God's Way of Thinking

I start every day with God, reading daily devotions from Our Daily Bread. Today's devotion is titled "Thinking Differently." Winn Collier wrote this devotion. The scripture reading is from Romans 12:1–3 with the key verse, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world." Romans 12:2

My beloved children, grandchildren, cousins, nephews, brothers, and sisters in Christ; for all I write, I first pray to God to guide my words to serve as spiritual food and guidance. I desire God to be my sole source of writing. All the credit goes to God, not me. I am his humble servant. I thank God that He led me to use Our Daily Bread Ministries as my inspiration for comments and witnessing.

I spent most of my service time in Greece. I was stationed on the Island of Crete. It was a beautiful place, surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea. I lived in a small village about 40 miles from the central city on the island. The people were so friendly and open. Because of the weather, during most of the year, they work from 8:00 to 12:00. Everything closes, then opens again around 4:00 to 8:00. Dinner is usually around 9:00 PM. Telephones are rare and expensive. If you wanted to make a phone call, you would go to the town's communications center. Also, if you get a phone call, they announced it over a public PA system. Their culture is quite different from what I grew up in The United States.

Paul talks about The Christian culture.

We are charged to be different, also. Paul said, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing, and perfect will." Romans 12:2. We're called to pursue God's way of thinking and learn how to understand His perfect will. May we learn to follow God rather than every other voice.

A question to reflect on:

How would you describe the values and assumptions that surround you? What would it look like for you not to conform to the world's ways and instead follow Jesus' practices?

My Prayer for Us:

God, we don't even recognize our assumptions and values most of the time. Help us to live out Your truth and Your mind in it all.

Our Daily bread Ministries (2021/02/16) Thinking Differently, Winn Collier, retrieved from www.odb.org 16/02/2021 Thinking Differently.