19 Jan Do You Have Future-Vision?
Blog Series: Renew Your Mind ~ Transform Your Life
Every moment of every day something in your soul is being fed and something is being starved.
As a result, because we live in a media-saturated world, and because much of what comes through that media is an assault on biblical values, then in the natural course of living of everyday life, the soul of the Christian is inevitably power-fed the things of the world while the things of the Spirit are starved.
As a result, Christians are being swept out to sea by the riptide of modern culture.
Therefore, one of the supreme challenges of Christianity in the 21st century is to devise ways to power-feed the soul the things of the Spirit sufficient to offset the things of the world.
This is a formidable challenge. But there is a silver lining:
- First, it can be done.
- Second, we can be better off because of it.
The 21st century is a formidable time to live.
When the physical body is subjected to extraordinary demands, as in athletic or artistic pursuits, it can (under well-orchestrated conditions) produce extraordinary physical strength and capacities (such as in the Olympics, or a performance at Carnegie Hall).
In the same way, when the human spirit is subjected to extraordinary demands, it can (under well-orchestrated conditions) produce extraordinary spiritual strength and capacities.
As a result, even in our hostile environment, when we devise new, groundbreaking ways to power-feed our souls the things of the Spirit sufficient to offset the things of the world, thus fighting fire with fire, it can result in Christians who are spiritually stronger and more capable now than if we lived in easier times.
Mental renewal is the critical issue of our day.
As we saw last week, Scripture speaks to this process. Romans 12:2 says, “do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Working this passage backward, we saw that we can be living demonstrations of the fact that God’s will is good and acceptable and perfect, but only if we are transformed. And, we will be transformed, only if our minds are renewed.
Therefore, in the spiritually hostile world of the 21st century, mental renewal is the make-or-break, sink-or-swim, do-or-die issue of the Christian life.
Times are hard, but our spiritual potential has never been greater, our spiritual future has never been brighter.
God has not been caught off-guard by the times we are living in, and He has promised that “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).
In other words, God will give us the help we need to meet the challenges of life.
There are two worlds.
We see from 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 that there are two worlds :
- The seen, physical, temporal world.
- The unseen, spiritual, eternal world.
These two worlds are in conflict. The seen world says:
- Truth is what I say it is.
- Emotions are reliable guides.
- Happiness is the highest good.
The unseen world says:
- Truth is what God says it is.
- Emotions are not reliable guides.
- Holiness is the highest good.
These two sets of beliefs cannot both be true. Therefore, we must choose between them:
- The false-“truth” of the seen, physical, temporal world must be rejected.
- The true-truth of the unseen, spiritual, eternal world must be accepted.
We must abandon ourselves to an eternal perspective.
The first step we must take to renew our minds and transform our lives is to abandon ourselves to an eternal perspective.
Notice I used a very strong word: abandon. I didn’t say “believe in, or “embrace,” or “commit to.” I said “abandon.” Anything less than “abandon” will not be sufficient for the worst that life can throw at us.
“Believe,” or “embrace,” or “commit” can fail. We can unbelieve, reject, or give up. But with abandon, there is no going back. We must abandon ourselves to an eternal perspective.
An eternal perspective simply means viewing things as God does. Without an eternal perspective, it is like we are trying to play soccer while God is playing basketball. It doesn’t work.
To see things as God sees them, we must see past the present into the future. X-ray vision enables us to see below the surface of the physical world. We must develop Future-vision, enabling us to see beyond the present into the future and beyond the physical into the spiritual.
An eternal perspective sees the physical, temporal world in light of eternal truth and values.
Conclusion
Whether it is legend or true, the story is told of Spanish explorers who, when they arrived in the New World, burned their ships, so that there was no going back. They now had to succeed in the New World, for they had abandoned themselves to their new life.
That is what we must do. The first step in mental renewal that transforms our lives is that we must cultivate our perception of, and commitment to, the unseen, spiritual, eternal world. We must abandon ourselves to an eternal perspective.
Have you given thought to your worldview? Are you living for the false-truths of this seen, physical, temporal world? Or do you have future-vision, living for the true-truths of the unseen, spiritual, eternal world?
In case you’re new here
This blog post is part of a series titled “Renew Your Mind, Transform Your Life”, introduced on January 5, 2021. As the series continues, each succeeding post will be added to and available in the blog archives at www.maxanders.com.
If you know anyone who you think might enjoy joining us in this study, please forward this blog to them and encourage them to go to my web site (www.maxanders.com) and sign up for the free video, “Master the Bible So Well That the Bible Masters You”, available there on the home page. This will put them on my regular mailing list and they’ll receive my weekly blogs on this subject.
In addition, I am creating a new online membership site, The Change Zone, that will provide information, strategies and resources to help motivated Christians renew their mind and transform their lives. If you would like to learn more about this and get updates to know when The Change Zone will be available, click here.
I look forward to going through this life-changing journey with you.
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