Day 5: Are You Willing to Be Renovated
Reading: Romans 12:1-2
A Living Sacrifice
12 I appeal to you therefore, brothers,[a] by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.[b] 2 Do not be conformed to this world,[c] but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.[d]
Footnotes
[a] Romans 12:1 Or brothers and sisters
[b] Romans 12:1 Or your rational service
[c] Romans 12:2 Greek age
[d] Romans 12:2 Or what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God
Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:17
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.[a] The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Footnotes
[a] 2 Corinthians 5:17 Or creature
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Devotional:
God does not save us and leave us as we are. He saves us and begins the work of making us new. Paul describes this as transformation, a renewing of the mind that reshapes how we see ourselves, others, and the world. But renovation requires permission. It requires a willingness to let God knock down what does not belong and build something better in its place. The house belongs to him. He knows what it was designed to be. The only question is whether you will yield to the work he wants to do. Today, surrender one area where you have resisted his renovation.
A Living Sacrifice
12 I appeal to you therefore, brothers,[a] by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.[b] 2 Do not be conformed to this world,[c] but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.[d]
Footnotes
[a] Romans 12:1 Or brothers and sisters
[b] Romans 12:1 Or your rational service
[c] Romans 12:2 Greek age
[d] Romans 12:2 Or what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God
Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:17
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.[a] The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Footnotes
[a] 2 Corinthians 5:17 Or creature
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Devotional:
God does not save us and leave us as we are. He saves us and begins the work of making us new. Paul describes this as transformation, a renewing of the mind that reshapes how we see ourselves, others, and the world. But renovation requires permission. It requires a willingness to let God knock down what does not belong and build something better in its place. The house belongs to him. He knows what it was designed to be. The only question is whether you will yield to the work he wants to do. Today, surrender one area where you have resisted his renovation.
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The process of allowing ourselves to be renovated by God is so humbling and is not a one time decision. God is working continuously and until we are in Heaven with him there is always work that can be done in our hearts and minds. It is so easy and I’m guilty of it as well of kind of hitting a plateau for lack of a better term. A plateau where we feel comfortable with the changes we have made in our lives and heart. But God continually calls us deeper, continually calls us to allow him to have open access to our heart and mind and to do delicate surgery on it. That surgical process does not feel good in the moment but is so necessary to move past a plateau into new growth and new depth of relationship with him.
“Renovation requires permission.”
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nI think often I believe I have given God permission to turn certain parts of my life upside down, but I haven’t. And then I wonder why things don’t change. Or he knocks on THAT door and I’m irritated because I’ve convinced myself that I’m fully surrendered. But he is kind and gentle in how he changes us. We have to give permission but he is gentle in how he draws that permission from us.
When we think of renovations that God would need to make in order to make me into his holy temple, a person that will reflect Jesus to the world, we identify behaviors that need to change. Yet, God takes a deeper approach. As we spend time with the Holy Spirit, he changes our hearts, our desires and our thoughts toward everything. Our behaviors change as a result. This is not because we feel convicted and will to change, but because God has gently transformed us at our core and made us new. It’s really exciting when we begin to recognize this change and begin to compare our new life with our old person. Those are my favorite testimonies.