THE RENEWAL

Can we all be honest, let's just be real for a moment, if we said every thought that came to our minds, none of us would have a single friend in this world but Jesus who would tolerate such disgraceful verbiage. Why is that? It's because our minds are not fully aligned with God. This is why His word says "Be transformed by the renewal of your mind." (Romans 12:12) It takes God stepping into us and reworking the way we think. And this renewal doesn't happen over night. It takes diligence, seeking after His image, *character* so that we may mirror it. It takes work done through the Holy Spirit within us. You cannot expect anyone to be fully transformed in Christ, the very moment they have an encounter with Him. No. But "you can be confident in this: That He who began a good work in you will continue to perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6) Meaning it's a continual process of spiritual refining. We are PUT right, we are not born right. We are born of sin, that's a generational curse not one man can escape, however desperately he tries.

This is why Jesus is a necessity not a commodity. This is why a real relationship with Him and a bond with His Holy Spirit is so crucial, because we cannot do right by our own efforts. We may have every intention of doing right, speaking right, acting right, and yet still, we stumble. This is what Paul knew all too well when he wrote: "....For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out." (Romans 7:18) He later goes on to add "...Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin..." (Romans 7:20-24) But listen to the last sentence in verse 25, he says: "Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

We are delivered through Jesus, not through ritual practice of doing good. We can "do good" until we are blue in the face, but what does the heart reflect? What does your mind convey? His word says: "I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve." (Jeremiah 17:10) What are the unseen deeds of our minds? The ones not visible nor audible to man but well known to God? What do they say about our true nature?

The truth of the matter is God knows our thoughts, what is done in secret. He hears that which we do not utter with our lips but with our hearts and the beautiful, merciful character of God is that He knows we cannot be made new until we are transformed in Christ. To be born again in Him. The rebirth begins the renewing process. (2 Corinthians 5:17) The wonderful God we serve already knows the sin that has corrupted our hearts since the first Fall of man. He didn't ask "Where are you?" in the garden of Eden because He didn't know where Adam and Eve were.... No. He asked them, because He wanted to make them see that they were lost. See, God will often ask a question He already knows the answer to, in order to reveal to us Wisdom that we would have otherwise not been privy to. This is how He convicts the heart of man. And when conviction comes, a door is opened, and Jesus comes in. Piece by piece, He restores what has been broken in us. He makes clear God's word that has been distorted by the enemy. He dismantles the walls of deception built around the hearts and minds of men so that we can begin to reflect the nature of our Creator rather than remain tarnished by the nature of sin.

His Grace. Purely and simply put.... rescues us from ourselves.

- Brianna Carey ©