THE RENEWAL OF THE CHRISTIAN

Ephesians 4:23

Morning Meditation 9/14/2014

"And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;"

I have observed the great joy of men and women and boys and girls when they first trusted in Christ as Saviour. It is hard to tell others what it is like for God to take all you sins away. There is great joy in that experience.

When you are saved, Satan has lost his battle for your eternal soul. But he does not give up. If he cannot take you with him to hell, he will compromise and ruin your life and testimony if he can. I can say without fear of contradiction the standards of the Bible are increasingly being violated by "good Christians," and if the pastor tries to pull his people back in line with Scripture, he will probably be on the next train out with a one way ticket.

The fact is that we need daily renewal. Ephesians 4:23-24, "And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."

Let's us look at how the mind is renewed:

OUR MIND IS RENEWED BY WAITING UPON GOD IN PRAYER

Isaiah 40:31, "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

1. Waiting upon God is waiting in prayer. Isaiah 40:28-29, "Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength."

One of the most difficult things we Christian do is to wait. We have a pressing urgency. We plead, "O Lord, have mercy on me. I need your help and I need it now." And God does not come through with the answer. Am I to wait and struggle through this episode? How am I to conduct myself in this situation?

Psalms 27:14, "Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD." So waiting in prayer is the way of renewal.

WE WAIT IN PRAYER AS WE SEARCH THE WORD

Isaiah 40:26-31, "Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth. Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God? Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

If we want God's help we need to seek Him by faith in prayer. Isaiah 41:1, "Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment."

To pray according to the will of God will always get an answer. To faint in prayer is the proff that we did not put a proper priority on what we were asking.

WE WAIT UPON THE LORD BY FAITH

Faith is the way the Christian enters into the heavenly veil. And what does he find there? He finds the Father sitting upon the throne and Jesus our mediator sitting beside Him. We come in to His presence to worship and make our requests known to God. We discover He is ready and willing to answer. Hebrews 11:6, "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."

An old lady had read some of the prayer promises of the Bible. She came across the verse that says Mark 11:23, "For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith."

She asked God to remove a mountain that was obstructing her view of the beautiful mountain ranges and trees. She went to bed with this prayer on her heart. When she got up and looked out the window she said, "Just like I thought. It is still there." As we do the trusting, He will do the keeping; as we do the yielding, He will do the filling; as we do the obeying, He will do the empowering; as we do the submitting, He will gives the victories; and this He will accomplish by the indwelling, inflowing, and out flowing of the Holy Spirit.

May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White