I am sure we are all wondering what changes
lie ahead this year, hoping they are “good” (as
defined by us). Change equals growth—physically, psychologically, and spiritually.
Still, even though we know we this, we are quite change
resistant, unless the changes are under our control, and happen to coincide with our own plans.
But, God’s predestined plan is clear: to renew our inner man day
by day (1 Cor. 4:16); to conform us to the image of Jesus (Rom. 8:28); and
bring about our transformation (Rom. 12:2). The words ‘renew,’ ‘transform,’ and
‘conform’ all denote “change.” In particular, the word ‘renew’ means to become newer (a word for which we have no English equivalent), God's way of producing Christ-likeness
in us, one day at a time.
None of us knows what changes God has pre-planned for us in this
new year. But this truth should sustain us: If any person is in Christ, He is “new” (2 Cor.
5:17), and yet, becoming “newer” every day. Walk in this “newness” (Rom. 6:4), and by the
end of 2014, you will have become a new, i.e., “newer,” you.
Rudyard Kipling once asked the question, ‘can you keep your head when all about you are losing theirs?’ His comment seems frighteningly fitting for our times. With the increasingly intense culture wars of our decade, has there ever been a time in history when we have been more sorely in need of keeping our heads?
To enable you and me to do so, Paul says (Eph. 6) God has given the “helmet of salvation.” The “helmet” is God’s way of protecting your mind and keeping your thoughts straight, i.e., keeping your head. It is a helmet of right thinking and a renewed mind (Rom. 12:2). Bible history is replete with those who, figuratively speaking, "lost their heads" because they were so much more mentally vulnerable than they thought they were. No surprise then that Jesus has given us a piece of armor to protect our minds!
Significantly, the “helmet” is one of the pieces of armor not fixed to the body, like the breastplate or belt. In other words, you have to put it on. And what soldier wouldn’t, if, in the throes of battle, he might lose his head? With the speed and intensity of anti-Christian arrows and spears coming at us, it is crucial to keep our helmet on, if we intend to keep our head.
Last Friday I posted my 100th entry on this “Dying to Live” blog.
On this not-so-momentous occasion, let me share this thought with you: these reflections are intended to be THOUGHT STARTERS. For your personal edification.
Isn’t this the way Holy Spirit teaches us—taking an external idea—a general thought—and internalizing/personalizing it to fit it to our individual need? And the light He gives being much more than the ‘author’ of that thought could have ever given. Once a seed of thought has triggered your mind, resolve to cooperate with Holy Spirit as He continues to infuse light into that thought to lead you along the path of mind renewal and transformation. (And I encourage you to keep a journal of these inspired thoughts!)
Dear Dying to Live blog followers, as you read these daily thought-starters, I pray that Holy Spirit will fit each one to your individual need. Determine to “receive the word implanted which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21).
