Renewing the Church’s Most Important Quality

 

This is the eighth and final sermon it the “Renewal of the Church” series.    We need to cooperate with the Father God, so that the church might bear much fruit.

It is God’s will for the church to be renewed and transformed; it is not God’s will for the church to be shaped by the mold of the world. It is God’s will that the church be renewed to ministry, renewed in faith and a disciplined life. It is also his will that the church be renewed to witnessing, and this happens only as it experiences renewing through the Holy Spirit. 

Renewal in the Christian’s life must not overlook the renewal of its most important quality—love.  Love is essential in the life of a Christian and of the church. We must first learn and observe the order of love.

1 John 4:19 NIV We love because he first loved us. “We love him, because he first loved us.”

By forgetting his love for us. We start to think first of our love for him and for ourselves. This is not enough. We get the love relationship reversed.  First is His love for us.

Our love is renewed by concentrating on God’s love for us. By thinking, reviewing, and meditating on his first love.  Go over it again and again, “We love because he first loved us, We love because he first loved us, we love because he first loved us”.

When we really understand this, we become so full of his love for us that we have a new love inside us. Our love starts to be renewed and restored. 

For an audio recording of the sermon click the YouTube link at the end of the manuscript.

Scripture Reading: 

1 John 4:7‭-‬19 NLT Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. We love each other because he loved us first.

Sermon Scripture

Revelation 2:1‭-‬7 NIV “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

Text: 

Revelation 2:4 NIV Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.

1 John 4:19 NIV We love because he first loved us.

Introduction

We've been talking about renewal of the church through renewal of us the believers who are the church 

Renewal in the Christian’s life must not overlook the renewal of its most important quality—love. 

Love is essential in the life of a Christian and of the church. 

Ephesians 4:15‭-‬16 NLT Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

This scripture calls attention to our “speaking the truth in love” and “the edifying of [the church] in love.” Without love there is no true growth.

Jesus said in His letter to the church at Ephesus that it had left its first love. The Lord Jesus Christ reveals how important “first love” truly is. 

According to 1 Corinthians 13, a church may have many things, but without love it is nothing!

1 Corinthians 13:1‭-‬3 NLT If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing

It has been about two and a half years ago but I had a sermon series titled, “Love the Badge of the Christian”, and Jeanette made up some badges that said "Love" that we all wore during that series.  

In that series we learned what love is. , I’m talking about agape,  the kind of love that God has for us which is unconditional, the kind of love described in the first half of verse 4 of 1 Corinthians 13 

Love is patient, love is kind.

and then verse 7 of that same chapter.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

That’s what unconditional love is and does.

What unconditional love is not and does not do is described in 

The second half of verse 4 of 1 Corinthians 13 through verse 6

It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

How can Jesus' desire and demands that first love be returned to the Christian’s life be renewed? 

The answer is by observing the order of love. 

1 John 4:19 NIV We love because he first loved us.

“We love him, because he first loved us.”

First love is His love for us. First love is so full of his love for us that love is our response to him and to others.

So, how is our first love lost? 

By forgetting his love for us. We start to think first of our love for him and for ourselves. This is not enough. We get the love relationship reversed.  First is His love for us.

If we have lost our first love how is our love renewed? 

It’s renewed by concentrating on God’s love for us. By thinking, reviewing, and meditating on his first love.  Go over it again and again,  “We love because he first loved us, We love because he first loved us, We love because he first loved us”.

When we really understand this, we become so full of his love for us that we have a new love inside us. Our love starts to be renewed and restored. 

There are two basic thoughts about love that I want to talk about today.  

1. God’s unconditional love for us, and

2. Our unconditional love for others

I. God’s unconditional love for us.

Anything that is unconditional is not subject to conditions or limitations. It is not dependent on certain responses being produced.

So, how does God love us unconditionally?

A. God does not love us sentimentally, His love is not marked or governed by feeling, sensibility, or emotional idealism, resulting from feeling rather than reason or thought. 

His love corrects us and disciplines us. 

Proverbs 3:11‭-‬12 NIV My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.

In His letter to the church Laodicea Jesus said

Revelation 3:19 NIV Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.

B. God’s unconditional love has no limits.  God loves us whether we respond or not.

He loves all people everywhere. His love is not limited to friends; it also includes enemies. 

Romans 5:8‭-‬10 NIV But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

His unconditional love is also not limited as to how long it lasts.

