How do you prove [demonstrate the truth or existence of] the will of God? Bill Johnson teaches how renewing our minds enables us to hear God’s voice clearly and recognize His will so that we can partner with Him to see it established in the earth. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Romans 12: 2.
but the word here to prove is is a is a
very interesting word it actually is a
word some of your translations have it
means to approve approve the will of god
it doesn’t mean that somehow you and i
are the ones who give approval for what
god’s doing on the earth doesn’t mean
that at all
but let me illustrate it this way
do not be conformed to this world
but be transformed by the renewing of
your mind
that you may prove what is that good and
acceptable and perfect will of god when
there’s a verse like this that is so
familiar the temptation for me if i’m
sitting where you are is i know it by
heart so i don’t need to look at it
but i will often go the extra mile
because i want to be
re-exposed to what i might be overly
familiar with
sometimes intentionally looking it up in
a different translation i want it to
rattle my my thinking so i don’t get
stuck
stuck in my in my thinking so he says
don’t be conformed to this world be
transformed
my
i think maybe my favorite illustration
of this word transformed is found in
luke chapter 9
where jesus takes few of the guys and
they go up on a mountain
and he the bible says he is transfigured
before them
imagine going to a prayer meeting
and you’re dozing off
it’s a long prayer meeting it’s one of
them all-nighters
jesus loves these all-nighters
and all of a sudden
jesus turns into
this transformed person it says that he
looked other looks he looks different
but not only that it says his clothing
is as lightning
so you’re sitting here dozing off all of
a sudden jesus is dressed in lightning
how many think it might wake you up from
a boring perimeter
that’s what happened to the guys right
here
is is they they are in this moment where
suddenly they see and that’s why they’re
so inspired to build tabernacles you
know for moses elijah and jesus it’s
this moment where they are electrified
literally by what they are seeing jesus
clothed in lightning
that word transfigured where jesus is
transfigured is this word here
transformed
it’s just an idea but it’s my personal
conviction
the the renewed mind
looks like
jesus stressed enlightening in the
spirit world and the unseen world the
renewed mind is so unique and so
distinct
it’s not passive it’s not subtle
it is brilliant
as it illustrates the heart and the mind
of god for planet earth he still has a
plan for this planet
and you’re a part of it
so here it is
don’t be conformed to this world be
transformed by the renewing of your mind
that you may prove
the will of god
that which is good acceptable and
perfect
what is the will of god
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven say it with
me your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven say it again
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven what does
the renewed mind do
it proves the will of god heaven on
earth
that’s amazing
that’s amazing the renewed mind
see some of what we think is going to
come at the return of christ is supposed
to come in the renewed mind of christ
the transformation of a person’s life
is no greater than the transformation of
their mind
it’s the reason the word repent means to
change the way you think he’s targeting
not just merely the discipline of right
thoughts which has value
he’s talking about
living from the perception of reality
that is greater than everything you can
see which is inferior
this world
paul teaches in romans this world
everything you can see is temporal
what you can’t see is eternal faith
functions out of the eternal towards the
temporal
towards that which
is the greater reality towards the
inferior reality
the renewed mind lives
conscious
of that
now this word here says that you may
prove the will of god that which is good
acceptable and perfect i
i remember growing up i would hear
people teach on the good acceptable
perfect will of god there was a perfect
there was a good and there was an
acceptable will
no no those are three terms for the same
thing don’t don’t don’t don’t try to
skim by
i’m going to do the acceptable will of
god it’s just permissible now slap
yourself that’s stupid
but the word here to prove is is a is a
very interesting word it actually is a
word some of your translations have it
means to approve approve the will of god
it doesn’t mean that somehow you and i
are the ones who give approval for what
god’s doing on the earth doesn’t mean
that at all
but let me illustrate it this way
let’s say that you just received
an inheritance
of a great estate
in europe somewhere
this should make you happy start
fantasizing with me here
you just received notice that you’ve
just inherited this vast estate
big castle
lots of acreage
lots of animals for hunting on my estate
on yours it’s just a zoo it’s all right
i’m i’m not a family i’m not offended
so
we hear the news and we arrange to fly
and we fly back
and uh we we come to the estate and the
people in charge take us and they show
us what belongs to us
we stayed there for you know several
weeks just kind of processing what’s
ours and scouring over the grounds and
what’s in the
castle and you go up into this attic
area and you see that there’s a lot of
stuff there that’s been stored and you
look over in the corner here’s about six
to eight uh different pieces of art
paintings
and you start peeling through them and
and one stands out to you just so
noticeably and you look down
in the corner and there’s this signature
that says van gogh
and you don’t know if this is a copy
counterfeit you don’t know if it’s real
you don’t know
you just you look at this or you pull it
out
and you think man i need to find out if
this is if this is the real deal and so
you call me
because in this story i’m the van gogh
expert when you tell the story you can
be whoever you want but i am the van
gogh expert
so you call me and you tell me i’ve just
inherited this estate and found a bunch
of paintings some may have value i’m not
sure but there’s one that has the
signature van gogh
on the lower right hand corner of that
painting
and then i say well what what uh
uh what does it look like so you
describe the painting so you know either
there’s no record of a van gogh painting
with that subject in it and so tell me
more
and finally we arranged to have a
meeting and you bring to my uh uh studio
where uh there’s great safety and
protection for all the art that’s there
and i take
four weeks and i study i’ve studied
every brushstroke of van gogh every
known painting
i’ve studied the medium i’ve studied the
oils that he used the colors he would
use the subject matter i know his life
backwards and forward i’m really
fluffing myself up in this one i i i
