Mold-Me

       When we begin to ask the Lord to begin to work on the heart of someone, to mold them & change them, most of the time He'll begin by changing you. It's God's desire & intent that we all be conformed to the image of Christ. He desires us to be like Jesus.

       I. ROM 8:29

                 A. The word “Conformed” means “having the same form as another, similar, conformed to.”

                             1. The word “Image” in this same V means “Likeness.”

                             2. We are to become similar in likeness to the Lord Jesus Christ.

                                         a. We are to become more like Him.

                                         b. Not in looks or in any outward appearance.

                                                     i. But in character & in the power of the spirit.

                 B. That all might sound good, but how are we going to be conformed into the image of Christ?

                             1. 1st of there has to be a “desire to change.”

                                         a. Sometimes there is pride that causes us to think that we're just fine the way we are, that I'm never wrong I'm always right.

                                         b. JAMES 4:6

                                                     i. If you're not willing to change into the image of Christ, because of pride, God said that He would resist you.

                                                     ii. That means that God will oppose you.

                                         c. What this same V tells us in a round about way is to Humble ourselves.

                                                     i. Sometimes people say, “Oh, I'm willing for God to change me, if He does it, but I'm not doing anything. ”

                                                     ii. God's not going to make you change.

                                         d. There are times that we say “Lord change me. Deliver me from this sin or habit.”

                                                     i. Just as faith without works is dead, so is our prayer for the Lord to change us without us taking the 1st step.

                                                     ii. Ask the Lord what step we should take.

                                                     iii. Lets say someone asked the Lord to deliver them from smoking, but they make the choice to not light up the cigarette, but to just hold it in their mouth.

                                                     iv. That's not the step the Lord is going to have you take.

                                                     v. (2COR 6:17) Says, “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean [thing]; and I will receive you.”

                                                     vi. The word “receive” means “Show you favor.”

                                         c. Look at V 7a. (JAM 4:7a)

                                                     i. We have to submit to all of the Word of God. We can't just say “well I know that God says this but He understands.”

                                                     i. We need to be open to the H.S. & receptive to what He says, & the changes He brings.

                                                     ii. PSA 143:10

                                                     iii. (ROM 8:14) Says, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” (KJV)

                                                                 1. We can expect to be led by the Spirit of God. We need to be open to His leading & obedient.

                                                                 2. (ISA 1:19) “If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:” (KJV)

                                                                 3. The NIV says, “You will eat the best from the land.”

       II. Being changed into the Image of Christ is a Continual process.

                 A. 2COR 3:15‑18

                 B. In (V 18) that says, “We are changed into the same image from glory to glory, {even} as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (KJV)

                             1. The word “changed” in this V means “transformed”.

                             2. The NIV says, (2CO 3:18) “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever‑increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

                             3. We are changed from glory to glory by God's Word & by the H.S.

                 C. ROM 12:1-2

                             1. The word “transformed” in this V is the same Greek word we found in (2CO 3:18)  (change)

                             2. This word does mean transformed, but it also has the Greek tense which tells us that it is a continuous action.

                                         a. We are to be continually transformed into the image of Christ.

       III. Back in Rom 12:1 it says ...

                 A. Did you know that submitting to God & living a holy life before Him is spiritual worship?

                             1. The ASV says, (ROM 12:1) “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, {which is} your spiritual service.”

                             2. The RSV says, it is “your spiritual worship.”

                             3. The NIV says, (ROM 12:1) “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship.”

                 B. Now the question is how are we going to Offer our bodies as a living sacrifice?

                             1. GAL 5:24

                             2. In (ROM 12:1) it does tell us to live a holy life.

                                         a. (1PE 1:16) Says, “Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” (KJV)

                                         b. “Offer our bodies as a living sacrifice” (ROM 12:1) means being holy but even more than that it means submitting to God.

                                         c. There are some things that are not necessarily sinful but are not good to do in excess. (HEB12:1)

                 C. (ROM 12:1) Says that part of being transformed into the image of Christ is to be “acceptable to God.”

                             1. ROM 8:8

                                         a. Those that are walking in the flesh as a natural man or that are carnally minded are not pleasing to God.

                                         b. Or if we're fulfilling the desires of the flesh & conforming to this world.

                                                     i. (1JOHN 2:15‑16 KJV) Says, “Love not the world, neither the things {that are} in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (16) For all that {is} in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”

                             2. 1THES 4:1

                                         a. ASV (1TH 4:1) “Finally then, brethren, we beseech and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that, as ye received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, even as ye do walk, that ye abound more and more.” (ASV)

                                         b. As we learn how to walk & how to please God, allowing the Lord the change us & mold us, you will ABOUND MORE & MORE!

                                                     i. HEB 13:20-21

8/12/90 SUN AM TFC & WOLCC 7/25/93 SUM AM