Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Today let’s pay attention to spiritual muscle development that comes from our thinking transformation.

Today’s scripture, Romans 12:1‭-‬3 (NLT), exhorts us…
And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.

Consider…
The second verse in today’s scripture made me think of bodybuilding. Specifically Paul’s exhortation to…
let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.

According to Wikipedia, Bodybuilding is the practice of progressive resistance exercise to build, control, and develop one’s muscles via hypertrophy.

Although bodybuilding is primarily undertaken for aesthetics purposes rather than functional ones, it still has tenants that are beneficial to our spiritual growth. Let’s briefly examine how thinking exercises that build, control, and develop our spiritual muscles will enable us to know and do what pleases God.

Our first thinking exercise will help us build our spiritual behaviors. It’s the exercise of building our thinking to follow Christ’s teaching. I hear the Holy Spirit yelling out James 1:22 (NLT) over and over…
But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.

Many of us have heard or quoted this admonition by Brother James. But he wasn’t the first one to emphasize the need to heed what we’ve heard. Jesus, who is the Word, originally said…
“So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say? I will show you what it’s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it. It is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built. But anyone who hears and doesn’t obey is like a person who builds a house right on the ground, without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins.” – Luke 6:46‭-‬49 NLT

Crazier than that, even before Jesus stressed the importance of us living out what He’s said, Joshua 1:8 (NLT)
highlighted the need to heed what you regularly and thoroughly read…
Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.

The only way to build the life of obedience is to make Christ your firm foundation.

While you’re working on being more obedient to God’s Word, let these lyrics from an old hymn become your weight lifting music…

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name

On Christ the solid rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground is sinking sand

Building your life following Jesus will enable you to live a life obediently pleasing to God!

Next, let’s look for God’s word on the exercise of yielding to the Holy Spirit’s mind control. Our spiritual trainer, the Holy Spirit, said let Him be our mind regulator. Galatians 5:16‭-‬17 (NLT) exhorts…
So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.

Usually I only read verse 16 about letting the Spirit control us. However, today you’ll notice I included verse 17. That’s because, God wants us to understand there’s a war going on for the control of our minds. In other words, we can’t be passive about allowing the Holy Spirit to control our thinking, we must be intentional.

In 2 Corinthians 10:3‭-‬5 (ERV) the Apostle Paul emphasizes…
We live in this world, but we don’t fight our battles in the same way the world does. The weapons we use are not human ones. Our weapons have power from God and can destroy the enemy’s strong places. We destroy people’s arguments, and we tear down every proud idea that raises itself against the knowledge of God. We also capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ.

I don’t know how often, if ever, we hear that we have to fight to obey God. The scripture just shared let’s us know that while the Holy Spirit will guide us according to Galatians 5:16, it’s up to us to fight to let Him. We have to progressively resist random and contrary thoughts that would distract our focus on pleasing God.

So, as you think about things through your day, be intentional about ceding control of your thoughts to the Holy Spirit. Let Him regulate your mind so that you will continually show God not my will but Thine!

Lastly, the Holy Spirit wants us to work on the development exercises that will transform our minds. Paul told his spiritual son…
Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives’ tales. Instead, train yourself to be godly. “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.” This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it. This is why we work hard and continue to struggle, for our hope is in the living God, who is the Savior of all people and particularly of all believers. – 1 Timothy 4:7‭-‬10 NLT

We need to train for godliness. Staying with our theme of bodybuilding, just as weight training is one of the main tools used to develop muscles that are pleasing, thought training is a main tool we can use to develop spiritual muscles that are pleasing to God.

Colossians 3:1‭-‬3 (NLT) instructs us…
Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.

Part of thought training is setting the right focus.

And Ephesians 4:21‭-‬24 (NLT) reminds us…
Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.

Another part of thought training is letting go of the old and being reminded that you’re becoming someone new. The Holy Spirit is a wonderful spotter that reminds us when we’re tempted to regress to our old ways.

We find the last of our thought development exercises in today’s scripture. It says…
let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.

I like to call this exercise, trust the Trainer.

When bodybuilders are transforming their appearance, they are listening to and following the strict instructions of a trainer. That’s because trainers have a plan of exercises and diets to achieve the intended transformation . This is even more true with God, who has given us the Holy Spirit to transform into the perfect image of Christ. But notice, He doesn’t do the exercises Himself, He simply guides and encourages us through them.

Today, trust The Trainer and follow His instructions. One His main instructions is to read and obey God’s instruction manual. 2 Timothy 3:16 (NLT) explains…
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.

Hopefully this post has inspired you to continue, or start, the thought transformation exercises that will build, control and develop your spiritual muscles to please God! You’ll see the evidence as your obedience to Him grows stronger! 💪🏾

Today’s song is…
Change Me

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)