Hungry For Holiness Men's Fellowship

How to be Fully Transformed! A WORD study.

Transported or Transformed?

Romans 12:1 – I beseech thee, brethren,  by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service, and be ye not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, acceptable, and perfect will of God.

TRANSFORMATION:  A constant process with a consistent base.  The change is to take place within your mind, which will in turn affect your body, which can then be presented holy and acceptable unto the Lord.  Your bodies are presented as sacrifices; your minds are renewed and transformed.

This is the dual nature of a man; always wrestling against the flesh, but living in victory in the spirit. (Romans 7:15 – 25).  The body is going to die.  Even after we are saved, the body continues to die, even when we are granted eternal life through Christ Jesus.  Why?  Because it (the body) is going to take our sins into the ground, while our spirits are raised in newness of life eternal before God. 

Romans 8:1 – Proof of the transformation to take place.  We are freed from the law and hence the consequences of sin and death, but not the body. (v4 – we are to leave the movements of the flesh behind, and force our bodies to walk after our understanding of the spirit realm).  Romans 8:10 – 11 proves that He does not remove you from sin (the body), he removes sin from you (separates the walks of the flesh and spirit)!  Like cleansing your body in a bathtub, you are cleansed FROM sin, but only to the extent that the sin is removed from your charge, your spirit is made FREE OF SINThe body continues with (not in) sin as Paul lamented, but the flesh is made subject to the spirit and the work becomes spiritual, the results from God and the effort supported by Christ.

It is not always about sin in our lives, it is about sin reentering our lives thru some avenue that god is trying to close off.  He renews our thoughts and mindset so as to change the pattern; to break the connection between the pattern and the finished product, and introduce a new pattern into your mind.  Transportation without transformation is nothing!  Moving sins and problems from place to place accomplishes nothing.  We must set aside (discard and thoroughly remove) sins and our weights.  God wants us to push off these things, and no longer carry them like so much spiritual baggage.  An old man in a new situation is still an old problem!  That is why God renews your way of thinking first. 

Galatians 5:19 calls the results of sin WORKS of flesh.  We must work at sin.  It is a result of OUR efforts.

Galatians 5:22 calls the results of Spiritual growth FRUIT.  We work at our own spirit, but HE brings the increase for it.  Our work is still present, but the results are different.  We cannot produce God’s spiritual fruit without him, but we can work the flesh alone.  Flesh takes effort.  The Spirit made, stirred, moved, led us, we do not stir, move, or lead it.  We move IN it, we respond TO it, but we cannot generate it ourselves. 

John 19:30 – It is finished.  All we do is work on ourselves.  God performs every spiritual act THROUGH us and our obedience.  Paul said above “I die daily”.  He puts to death the works of the flesh and the attitude and thoughts of the carnal nature, but he is RENEWED everyday by God.

 

Galatians 6:5 tells us that every man will bear his own burden.  Our efforts to satisfy God renew us as our consciousness is turned toward him.  Our bodies are not.  We are healed from sicknesses from time-to-time, but we die every day.   We are never free from temptation, but we can live a sin-free life, because we are mentally and spiritually removed from sin, but not the body (the physical harbor for carnal creation).  Therefore, the constant struggle of holy and unholy spiritual desires will always be with us.  Hence, the need for transformation!  We must change our patterns, our thoughts, and thus our actions in order to overwhelm the leanings of the carnal memory and patterns behavior!

Jeremiah 42:10 tells us that if we listen to God, he will plant us, root us, and build us up.  THEN he will move us into our own land.  Here are the parts of this thought:

 Patterns – Why we do what we do.  The thoughts, and very ideas and desires that motivate our actions in the flesh/spirit.

1.       Plants and roots us – Sets the growth process in fresh soil and performs the work in secret (within our minds and spirits).  Foundational work.

 

2.       Builds us up – Strengthens and reveals our character and behavior; ripens our fruit and allows us to reflect the architect.  All buildings reflect the builder!

 

3.       Transforms us – Finalizes the renewal process – clearly demonstrates newness of life and the changes we have made.

 

4.       Transports us – Moves us into our own land, a new level of operation, revealing trust that our patterns have successfully changed and we will operate and behave differently than before.

THEN, it begins all over again on the new level!  Transformation is a continuous process with a consistent base!

Let’s look at some root words:

Transformed:  Metamorpo’o – literally the metamorphose or transfiguration, change, or to transform.

