Day 4: Renew Your Mind Daily & Practice Discernment
We don't have to guess what God is like, or wonder what His will is, because He has written a whole book to let us know. God has also given us the Holy Spirit to be with us to comfort, guide, and teach us His perfect wisdom for every situation (See John 14:26-27 & Acts 1:8). We have all that we need to not only survive the trials of these last days, but to thrive under our heavenly Father's hand. And we can help others survive and thrive, too!
God, through Peter, admonishes us to, "Stay alert! Watch out! Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, searching for someone to devour. Stand up against him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being laid upon your brothers and sisters throughout the world. After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace—who has called you into His eternal glory in Messiah—will Himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. All power to Him forever! Amen" (TLV).
To stay alert, and stand strong within the suffering that comes through the trials, requires a training. We need to truly know God and His ways - so we can determine good from evil, truth from falsehood, and have a vision for what God is doing in the middle of it all. He hasn't left us as orphans, God is tenderly caring for each one of us, His children.
We are trained by being students of God's Word. Hebrews 5:14 says, “But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil” (ESV). This is a theme that we are praying on this week - to keep growing strong and complete in Christ, as we feast on His Word.
Let's take a closer look at a familiar passage, Romans 12:2, in the Amplified Bible: “Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].”
Jesus said, “Behold, I am sending you out like sheep in the midst of wolves; be wary and wise as serpents, and be innocent (harmless, guileless, and without falsity) as doves” (Matt. 10:16, AMPC).
John also admonishes us, ”Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (John 4:1, NKJV). One way to test the spirits is to be like the Bereans who studied the Word of God and tested every teaching against it. Luke recounted, “They listened to the message with great eagerness, and every day they studied the Scriptures to see if what Paul said was really true” (Acts 17:11, GNT).
We must be aware, we must be trained, and we must be transformed - these are on-going disciplines that we will all continue to practice until we take our last breath. We do this by keeping ourselves firmly planted in the Lord JESUS Christ (See Col. 2:6-10), by being filled with and led by His Spirit (See Eph. 5:18 & Rom. 8:12-17), and by keeping our hearts tender before the Lord (See Matt. 13:23) as we grow according to His Word (See Matt. 4:4).
Let's Pray
Heavenly Father,
We want our mind to be renewed, to grow in discernment, and be trained to test the spirits. We want to know You and learn to live by Your Truth. We want to know Your ways, Your heart.
Help us be alert.
Help us test the spirits and recognize good from evil, and truth from deceit.Transform our minds to be like You. We ask for Your wisdom, and we thank You for not withholding all that we need to be trained to follow You.
Father, we want to make You proud!
We choose to live for You.
In Jesus' name we pray,
Amen.
(PS - See you here tomorrow for our final day in this series, Day Five - "Keep Your Eyes on Jesus & Remember He is Returning!")
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