Hey Everyone. I want to start off by apologizing for not writing here for so long. I’ll understand if no one ever reads this because no one will ever come back to this site, thinking its been abandoned!

This morning I was reading in Romans 12. It’s probably one of my favorite chapters in the Bible and I learned that the verse (2) where we’re instructed to NOT be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind….did you know those words “be transformed” were written in what is called the “passive voice”? That means that this is not something that we must struggle at, try harder at, or work at. It is something that we simply allow God to do within us as we love Him and follow Him faithfully.

And the fact that this transformation happens as our minds are renewed is certainly no coincidence. Think about a sin you’ve committed; something you did that you know wasn’t the right thing to do. That started in your mind. Even for a split second, it was a decision that you faced. So, to allow God to renew your mind takes the sin issue to the source! If you allow God to renew your mind, He will affect and change the way you view those tempting decisions when it would seem to fun, or cool, or popular, or vengeful, or interesting, or whatever to do the wrong thing–the thing that would pull you from His will. But a lot of times we think we need to really buckle down and try harder at changing our ways, our behaviors, and our words. The reality is that it is GOD who does the transforming in our minds–we just have to ALLOW Him to!

But how does that happen? I think it starts with the simplest of prayers:
“God, I welcome you in to my mind to renew it. Amen.”

Christians talk a lot about “asking Jesus into your heart”, but I think that concept is more of an invention of poeticism on our part then anything else. Don’t get me wrong, the Bible talks A LOT about our hearts (it’s “the well spring of life” and “from the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks”), but take a look at the description of the “armor of God” that is in the Bible, found in Ephesians 6:

13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

It is the HELMET that is connected to our salvation. The “Helmet of Salvation” guards your head, and your head holds your brain. Now, don’t misunderstand me–I know fully that surrendering to Jesus is a heart decision, but its not ONLY a heart decision and as we’ve pointed out, EVERY decision you make starts in your head. So, no wonder its the “Helmet of Salvation”.

So, what guards your heart, according to the armor of God? The “Breastplate of Righteousness” guards your heart. So, righteousness is another way of saying “right living” or “living right”. And how do we live right? By having our minds renewed by God, because that is what helps us make decisions that are right and pleasing to Him.

What do you think about all this? What is it in YOUR mind that gets in the way of God renewing it?