Psalms 103:17‭-‬18 NIV But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children— with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.

Isaiah 54:10 NIV Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

At the end of every verse of Psalm 136 it says His love endures forever.

D. God’s unconditional love is not based on our performance. 

He loves us in spite of our disobedience, rebellion, selfishness, and weakness.

Romans 5:6‭-‬8 NIV You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

E. God’s unconditional love cares for each of us as someone special to Him.

John 3:16 NIV For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Matthew 18:12‭-‬14 NIV “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.

1 Peter 2:9‭-‬10 NIV But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

II. Now let's look at our unconditional love for others.

If God loves us unconditionally, we ought to love ourselves and others without strings attached. When we love unconditionally, we do the following:

A. We love others whatever their response.

B. We love others without setting limits for our love. We love everyone. We refuse no one. We love constantly, even as Jesus loved his disciples. He loved them to the very end.

John 17:10‭-‬19 NIV All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

C. We love others based not on what they do but on who they are. We all make many mistakes. Our love is not based on another person’s performance.

D. We love others without expectations. When we love with expectations and those expectations are not fulfilled, we tend to become inwardly hurt. If we yield our expectations of the other person to God, not only are we free to love, but the other person is free to respond.

Matthew 5:43‭-‬48 NIV “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

What if we expressed true unconditional love in our families, in our communities, and in our churches? This is the way we are supposed to love, but how is it possible?

1. First let's admit that we cannot love unconditionally on our own.  It's God's command but we can't do it..

The only way that we can love like this is with the help of the Holy Spirit.  We must be filled with the Holy Spirit and  as I have said often, to be filled by the Holy Spirit is to be controlled by the Holy Spirit and not our flesh because our flesh is selfish. When we allow ourselves to be filled and controlled by the Holy Spirit we will be selfless and not selfish.   

Ephesians 5:15‭-‬20 NIV Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2. The only way we can love as God loves is to have his love in us. We have to yield ourselves to the Lord to let his love flow through us and to others. 

Last week we said that the secret to renewal is yielding ourselves to God by surrendering ourselves to Him.

Romans 12:1 NKJV 1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

When we yield ourselves to God then His love is perfected in us.  

1 John 4:19 NIV We love because he first loved us.

God's love is released when we yield to Him and then His love for all mankind is released when we obey Jesus' commission and command.  

Matthew 28:18‭-‬20 NIV Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Conclusion

When we are full of God’s love for us, our love is renewed with all its capabilities. Why not determine right now to let God’s love in you love someone else? Think about or write down the name of someone that comes to mind and let God’s love in you tell you how to love that person. You will be amazed at what begins to happen!

Father as we end this series on our renewal and renewal of the church, we ask that you renew and revive us again. Fill your people with your Holy Spirit. Lord, help us to make the most of and take every opportunity to shine the light of the gospel in the darkness. May the churches again be filled with people serving Jesus with all their hearts. Smile your blessing smile on us.

In Jesus name Amen

Sermon Audio

The Secret to Renewal

This is the seventh sermon it the “Renewal of the Church” series.    We need to cooperate with the Father God, so that the church might bear much fruit.

It is God’s will for the church to be renewed and transformed; it is not God’s will for the church to be shaped by the mold of the world. It is God’s will that the church be renewed to ministry, renewed in faith and a disciplined life. It is also his will that the church be renewed to witnessing, and this happens only as it experiences renewing through the Holy Spirit. 

Spiritual renewal is the answer for the church today. There is a secret to renewal and that secret is yielding yourself to God.  

For an audio recording of the sermon click the YouTube link at the end of the manuscript.

To see a video of the entire service, click this link https://youtu.be/yZ661LKqR30

Romans 6:6‭-‬13 NKJV knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

Romans 12:1‭-‬2 NKJV I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

 Text: 

Romans 12:2 NKJV And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Romans 6:13 NKJV And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

Introduction

What is the most worthwhile investment a person can make? It isn’t a retirement account, a lucrative career, or a fine house, though these are all good. There is no better way to invest time, energy, or resources than to help someone come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

When we first trusted in the Savior, God transferred us from the realm of darkness into the kingdom of His Son.

Colossians 1:13‭-‬14 NKJV He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

As a result, we became an instrument in His hands, useful for reaching others for Christ. When others turn from sin and receive the Lord’s salvation, their eternal destiny is altered. Not only that, but Satan also receives a devastating blow—all his plans for those individuals are stopped. And as each new believer begins to live in God’s will, there’s no telling how far the Lord will extend His kingdom through them.

