THE JOURNEY OF TRANSFORMATION

We are transformed by the Word. Will we finish well?( I believe we will!) We have in the book of Revelation, chapters 2 and 3, seven handwritten epistles to the church. The word of God, Jesus, gives us the word of God, the bible to live by. He spoke to them saying: “these things I see and these things I have against you.” At the end of every one of those letters he says “he that has ears to hear let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. And let him repent.” And we are called to repent of the things that the Holy Spirit speaks to us to change. Jesus speaks a parable of the sower. Matthew 13 - The seed being the word of God - The seed fell on the hard path, seed fell on Shallow ground, Seed fell among the thorns, and some seed fell on good ground. - Note how Jesus ends … whoever has ears, let him hear. - This scripture is about us believing and receiving the word that is sown in us, JESUS IS THE WORD THAT COMES TO US. John 1 : 1-3 In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. All things were made through Him and without Him nothing was made that was made. - The Bible is the words of God, - 2 Tim 3:16-17 All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God maybe complete and thoroughly equipped for every good work. JESUS, THE WORD, SHOWS US WHO THE FATHER IS. Heb 1: 1-3 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things and through whom also He made the universe. The son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of the Father’s being, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After He had 2 provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty of heaven. HIS WORD HAS ENORMOUS POWER TO CHANGE. Rom 1: 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, first for the Jew and also the Greek (us Gentiles). Question? What hinders this transformation process? Gal 5: 7 You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth. Investigate this question, investigate the things that may hinder you. To do this we have to be honest with ourselves. There are lots of things that hinder our transformation, but I just want to touch on 2 that are common to us all. Then I we will look at the answers that scripture has for us. 1. One big hinderance is pride. Matt 5: 8 Jesus sermon on the Mount Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God. That word ‘pure’ means clear and nothing hidden. Be transparent before God, open, not hiding. Pride will resist you from doing this. 1 Peter 5: 5-6 V5 … all of you be submissive to one another and be clothed with humility for God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. Eph:22-24 That you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, that you put on the new man which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness. Pride will cause God to resist you in this transformation process. Pride comes before a fall and will cause you to: - Refuse to ask for forgiveness. - Refuse to bow our knee to the Word. Submit to it. Submit is a military term – to come under the authority of. - Pride causes us to become defensive. - Pride does not say sorry or take ownership of our wrong doing. 3 - Prides focus is on other people’s faults, and not our own. - Pride blames others for the state we find ourselves in. - Pride is the sin that will most likely stop us calling out to God for help. - A prideful person lacks grace for others. V6 Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time. Humbling ourselves is repentance. And repentance is a beautiful thing. - Repentance restores our relationship with God and others. - Repentance is a gift from God. Acts 11: 18 …then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life. - Repentance gives us access to the Father again. - In repentance there is great joy in heaven. Luke 15: 7 What hinders us? 2. Disobedience – refusal to obey. Matt 21: 28-32 A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘son, go and work today in my vineyard.’ He answered and said ‘I will not.’ But afterwards he repented of it and went. Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said ‘I will go sir.’ But he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father? They said to Him ‘The first.’ Jesus said to them: Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and prostitutes enter the Kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him. But tax collectors and prostitutes believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterwards repent and believe. - Many times, we are like the second son, quick to say yes to God, but then change our mind and say no, or just do nothing different. - This is like Samuel in 1 Sam 15: 22 talking to Saul obedience is better than sacrifice and to listen to God is better than fat of rams. - Disobedience is an act of rebellion. His disobedience was an act to please men and not God. Because in 1 Sam 15 v 24 - Then Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned for I have transgressed the commandments of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. The ANSWER to disobedience is found in : 4 1 Thessalonians 2: 13 For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in those who believes. So the word of God effectively works in those who receive and believe. The Thessalonians were transformed by the word because they - received it as the word of God. The word received literally means ingrafted. They made the word of God as part of them. - They then welcomed it, not as the word from men but as truth as the word of God. (Moses with Jethro) - The word effectively worked in them (transformation) because they believed. We need to believe the word of God. Effective working= submitting to Gods word will cause an effective work in you. - It will be operative in you. - To be at work in you - To put forth power in you. - To aid you and to be mighty in its work in you. Having a transformed life is having an understand of who Jesus is and knowing that we can come to Him. Jesus is a friend of sinners. These are those that he hangs out with. Jesus said I am gentle and lowly in heart. Matthew 11:29 - Jesus in his own words dives deep into his heart and tells us who He is because the heart tells us what is at our centre. - He is the gentlest person you will ever find. - He is tender. - He is the most selfless person in the universe. - He is the humblest person in the universe. So come to Jesus and let the transformation process continue without hinderance. 2 Peter 3: 18 We are to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. - We receive grace for salvation and some stop there. - Grace is a continuing active force in our lives to grow. 5 - Grow in grace. - Grow in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Journey of Transformation

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