The week after our “Spirit Life Circle” listening prayer small group asked “Lord Jesus, what do You want to replace my fear with?” and I received the answer about playing “The Good ‘What If’ Game,” we asked Him a question based on this verse:
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2 NIV).
Our question was,
“Lord Jesus, when I am transformed by the renewing of my mind, what will it look like?”
The response I received was the perfect sequel to my previous journaling about Jesus’ perspective on my fears. Enjoy!
***
Lord Jesus, when I am transformed by the renewing of my mind, what will it look like?
“Shhhh, My darling, you have already undergone this process many, many times. I have restructured your brain and the way you think so many times and about so many things, and every time the fruit has been so good, so sweet, so right.
When you learned to believe that you can hear Me and My voice, you were transformed by that re-newing of your mind, making your mind new again. When you learned to listen for My voice all day every day and build your life on it and obey, your mind was renewed and your life was transformed. When you learned that My conviction is good and to receive it as a gift and repent and obey, your mind was changed so dramatically that your life was transformed. When I taught you to stop being unkind to yourself in your thoughts, your mind was made an entirely different place on the inside and it changed your life on the outside. When you began to see and recognize visions and pictures from Me, your life was changed forever. When you learned to honor the work of My Spirit and receive good gifts from Me and believe the truth about Him, your mind changed and so then did your life. And when you learned that it was a lie that I don’t want you to preach because you are My daughter and not My son, your mind changed so beautifully that your life changed forever.
You have experienced life transformation through your mind, thoughts, and especially beliefs being changed, so many times. Sometimes it is just one powerful lie you need to repent of believing and forgive those who taught it to you, like the lie that you cannot preach because it is wrong in My sight, and instantly your life is changed forever. Other times it is a bad habit of thoughts that has to be overcome, like the bad habit of being critical of yourself, and you have to be retrained by repenting of it over and over again. And sometimes it is a new tool, like seeing angels or interpreting dreams, and your life changes as you put that tool into practice, but it all started in your mind.
And the more your mind is renewed and your life transformed, the easier it becomes for you to test and know what is from Me. That is the promise in the next part of the verse, and I know it is something you are wanting.
Do not be afraid. I have you in a tough boot camp of a transformation process right now, asking you to collect Good What ifs and repent of bad ones, keeping you accountable and on track, and I know it is not easy and not always fun. But you will be transformed.
Your mind is going to become like a brand new place inside, a place that alternates between trust and praise, trust and praise, trust and praise, instead of between fear and regret, fear and regret, fear and regret. Every situation in your life, as your friend once heard and shared with you, is an opportunity for either trust or praise. When it is tough, it is an opportunity to trust Me, and when it is nice, it is an opportunity to praise Me. You can rejoice in all your trials because you are always being given an opportunity to trust or an opportunity to praise, and in both the trusting and the praising, there is sweet sweet intimacy with Me.
Right now, you look for every possible thing to worry and/or fear about, and then when none of them happens, you regret that you wasted so much energy fearing about them. The sweetness of My rescue is tainted by the bitterness of your regret. You feel unable to praise Me the way you want to when I rescue you because you feel guilty for all your anxiety about it when it turns out I handled it all so beautifully for you, and because your mind is so cluttered with fears there is no space to praise Me like you want to.
It’s just like when you want to dance for Me but there’s so much clutter on the floor there’s no space to leap and twirl and let it go. First you need to clean up the mess on the floor and put things away or in the trash, and then we can dance. Just like you and your sisters always wanted to run and dance when all your toys were put away and you saw how much space there was. You never wanted to clean them up, but when your mother made you, you were filled with joy at all that spacious carpet to dance around in. I am the mother making you clean up, and when we finish, your heart will be a dance floor. It isn’t fun now, but it will be, I promise.
When I finish the painful process I have you in now, your mind will be like a ballroom and your life will be transformed into one sweet waltz with Jesus, loving Me all the way, enjoying My rescue and the way I take good care of you before, during, and after each deliverance, fantasizing about My power and goodness and how I can be glorified in your life instead of imagining and fearing all the ways you could get hurt every time I stretch you out of your comfort zone, seeking My kingdom first and never doubting that every other need will be supplied and fall into your lap along the way, seeing My kingdom come with passion and joy and noticing out of your peripheral vision that I am solving all of your problems for you instead of focusing on your problems and noticing out of your peripheral vision that I’m trying to give you the kingdom! Because it IS My good pleasure to give you the kingdom! So do not be afraid.
When I finish My process of freeing your heart habits from fear, you will be able to waltz with Me on water, not even noticing whether it is water or floor under your feet because you are gazing into My eyes the whole time! You will not trip on either opportunities to trust or opportunities to praise. You will just keep dancing. You will feel like you are dancing even when you suffer. You will just press closer to Me and keep following My lead. You will not be afraid of death or of pain because even death cannot interrupt our dance. We just keep going like nothing happened. You will be making eye contact with Jesus before you die and you still will be after you die, the sight will just get a little clearer. That’s the only difference death will make.
You’ll be so good at this by then, I promise. I won’t be carrying you across the Jordan river kicking and screaming in fear. You’ll never even notice we crossed because you’ll be noticing My facial expressions and that I love you. The things you fear will seem so small you won’t notice them until afterwards.
You’re going to be OK. I have such beautiful dreams for the transformation of your mind and your life. I tried to drop a hint in the next breath of this verse when I said My will is good, pleasing and perfect. My will is good. It’s a good kind of good. It’s a good king of good kind of good. So don’t be afraid. I’m nice. I smell good. I tell good stories. And when I convict you, it will be so, so, so worth it, I promise. I’m only trying to set you free. You know that. I always have been and I always will be.
You never can imagine just how wonderful My projects will be until I finish them, until you have been transformed by the renewing of your mind. But then you understand. This one will be like all the others have been, I promised. I am giving you the kind of relationship with Jesus that your heart really longs for and that your spirit cries out for in prayer, the kind where fear no longer has the power to interrupt the intimacy of our trust and praise. I promise.
So spin under My arm and rejoice. I am dancing with you. And I love you. And I love this journey we are on. I love you all the way. I love you now and forever. I love loving you. The one I love I rebuke and discipline, so be jealous and be zealous and repent. Guard your heart from the little foxes of fear and pride and unbelief that would spoil our joy. Throw them out and keep dancing. I will never give up on you. I will never stop wanting this for you. I will never give up. You are closer now than when you first believed. We’re moving in the right direction. We always have been. You will see.
Angels rejoice at your progress. They think you’re amazing. They think I’m amazing because of what they’ve seen Me do for you. And in you. And in spite of you. Let’s keep amazing angels together. We’re dancing with the stars. And we make a beautiful couple as you follow Me. We spin across the floor and we sparkle with My glory on display in your life. You glorify Me. I am unstoppable. I always win. And I am winning in you in a beautiful, beautiful way. You will see. You will see, you will see, you will see. You will see and be satisfied.”
***
Maybe you’d like to ask Him for yourself,
“Lord Jesus, when I am transformed by the renewing of my mind, what will it look like?”
and see what perfectly-personal picture He would like to give to YOU?
Be First to Comment