Renew the Inside

I confused my wife, just recently.
She said to me, “You need some more “Brand 1″ shower gel.” To which I replied, “No I don’t, I need some “Brand 2″ shower gel.”
(No, we didn’t say “Brand 1” and “Brand 2”, but the shower gel brand that I use is a secret, of the Highest Magnitude! …???… 🙂 )

She just looked at me, with a confused expression and replied, but you’ve got “Brand 1″ shower gel?”

This is where I might confuse you too. 🙂

I did indeed have a “Brand 1” bottle, but it was filled with “Brand 2” shower gel.

I had wanted to try a different Brand of shower gel, and as such, I had bought “Brand 2” shower gel. But I didn’t like the “Brand 2” bottle.
The “Brand 1” bottle can be stored upside down, so it is easier to empty the bottle. But the “Brand 2” bottle will just fall over, if you tried to store it upside down.

So, my simple solution to this was to just rinse the old bottle out, once it was finished, and then refill it with the new shower gel.
So now I had the better old style bottle, with the new shower gel. Which ended up confusing my wife. 🙂 (and possibly anyone else who is reading this???)

As I was looking at the bottle, I kind of got I sense of, “You can do this, with the vessel, that is yourself, you can empty yourself of all the stuff that does you no good, and then be refilled with the good stuff. The good stuff that brings life, in abundance.”

How many negative thoughts do we carry around with us?
Thoughts along the lines of, you’re no good, who are you to do that, you can’t make a difference and many other wrong thoughts that can leave us thinking, “Who am I, to think that I could do ……. .”

Broadly speaking, I think that these kind of thoughts can be called, “lies from the enemy”, who wants to stop us from being the best version of ourselves that we should be. The version of ourselves that we were made to be.

Just like the shower bottle, we can actually try to empty out the old stuff, (lies of the enemy) and instead be filled with the good stuff (The Truth that God speaks about us).

Romans 12:2
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.

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

God’s words to us, are words that speak life to us.
Words that say, “You are Loved, You matter, You are important.”

Sometimes, we might not like what Our God speaks to us, if they come in the form of a rebuke, but if God is trying to correct our wrong thinking, it will be for our Good, if we will follow His correction.

Revelation 3:19-20
¹⁹ Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. ²⁰ Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

God does indeed want to renew us in the here and now, but we do need to let Him in, to do it, as He waits for us to say, “Yes” to Him. As we say “Yes” to Our Lord God, He will then transform us into what we were meant to be all along. We will still be ourselves, but a better version of ourselves, that then can expect to be with Him, for all time.

As we say “Yes” to Our Lord God, we will then be able to resist the enemy that much better, and all the thoughts of condemnation that the enemy tries to bring. Instead we can walk into the truth, and light, that Our Lord God brings to us.

John 3:16-21
¹⁶ 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. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. ¹⁹ This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. ²¹ But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

So the choice remains before you.
Will you say “Yes” to Our Lord God?
Will you say “Yes” to the renewing of your mind, with the truth, that Our Lord God speaks to us?

If you do want to say “Yes” to Him, then just saying “Yes”, could be the starting point. If it helps, you could even echo the words below, in your heart, to Our Lord God.

I want to say “Yes” to You God.
I want to say “Yes” to the renewing of my mind, by You.
I want to continue to say “Yes” to You.
Please help me to do this.
I’m sorry for not saying “Yes” to You before now, but here and now, I’m opening the door to You and asking You to help me.
To know the better way that I can go.
Please help me to know Your truth and to follow Your path that leads to Life.
Amen.

If you have just said “Yes” to God for the first time, then I do encourage you to tell someone. If you do know someone who is a Christian, then tell that person.
If you don’t know who to tell, that you have said “Yes” to God, then you could put an “I’ve just said “Yes” to God” in the comments.

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Link to, Posts, with an Outreach feel.

How do you Pray, when you feel that you just can’t do anything?
A post with some advice about how to pray. (Talk to God)