Renewing: Anakaheenosis – to renovate, transfigure or disguise.

Patterns: Tabneeth – structure, by implication a model, form, likeness, pattern or similitude.

GREEK: Hupotuposis – a sketch for imitation – form or pattern.

Romans 12:2 could be translated literally; the change or transfiguration of your mind (intellectual faculties, moral understanding, intent and thought) through renovation to become well-minded, comprehending and perceptive, of what is that good, acceptable, and perfect will of God. 

In that way you are transformed from glory to glory and not just moved from trouble to trouble. The reason the children of Israel had so many problems in the desert is because they merely left to find better lands and freedom.  They were transported – taking their old fears and understandings, without being transformed!  God performed many miracles for them in order to change their way of thinking and increase their faith!  Yet, time and again they demonstrated their lack of faith and inability to see it.  Eventually, God was forced to wipe them out and start over.

The word transported isn’t even in the bible as such, but is rather inferred through the word carry or carried; as in God carried them/us in times of trouble.  But God doesn’t do this for the sake of moving you out of trouble ONLY, but to increase your faith and transform your thinking.  He does this so often in our toughest times to ensure our faith is perfected.  All his actions are designed to bring us into recognition and perception of his will and, once there, operate in that awareness until it all comes full circle.

Patterns of behavior change because we perceive and are aware of His will for our lives.  Hearts change because we are aware and watching our steps, minds are changed when we are given to daily exercise of the thoughts and intents within us and how they relate to him!

We see and operate under a sketch or visage or form of being (carnal nature) which leads us into behavior.  We cannot walk by faith until we see God changing us and helping us to increase the use of our measure of faith!  God wants to re-write the visage, vision, or view; so that what you see and model your self after (the pattern) is based entirely upon him.  It is good to be in His will.  His will is fully agreeable and it is pleasurable to be in His will and His will is perfect, complete, inclusive and full.

The renewal comes from a circular motion:  the thoughts and intents of our heart become action, which becomes a pattern, which changes our thoughts, which become the basis of new actions, which reinforce our patterns!

TRANSFORMATION RENEWS AND REWRITES THESE PATTERNS AND THUS, CHANGES OUR THOUGHTS AND ACTIONS! 

What do all fruit bearing trees have in common? 

1.       They need good soil.  They need nutrient rich and root bearing soil.  Jeremiah 42:10

2.       They need sunlight.  Ample life producing sunlight changes energy into sugars, sugars into energy for growth and back into sugars as the fruit grows. Jesus is the light of the world!

 

3.       They need water.  Water in abundance makes the fruit sweet and juicy.  The bible tells us that out of your bellies shall flow rivers of living water!  From that river (Holy Ghost) comes the fruit of the spirit.

 

4.       They need to be of value to humans by harvest.  Otherwise natural processes cause the fruit to ripen and rot on the tree, fall into the earth and continue a circular motion that benefits no one.  The bible tells us we must be witnesses – share the fruit and show it forth or it is like a light hidden under a bushel and of no value!

Once the roots are laid, we start getting grounded.  Our patterns are changed as we enter the Word of God, we start praying and fasting and seeking his will for our lives.  These patterns change our thoughts which affect our daily activity.  Once the roots have taken hold, Jeremiah 42:10 tells us the next step is that God builds us up.

That building up is the revealing to others what God has done. The actual showing forth of the fruit he has planted within us.  Every plant transforms.  From a seed buried into the earth to a plant standing tall and proudly producing its particular harvest.  People begin to SEE and HEAR that we walk differently, we talk differently, and we act differently.  The pattern of behavior changes for the good and for good.  We become transformed. 

Once we have learned how to focus our minds and change our patterns; once we are showing forth the fruit of the spirit and have proven the will of God, we can be transported.  Taken to a new place in God where the process can resume all over again.

Fear not, friends, the process is NEVER-ENDING while in this body.  But it is COMPLETE in him!  We are full in his presence and satisfied in his spirit.  Don’t let the body fool you!  Temptation is not sin, but giving into temptation is.  Faith is the confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person or idea.  Once your faith is established, the patterns will be too.  Once the patterns change your behavior becomes one of walking not by what you SEE before you, but what you KNOW before you.  God is always willing to show you the way.  He is always willing to carry you through.  But he also always wants YOU to do some of the work on yourself.   Bring your mind and heart into line, allow your patterns to change and the next time you face a trial, you will not be merely transported, you will be transformed!

In Love,

Elder Mark