know
i’m feeling so good about myself in this
moment and i’m gonna go buy an art book
when we’re done
so i but i’ve studied literally every
brush stroke every every bit of his
personality that was displayed in every
one of his paintings
i do
the carbon tests on the canvas
on the paint everything
and i call you to my studio
and i say
this is what i’ve done for the last four
weeks
and i am 100 certain
this is an authentic van gogh painting
one
that nobody
knew existed
suddenly
the piece of art that might be worth a
hundred dollars is now worth in excess
of 100 million dollars
what happened
after thorough examination
i approved
i romans 12 did it
let’s say that you get uh
a report from the doctor and you’ve got
something going on
that’s just not good not gut not good
news not a good report
and a really uh good a friend of yours a
strong
pure living passionate lover of jesus
calls you one day and says hey i had a
dream last night
jesus came to me in the dream
and he told me to tell you he’s given
you this affliction for a brief season
he will then heal you and it will be
glorious
two weeks later
you get another dream
from a friend
who calls you and they say
i had a dream last night jesus came to
me in the dream
and he told me to tell you
this disease is not from him
and he will set you free
what just happened
you were given two pieces of art
both with van gogh written on the bottom
but they’re not both
authentic paintings
so what you do is you go to matthew mark
luke and john
and you examine every brushstroke
every brushstroke
and without rejecting the individual
that had the contrary dream
without shaming or spitefully
uh speaking to them
we embrace one
and we put down the other
and we say after thorough examination
but the word of god
and the spirit of god who lives in me
i would like to declare
i approve
this is the will of god this is the
authentic painting
that’s what it means
you and i
have
opportunity and responsibility
to illustrate the heart and mind of god
i’ll have i have uh pastors will come to
me fairly often
and they’ll ask me a question or they’ll
write me or call me or whatever for
friends and
they’ll say bill how do how do
i want to increase the miracle level in
my own life i want to increase the level
of miracles in our church what do i do
and so there’s several things that you
know that i’ve i’ve
practiced and still in practicing to see
greater and greater breakthrough and
i’ll tell them just about my own journey
i’ll talk to him oftentimes about uh
just being in the environment of the
anaheim vineyard 1987 and how i came
home with something i didn’t go with i
came home with an anointing that began
to display itself that next week and i
had never seen it before in my life
and it wasn’t through laying on our
hands by being in the atmosphere and
i’ll tell them my story but then i’ll
say at the end they say but if you want
the shortcut and who doesn’t like
shortcuts if you want the shortcut
just go with randy clark to brazil
just go with randy clark to brazil
you will see
in a week
more miracles
than holy ghost filled faith-filled
believing believers see sometimes in a
lifetime
you’ll see in a week i remember one i
remember one time i got there like two
days after this thing had started
and
randy met with me and we were talking
about what had been happening and he
said
man he says we’re in this meeting
there’s like 9 000 people in this uh in
this coliseum stadium
and he said 8 000 of them got healed
8 000.
8 000.
and one of the stories he said he said
i he i think it was him doing the
praying he just prayed god let the let
the wind of the spirit or something like
that just fall upon the death there’s a
death section
and there was this it was in this big
tent and the wind blew and uh lifted the
flap of the tent and rain outside came
into the tent and landed on the death
section and a whole bunch of deaf people
just got healed just like that
now
so let’s put this in practical terms you
and me were there all right
and uh you go to the first meeting
and uh you had prayed specifically god i
want to see tumors disappear only to see
cancer disappear so you go to the first
meeting somebody comes up to you they’ve
got a big old growth on their neck you
pray it disappears
and then somebody comes up to you a
woman says i was just diagnosed with
breast cancer she lays her hand on her
own breast you put your hand on top and
you pray a simple prayer and she begins
to probe and find out it’s completely
gone
and the next day the same thing and the
next day and the next day and the next
day same thing happened how many know
after about 10 of those experiences
you’re looking for tumors
you didn’t look for them before you went
but since you entered into a flow of the
mind of christ i could call any number
of things the flow of the spirit of god
the demonstration of the power of god it
would all be true but for this
illustration you stepped into a
demonstration of the mind of christ and
suddenly you are thinking different
why because the word of god the spirit
of god and your personal experience
illustrates what it is to have a renewed
mind and all three of those things are
necessary for you and for me to live
with a renewed mind
yes amen
amen
i think that’s pretty much it why don’t
you stand
uh
the renewed mind illustrates
demonstrates
manifests
and approves
of heaven on earth
we see it with the deaf ears
that open
we see it with
the new idea
for an expansion of a business
we see it in
the key
to reconciliation
in that broken family
he manifests in so many different ways
but it’s always to his glory and to our
strength
don’t be conformed to this world
i don’t like when people try to stand
out
but if you’re going to have the mind of
christ you will stand out
i don’t like
i don’t like the attention thing you
know
but maybe that’s why in james he said
wisdom with meekness
maybe that’s why he said with wisdom
listen with wisdom you’re going to be
brokering my world into this one just
stay low as you do it
restrain strength
restricted or directed strength
so father that’s my prayer for us
put your hands out in front of you or on
your heart or something but let’s just
take a moment to pray father
that’s uh that’s my christ our cry
together
uh for our family online that watches
from all over the world we bless them we
pray that together
there would be this corporate
illustration this corporate experience
of the mind of christ
in ways we’ve never known the true
wisdom of god in ways we’ve never known
we do pray
on earth
as it is in heaven god we love your will
we pray on earth as it is in heaven
inspire the dreams
help us to deal with the little offenses
and the things that just seem to creep
up now and then just help us to be a
people that just give up our right to be
offended
give up our right to be offended we want
to embrace fully the mind of christ
i pray this in jesus name