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 God.
Oh boy, is Mother Nature confused! The weather people are promising rain and snow for this first Monday in Lent. We already have the rain, only waiting for the snow to come. Yesterday we had bright sunshine and temps of up to 15 degrees Celsius, although a strong wind lent its cold self to the proceedings all day long. That’s what the cold winds do in March. So it wasn’t as warm as you might think by just hearing the temperature.
Now today it’s a completely different story. It’s about 1 degree Celsius, and for the snow to come, it must get slightly colder. So why the drastic changes from day to day eh? It must come from our interfering with the delicate balance the Lord set in Mother Nature when He created the universe. And I guess in His awesome wisdom, knowing that everything we put our hands to, we will destroy or pervert, He gave us His only Son Jesus Christ as a strong tower to hold on to when we screw up. (smile)
And that’s not really a joke nuh, because without Jesus for us to lean and rely on, what would we do, how would we survive in this frightful world that now surrounds us? And unfortunately, even with Jesus as our strong fortress, too many of us are still struggling to survive. Why is that eh? I believe it’s because we are not mature enough in Christ, and not trying as hard as we ought to acquire the maturity needed to stand strong in this evil and ungodly world. Now this poem from our One Year Book of Bible Promises with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin admirably explains our situation. And it’s most appropriately titled, ‘GROW UP!’
So, let’s read together. ‘Picture it with me: a piece of gnarled bark tossed to and fro over the crashing breakers. First one direction, then another, back and forth, over and under. Aimless. No set purpose. Drifting…always drifting. What an accurate picture of an immature Christian. Nothing but spiritual puttering. Up and down, in and out. One study group for a few weeks, then another. One church for a while, then another. Undisciplined, unsteady, one day soaring, the next day wading in self-pity. No consistency.
The apostle Paul tells us to grow up! Not grow older, but grow up into Christ. What we are today is more important to God than what we were yesterday. Our life journey with Jesus is now – this very day, this very hour. Why yearn for change if we’ve made no effort to follow the direction God has already given us? To grow spiritually we must be single-minded. Our one goal? To be conformed to the image of Christ. He longs for our willingness to let Him root us, cultivate us, water us. Above all, God wants our total commitment. He will take anything we give Him…except second place.’
And that’s the awesome truth my people! Our God is interested in all aspects of our lives and wants us to come to Him with all our concerns, but under no circumstance will He accept second place, or any other also ran position! It’s either first place, or nothing at all! And that’s the sad mistake many of us are making. We are trying to compartmentalize our lives, with Jesus in some and not in others. But that will never work, because Jesus can’t grow us up in His image unless He has full control of our lives.
And the scripture verse used for today’s poem is one we all know and spout, but don’t take as seriously as we ought to and thus remain immature Christians. On this matter, Bruh Paul admonished the church at Rome thus: ‘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 God.’ (Rom. 12:2)
Yes my brethren, that’s what we need to do. Transform ourselves by renewing our minds in the image of God instead of the world. And we cannot transform ourselves into anything unless our minds are transformed because that’s where the whole battle for control takes place, and whatever is uppermost in our minds will also be uppermost in our lives. That means to live for Christ, Christ must be uppermost in our minds. However, right now, too many of us are still concerned too much, and rooting too hard for the things of the world and have Jesus In an insignificant position.
And if Bruh Paul was to talk to us today, he would use the ever-appropriate words from his first epistle to the church at Corinth, where he lambasted them thus. ‘I have fed you with milk, and not with meat (solid food): for hitherto (until now) ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions (dissensions), are ye not carnal (fleshly), and walk as men. For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?’ (1 Cor. 3:2-4)
Yes my fellow believers, it’s embarrassing that at this stage of our Christian development, there is still so much dissension and dislike in our ranks. Like babies, we are still drinking milk instead of eating solid food, being one in the body of Christ, His church. And it’s the same contention that both the author of Hebrews (Heb. 5:12) and Peter (1 Pet. 2:2) wrote about. It’s obvious that we have not taken any of those warnings as seriously as we should and foregone the things of the world by concentrating on the things of Christ.
Some of us believe that we can live with one foot in the world and one foot in Christ’s kingdom. But that’s a fallacy my people, and the sooner we realize it, the better off we will be. For as Jesus said, you can’t serve two masters at the same time. You can’t serve God and mammon or money both together. (Matt. 6:24) So it’s time we wake up and choose one or the other, preferably Jehovah God. And when we do that, let’s make sure and follow this other directive of Bruh Paul, this one to the church at Ephesus.
‘That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.’ (Eph. 4:22-24) That’s the only way to go my fellow saints! So, let’s begin doing that right now nuh, by going to the Lord in sincere prayer, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, asking for His divine perspective and help.
As one confident but humble voice: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems.
Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems.
And Father, we pray that you will ease the pain of the many who are suffering from negative situations. Please show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again, we say: Amen!’
And now, lest we forget, to receive positive answers to our prayers, we need to have sincere hearts and right motives therein. Much LOVE!
…we will never grow as Christians…until we submit or surrender totally…to God’s will for our lives…
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