth hidden in this gentle command of Paul and
the scripture is that there literally is within us, as new creatures in
Yahushua Messiah (2 Corinthians 5:17), a life form that is altogether transcendent in
glory compared to the mundane conformed-to-the-world life that has so far
defined our existence. This command to be transformed reveals that there
really is a process by which the new form of life that has been birthed within
our spirit may overtake the old form of life which loves the world. How is this
accomplished?
"by the
renewing of your mind" - This word, “renewing,” is from
the Greek word, “anakainosis,” which means to renew or to renovate for the
better. Firstly, we must recognize that it
is not the mind that is to be transformed. The mind is to be renewed; renovated. It is
the conduct of our life that is to be transformed; but that will not happen
as long as our thinking is contrary to the new life that has been borne within
our spirit. Why is this? It is because it is in the faculty of our
soul known as “the will,” that all of our decisions regarding our choices and
behavior in this world are made. Until our minds are renewed, our will
selects the course of action that it trusts the most; and it trusts what it
believes, not merely what it has heard. Many
people have heard much Truth from the
Scriptures from teachers, preachers, friends, and their own reading of the
Scriptures, the consequence of which has never been manifested in their lives. Why is this?
Let me provide a simple illustration in
the area of finances. Let's say that I have only $50.00 left for this
week, and at the end of the week I have to pay a bill in the amount of
$35.00. I will not be paid until the following week. Now, into this
circumstance, let's say that Elohim has revealed His will to my spirit, recognized
by my conscience, communicated to my understanding that He wants me to help
someone by giving them $20.00. My mind will instantly respond with, "Excuse
me, but I only have $50.00.” I then
rationalize that if I give or spend $20.00 before Friday, I will only have
$30.00 left; and I will not have the $35.00 I will need to pay that
bill." Because my mind has not been renewed to trust Elohim's wisdom;
but it does trust the basics of math learned in the world, my will chooses to disobey
the will of Elohim. What is the result? The person does not receive
the help from the source from whom the Father intended his need should be
met. I disobey Elohim's will. I do not receive the blessing that
Elohim intended to supply to me for my obedience; and I fail to witness the
miraculous way in which Elohim intended to provide for the bill that I no
longer would have had the cash-in-hand to pay. Aside from the
ripple effect of all the other people and events that could have been
positively affected by my obedience to Elohim, but were not, there is the
damage to my own heart, as my rejection of His will begins to cause my heart to
harden against His voice.
This is just one simple scenario showing
why our minds need to be renewed. Our worldly thought processes and
mentalities, by which we evaluate Elohim's will, create tremendous obstacles to
the advancement of Elohim's kingdom in the earth as well as in our own lives.
Why does Elohim want us to renew our minds?
"that ye may
prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of Elohim." - In our example above, if my
mind had been renewed to embrace the wisdom of Elohim's counsel; if I mentally
understood and consented to the mastery of Yahushua Messiah in all aspects of
my life; if I had revelation of the Scripture’s teaching regarding Elohim's
ability to provide for my needs and the spiritual relationship between giving
and receiving, it would have never even occurred to me to calculate "$50 - $20 = $30 = not enough money left to pay my bills."
It would not have mattered to me. Even
if my mind did the math automatically, it would have been nothing more than a
subtraction problem whose solution would have had no bearing on my decision to
obey Elohim.
Can you see from our illustrations today, the need
to renew the mind? IAUE wants His life to be revealed through us to the
peoples of the world. He wants to change us from glory to glory by His
Spirit. Yahushua said that he was the light of the world. If we do not
let his life shine through us, then the people around us will remain in
darkness. If we do not train our minds to cease opposing the will of
Elohim, we will never possess a kingdom heart, our witness of Messiah will be
powerless, and the people around us will lose their chance to be drawn to that
true Light which desires to illuminate every man.
Kingdom heart: a heart that offers no resistance to the performance
of the will of IAUE.
No comments:
Post a Comment