You can find the video here: https://www.facebook.com/RichlandNaz/videos/245166606595442/
Something that will help us all stay connected - keep up the discussion – on the Live Stream. Like, follow, and share these morning devotions. And don’t forget to check in @ Richland Church of the Nazarene. If you think about it, you should comment in the video – whenever you watch this video – and let us know where you’ve seen God lately. I’m looking for you to be looking for what I call God sightings… Put it in the comments.
We’ve spoken about how the purpose of this journey, the purpose of our lives according to the Bible is to be completely transformed into the likeness of Christ. And we have established that it is only through the Holy Spirit progressively transforming us into the image of Christ Jesus. And we need to realize that Jesus, whom we call Immanuel – that’s actually more a phrase than a name. Eem – with, anu – us, El – God. So this idea of God with us, when He is in the storm with the Disciples His name is, God with us in the midst of the storm. When Jesus is suffering on the cross Jesus is, God with us in our sufferings. Do you see how Jesus has identified Himself with us, and how we do need to become more like Him?
We spoke briefly about Satan – the adversary, who is indeed the father of all lies. He is seeking to kill and destroy not just the believers, but He wants to destroy all of God’s wonderful creation. And all of this brings me back to a couple days ago where Paul told us in Romans 12 that as our minds are transformed, as they are renewed into the likeness of Christ, we would begin to discern God’s perfect and pleasing will.
So – how do we do that? When we are looking to be transformed into the men and women of God that He needs us to be for His kingdom, how do we do that?
2 Corinthians 10:3-6 (NIV) For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.
Remembering that Jesus is the absolute perfect revelation of God, that He is the complete embodied truth and that we are to be transformed into the likeness of Christ through the renewing of our minds would be absolutely logical. Being empowered by the Holy Spirit to take our thoughts and make them obedient to the teachings and the way of Christ simply seems logical.
Certainly now in light of some of this, we can see where Jesus speaking to His Disciples told them I am the way, the truth, and the life… All of this totally makes sense now. So we are taking captive every thought and measuring it against Christ. Christ is our example. If we are being discipled by Him, then we are going to do what He did – spending time focusing our lives on what He focused upon in His life.
This is indeed what is going to assist the work in our lives the Holy Spirit needs to accomplish by renewing our minds with the truth Christ brings.