POSITIVE TRANSFORMATION

 Positive Transformation  

                                                                    

                                                                   

                                          Romans 12:2. 

“And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God”

               The mind is a very delicate and important part of our lives. It is the portion of effective visualization, thinking and planning. Without the mind the spirit cannot function adequately. Take a look at Genesis 1:1, it says, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Before the world was created, the blueprint was already in the mind of God. For you to create something you ought to have a visual idea in your mind what that thing will look like. God envisioned the world before He created it. He put the power of effective visualization to work. He put His mind to work. 

            Now look at Genesis 13, you’ll see that after Lot had separated himself from Abraham, the Lord told Abraham to look as far as his eyes could see and the land will be his (Abraham’s). Abraham being a wise man didn’t look with his optical eyes, instead he used the eyes of his mind, he visualized the whole world with his mind and God gave it to Him. That shows the effectiveness of the right thinking mind. When you received Christ, your spirit (inner man) was transformed but not your mind. God expects that when you received Christ as your Lord and Saviour, you will be radically changed, by the transformation of your mind. It is a metamorphosis, a gradual process your mind has to go through until you start thinking like Christ. If you can think it, you can do it. The mind is very delicate and it could be changed by the right information. You must ensure that you guard your thoughts.  You need to think on those things that are true, right and pure (the Word of God)—Philippians 4:8. You need to guard against your own wrong thoughts, thoughts contrary to sound doctrine. For you to prosper as a Christian you must have the right kind of mindset. The transformation of the mind does not come in a day, it is a continual and gradual process over time. 

THE PROCESS OF TRANSFORMATION 

              For a man to be changed and cause a change in his environment positively, he has to go through a process. God is a God of order; you have to do the first step to get to the second. The process of positive transformation is in phases. They are: 

Phase 1: Renewal of the Mind 

            Romans 12:2, says, “… but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind…” When you give/gave your heart to Christ, your mind is/was in a state of conflict with your spirit. It has to undergo a gradual reformation process by you renewing it. You have to reprogram your mind for success, prosperity and victory in Christ Jesus. The renewal process takes place by continual and consistent fellowship with the Word of God in study and meditation. The Bible tells us in Psalm 1:1-3, to study and meditate on the Word of God. The first phase of transformation in your life is not complete without meditation, 1st Timothy 4:15, “Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; and thy profiting shall appear to all.” To mediate is to think about, chew on, to gain insight on what God is saying in His Word to you. Study alongside meditation brings about the first phase of the transformation process. If you will spend some good and quality time really studying and meditating on the knowledge of God’s Word, you will have right at your finger tips so great a power to cause changes. To become the success you desire to be, you have to develop right thinking in the Lord but you cannot develop right thinking unless you discipline yourself to study and meditate on God’s word. 

Phase 2: Change is our Responsibility, Not God’s 

           Change and transformation comes when you decide to change. God is so great; He gave us the power of choice. Where ever you are today, it is most likely as a result of the choice or choices you’ve made. Take a look at Romans 12:2 again, it says, “Be not conformed to this world...” It didn’t say God will not conform you to this world. It also says that you should transform your own mind, by yourself. 1st Timothy 4:15 says, “…give thyself wholly to them…” It didn’t say God will do it for you. You have to kick start the process by yourself. This is where a lot of Christians miss the boat, they think now that they are born again; God is going to do everything by Himself. He has provided and made available all the necessary materials and resources you need to blossom. The responsibility is now yours whether to use them or not – 1st Thessalonians 4:1-2. For example you might have a financial challenge. What you need to do is,  search the Bible for scriptures that talks about finances and meditate on it long enough to cause a change in your thinking. Once you grasp that knowledge and apply yourself to it, it begins to work in you. But that is another place many believers jump out of the boat, the application part. You might know it in your mind but if you don’t apply it, it is useless. 

Phase 3: By the power of the Holy Spirit. 

                  Of course you know that by physical strength no man can succeed. Your best will never be good enough to complete the process that is where the Holy Spirit comes in, to finish up the process. The Holy Spirit will not start His transformation process until you give Him something to work with that is the knowledge of God’s Word and the willingness to apply it. Some believers may ask this question, “I have already received the Holy Ghost, but why are things not changing? The answer is that you have not spent time doing your own part in phase 1 and 2. Things are not changing because you have not spent enough quality time studying and meditating the Word and you have not made real efforts to apply it to your life. Once you fulfill your own part in phase 1 & 2, the Holy Ghost will gladly finish up the process for you to make you a success, but you have to give Him something to work with. 

            The transformation process is available to everyone God wants to increase and prosper everyone of us. The problem is that many of God’s people are not willing to do their part. This is the reason there are so many hypocritical representatives of God, knowing the truth but not wanting to do it but yet expecting a harvest. God is not going to give you a free pass to greatness; you have to do your part to get it. When you do yours, He will do His. If you want God’s best then you have to give Him your best. God bless you.