od tells us, through the book of Romans, to "be transformed by the renewing of your minds." How do you do that? Join us for this look at the life-changing book of Romans.

Romans: Lessons In Renewing Your Mind

God tells us, through the book of Romans, to "be transformed by the renewing of your mind." But how exactly do you do that? Thankfully, God tells us that, too! Join me for this series from the life-changing book of Romans. (How do I know it's life-changing? I know because it's changed mine!)

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Introduction: God Would Love To Renew Your Mind: I believe that God would love to renew your mind. He would love to replace any thoughts you may be having that are pulling you down with thoughts that will pull you up. He would love to give you new thoughts. He would love to give you His thoughts. He would love to give you thoughts that will change the trajectory of the rest of your life.
Lesson 1: Belonging To Jesus: God would love to renew your mind. And one of the best places to start is with how you identify yourself. For how you view yourself affects how you view everything around you.
Lesson 2: Encouraging One Another: In our first lesson in this study on renewing your mind, we talked about the importance of belonging to Jesus—of finding your identity in Him. He is our All in All and the ultimate source of our strength. But God has also given us something more. He’s given us one another.
Lesson 3: Giving Thanks: One of the quickest ways to get a new perspective on life is by giving thanks—by taking a few minutes to thank God for the things in your life for which you are truly grateful. But giving thanks to God doesn’t always come naturally.
Lesson 4: Asking God For His Truth: Of all the passages in the Bible, the one that has changed my thinking and the direction of my life more than any other is the one that we’re looking at today—a passage at the end of Romans chapter 1.
Lesson 5: Listening To Your Conscience: When Steve Jobs finished designing the first Macintosh computer, he did something special: he asked everyone who helped him design that first revolutionary machine to sign a large piece of paper. He then took that paper and turned it into an engraving template. When those first Macs finally rolled off the assembly line, the names of their creators were engraved inside the case of every one.
Lesson 6: Getting To The Heart: I have thought for some time now that someone should make a movie about two men engaged in an epic battle with one other. In some ways, it would be like every other movie: the hero and villain would be at war throughout the movie, with the hero having the upper hand at some points, and the villain gaining the upper hand at others. Near the end, the hero would deliver the fatal blow that sends the villain to his doom forever.
Lesson 7: Becoming Conscious Of Sin: Some people have no problem recognizing sin in their life. In fact, they magnify their faults in their mind, whether real or imagined, thinking less of themselves than they ought to think. Other people have the problem of not recognizing sin in their life. They magnify their strengths instead, whether real or imagine, thinking better of themselves than they ought to think. Most of us fall somewhere in between: we magnify some weaknesses out of proportion, while minimizing others. God wants to give us an honest and objective look.
Lesson 8: Being Redeemed By Jesus: The great evangelist D.L. Moody was once confronted by a woman who said she didn’t like his method of evangelism. D. L. Moody said, “I don’t particularly like my method either. What’s yours?” The woman said, “I don’t have one.” To which D.L. Moody replied, “Then I like mine better!”
Lesson 9: Believing God: I’d like to talk to you today about believing God. Not just believing in God. But believing God--believing that He will do what He says He will do. The reason I want to talk to you about believing God is because what you believe influences what you do. Or, to put it another way, you do what you believe.
Lesson 10: Being Fully Persuaded: I’d like to give you some hope today—hope that God has the power to do what He has promised. My daughter showed me a great picture a few weeks ago with the word HOPE written on the palm of someone’s hand. What was unique about the picture was that the hand could be seen in the side mirror of a car, with more words written in small print on the bottom of the mirror that said: “Objects in mirror are closer than they appear.”
Lesson 11: Calling Things That Are Not As Though They Were: As we’re looking at ways to renew your mind from the book of Romans, I’d like to draw your attention to one more verse from Romans chapter 4 before moving on to chapter 5. There’s a phrase in there that is not only extremely quotable and memorable, but it can also be a powerful force for defining your future, if you’ll take it to heart.
Lesson 12: Having Peace With God: God wants to give you a lift today. He wants to pick you up, brush you off, and give you a new start. In particular, God wants to give you peace—His peace—a deep peace that will renew and restore you and give you the strength to go on.
Lesson 13: Rejoicing In Your Sufferings: I’d like to talk to you about pain today. I know it may not sound like a very pleasant topic, but I shared this message with a group of men yesterday morning and one of them wrote to me later to say, “Thanks for your devotional this morning. I got there in a pretty lousy frame of mind and you had me full of joy before you were done.”
Lesson 14: Being Freed From Sin: One of the best depictions I’ve ever read of the tragedy that took place when sin entered the world was in a fictional book by Ted Dekker called Black. Ted spent the majority of his book describing a world where no one had ever sinned. They knew there was a forbidden fruit across a particular bridge, but no one went there to eat it.
