Be Transformed

As Christians, as the sons and daughters of God, we are called to growth and maturity in Christ.  We are not called to perfection, but we go through a process of refinement known as sanctification in which we are ever being changed into a reflection of the image of our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.  We are to be like Him in our thoughts, words, character and actions.  We too are called to be an expression of our Heavenly Father’s love, but how do we do that?  How does that process take place?  There is a supernatural process that takes place in our heart, soul and spirit that begins when we become born again by the Spirit of God that begins this process of transformation.  Then, just as a child grows up learning from their parents, we learn from our Heavenly Father how to grow up in Christ and be more like Him.

One of the primary ways we go through this process of transformation is through reading the Word of God.  

As Romans 12:2 says, we renounce the things and teachings of this world we live in and instead focus on God.  We renew our minds as we meditate on the Scriptures and on who God is and what He has done in our lives.  We no longer belong to this world; we belong to Him!  So, we need to take practical and purposeful steps to continue to grow and become more like Jesus.

When we read the Bible, it begins as Information.  Information is good, it is useful because it tells you about something.  Often today information is synonymous with knowledge.  Gaining knowledge from information leads us to learn about something.  But this is often just a very superficial understanding.  We can have information about something and recite it like we know it, but we need to go deeper in our understanding to really get something from the information.  

As Christians, we should have a deep desire to want to go further in our reading the Bible than to just have information or “head knowledge”, but that is where we start!  

We get into the Scriptures to learn information about God.

Once we begin to read through the Bible and gain knowledge of the information within, the Holy Spirit will reveal the deeper meanings of God’s word and give us Revelation.  Revelation is what happens when deeper meaning has been gleaned from the Scriptures.  It’s like an “Aha!” moment where you feel like God is directly speaking to you and the words seem to jump off the page!  Suddenly, things make more sense and the pieces of the puzzle come together so now you see the picture more clearly.  This is wonderful because God is revealing Himself and His ways to you!  Now equipped with this revelation from the Lord we can study and meditate on what He has shared with us and build a deeper relationship with Him!

Now that we have received revelation about the information, to grow further and take the next steps in our Christian walk we need to apply it to our lives.  Application is the act of taking