Encounter: Grab your Bibles and your journal and seek a quiet place away from the distractions of the world around you. Open up your Bibles and read Romans 12. Write or circle any words or phrases that draw your attention and reflect what the Holy Spirit may be inviting you to practice.
Growing up, I was a kid that was always outside dreaming that I would be the next great Olympian Like Bruce Jenner or Mark Spitz. Then I got exposed to fascinating athletes who would transform their bodies into massively sculpted art by building muscle mass. The likes of Franco Columbu, Lou Ferrigno, and Arnold Schwarzenegger were bodybuilders who mastered this art in their time.
Bodybuilding is a sacrificing of time, diet, and dedication to live in a gym and lift weights to build big muscle. To be in the world of Franco, Lou, and Arnold requires good genes as well. Let’s face it, a short, skinny kid who was teased about chicken legs and arms was not blessed to live in the world of bodybuilding.
None the less, guys like these, sacrificed time and energies to transform their bodies. Paul speaks to the Romans and us about the need to sacrifice our bodies and to not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds.
God is calling us to go against the status quo of very busy lives that depend more on our own self wills that satisfy our own selfish needs and transform our thought patterns to slow down, find quiet spaces, listen to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and follow the teachings of Jesus Christ.
How do you spend your time in the scriptures? Are you in a rush to get so many things done that you rush through God’s Word to the next thing needing completed? You are not alone. The best way to renew our minds and change our thought process is to spend time in the Word with the Holy Spirit.
As I write this, I will go through periods where I don’t know how to slow down. But as I head into Spiritual Direction Training later this month, I look forward to learning more about slowing and listening so that my transformation can continue in the direction God intended. As I learn, I plan to share so that you can renew your minds with a different thought process that invites continual transformation.
Transforming with you,
Pastor Phil
Reflect: Look at the words you have underlined, circled or written in your journals from Romans 12. When you consider a renewing of your mind or changing your thought process to think more like Christ, look at those words and ask the Holy Spirit to show you what God has in mind for your thought process.
Spiritual Practice: As you work through the 730 Challenge this week, slow down and sit in a quiet place as you read or listen to the scriptures. Take note of words or phrases that God draws your attention and consider how it might aid in the renewing of your mind as you continue on your journey of transformation.
Gather: In your small groups discuss patterns of the world in which you interact. Then discuss how God might have spoken to you of a shift in your thought process that will help you in your transformation process of becoming more like Christ.
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