Are You Spending Time at the Mirror?

Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. —1 Peter 3:3–4

Peter is trying to take your focus off the natural and put it onto the real person you are now—the new, born-again you—your spirit! He is not saying that it is wrong to style your hair, or wear makeup, or have gold jewelry or nice clothes—he is saying not to make them your priority. Concentrate on the real you—the hidden person of the heart. Build up your new self, make your new self strong, and adorn yourself with righteousness, holiness, and a meek and quiet spirit. There is not enough makeup in the world to cover up a weak and confused spirit. Spend your time putting on the new you, the powerful you, the Christlike you. In the sight of God, this is of great price! Natural things, like gold and makeup and good clothing, come with a great price. We—men and women alike—spend much of our time and money to look our best. To look good spiritually will also cost you something—time: time in prayer, time in the Word, time in the presence of God, time to put on the new you. Gold is corruptible and will pass away! Makeup is corruptible and will wash away. Even the clothes we are so proud of today will be out of date soon. But the real you—the hidden man of the heart— can be clothed daily; this inward man can be renewed day by day (2 Corinthians 4:16). Spend some time putting on and being transformed by the Holy Spirit through the Word (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Pastor Tom Kehres

Have You Broken the Mold?

Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. —Romans 12:2

You will either be conformed or you will be transformed on a daily basis. If you are conformed, you will live like, think like, and act like the rest of the world. You will blend in and be “in style” with those who have not been born again and who live a sinful, powerless life. But you can be transformed! Transformation comes from the inside out, not the outside in. By a decision to believe who God has made you in the new birth, you can change your outward appearance to line up with who you really are—on the inside! Conformity gets its information from what it sees around it, and then it believes it. Conformity judges itself on how it feels and how it is performing that day. “Are you anointed?” “Not today! I don’t feel like I have any power at all!” So it chooses to live without the anointing that day. Transformation says, “I don’t feel anointed, I don’t look anointed, but I’m going to fashion myself to the Word. The Word says I have an anointing (1 John 2:20, 27), so I choose to be transformed; I choose to be obedient to the Word,” and so you can say and believe, “I am anointed today! Based on some ‘inside information,’ I can live an anointed life today!” What happened? You have been transformed by the renewing of your mind! The real you is now living through you. You have put on the new man, the new Christ-fashion of the day. Just like you choose daily what you will wear in the natural, you can choose daily what to put on in the Spirit. Stop being conformed; start to obey the Word and be transformed.

Pastor Tom Kehres

Does Your Wardrobe Need Thinning Out?

As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance. —1 Peter 1:14

Peter tells us not to fashion ourselves according to who we formerly were. To fashion means “to conform to, to change in appearance to look like, to change by being conformed or being transformed.” Today people are always in search of the latest fashions. They consult Hollywood to know what the “in” style of clothing is—the latest shoes, the newest outfits, and the hottest colors. Peter is telling you to put on and wear the newest spiritual fashion. Take off the old, former, outdated appearance and put on the “new you” style. Fashion yourself according to the Word of God, the new person you have been made to be. How do you do this? As an obedient child! Most of the time, we believe obedience means to obey what God is telling you to do, but obedience is also to be what God has told you that you are! He even gives you one piece of your new outfit: be holy—for I am holy (verse 15)! He is saying to wear what Jesus wore: holiness in your life. He does not tell you to “become” holy; He tells you to be holy, because you have been born again, made like Him, and He is holy. Be right- eous, be healed, be joyful, be peaceful, be powerful, be obedient to who He has made you to be! Put on the new fashion, the new-creation wardrobe, and stop wearing the same fashions that you wore before you were saved. They are no longer in style. Anger, lying, cheating, failing, depression, grumbling—all are out of fashion. That 1960s suit has to go! Those striped bell-bottoms are no longer in style—throw them away and put on a new wardrobe that fits the new you.

Pastor Tom Kehres

Let Hope Arise!

Read Mark 10:46–50.

And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. —Mark 10:50

Blind Bartimaeus spent his life sitting by the roadside, blind and begging. He had fallen into a repetitious lifestyle with no hope and no change. One day he heard that the Word was passing by, Jesus of Nazareth. Immediately hope rose in his heart that a change might be in order. He cried out, hungry for a response from the Word, or a change out of his blind, poor lifestyle. People told him, “Shut up! You’ll never change! Be quiet! You will be blind forever!” But there was something about hearing that the Word was passing by, that the Word was near. Many people get saved and then fall into a rut their whole lives, putting up with faults and failings because they have not heard the Word; they have not heard that change is available, that deliverance is near. Many sit under a preacher who is constantly putting on the old man in their mindset: you are a sinner—unholy, unrighteous, blind. “Just do your best and then, when you die, everything will be better.” But better arrived the day you said yes to Jesus. That day in Israel, the identity of being “blind Bartimaeus” started to come off, and begging became a thing of the past. Notice that before blind Bartimaeus received his new life, his new identity, to be no longer a blind beggar but a seeing Bartimaeus, he had to cast away his old garment, the symbol of his old condition! You, too, by hearing the Word, can deny and cast away all your old, ungodly garments. You are not a recovering alcoholic, a reformed drug addict, an angry man, a loser, a sinner who always fails God. Cast away that garment; arise and come to the Word! Your faith will change you and make you whole (Mark 10:52).

Pastor Tom Kehres