Tag: renewal of our minds

Convergence of Salvation and Sanctification

Romans 12:2
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.

Every born again believer stands in the same place. We are not what we ought to be, but we are not what we use to be either. This is the awesome convergence of salvation and sanctification. We are at once saved when we accept Jesus Christ as Our Savior. From that moment on, we enter into the process of letting go of who we used to be in order to become who we will be in Christ.

Jesus loves us just as we are, but He loves us so much that He cannot allow us to stay where we are. With His indwelling, we find ourselves in the constant battle of our flesh and our new spirit in Christ. We must let go of everything old – guilt, anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, addiction, depression, despair, fear. These are the things of the flesh. These are the things that hinder us in our process of sanctification. These are the things that Jesus Christ freed us from when He died on the Cross.

The progress of sanctification, dying to sin more and more, and living to righteousness more and more, is the work of the renewal of our minds. This work will continue until the day we stand before Almighty God as He sees us in the image of His Son.

Let us discern the will of God in our lives and learn to live the good and acceptable and perfect lifestyles that Jesus Christ won for us on the Cross. Let us renew our minds and free ourselves from the chains of the flesh. Let us claim the victorious spirit-filled lives that Jesus has secured for us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing Your Son to die for our sins so that we may be free from the corruption of our flesh. We praise You for giving us the Holy Spirit to help us live as new men in Christ instead of men and women of the world. Help us, Lord, to let go of everything in the old man that is hindering our relationship with You. We pray that You strengthen us so that we may cling to Your grace as we continue in our journey of sanctification. We ask all these things in the name of Our Refiner and Our Purifier, Jesus Christ.

Dwelling in His Shadow

James 4:7
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Satan is to be looked upon as an enemy, one who must be watched and guarded against. Faith, humble prayers and heavenly wisdom are are our weapons of resistance.

Man without Jesus Christ is not capable of standing against the powers that seek to devour and destroy him. In the darkness of the flesh, we are unable to see that we are being lead into lives that will never be totally satisfying. We cannot see that our lives are much less than they could be, much less than they should be.

But when the light of Jesus Christ comes into our lives, we see how life can be, how life should be, how our lives are renewed in the spirit of Our Savior. We come to recognize that the renewal of our minds and our spirits is only available to us through our submission to Our Savior. We come to discover that the dominating power of the world, our flesh and Satan himself are defeated through the victory that Jesus Christ won for us on the Cross.

Let us rightfully proclaim our victory over the enemy. Let us boldly stand against the one who is trying to devour and destroy us. Let us fearlessly claim what Jesus provided for us on the Cross.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for allowing us to come to You to gain the armor that we need to defend ourselves from the enemy who comes to defeat us. We thank You for the weapon of prayer, the sword of Your Holy Word and the shield of faith. We rejoice in knowing that the victory is ours because Your Son, Jesus, claimed it for us forever when He died on the Cross for our sins. We humbly come before You, Lord, to proclaim that we are laying aside our own strength so that we may dwell in the protection of Your shadow. We ask all these things in the name of our Living Shield, Jesus Christ.

Refined and Purified

Romans 12:2
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.

Every born again believer stands in the same place. We are not what we ought to be, but we are not what we use to be either. This is the awesome convergence of salvation and sanctification. We are at once saved when we accept Jesus Christ as Our Savior. From that moment on, we enter into the process of letting go of who we used to be in order to become who we will be in Christ.

Jesus loves us just as we are, but He loves us so much that He cannot allow us to stay where we are. With His indwelling, we find ourselves in the constant battle of our flesh and our new spirit in Christ. We must let go of everything old – guilt, anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, addiction, depression, despair, fear. These are the things of the flesh. These are the things that hinder us in our process of sanctification. These are the things that Jesus Christ freed us from when He died on the Cross.

The progress of sanctification, dying to sin more and more, and living to righteousness more and more, is the work of the renewal of our minds. This work will continue until the day we stand before Almighty God as He sees us in the image of His Son.

Let us discern the will of God in our lives and learn to live the good and acceptable and perfect lifestyles that Jesus Christ won for us on the Cross. Let us renew our minds and free ourselves from the chains of the flesh. Let us claim the victorious spirit-filled lives that Jesus has secured for us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing Your Son to die for our sins so that we may be free from the corruption of our flesh. We praise You for giving us the Holy Spirit to help us live as new men in Christ instead of men and women of the world. Help us, Lord, to let go of everything in the old man that is hindering our relationship with You. We pray that You strengthen us so that we may cling to Your grace as we continue in our journey of sanctification. We ask all these things in the name of Our Refiner and Our Purifier, Jesus Christ.