Fruitful Thought

  Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Romans 12:2 MSG I love the Message version of this scripture because it makes it plan. Paul is writing to believers in Rome. He is cautioning them not to get so accustomed to the values and practices of the world that they fit in without even thinking about it. Sometimes we can get so used to something, we cannot tell when it is no longer benefiting us. We start blending in so much it becomes second nature. We adjust to the environment we are in. When that happens, it is difficult to change. Paul gives them an alternative. He tells them to replace the behavior of fitting in by fixing their minds on God. Paul understood it would take changing their thinking to avoid giving in to the culture or the worlds way of doing things. He also knew that if they did this, God would change them from the inside out. Paul’s w...

  Sometime later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals.   Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda [ a ]  and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades.   Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.   One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.   When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him,  “Do you want to get well?” “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” John 5:1-7 This story is a notable example of making the choice to change or not. Although it is referring to healing, the principle is still the same, a change needs to take place. But the choice lies with the individual alone. This pool of water was known to heal peop...

  For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? Isaiah 43.19a NLT When God says He’s doing something new, that implies that the present state is about to change. In fact, the process has already begun. You see, it’s not new to God, just us. It was already in His plans. The question is are we ready for the change? Here’s the thing, whether we are ready or not, if God says it’s coming, it’s coming. Not only is it coming, but it’s also already begun. How do we typically respond to change? For some of us we get so comfortable with our current situation, that we either do not want to change or do not recognize when the change is taking place. Some recognize the change and get excited about it initially, but do not see it happening fast enough and throw in the towel. Others recognize it, understand that it’s a process and embrace the journey. I remember when God spoke to me about ministry. He showed me that it was going to be different than what ...

Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest   and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.   As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.   He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him,  “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”   “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,”  he replied.   “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone.   Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes, he could see nothing. So, they led him by the hand into Damascus.   For three days he was blind and did not eat or drink anyt...

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life]. 2 Corinthians 5:17 AMP I used to look at this verse as just a person becoming new through accepting Jesus as my Lord and Savior. But, after I spent more time meditating on it and understanding what it takes to become new, now my perspective is different.   Change means to make (someone or something) different; alter or modify, Merriam-Webster . A synonym for change is convert. Salvation takes place instantly, but change can take a lifetime as we learn to think, Romans 12:2, and act like our Heavenly Father.  What I realized is the change, the conversion, described in this passage speaks to something that takes time. The Amplified bible describes it a...