Integrity- People of God

We Must Change the Way We Think To Be Transformed 

Life is a period of time that God has given each of us to develop our character and personalities through the choices we make based on our ownwill. God gives every living person a free will, that is the ability to choose. It is our choice to make, as to how we will spend our lives, but our choices will impact and determine where we will spend their eternity.

We are all travelers going through this thing we call life. It is a journey or an expedition to explore this gift called life which is from God. We have every right to make decisions and choices that will affect our body, soul, spirit and eventually our eternal state of being. 

Some people may give very little thought to the decisions they make in life, not realizing every choice made has a corresponding result. Many fail to understand that they are free to choose their actions but are not free to choose the consequences of that action. Many may not realize that their decisions may affect not only their future but possibly the future of their family and future generations. To keep people in darkness and ignorance as to the true purpose of their lives is just a tactic of the enemy, to keep them from knowing they were created to reflect the character, love and integrity of God on the earth. 

Deuteronomy 30:19-20 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;   that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.” NKJ

We are to be transformed from our fallen state in which we were born,taught through our experiences and nurtured in through our families andculture. We all bring the baggage of life to the table, this is what makes us who we are, good, bad, or indifferent. God is telling us not to stay stuck on past hurts or the bad things we may have experienced, but to change the way we view and think about our past, by renewing our minds to see God’s perspective through the light of His Word. 

Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Before we can be transformed we must first agree that the Bible is the true and living word of God, and it rises above all things, culture, experience, family and even self. God’s Word alone reigns supreme and is preeminent above all else. Only when we choose to let go of the lesser, are we able to grab hold of the greater that God has promised us. 

God’s Word must rise above all of our experiences, all of our pain and all of our past. Whether we want to except it or not, God’s word is the touchstone, the standard, the benchmark that we should rise up and lineour lives up against.

We sit on the throne of our hearts, lives and minds by allowing our emotions, our pain and past rule our lives. When we do not obey God’s word to forgive, but refuse to release and let go of the things in our past, then we are allowing our feelings and emotions to dictate our lives. But, it is when we line our will up with God’s word and we decide to ask Jesus to be Lord of our life and to sit on the throne of our hearts, that we are able to have freedom, His peace and be liberated from our past.   

It is when we ask Jesus to be Lord, not just Savior and allow Him sovereignty and authority to sit on the throne of our emotions, pain, hurts and desires that we are able to navigate this life in the way God had ordained and planned for His people. By this we are more than conquerors, we have a peace that surpasses understanding and we are to be kings, priest and to be a light in the midst of darkness. 

Romans 8:37-39 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. NKJ

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Yes we can live this life with joy, peace and abundance through the power of the Holy Spirit and are able to walk out God’s word in the flesh. When our will and choices, line up with the Holy Spirit we learn to live in love, in humility and in a meek way, as God has ordained for us to live from the beginning. The Holy Spirit as part of the Trinity of God plays a vital part in our lives as followers of Christ. With anyone, if He is ignored, overlooked or disregarded and if we refuse to engage Him, it would be difficult for the Holy Spirit to have an impactful role in our life and development. 

It is the Holy Spirit who guides us so that we may live a super-natural life on earth. A super-natural life is one that rises above its natural life experiences, culture, pain, emotions and even hatred, and is able to forgiveothers when we have been wronged. It the followers of Christ who willpray for those that hate them and then choose to show the love of God to those who are hurtful and unlovely. 

What we give our time and attention to is what shapes us and defines who we are. It is when we give time and attention to Christ, the Word of God and develop a relationship with the Holy Spirit, that we are able to be changed. This change will help us to fulfill our God given purpose, which is to reflect, resemble and reveal the love of God.  

Galatians 5:19 But I say, walk habitually in the [Holy] Spirit [seek Him and be responsive to His guidance], and then you will certainly not carry out the desire of the sinful nature [which responds impulsively without regard for God and His precepts]. AMP

Just as we ask Jesus into our lives to save us and to be our Lord and Savior, we should take time to acknowledge the Holy Spirit and ask Him to come within and upon us to give us the power we need to live this life in a way that represents God the Father and Jesus Christ our Savior well. 

When we hear the word of God and then say “Yes But!”  we are allowing our emotions and past experiences to sit on the throne of our hearts. We cannot grab hold of truth when our hands are tightly gripped on our past which is part of this fallen world system.  The apostle Paul beseeched and begged us in Romans 12:1, with the mercy of God extended to us, that he is asking that we release our old way of thinking and present our situation to God. We are to ask Him to transform and renew our way of thinking that we may be in line with God’s word. 

Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. NKJ

We are to pray the prayer of faith in all we do. Just as it was by the prayer of faith that we received salvation. We confessed that Jesus is Lord of all, we believed in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, giving Him all power and authority. We can now submit our problems, pain and past to Him. It was by the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus was raise from the dead, and that same power will give us the ability to forgive, transform our minds and give us life eternal.  

Romans 10:9-10 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.   For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

The prayer of faith is believing in your heart that God’s word is true, and then confessing that truth that you believe with your mouth. It is the same with every prayer of faith that we make, it must be based on the truth of the word of God, we must believe it in our hearts, and then confess that truth with the conviction of our words from our mouth. It is not just a head knowledge but a heart knowing that the promises of God are Yes and Amen! It is not a hidden secret, but a public profession of faith. 

2Corinthians 1:20 For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.