Bible League: Living His Word Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.— Romans 12:2 NLT The word "world" in our verse for today does not refer to the world as God made it in the beginning. The world that God made was good, as He Himself observed after He made it: "Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!" (Genesis 1:31). The word refers, instead, to the world's culture in so far as it has been affected by sin and evil. Due to the sin of human beings, the world has been opened up to the nefarious influence of Satan and his demons. This influence has affected every aspect of the world. God's good world, one might say, has been corrupted and debased. The behaviors and customs of human beings that were intended by God for good have been twisted and perverted. For example, instead of speaking the truth, people speak lies. Instead of being faithful in marriage, people commit adultery. Instead of being fair and just, people rob and steal — the list could go on. With the world in that state all around him, it's no wonder that Paul understood the word "world" in such a negative way. Seeing this, Paul commands the Roman church, and every church by extension, to refrain from copying such behavior and customs. Christians may be in the corrupted world of sin and evil, but they are not of that world. Christians may have to deal with the world in its corrupt state, but they should not partake of the corruption. Paul is confident that it's possible for Christians to strike out in directions that differ from the ways of the world. By his instruction, he assures us that we're not doomed to repeat the sinful and evil patterns of the world. Real change is possible. Real change that reverses the corruption of the world can actually happen. Consider your place in the world as a Christian. Consider how many of your behaviors come from the world, rather than from Christ Jesus. Regularly ask yourself, "Am I acting as a force for good in the world, or am I just adding to the corruption?" Jesus called believers "salt of the earth" (Matthew 5:13). Salt is a preservative. May our faithful actions hold back the "spoilage" of our Father's world. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingJeremiah 36, 37 Jeremiah 36 -- Jeremiah's Scroll Read in the Temple, Burned, and Replaced NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Jeremiah 37 -- Jeremiah Warns against Trust in Pharaoh NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Philemon Philemon 1 -- Paul's Thankfulness for Philemon's Faithfulness; Paul's Plea for Onesimus NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.Insight What we put into our minds determines what comes out in our words and actions. Paul tells us to program our minds with thoughts that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. Challenge Do you have problems with impure thoughts and daydreams? Examine what you are putting into your mind through television, books, conversations, movies, and magazines. Replace harmful input with wholesome material. Above all, read God's Word and pray. Ask God to help you focus your mind on what is good and pure. It takes practice, but it can be done. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon 2 Chronicles 30:27 Their prayer came up to His holy dwelling place, even unto heaven.Prayer is the never-failing resort of the Christian in any case, in every plight. When you cannot use your sword you may take to the weapon of all-prayer. Your powder may be damp, your bow-string may be relaxed, but the weapon of all-prayer need never be out of order. Leviathan laughs at the javelin, but he trembles at prayer. Sword and spear need furbishing, but prayer never rusts, and when we think it most blunt it cuts the best. Prayer is an open door which none can shut. Devils may surround you on all sides, but the way upward is always open, and as long as that road is unobstructed, you will not fall into the enemy's hand. We can never be taken by blockade, escalade, mine, or storm, so long as heavenly succors can come down to us by Jacob's ladder to relieve us in the time of our necessities. Prayer is never out of season: in summer and in winter its merchandize is precious. Prayer gains audience with heaven in the dead of night, in the midst of business, in the heat of noonday, in the shades of evening. In every condition, whether of poverty, or sickness, or obscurity, or slander, or doubt, your covenant God will welcome your prayer and answer it from His holy place. Nor is prayer ever futile. True prayer is evermore true power. You may not always get what you ask, but you shall always have your real wants supplied. When God does not answer His children according to the letter, He does so according to the spirit. If thou askest for coarse meal, wilt thou be angered because He gives thee the finest flour? If thou seekest bodily health, shouldst thou complain if instead thereof He makes thy sickness turn to the healing of spiritual maladies? Is it not better to have the cross sanctified than removed? This evening, my soul, forget not to offer thy petition and request, for the Lord is ready to grant thee thy desires. Daily Light on the Daily Path Isaiah 9:6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.Deuteronomy 6:4 "Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! John 10:30,38 "I and the Father are one." • but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father." John 8:19 So they were saying to Him, "Where is Your Father?" Jesus answered, "You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also." John 14:8,9 Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us." • Jesus said to him, "Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, 'Show us the Father '? Hebrews 2:13 And again, "I WILL PUT MY TRUST IN HIM." And again, "BEHOLD, I AND THE CHILDREN WHOM GOD HAS GIVEN ME." Isaiah 53:11 As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities. Revelation 1:8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." John 8:58 Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am." Exodus 3:14 God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" Hebrews 1:8 But of the Son He says, "YOUR THRONE, O GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER, AND THE RIGHTEOUS SCEPTER IS THE SCEPTER OF HIS KINGDOM. Colossians 1:17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. Colossians 2:9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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