Whenever you tell someone about the Savior, you’re carrying out the Great Commission.

Matthew 28:19‭-‬20 NKJV Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

This gigantic task of evangelizing the world is accomplished one person at a time, as we each do our part to share the gospel.

We each have our part and God will take care of the rest. 

I Corinthians 3:6‭-‬8 NKJV I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 

God’s plan for enlarging His kingdom is so simple—one person telling another about Jesus. Just think about being in heaven and seeing someone you introduced to Jesus. Your joy will far exceed any discomfort you may have felt in sharing the gospel.  That’s the one-on-one personal evangelism I’ve talked about the last two weeks.

It is God’s will for the church to be renewed and transformed; it is not God’s will for the church to be shaped by the mold of the world. It is God’s will that the church be renewed to ministry, renewed in faith and a disciplined life. It is also his will that the church be renewed to witnessing, and this happens only as it experiences renewing through the Holy Spirit.  We talked about that during this series, when we said that the Holy Spirit is the fire that ignites renewal.

Spiritual renewal is the answer for the church today. There is a secret to renewal and that secret is yielding yourself to God.  

I. Yield yourselves to God.

The key word to spiritual renewal in the Christian life is “yield.” It is the same word translated “present” in Romans 12:1. 

Romans 12:1 NKJV 1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

It is also the word that is used to describe the presentation of an offering in the sacrificial system.  

Leviticus 3:7‭-‬8 NIV 7 If you offer a lamb, you are to present it before the Lord, 8 lay your hand on its head and slaughter it in front of the tent of meeting. Then Aaron’s sons shall splash its blood against the sides of the altar.

The Israelite worshiper presented or yielded his sacrifice to the priest to be offered. Presenting or yielding ourselves It is an act of worship where we personally acknowledge that we belong to God. This act of presenting or yielding ourselves is the secret of renewal of life. 

Romans 12:1 NKJV 1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

Notice three things about this act of yielding or presenting yourself.

1. It’s a realistic act.

2. It’s a reasonable act.

3. It’s a resisted act …. I’ll explain that later.

A. First, yielding ourselves is a realistic act. 

In the Christian life this is just as real as the decision to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

1. It is a definite act, it is clearly done without doubt, it was a real, true, unambiguous act.

Romans 6:13 NKJV 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

In the scripture that I just read, Romans 6:13, the second use of the word “present” is in the aorist (a·o·rist) tense (did I pronounce that right Kimberly) the aorist tense of the Greek language means it is to be a continuous action. 

Here is how this scripture is rendered in The Passion Translation of the Bible

Romans 6:13 TPT So then, refuse to answer its call to surrender your body as a tool for wickedness. Instead, passionately answer God’s call to keep yielding your body to him as one who has now experienced resurrection life! You live now for his pleasure, ready to be used for his noble purpose.

There comes time in your life where you must make the decision to present or yield yourself to God and from then on consider that your whole life belongs to him.

2. Presenting or yielding your life is a transfer of your life to God. Your life is no longer your own, but his!

I Corinthians 6:19‭-‬20 NKJV 19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

3. Presenting or yielding is an act of the will as well as an act of obedience.

I John 2:3 NKJV Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.

Ephesians 5:17‭-‬21 NKJV Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.

B. Yielding is a realistic act, and it is a reasonable act. 

Romans 12:1 NKJV I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

It is reasonable if we want to have victory.

The believer in Christ has a dual nature, the new man or woman, while the lost person has only one nature, “the old man or woman.” Something happens when a person is born again. New life comes in, Christ’s life, in the person of the Holy Spirit. 

The old nature, the old-self-life, is dealt with by Christ’s death, but it is not eliminated from our lives. It would be wonderful if the old self were completely gone but it isn’t. As believers we now have a dual nature—a higher nature and a lower nature, an old life and a new life, the flesh and the Spirit, the selfish self, and the Christ-life. 

These are enemies, and they struggle for full control, and we must decide as to which we will yield. Believers have the choice as to which we yield ourselves.  We can yield ourselves to the flesh, the old life, or to the Spirit, the new life.  The nonbeliever doesn’t have a choice they are stuck with that old life of flesh. How the believer chooses is the secret to victory.

