Tag Archives: god changes us

November 13, 2023 · 5:54 AM

Life Transformation

One of our favorite types of shows to watch on TV are home renovations. There’s something beautiful and hopeful when you see these amazing professionals take a drab house no one wants and turn it into someone’s dream home. There are also shows where the home owner tries their own renovation. It’s usually a disaster. They had watched these shows where the professionals renovated and then tried to do it themselves. The house is in shambles, they’re over budget, over extended and ready to give up. Shows like that remind me that I can make small changes to the house, but I’m not qualified to take on an e tire renovation myself. It’s best to leave that to the ones who understand how houses are built and do it all the time.

Paul wrote about half of the New Testament, but before he became Paul, he was Saul. Saul was a person who hated Christians. In fact, he hunted them down and killed them in public. He was on a mission to destroy Christianity anywhere it spread. After he chased Christians out of Jerusalem, he was headed to Damascus to kill them. While on his way in Acts 9, he was met and blinded by Jesus. His life was completely transformed. The believers and Jews alike were perplexed by such a radical transformation in him. They couldn’t believe it was the same person. He went on to preach and share his story across the world of what God can do with a life that submits to its creator.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (ESV). When we give ourselves fully to Christ, He takes our old life and renovates it into something new. The old person we once were no longer exists. Our spirit is reborn and a transformation takes place. It’s not something we can do ourselves though. Only Christ who lives in us can transform us. We are no longer bound to our old life, it’s desires or it’s fate. I’ve seen several people whom God delivered and transformed instantly. I’ve also seen people who spend the rest of their life struggling to not go back to who they once were. I don’t know the difference, but I do know that the Creator knows what He’s doing, loves them both and has given them new life. Every renovation is different, yet each one starts with us submitting to the transformation.

Photo by Anuj Yadav on Unsplash

Spiritual Metamorphosis

When I was a kid, my favorite record was “Bullfrogs and Butterflies” sung by Barry McGuire. We played that record so many times that I’m sure we wore it out. The theme song lyrics said, “Bullfrogs and butterflies we’ve both been born again.” It’s a catchy tune that sticks in your head the rest of your life, but when I was a kid, I didn’t realize how profound that lyric was. When you think of a tadpole or a caterpillar, they undergo a complete change. Tadpoles not only go through a physical change, they go from only being able to breath under water to amphibians. Caterpillars change from having to inch everywhere they go to being able to fly. While their outside changes, their insides remain. I wonder how long it takes to mentally convince themselves they can leave the pond or fly away from the branch.

2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us, “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (NLT) When we give our life to Jesus, just like bullfrogs and butterflies, we undergo a change. It’s not physical like theirs, but rather it’s spiritual. This new creation is housed in the old body which creates some problems, but with this new life comes a change in how we think, live and act. We don’t do the things we used to do because they are no conducive to a healthy spiritual life. We were set free from having to remain in the pond of sin and selfishness and are free to breathe in God’s breath of life doing the things His Spirit leads us to do. We become free to live the life we were created to live, but many of us struggle to adapt to our new life.

It can be difficult to reconcile our faith with our public self that everyone knows. The metamorphosis that God does in our life starts on the inside and works it’s way to the outside by how we live. For some people they get an instant change, while most of us spend our lives growing and maturing in our faith step by step. As Jesus moves closer to the center of our life, we will become more like Him in how we think, live and act. Don’t compare your growth and spiritual metamorphosis to someone else’s. Let God do His work in your life as you continue to pray, read the Bible and live in your freedom. Remember that Romans 8:1 reminds us that there is no condemnation for those in Christ. Your new life will continue to be at odds with your old one. Don’t beat yourself up when the old life rears its head. Seek God’s forgiveness and ask Him to continue to help you to become more like Jesus.

Photo by Tina Nord:

Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.

Water Into Wine

A few years ago I was able to visit Cana where Jesus turned the water into wine (John 2). In the church there, they have a giant stone jar similar to what would have been used in that day. They hold about 20 gallons of water. Our guide, who was a Jewish rabbi, told us that it was important that these jars were made of stone because if it had been any other material, the wine would have been ritually unclean for the Jews attending the wedding. The day before, we had been to Nazareth and heard that the word carpenter didn’t just mean He worked with wood as it does today. Back then, it could have also meant He worked with stone. As I have thought about these two things, my mind can’t help but go to 1 Peter 2:5 where we are called “living stones”. I believe that Jesus’ first miracle was a representation of what He wants to do in us. He wants to supernaturally transform our lives on the inside.

Ephesians 4:23-24 says, “Now it’s time to be made new by every revelation that’s been given to you. And to be transformed as you embrace the glorious Christ-within as your new life and live in union with him! For God has re-created you all over again in his perfect righteousness, and you now belong to him in the realm of true holiness” (TPT). When we embrace Christ within us, the transformation happens just like the water was turned to wine when the servants embraced what Jesus said by taking a pitcher of the water from the stones to the master of ceremonies. The inward transformation takes place instantly when we receive Christ. Becoming a new creation is a process for most of us. People may see our rough, stoney exterior still, but God is changing that too starting from the inside out.

Romans 12:2 says, “And do not be conformed to this world [any longer with its superficial values and customs], but be transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind [focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His plan and purpose for you]” (AMP). Your life is being progressively changed through Christ. If God’s still working on you helping your outside to match what’s inside, you’re not alone. We’re all being made new day by day as we embrace what God has done in us and allow Him to transform us from the inside out. Jesus has turned your water into wine. Now let Him, as the stone carpenter, continue to transform you into who He created you to be.

Photo credit: me while in Cana Israel showing the type of jars Jesus would have used.

Being Transformed

When i was a kid, one of my favorite toys were Transformers. I loved being able to turn them from robots to cars. I always thought they were clever in how they designed them so that when it was a car, you couldn’t tell it was also a robot. It reminds me of how God is in the business of transforming our lives. Where we see one thing, He sees the potential for another. He is not content to leave us like we are. Our lives were created to be transformed through His Son. In order for that to happen, we have to submit to the changes He wants to make.

Too many times we are wrapped up in our past and who we’ve been that it’s difficult for us to allow Him to transform our lives. Our past prepares us for the future He’s created for us, but we have to be willing to change for that to happen. We can’t allow the pain of the past to prevent us from becoming who we were made to be. We are His workmanship which means He’s not finished with your life. He is continually working on us because He still sees in us the potential to use our lives. In your prayer time today, submit to the transformation He wants to make in your life.

Here are some Bible verses on transformation.

1. And said to them, “Come follow me and I will transform you into men who catch people instead of fish!”

Mark 1:17 TPT

2. 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. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Romans 12:2 NLT

3. “On that great day,” GOD says, “I will round up all the hurt and homeless, everyone I have bruised or banished. I will transform the battered into a company of the elite. I will make a strong nation out of the long lost, A showcase exhibit of GOD ’s rule in action, as I rule from Mount Zion, from here to eternity.”

Micah 4:6-7 MSG

4. All of us, then, reflect the glory of the Lord with uncovered faces; and that same glory, coming from the Lord, who is the Spirit, transforms us into his likeness in an ever greater degree of glory.

2 Corinthians 3:18 GNT

5. This means that God is transforming each one of you into the Holy of Holies, his dwelling place, through the power of the Holy Spirit living in you!

Ephesians 2:22 TPT

Photo by Suzanne D. Williams on Unsplash

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