Transformation

Focus Word: Transformation
Verse: Romans 12:2 “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
Declaration: The Spirit renews my mind today. I experience inner change that leads to outer breakthrough. 
Some books are very informative. Some books are reformative. The Bible is transformative. It changes a person completely and creates a new creation with no connection to its past.
1.Transformation begins in the mind.
Many people have many insecurities about themselves: their body, their mind, their performance, their talents, etc. For a person to change this, it needs to start from the mind. True change starts from within. God does not change only our circumstances, He changes our mindset first. 
When a rich man becomes poor, he will still think and act the way he did before. The same way, a poor man that suddenly becomes rich will do the same- he won’t feel comfortable on a big bed and will sleep on the floor. It will take time for the mindset to change. 
Proverbs 23:7 “as a man thinks, so is he”
Change your thinking, change your life. 
Ephesians 4:23 “to be made new in the attitude of your minds”
It is your software that matters. God updates our mind with His truth so that our lives can change. He updates us with faith, holiness, wisdom, etc. to renew and develop us and change our lives. 
2. Transformation requires rejecting worldly patterns.
There are two patterns: the Word and the world. We need to choose one. The world tries to shape our values, desires, and outlooks through false teachings and patterns. The Word cleanses us and aligns us with God. When we stop copying the worldly patterns, and try to be like Jesus, our life becomes transformed. 
It is possible to attend church every week and still see no change in your life. We change only when we reject world patterns and align with the Word. 
1 John 2:15 “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.”
Colossians 3:2 “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”
James 4:4 “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.”
God redirects our lives into clean channels of truth. 
3. God’s Word and Spirit are the tools of transformation.
The Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to reshape our minds and attitudes. As we meditate on scripture, we are moulded into Christ-likeness. 
John 17:17 “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.”
2 Corinthians 3:18 “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
Psalm 119:11 “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”
Mirrors show us our flaws. In the same way, God’s Word shows us what must change in our lives. 
4. Inner transformation creates outer breakthrough
When the heart changes, life changes. New thinking brings new behaviour, choices, and direction. 
Ezekiel 36:26 “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
God gets the award for most heart transplants done! 
Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
When the root is healthy, the fruit is healthy. Transformation at the root brings visible fruit in your life. 
Transformation is not self improvement, it is spiritual renewal. As your mind is renewed by God’s truth, your life is reshaped by God’s power. We need to give the Holy Spirit a license to change our minds and our lives.