Word of the Week - Transformation

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!  2 Corinthians 5:17

Transformation Definition: 

1. to change in form, appearance, or structure; metamorphose.
2. to change in condition, nature, or character; convert.

What does Transformation look like:God loves us so much that He does not just want to change our behavior, He desires to make us new in Him.  As followers of Christ the Lord desires to transform our very nature from the inside out to become new in His nature so that we can be refined and developed into the fullness of what He created us to be.  God created us all as unique individuals with different journeys of faith but makes it clear that we all must be transformed through our relationship with Jesus.

• We first recognize that we are sinful and need God as our Lord and Savior – Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus”.
• We surrender our lives and be born afresh of the spirit – John 3:5  “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.  Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to Spirit.”
• We become dependent on God realizing our need for daily connection with Him through a daily abiding relationship – John 15:5 “I am the vine and you are the branches, if you abide in me I will abide and you and your will bear much fruit, apart from me you can do nothing”.
• We trust and believe that He has a good plan for our lives – Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
• We live in our God purpose and allow Him to produce fruit in and through our lives – Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do”.

Transformed Lives = Abundant Living – “Life that is truly Life”When we are transformed by the Spirit of God and renewed in our minds and hearts through Christ, we are introduced to a “new way”, which is the abundant life that Jesus talks about in John 10:10.  “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;  I have come that you may have life, and have it to the full”The following are 5 fruits/truths of the abundant life:

• First Fruits – We desire to make the Lord our first priority life in life because we realize He is the source.  With divine order coms divine blessing. “Seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness and all things will be added unto you” Matthew 6:33
• Abundance and Win/Win – Since God is our creator and provider, we realize He has the ability to give and bless and His reality is abundance/plenty not limiting/scarcity.  We understand that a Kingdom perspective is not zero sum, it is win/win.  There is plenty of God’s blessing for everyone. “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed”. 2 Corinthians 9:8
• Generosity – We recognize that God is our provider and we can trust Him to take care of our needs, we now have capacity in our hearts and provision to give graciously and not worry about running out of time, money and energy.  This gives us the capacity to be generous with our blessings.  This becomes a great source of joy and delight that creates more blessing and capacity to give and minister.  “Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, and to be generous and ready to share, treasuring up for themselves a firm foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life”. 1 Timothy 6:19
• Newness  – We realize that God makes all things new and does not get hung up on traditions and the way we love and worship Him.  He is much more concerned about our hearts towards Him than the methods we use to pursue Him.  “He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then He said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true””. Revelation 21:5
• Gratitude – We realize we are blessed beyond measure simply because of God’s love for us and our identity in Christ.  Our hearts of gratitude and thankfulness towards God blesses Him.  This is one of the keys to the abundant life, to count our blessings daily and recognize how blessed we are no matter what our circumstances. “Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus”.  1 Thessalonians 5:18

I can personally attest to the fact that God loves us so much that He desires for us to be transformed into new beings so we can be freed up to live an abundant life in Him.  I experienced this transformation 18 years ago when I was 33, and my life was totally transformed.  I have not been the same since and my life has been amazingly abundant since then through the good times and the painful challenges of life.  I have a long way to go and still being refined and growing in Christ, but I can assure you I am nothing like I used to be, I am truly a new creation in Christ.  I can honestly say that this is the most amazing gift I have ever experienced and I am so grateful for God’s love and that He allowed me to receive His love so I can live in relationship with Him.  I am also thankful that the circumstances of my life led me to a place where I was desperate and ready to “surrender” my heart and mind to Jesus.  I love Ephesians 3:20 because I get to experience this; it is very exciting because we never know what God has in store for us in the future but we do know that it will be “Immeasurably More than we can ever Hope or Imagine through His Power at work in our Lives”.“For God will do immeasurably more than we can ever ask or imagine by His power at work within us" Ephesians 3:20-Duane