Day 8: What is a Reliable Pattern of Life Transformation?

…the greatest need you and I have—the greatest need of collective humanity—is renovation of our heart. That spiritual place within us from which outlook, choices, and actions come has been formed by a world away from God. Now it must be transformed.

[Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart, 14]

Mark 1:14–17
…Jesus went to Galilee, preaching the good news of God: 1:15 “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe in the good news!”
1:16 As He was passing along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, Simon’s brother. They were casting a net into the sea, since they were fishermen. 1:17 “Follow Me,” Jesus told them, “and I will make you fish for people!”

This passage should look familiar to you; we discussed it in some detail last week. If you are still working through this study, we can assume that you want to push a little further into understanding who Jesus is and how Father-God desires to transform us—shape us to be like Jesus, fit for His Kingdom.

This passage deals with an episode from the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry. There is a pattern in it that we see repeated in other Biblical stories and also lived out in the lives of many men and women. Take a look at the chart below and then we will discuss it.

Step 1: Hearing the Gospel (Hearing the Good News of the Truth)

The first step in becoming the people that Father-God desires for us to be is hearing what He says to us In Christ through the Spirit. God always tells us the truth. This truth is “good news” because it orients us to reality—how things really are, what is really real. This Truth offers Hope. We are going to be talking a lot about THE Gospel in this study and how it offers Hope, calls for faith, and leads to love. For now, just know that the first step is simply hearing what is being said to us in Christ. 

Step 2: Turning (Repentance, Changing Our Thinking)

The Truth, the Good News, always requires some form of response from us. Almost always it requires that we change the way we are thinking about something (or even everything!) The word that is translated as “repent” in this passage points to changing one’s way of life as the result of a complete change of thought and attitude.  

Repentance is the change in thought and action that takes place when we realize we are wrong and headed the wrong way. It is turning from one direction and heading another.

Notice the word way here: we have to change the way we are thinking which leads to a change in the way we are living. Remember what Jesus said:

John 14:6 …
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”

The main way we change our way of life to follow Jesus’ way is to let His way of seeing reality come in and replace the lies and false images that have become part of our false way of thinking. We need truthful ideas and images that can shape our thoughts to be in line with The Truth. Take a look at our circle diagrams with this in mind.

In this step we are actually turning away from other masters or “saviors” in order to turn to Jesus as the only Savior and Master.

Step 3: Trust (Believe)

As we turn from other masters and “saviors”, we believe and trust the Truth that comes to us in Christ. Belief leads to trust. The Bible refers to this as faith—believing and trusting. Belief and trust is a movement that involves our whole being—the way we think, the way we feel, the way we desire. It will also require us to use our bodies in certain ways. 

Step 4: Follow Jesus

If you have found your hope in Jesus and you believe what He says and trust Him, the next logical step is to follow Him as He leads. Jesus is leading us all to become spiritually mature in Him, equipped to reign with Him in The Kingdom. We each have a unique role to play. He transformed Simon and Andrew from just “fisher-men” into “fishers of men.” Jesus will turn each of us into men and women who play a vital role in His kingdom based on who He has shaped to be and how He has equipped us to function. 

As you move on from this point, start to think about all that you are learning regarding thoughts, desires, and emotions and how they interact in the way you live. 

In this first Phase, we are going to be focusing on the Thoughts and the Ideas and Images that shape those thoughts. In each session, we will ask you to think about the ideas and images that have caused you to rethink ways in which you may have been out of sync with reality. We will also ask you to think about how the truths you are learning are forming new ideas and images and how these move you toward trusting Father-God in Christ more.

*In Phase 2 Walking in The Truth, we will focus more on the Emotions and in Phase 3 Living The Life we will focus more on the Desires. 

So, there is our reliable pattern: Hear > Turn > Trust > Follow. This simple statement is a “tool” we will use throughout the rest of these readings.

Tomorrow, we will have a short review of what we have discussed this week.

*You can find a complete list of all the MilktoMeat readings here.

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