Lesson 15: Bearing Fruit To God: Is it OK to sin—at least a little bit every once in awhile? After all, if we’ve already put our faith in Christ, He’s already forgiven us of our sins. So He’ll forgive us again, won’t He?
Lesson 16: Setting Your Mind On What God Desires: What is it about rules that makes us want to break them? I was in a church one day when the pastor was talking about the benefits of a new diet he had started. He was telling us how he ate a bowl of oatmeal every morning for breakfast, and how much of a change that was from the way he used to eat. He said he previously used to sit down some nights and eat an entire 2-pound bag of peanut M&M’s in one sitting!
Lesson 17: Knowing Who The Holy Spirit Is: The Holy Spirit is a person, not a substance. When you understand the difference, it makes a difference in how you talk to Him and how you draw upon His power in your life.
Lesson 18: Receiving The Spirit Of Sonship: It’s only been ten days since Steve Jobs died and I’m still mourning the loss. I’ve followed his life and career for the last 28 years, ever since I used one of his first computers (an Apple Lisa, the predecessor to the Mac) to write a poem (complete with text and graphics) to my college sweetheart at the time (now my wife of 22 years).
Lesson 19: Knowing That In ALL Things God Works For Your Good: I want to encourage you today that God is working for your good in ALL situations that you’re facing, if you love Him and are called according to His purpose. He really is FOR you, and even in those things that seem hardest, you can trust that He can work even in those things for your good.
Lesson 20: Knowing That God Is FOR You: Last week, I talked about how God can work ALL things together for good for those who love Him and who are called according to His purpose. This week, I want share why God works all things for your good. It comes because, ultimately, God is FOR you. And if God is FOR you, who can be against you? That’s the question the Apostle Paul asks at the end of Romans chapter 8.
Lesson 21: Trusting In The Potter: Perhaps you’ve heard the story of the three trees, where each one had a glorious dream for their future. One wanted to be crafted into a beautiful treasure chest, covered with gold and filled with precious jewels. Another wanted to be turned into boards for a mighty sailing ship, carrying kings and queens across the sea. The third didn’t want to be cut down at all, but wanted to grow as tall as possible, pointing people towards God as they looked up into its branches.
Lesson 22: Believing In Your Heart: There were once five frogs on a log. One of them decided to jump off. How many frogs do you think were still on the log? … Four? … None? … Nope. All five. One of them just decided to jump off. There’s a difference between deciding to do something and doing it. There’s a difference between believing in something in your mind and moving that belief deep down into your heart so that it can take root and spring into action.
Lesson 23: Holding The Rope: When William Carey was raising funds in England to support his missionary work in India, he told people he felt as if there was a man drowning in a well and calling out for help. Carey said he was willing to go down into the well to save the man, but he needed some people to hold the rope for him while he went.
Lesson 24: Hearing The Message: As we get closer to Christmas, I’d like to encourage you to take this time to get closer to God. Christmas is the time of year when we celebrate that God came so close that we could reach out and touch Him--in the form of Jesus. And it’s a great time to remember that God is still very close to us--even closer than you might think.
A Year Of Gratitude: We’ll be returning to our study of the book of Romans and the “Lessons in Renewing Your Mind” next week. But while the New Year’s still fresh, I wanted to give you a prescription for how to have the best, brightest and most fulfilling New Year you’ve ever had.
Lesson 25: Correcting Misperceptions: The way we perceive things isn’t always the way they are. Yet those misperceptions can persist for years, causing us to miss the truth of what God might be trying to say to us. But God has a way of bringing the truth into our lives, if we’re open to it, in a way that can renew our minds and change our perspective on everything.
Lesson 26: Being Transformed - Part 1: I’d like to give you three practical ideas today for how to transform your life. These ideas have been passed on to me over the years, and I’m glad to pass them onto you. They’re based in part on the verse in Romans 12 for which this entire study of the book of Romans is named, Romans: Lessons In Renewing Your Mind.
Lesson 27: Being Transformed - Part 2: Last week we looked at three ways to renew your mind by taking control of the amount and types of media that you consume, from TV and movies to books, magazines, newspapers and blogs. This week, we’re going to look at three more ways to renew your mind and all three have to do with increasing how much you consume of something else in your life: God’s Word, the Bible.
Lesson 28: Thinking Of Yourself: The way you think of yourself is often affected by what others say about you. One of my favorite stories that shows the power that other people’s words can have over us is a true story by a woman named Eddie Ogan. Eddie tells the true story about how the pastor at their church challenged everyone in the congregation to prepare for a special offering to be taken up at the end of the month for a poor family.
