Experience an extreme makeover

"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." (Ephesians 3:20, 21 NKJV)

"And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, have an abundance for every good work." (2 Corinthians 8:14)

You probably have watched, or at least noticed, the television shows based on "an extreme makeover" of an old dilapidated house, turning it into a veritable mansion. Or maybe it was that show that brings in a lady with unbecoming facial features and dressed in a drab outfit. They call in the surgeon, the cosmetologists, the fashion experts, and the hair stylist. After they are through, they present to the audience a lady that looks like a Hollywood star or fashion model.

Our God is a specialist in extreme makeovers too. He can take a criminal and make a law-abiding citizen out of him. He can take a prostitute and convert her into a pure moral person. He can take a crooked businessman and turn him into a generous philanthropist. He also can take a person living in poverty and raise him to wealth.

In Bible times, God took a terrorist named Saul and transformed him into the Apostle Paul, a tentmaker by trade and world evangelist. God took Levi, a crooked tax collector, and transformed him into the Apostle Matthew, who wrote the first book in the New Testament, the Gospel of Matthew. God took a prostitute named Mary from Magdala, and she became Mary Magdalene, a faithful servant of Jesus Christ.

Not everything that is extreme is bad. One hears the epithets "extreme right" and "extreme left" used to attack people in opposing political parties. Some time ago, an Arizona politician was being accused of being an extremist on the right, and he retorted saying, "What's wrong with being extremely right?"

The Apostle Paul wrote, "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).

Our God is in the business of transforming people who have let the "world" crush them into its secular mold. You hear some people say, "To get along, you have to go along." That implies compromising one's convictions just to avoid an unpleasant situation or relationship. The Apostle Peter did this during the trial of Jesus and denied three times his being associated with Jesus. Having betrayed Jesus, Peter's conscience was so smitten emotionally that Peter "went out and wept bitterly."

After His resurrection, Jesus confronted Peter tenderly and forgave him. Fisherman Peter became a fisher of men, an evangelist, and constantly risked his life promoting Christ's teachings and helping others to follow Him. He was executed by crucifixion on orders from Roman Emperor Nero. Not feeling worthy of being killed the same way as Jesus, Peter asked to be crucified upside down, and he was.

In Eloy there is a factory called Townley Mfg. Co. It was founded by Jake Townley, a man who was an extreme failure early in his life, losing his job, his wife, his reputation, and all. He asked God for forgiveness, and turned his life over to the Lord. He began to experiment with bonding urethane plastic to metal, and obtained patents. Today his family owns five factories in the U.S. and does a growing international business recycling expensive heavy equipment from smelters and coal-fired power plants that was worn out by abrasive material passing through it. The old parts are cleaned, repaired, and the interiors coated by urethane plastic, which lasts longer than the original metal.

If Jake were still alive today, he would delight in telling you of his extreme makeover spiritually that led to his success in life after once being an extreme failure.

It's not an extreme makeover of the exterior of our bodies that needs the most repairing. Like the old, worn-out parts that are processed by the Townley Co., it's the spirit within us that needs the makeover. The Lord knows how to do it. Just ask Him.