Romans 12:2

Knowledge has consequences.  Information is influential.  It will affect your attitude (Ecclesiastes 1:8) and it will affect your behavior (Proverbs 23:7).

Conformed to this world…

The American Cancer Society collected statistics of children with cancer in homes of smokers.  In homes where one parent smoked children were twice as likely to get cancer.  In homes where both parents smoked children were five times as likely to get cancer.  That is an illustration of people being influenced by their surroundings.

You are impressionable.  If you don’t realize you’re impressionable then you’re just the sucker someone is looking for.  You are influenced by the type of knowledge you ingest.  You’re affected by the music that goes in your ears.  You respond to the images put in front of your eyes.  You’re influenced by the information you subject yourself and your household to.

Areas of influence where conformity will most affect you and your family are places where your guard is down.

• Social – Peer pressure from school friends, work friends, family traditions.  2 Samuel 13:3 Amnon had a friend…  1 Kings 12:8 Rehoboam consulted with the young men that were grown up with him… 2 Corinthians 6:13-18, Ephesians 5:6-10.
• Education – Cease my son to hear the instruction that causeth the to err from the words of knowledge, Proverbs 19:27.  Ideas have consequences.  Sometimes kids go astray because we send them astray.
• Information – Media, News, Television, Music; what comes in through the eyes and ears will affect you.  Paul was constantly battling cancerous information like this (2 Timothy 2:16-18).  Paul writes to the Thessalonians to comfort them because of the troubling ideas they had been exposed to (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3).

Proverbs 30:26 highlights the conies who understand their weakness and instead of ignoring it, they compensate for it.  God calls that wisdom.  Do the same.

Satan Works Through Lies

Satan gains a stronghold through a lie.  Sin began with a lie and is propagated by lies.  2 Timothy 3:13, John 8:44.  Lies are the snare of the devil, 2 Timothy 2:23-26.

• vs 25 The repentance is to acknowledge the truth.
• vs 26 What happens when someone has believed a lie?  They are snared by the devil.
• What is the only way out of that snare?  Believe the truth.

Have a transformed mind

• John 17:3, life eternal is the revelation of God the Father and Jesus Christ.  This begins when you understand your sin and that you will pay for your sin when Jesus Christ is first made known to you as the Savior.  As time goes on He will become known to you as Counsellor, Prince of Peace, Wonderful…
• Hindrances to your growth as a Christian getting to know God are found in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5.  These imaginations and thoughts come in the form of lusts, pride, worldly wisdom, and any other imagination that exalts itself against the knowledge of God that is essential to you growth.

Prove the will of God…

• Romans 12:2 – proving the will of God is the result of a renewed mind.  The inability to know the will of God is not the result of God hiding Himself, it is the result a mind that is so conformed to this world it cannot discern God’s will from the world’s.  Ephesians 4:17-24.
• Fruit is a Result, not a goal or a task.
• It is impossible to produce fruit without the process that creates fruit.  Grapefruit, apples, oranges are all the result of many things.  As it is spiritually, fruit of the spirit is the result of the process that creates fruit.  Genesis 2:4-5 God planted seeds.
• Some notes about God’s will:

• We are more concerned with “God’s will” than with praying and studying God’s words, which are the things that serve as the lighthouse of God’s direction.
• When it comes to “God’s will” we need to understand the future is not as important as the present.
• Good students of scripture become sound decision makers.
• Be concerned with what God wants, not what God wants me to do.  Find out what God is doing and get involved in that.
• Jesus was in constant prayer and fellowship, not just on the big decisions. (Preachers make a big deal out of the fact that Jesus prayed before He chose his disciples.)
• 1 Corinthians 16:4, 12, Notice Paul did not have chapter and verse for everything he did.  Sometimes we can’t see the forest for the trees.  For you super spiritual folks who think maybe God’s gonna get you if I go to Wendy’s rather than Whataburger.  Or does he want me to wear the brown shoes or the black ones?  Quit looking for specific advice to you and quit making double meaning out of the scriptures.  Be the kind of Christian you ought to be and then go eat lunch.
• We come to tough decisions and ask what input God has on it.  Maybe God hasn’t had any input for the last six months and that’s why you have no idea what input He has right now.
• Peace is the presence of God.  Where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty.  Peace and liberty are results of God’s presence, not jobs to perform.  Do right and you’ll be right.