Vision for Life-Foundation part 2

When we are born again in the Spirit, our way of thinking about life itself changes, and a new me replaces the old me, thus repentance. Paul said it this way in 2 Corinthians 5: 16 At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! ¹⁷ This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! This new life will be attacked by our old life, but we do not feed the old life anymore because we want to follow Jesus as Savior and now also as Lord. Our growing in His grace is Jesus becoming Lord, and then a whole new perspective begins to permeate and change our Spiritual life as well. The following Changepoints are foundational changes in our thinking because of our new life in Christ, and we respond to those changes with a new life, an ongoing commitment to follow Jesus. Today, we will look at some Changepoints that will take place to grow us in our relationship with Jesus.

Foundational Changepoint 3 - Lay Down All Idols.

What are some idols that have become prominent in your life that you need to leave behind as you surrender to follow God on this journey?  You will see some idols that need to be left behind to surrender to Jesus.

Idols - an image or representation of a god used as an object of worship

Old non-biblical traditions - the transmission of customs or beliefs that are not biblical from generation to generation, or the fact of being passed on in this way.

Worldliness - the fact of being concerned with the world in which we live rather than with spiritual things.

Apathy – lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern

Humanism -  is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.

We can have idols in our lives that seem real and good, but they are temporal in every form, and we need not settle for something that is flawed by man or the world.  We will not last on this journey if we settle for a compromised truth.  We must live by the pure source of God’s Word.

Foundation Change Point 4 – No Looking Back

Jesus has given us the Holy Spirit, the one we received when we were born again in the Spirit, to empower us on this faith journey. Jesus does not start on this journey and then desert us. John 16: ¹³ When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.

Paul wrote the following words to the church at Ephesus in Ephesians 5: ¹⁵ So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. ¹⁶ Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. ¹⁷ Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. ¹⁸ Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, ¹⁹ singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves and making music to the Lord in your hearts. ²⁰ And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  We read in scripture where Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to empower us on our journey, and Paul writes that our battle is a spiritual battle, so we must fight that battle with the Holy Spirit, and yet we deny the need to ask the Holy Spirit to give us direction and power.  To deny the Holy Spirit when establishing our foundation is to “act thoughtlessly,” and Paul says to understand what the Lord wants us to do.  That statement shows that we must rely on the direction from the Holy Spirit on this journey of faith.  Time to turn our human reasoning over to spiritual reasoning, and then the whole thing begins as it should.  A powerful word is written by Paul in 2 Corinthians 10: ³ We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. ⁴ We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. ⁵ We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.

We trust Jesus as our Savior and our Lord and believe His Word to be true and perfect, and our foundation must be in Him and Him alone. Paul's letter to the church in Ephesus speaks loudly to this point of reference. Ephesians 2:2Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. Carry on the faith by immersing yourself in the Word of God and you will see the world around you in a whole different way. Ephesians 1:¹⁸ I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.

The Pilgrimage Continues,

David Warren