C. And finally yielding is a resisted act.  I said that I would explain that.  Go to

Galatians 5:16‭-‬17 AMPC But I say, walk and live [habitually] in the [Holy] Spirit [responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit]; then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh (of human nature without God). For the desires of the flesh are opposed to the [Holy] Spirit, and the [desires of the] Spirit are opposed to the flesh (godless human nature); for these are antagonistic to each other [continually withstanding and in conflict with each other], so that you are not free but are prevented from doing what you desire to do.

The flesh resists the Holy Spirit and a person filled with and yielded to the Holy Spirit can resist the flesh.  Yielding is the key to resistance, the key to victory. 

Nothing will substitute for the act of yielding yourself to God. Jesus must be Lord of our lives! This is the secret to spiritual power in our lives. 

Let’s go back to 

Romans 12:1 NKJV I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

“Present your bodies.” Your body is important. Present it to God!

A. Yield your eyes to God. Your eyes control what you see and what you read. Make a covenant regarding your eyes.

Matthew 6:22‭-‬23 NKJV “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

The mind and thoughts—our awareness of the outside world—depends on the light being perceived by the eyes. Faulty eyes don't perceive and transmit light, effectively hiding the world in darkness for that person.  On the contrary, focusing on sincere devotion to God and right living is like having clear, healthy eyes: it allows the light of God's righteousness into a person's heart.

B. Yield your ears to God. Your ears control what you hear. Be discerning about what you listen to. Listen to truth not error.  How do you know the difference?  Filter everything you hear through the Word of God.

Mark 4:24 AMPC And He said to them, Be careful what you are hearing. The measure [of thought and study] you give [to the truth you hear] will be the measure [of virtue and knowledge] that comes back to you–and more [besides] will be given to you who hear.

C. Yield your mouth to God. What you say and how you say it are important.

Colossians 4:6 AMPCLet your speech at all times be gracious (pleasant and winsome), seasoned [as it were] with salt, [so that you may never be at a loss] to know how you ought to answer anyone [who puts a question to you].

D. Yield your mind to God. Let your thoughts and attitudes be formed by God’s Word.

Philippians 4:8 NKJV 8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

E. Yield your hands to God. Let him govern what you do and how you work—your actions and your service to others.

Colossians 3:23‭-‬25 NKJV 23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. 25 But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.

F. Yield your feet to God. Go to the places God would have you to go but walk away from places that would be detrimental to your spiritual or physical life.

Romans 10:14‭-‬15 NKJV 14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!”

G. Yield your face to God. 

Matthew 5:14‭-‬16 NKJV 14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Your countenance should reflect the light of Christ who lives within you. You can look at a person’s face and determine his or her character qualities. Do you smile or frown? Are you serving others, or are you expecting others to serve you?

Conclusion

What Is the secret to renewal? Yield yourself and your members to God.

God has given you everything. What does he expect from you? He expects all of you. Your body is the totality of who you are — more than your skin and bones. He wants total commitment.

God doesn’t want part of your life. He wants it all. God doesn’t want 90 minutes of your week; he wants all seven days. God wants every part of your life: your finances, your sexuality, your time, your relationships, and most of all your affections.

Here is what C.S. Lewis said;

"He cannot bless us unless he has us. When we try to keep within us an area that is our own, we try to keep an area of death. Therefore, in love, He claims all. There’s no bargaining with Him."

“In love, he claims it all. There’s no bargaining with him.” What should we do in response to God’s grace? Surrender everything, present everything yield everything. From now on, it’s all his. He burns with passion for us. He wants us, all of us.

Our minds need renewing. We need to think differently. 

Romans 12:2  Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

I want you to notice a couple of things about this scripture. It doesn’t say to transform your mind; it says to be transformed. We don’t do the transformation; the Holy Spirit does, and we cooperate. The other thing that’s clear in this verse is that this is a continuous process. The Spirit keeps renewing our minds. This will keep on going for the rest of our lives.

The result of this renewal of our mind is that we will be able to discern what’s pleasing to God. It’s like we’ll gain the ability to understand what God wants and what is right. We’ll stop being shaped by the world and we’ll start to be shaped by God instead.

Romans 12:1‭-‬2 NIV 1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Place yourself and the areas of your life before God. He promises you victory and renewal as you do!

Lord, thank you for the power of a testimony of renewal and transformation. Help us never to grow tired of describing the transformation Jesus has made in my life.

In Jesus' Name Amen 

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