“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” NKJV
Transformation is something that is meant to happen in all our lives, and it is the basis of our walk with God. His grace is all about the power to change. There is no way that I can encounter the blood of Jesus Christ, and the reality of the Holy Spirit and remain the way I was. That is God’s grace! The Holy Spirit, our divine “Enabler” gives us a heart for the things of God – for His mind, His ways, and He enables us to experience a “re-programing”.
What does this really mean? It means we receive the potential to be “de-programed” from the things which dragged us down, and to experience the establishing of new neural pathways in our brains towards the things of God. We are each so programed in the things of the world. Everything we do – from the moment we wake up in the morning – can become an unconscious pattern that we are automatically led by, except when we might consciously decide to change that pattern and do something different.
This is what Paul is talking about in Romans 12:2 when he says “Do not be conformed to this world”. He is telling us to make conscious choices, and to break free of the patterns and cycles we are walking by, those rules and limitations we have plugged into, the boxes our minds have been set into. There is no limit to what we can experience and achieve in the Lord Christ if we allow our boxes to be broken, and our minds & hearts are open to the unlimited potential of God. This is when true transformation begins to happen – when we get free from “container store thinking”! I can start by acknowledging that I really don’t know everything there is to know about God and His Word, just like I don’t know everything about life and what’s going on in the world. This acknowledgement itself begins to break the ingrained pattern, because I am then recognizing that everything in my life is not within my knowledge and control. If I say I know exactly how God thinks and what He does and does not do, I have made him a finite being who fits within my limited mind set, when He is the infinite vastness of eternity, the Pure Potential of divine destiny!
Conforming to the system is something we do every day, wherever we are. Even in the general church world, there is a system of rules and norms, and all who come in are meant to follow the pattern and conform. People can even be taught how to believe, and how to see the Word of God; we are “discipled” into being just like thousands of others, and settled into beautiful inspired boxes within which to abide! But conforming to the system is what Paul is telling us to break free from. He is saying “be transformed by the renewing of your mind”. He is saying “Get free guys!” “Soar high and let yourself get truly connected to the infinity of Jesus the Christ”. “Break out of the matrix and let your mind be renewed, changed, transformed. There is more beyond the walls you are holding yourself within.” Every time I break out beyond the box, I begin afresh to see that “good and acceptable and perfect will of God”. I see the infinity of possibilities, and the power that is ready to overflow and manifest through me.
Friend, God has given you power to transform your life! Paul is talking about what neuroscience refers to as “neuroplasticity”, which is the power to change your brain by changing your thoughts, your responses, your focus and perception. Here’s what Dr Caroline Leaf says in Chapter 3 of her book “Switch On Your Brain”: “If you change your perception, you change your biology. You become the master of your life instead of a victim.” She also says in the same chapter: “Moment by moment of each day you can choose who you will be in the next moment, and these choices are captured in the resultant thought networks you build. She goes on to say: “Intervention of the mind changes the brain physically, chemically, structurally and functionally. Research shows there is no more effective way to produce localized and specific changes in the brain than behavioral or mental intervention.” This is such good news! God has given us the power and the protocol for lasting change through the renewed mind when we step into partnership with Him! This is why Paul writes in Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. Changing my thought patterns changes the quality and course of my entire life!
“Precious one, will you open your heart to the infinite potential in Me? Will you allow your mind to be finally free? What if you acknowledged that I am in everything and everything is in Me? That would change your whole paradigm and start a transformation in the very deepest part of you. That’s what revival is – when I make everything new!”
There’s a transformation taking place, and the Holy Spirit is fashioning it forth from within you. The more you yield, the more you will see the fullness of Jesus manifesting in you. Your mind is being renewed!
Minoli Haththotuwa, 16 November 2022
