Sermon Reflections from Deformation for Transformation | Alex Hardt | March 10, 2025
Pastor Alex offered up a challenge to every believer this Sunday in his message about getting rid of the clutter of the world in our lives and allowing God to replace it with His ways. The process of decluttering our lives begins when we accept Jesus as our Savior. At the moment we accept Jesus by faith, the Holy Spirit enters our lives. Romans 8:11 “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” This begins our transformation in a process known as sanctification. Paul describes this in
Romans 6:19 “I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.”
In my own words I think of it as a process where the Holy Spirit living within each believer leads them to become more and more like Jesus.
Pastor Alex wanted us to focus on recognizing the clutter in our lives. Sometimes we sin and know it, and other times it is embedded in our lives and we are unaware. When I want to know about embedded habits or ingrained sin, I ask the Holy Spirit to reveal it to me. Asking him to make me aware and to help me to replace them with godly things. Living for Jesus has to be intentional on our part and we need to be fully aware of who we are in Christ.
Pastor Alex wanted us to focus on recognizing the clutter in our lives. Sometimes we sin and know it, and other times it is embedded in our lives and we are unaware. When I want to know about embedded habits or ingrained sin, I ask the Holy Spirit to reveal it to me. Asking him to make me aware and to help me to replace them with godly things. Living for Jesus has to be intentional on our part and we need to be fully aware of who we are in Christ.
Jesus promises in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that we are made new in Him. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” Being new in Christ we need to ‘put off’ the old ways and ‘put on’ His new ways. Like the list Pastor Alex gave us of patterns of the world- the old ways, and the Way of God’s Kingdom- the new ways, we need to intentionally-- through prayer, Bible study, good Christian guidance move towards the new ways.
The Bible is filled with references to these ‘put on’ traits that God desires to see within our character. James and the Apostle Paul help explain how God uses the circumstances of our lives to hone and grow our character.
James 1:2-4 “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
Romans 5:3-5 “ Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.’ God does not leave us alone to declutter and transform our lives, but He works within us to grow us into the men and women of faith He desires.
Make it a matter of prayer this week to ask God where and on what He desires to transform your character so that you better reflect the Lord Jesus. Remember we are all a work in progress!
Blessings,
Make it a matter of prayer this week to ask God where and on what He desires to transform your character so that you better reflect the Lord Jesus. Remember we are all a work in progress!
Blessings,
Linda
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