Lesson 29: Thinking Of Others: The story’s told of two friends who were walking through a desert together when one of the friends slapped the other in the face. The one who was slapped wrote a note in the sand saying: “Today my best friend slapped me in the face.” But as they walked further along, the one who had been slapped fell into a pool of water and began to drown. This time, his best friend reached down and pulled him out of the water, saving his life. This time, the friend who was rescued etched a note on a stone saying: “Today my best friend saved my life.”
Special Prayer Request: Lana's Health: I normally use this space to write some words of encouragement to you, but this week I could use some encouragement myself. A few weeks ago my wife and I received the surprising news that she has breast cancer. Two days ago, we received the even more surprising news that it was not a Stage 1 breast cancer with one one lump in her breast, but that it is actually a Stage 4 breast cancer, with multiple tumors that have already spread to her lungs, liver and spine.
Special Prayer Request: Hit Your Knees!: I normally use this space to write some words of encouragement to you, but this week I could use some encouragement myself. A few weeks ago my wife and I received the surprising news that she has breast cancer. Two days ago, we received the even more surprising news that it was not a Stage 1 breast cancer with one one lump in her breast, but that it is actually a Stage 4 breast cancer, with multiple tumors that have already spread to her lungs, liver and spine.
Special Prayer Request: A Picture Of Healing: The words “thank you” just don’t seem enough to convey to you how very much we appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers and words of encouragement over these past two weeks since I shared with you that my wife was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer. How could we not cry and be touched when we get letters like this one from a man we’ve never met, but who is literally rallying the troops to pray for us from a naval ship in Japan...
Special Prayer Request: Living Like You're Going To Live: I’d like to give you one more update on my wife Lana this week, and then next week we’ll return to our study of the book of Romans and the topic of “Renewing Your Mind.” Although I know my messages these past few weeks have touched many hearts and lives as you’ve been watching Lana go through this, she’s never really liked being the center of attention, so she’s ready for me to go back to writing about you instead of her!
Lesson 30: Doing What's Right: As we continue to look at ways to renew your mind, I’d like to look with you today at the way you view those in authority over you, whether they’re a boss, a parent, or even a government authority. If you view authority with contempt, distrust, and disrespect, you’ll often find that same contempt, distrust and disrespect coming back to you. But if you view authority with God’s perspective, trusting that even ungodly authorities can have a place in God’s plan in the world, then you can have much more peace of mind in the midst of struggles.
Lesson 31: Thinking About Sinful Desires: My kids and I were window shopping in downtown Chicago last week while my wife was at a doctor’s appointment (window shopping is where you look, but don’t buy). We were looking at all the cool things in the Apple Computer store when my wife came up after finishing her appointment. She said she had seen a man outside in a wheelchair who was asking for money and looking not too good for the wear.
Lesson 32: Being Fully Convinced In Your Own Mind: It’s amazing how different people can see things so differently, even when looking at the exact same thing. I recently heard about a Brit, a Frenchman, and a Russian who all looked at the same painting of Adam and Eve frolicking in the Garden of Eden, but came to three different conclusions...
Lana's Easter Message: As we approach Holy Week, I want to talk to you about the difference three days can make.
Lesson 33: Overflowing With Hope: Happy Easter! I’d like to pray for you today that the God of hope would fill you with joy and peace so that you may overflow with hope. This is what the Apostle Paul prayed for the Christians in Rome, as recorded in the book of Romans, chapter 15: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13).
Lesson 34: Instructing One Another: One way to renew your mind is to teach others what you’ve been learning. It’s a way to both review what you’ve learned, and to bless others at the same time. So today, I’d like to encourage you to consider taking some time to teach others what you’ve learned in life.
Lesson 35: Assisting Others On Their Journey: One of the things I love about the human heart is that it's wired to help others when they're in need. I see this repeated over and over: when a natural disaster strikes a town, or when a terrible wrong is committed against someone who's done right, or when a beloved friend passes away. When people see a need, they often respond with caring hearts. But even though our hearts are wired to help others in need, sometimes we need a little prompting.
Lesson 36: Enlisting Others To Pray For You: Are you struggling with something in your life today? If so, I’d like to encourage you to do something special: enlist others to pray for you. If you think asking for prayer is a sign of weakness, you might want to think again! Asking for prayer is one of the smartest things you could ever do—and one of the best ways to keep you strong.
Lesson 37: Being Wise And Innocent: Once you’ve worked hard to renew your mind, God wants you to keep it renewed. And one of the best ways to keep it renewed is to be careful of the company you keep. Believe it or not, there are people out there who don’t have your best interests in mind. They’ll use smooth talk and flattery to try to lead you astray from the teaching you’ve learned—teaching that has helped you in many ways in your life.
Lesson 38: Believing And Obeying God: Today we’ve reached the conclusion of the book of Romans, the final words of Paul’s letter that punctuate his goal for writing it. These words also underscore the purpose for which God wants to renew your mind: so that you might believe and obey Him.