BBD 12.30.06 Change Your Life - Part I
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>
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The Burning Bush Devotional
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12.30.06
Change Your Life - Part I
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present
your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your
reasonable service. 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. - Romans 12:1-2.
Are you happy with your life? You may be reasonably happy with your life.
There may be some things that you would change but not much. Having said
that - there are, however, millions of people, possibly billions of people
that are not that happy with their lives. Have you heard of "Second Life"?
It is an Internet community, which appears to me to be for people who are
not happy with their lives in the real world. Here is what the "Second Life"
website says about it: "Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built
and owned by its residents. Since opening to the public in 2003, it has
grown explosively and today is inhabited by a total of 2,260,866 people from
around the globe. From the moment you enter the World you'll discover a vast
digital continent, teeming with people, entertainment, experiences and
opportunity. Once you've explored a bit, perhaps you'll find a perfect
parcel of land to build your house or business."
Second Life has been so successful financially that the IRS is making plans
to monitor and tax financial transactions taking place through the Second
Life Internet community. . Think about this: In Second Life up to $500,000
in user-to-user transactions take place every day, and the economy is
growing by 10 to 15 percent a month. I think you can see what I am getting
at. There are millions of people who have begun to work and play in what is
essentially an imaginary, make believe world. For the vast majority of them
they have entered into this virtual world because of their unhappiness, at
least to some extent, with their real lives.
It may be that if you are unhappy with your life or even if you are happy
with your life that you need a change. Why, you are probably thinking would
do I need to change if I am happy with my life? Because you are not the only
one involved. The rest of us are involved as well. What you do and what I do
affects everyone else. But the most important reason to change our lives
is - if God wants you to change. Have you asked God recently if He is happy
with the way that you are living your life? If you were to ask God if He is
happy with your life - what would He say?
Is there a sin, that you have been involved with? It is not like it has
consumed your life but you have been dropping some grains of this sin into
your spiritual life and you know you have. Every time you drop another grain
of that sin into your life, it puts a little more distance between you and
your Lord. Every time you drop another grain of that sin into your life, it
slows down your spiritual fervor a little more. Every time you drop another
grain of that sin into your life, you have more of a concern about what the
world wants and what the flesh wants than you do about what God wants in
your life.
What is it that is slowing you down spiritually? What is it that is
decimating your spiritual world? What is it that is ruining your fellowship
with your Lord? What is it that makes you care more about the things of this
world than the things of God? If we are honest with ourselves, we all have
some sin in our lives. As the apostle John writes in 1 John, "If we say that
we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we say
that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us (1
John 1:8; 10)." Isn't it time to pray as the Psalmist prayed "Search me, O
God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is
any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting (Psalm 139:23-24)."
Do you want to change your life? The good news is that you can change if you
have a desire in your heart to change. Just after the apostle John says, "If
we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us
(1 John 1:8)." He then gives us the good news, "If we confess our sins, He
is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness (1 John 1:9)."
I think what the apostle Paul says in Romans 12:1-2 fits in well here as he
says, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you
present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is
your reasonable service. 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." To change our lives we must
present our bodies, our lives, all that we are to the Lord as living
sacrifices. To change our lives we must no longer be conformed to this
world, doing what this world wants, thinking what this world wants, living
what this world wants - instead we must be transformed as Paul puts it ".by
the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and
acceptable and perfect will of God."
Change your life in 2007 by being no longer conformed to this world but
being transformed by the renewing of your mind giving your life to God as a
living sacrifice.
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