Blood Bought and Brainwashed

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 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 12:1-2 – ESV)

Look at the words here, renewed, transformed, discerning. You have to be changed and you have to make up your mind that you will give God your mind. You have to do it now; you can’t wait to do it when you want to, as if you can just turn on the switch any old time you think you need it. If you already have your mind made up that way you won’t make the right decision when it counts. That is why you have to make this decisive decision today. If you don’t make the sacrifice you won’t make the sacrifice when it counts. You have to make up your mind ahead of time or your body will lose that battle almost every time. You know the truth, now be set free.

You will have to make a sacrifice. The grace of God in Jesus Christ is free indeed, but living the Christian life will cost you your life. All who desire to live a godly life in Christ will suffer persecution (2 Timothy 3:12), and if we cannot present our bodies as a living sacrifice, who are we fooling but ourselves into thinking that we will make the choice to endure persecution when it comes our way. We won’t, we’ll avoid it every time, and will never make a decision that costs us anything. That isn’t Christianity, following Jesus means taking up our cross. If you make that decision to be a living sacrifice today it will cost you, but if you wait, the price doesn’t go down, it goes up. The longer you wait the worse it will be. If you are truly God’s child, Satan and his minions have you marked, and if you haven’t made that sacrifice, no wonder you keep getting beaten up by the world and your own flesh. You had better make up your mind today, friend.

The battle ground between conforming to the world and being transformed is within the mind of the believer. Christians must think differently. The problem with many Christians is they live based on feeling, or they are only concerned about doing. The life based on feeling says, "How do I feel today? How do I feel about my job? How do I feel about my wife? How do I feel about worship? How do I feel about the preacher?" This life by feeling will never know the transforming power of God, because it ignores the renewing of the mind. The life based on doing says, "Don't give me your theology. Just tell me what to do. Give me the four points for this and the seven keys for that." This life of doing will never know the transforming power of God, because it ignores the renewing of the mind. There are those that know a little bible, who try and learn a little more every once in awhile, and who think that they balance feelings and doing, and they think this is what makes them discerning. These are the type of people, and there are thousands of Christians like that, I have been like that, who think that testing the spirits is taking some verses like 1 Corinthians 12:3 or 1 John 4:2-3 and making it the be all end all, or worse, think they have some sort of discern-o-meter thing they can just feel when they need it.

Now discern this: God isn’t against feeling and doing. He wants us to live with passion, and He commands us to be doers. Yet feelings and doing are completely insufficient foundations for the Christian life. The first questions cannot be "How do I feel?" or "What do I do?" Rather, it must be "What is true here? What does God's Word say?" The question of discernment isn’t “is it real?” but “is it right?”

The first step starts today, let’s commit our minds to Christ, let’s follow the way the Spirit is leading us, into God’s Word that we might be renewed in our minds, that we might be transformed, that we might be able to discern what the will of God is, day after day, that we might live it out, with lives fully pleasing to God, bearing fruit in every good work.

If you really want to know God, you will have to commit to knowing His Word. You may be blood bought but are you brainwashed? Have you already made this decision, really now? I am not asking if you read your bible, I am asking if you have made this singular commitment. If you have, well, have you continued to yield to God’s Word, be honest, is it first in your life, or are your feelings or your doings? We know what God’s will for us is today; it is time to make that commitment, let’s make that sacrifice, and then let’s continue to live it with a life poured out in merciful service to the glory of God, for Christ and in His name, amen.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©