The Amish Voice 8
Romans
12:2 Says, And be not con-
formed to this world: but be ye trans-
formed by the renewing of your mind,
that ye may prove what is that good,
and acceptable and perfect will of God.
I have been meditatng on this scripture for
quite a while and I am sure most of us have
heard this verse quoted many tmes. But
have we ever really stopped to think what
this verse is really talking about? What is
Paul referring to when he is talking about
not being conformed to this world?
Well I have learned to always take a scrip-
ture in its context if we could just take por-
tons of scripture and make a doctrine out of
it, we could make hanging yourself
scriptural. In one place it says,
“
Judas went out and hanged him-
self.”
And in another it says,
“Go
and do thou likewise.”
In the text immediately following:
Be not conformed to this world,
it
says
but be ye transformed by the
renewing of your mind.
So in con-
text he is saying that we need to
start thinking diferently than the
world.
So what does the world think about or how
do they think? I heard a man say one tme
during the stand-of in Waco, Texas that in
most cult leaders, you will fnd at least two
of these three basic, sinful characteristcs;
sexual perversion, a hunger for power and
control and a love for money.
So if this is the basic, sinful nature of man,
let me ask you. How much tme do we spend
thinking about these three things? I am not
talking about a feetng thought. I am talking
about actually fantasizing about them and
spending hours worrying and contemplatng
about it.
I tell you, “ We must get rid of our stnkin
thinkin and put on the mind of Christ.”
In 1 Corinthians 2:16 Paul says,
“But we
have the mind of Christ.”
So how do we get the mind of Christ? Well,
we need a total transformaton. In the next
phrase he says, “
by the renewing of your
mind.”
In saying our minds need to be renewed, he
is saying that our minds need to be trans-
formed into its original state. We can not
renew something that we never had. Which
causes me to believe we lost more than our
connecton with God in the fall of mankind.
We were originally created in the image of
God, which was more than just mere physi-
cal appearance. I believe we were born to be
creatve. When our consciences are
cleansed by the blood of Jesus, we start
thinking diferently. We start thinking about
spiritual things and we set our afectons on
things above, not on things of this world.
In Romans 8:5-6 Paul says,
For they
that are afer the things of the fesh do
mind the things of the fesh; but they
that are afer the Spirit the things of
the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is
death; but to be spiritually minded is
life and peace.
Herein is the secret to understand what is
worldly. Sometmes it helps to understand
something if we think about what is the op-
posite of it. The opposite of worldliness is
spirituality.
So what is a spirit? Is it something we can
see with our physical eyes? Is it something
we can handle or point to. It is something of
a diferent realm; something that is of a
diferent dimension than the carnal things of
this world.
Botom line is we must set our eyes on the
heavenly things. At the center of our focus
we must have Jesus, the resurrected Christ.
Desiring what he wants, loving
what he loves and hatng what he
hates.
I heard a man say once, “What
Jesus talked much about, I want to
talk much about; what Jesus
talked litle about, I want to talk
litle about.” This has really helped
me to get my focus on the things
that he really cares about the
most.
There is a great old hymn that goes,
Turn
your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in his won-
derful face, And the things of this earth will
grow strangely dim, In the light of his glory
and grace.
May you be richly blessed as you seek the
King of the heavens and the earth and may
he reveal to you what is his good, acceptable
and perfect will to you as you turn your eyes
upon him.
Jonathan Helmuth
4199 Old Rt 14
Dundee, NY 14837
(607) 244-4168
Non-Conformity
—Written by Jonathan Helmuth
To Kill a Lion
Destroying the Power of Lust From the Root
This is a new book by Bruce Lengeman designed to help men find the roots of their sexual addiction. The theme is “Men
cry out, I know it is wrong, but why can’t I stop!” The book is for both counselors and strugglers.
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