Abiding Forever

Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world, 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.”

Do not be conformed to this world. This is a tall order. There are so many things in this world that are vying for our attention. There is so much out there on social media, on the regular TV, on Netflix and Hulu. We live in a world that is so busy. There is so much noise in the world today. Everybody wants you to listen to them, to buy their product, to think the way that they do. And marketing has gotten so good at figuring out what people want and how to make people spend their money. I was in the appliance section at Sears dept. store once and they were baking fresh cookies so that the smell would draw people in and make them more likely to buy from them. Then there are the different news media outlets. They seem to all be saying something different and yet they all want you to believe what they are saying.

In a world with so much noise, how do we not get swept up in all that is going on? How do we resist the temptation to be conformed by the world? One thing I love about God is that He always helps us out. He provides guidance and judgement. He does not just tell us how He wants us to act, but he explains how and then He usually has someone show us what he means. In this verse He doesn’t just tell us not to be conformed but He goes on to say 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. So how do we get this renewal of the mind? The verse says that by testing you may discern the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

This can be really difficult at times to figure out as the world’s idea of good, acceptable and perfect vary greatly from what the Lord says. God has tried very hard to lay out the laws for us. He gave us the whole Bible to help us know how we should live. Reading the Bible is a great way to help discern the will of God. It is also a great way to see what God thinks is good, acceptable and perfect. There are so many books of the bible that are there specifically to tell us how we should live, both in the new testament and the old testament. Proverbs in the Old Testament is a great book to read if you are looking for direction from God in various areas. The letters to the different communities in the New Testament are also a great place to look.

If you are wondering how God wants you to live, you do not have far to look. He spells it out very specifically in the Bible. However, the bible may not cover all the things we have in today’s modern world. This is when we can look to the church, the Pope, the saints, the religious leaders in your church. The Pope writes letters called encyclicals which address his views on various church teachings. These can be a great place to turn when you want more detail on various church teachings. Also, God is continually raising up people who are inspired by the holy spirit to help us know right from wrong. He is raising up all different types of people so that there is always someone that you can relate to. If you have not found someone that inspires you to live a more faith filled life,I encourage you to start looking, or keep looking. Here are a few names to get you started, Father Mike Schmitz, Jeff Cavins, Jon Leonetti, Bishop Barron, Matthew Kelly, Bobby & Jackie Angel, Pamela Crim. These are just a few names, there are so many. Find someone that inspires you and then your journey will be so much easier.

Even with all the lengths God has gone through to teach us the right way to live, the world sometimes overrides that teaching. The world is often times louder. We can’t hear God through all the noise of the world. It is important that we not let the noise of the world be louder than that of God. It is important that we intentionally spend time grounding ourselves in God’s truth before we even try to go out into the world.

In 1 John 2:15-17 it says, Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” I don’t know about you, but I certainly want to abide forever. Think about how fast each year goes. We are not going to be on this earth for very long compared to forever. Why is is so hard for us to see how important it is to follow Jesus now, right in this moment, and not wait until tomorrow. We are not always guaranteed tomorrow. What if we keep putting off doing what is right until we feel like it, and then that day never comes?

I know that those of you listening to this podcast are probably already striving to live like Jesus. You wouldn’t be showing up here every day if we didn’t love God and want to please Him. And yet, I felt strongly that God wanted to me use this verse today and to teach on not conforming to this world. Everyone needs to be reminded of this every now and then. None of us are perfect. The more we show up here and listen to the teachings, the more we read the bible and study it, the more we read/learn on our own, the deeper an understanding we get of God and His will for us. However, knowing something and doing something are two completely different things. I bet we all struggle with doing things that we know God wants us to do. For instance, God wants us to love everyone, but that is not easy. He wants us to forgive everyone, but that can feel impossible at times.

God knows us, intimately. He knows where we are at and what our struggles are and if we have asked Him to help us with those struggles, then He is doing that. I don’t think this was meant to reprimand us, I think this morning He just wanted to remind us to be mindful of ways that we may be conforming to this world. He loves us and wants to help us so we can join Him in heaven one day. What might you be doing that is more of this world and less of God? What are you spending more time thinking about, those things of this world, or God? What about your desires, are they of God or are they of this world? I for one would like to strive for a renewal of the mind so I can discern the will of God and do what is good, acceptable and perfect. How about you, would you like to abide forever?

Dear Heavenly Father I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode today. Father we ask that you help us not conform to this world. We ask that you give us the strength and wisdom to follow your ways not the ways of this world. Lord we ask that you help us quiet the noise of the world and listen to your voice. We ask that you help us find time in our schedule and throughout our day to spend with you quietly listening to your will. Lord you are amazing and you have gone out of your way to show us how to live correctly. Help us to live the way you want us to live Lord. Help us to discern your will so that we may abide forever. Lord we love you so very much and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus holy name, Amen