Tuesday, October 2, 2018

A RENEWED MIND




A pastor friend of ours was teaching on the belt of truth mentioned in Ephesians 6.  He made the statement that truth brings order to everything. As Christians, we already know that. Yet we don’t always take it to heart and apply it to our lives. The simplicity of those words is astounding. Every part of our Christian life is held together by the truth, the Word of God.  If we want order in our lives, we will stay in the realm of God’s Word. 
Numerous passages of Scripture tell us the importance of the Word in our hearts and minds. Let’s look at a few and see how to integrate the Word into our lives.

For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?
But we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 2:16, NKJV)

When we saturate our mind with the Word of God and hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, we have the mind of Christ. He is the Word.  And the Word is Life.  And in that Life is Light. He is all in all. (See John 1:1-4)
We have the written Word of God to guide us and teach us.  We also have the Holy Spirit Who brings the Word alive to our present situations, reminding us what God says. We activate the Word of God in our lives through faith, believing what the Word says and acting accordingly. If we learn and act on what the Word says, the Word will do His work through us. We will have His life and light within us, no longer walking in darkness.
For anyone who wants to walk according to the Word of God, there will be opposition.  Most of this opposition begins in the mind. Satan tries to steal our thoughts and divert us from the Word of God. He attacks our minds with doubt, fear, unbelief, unrest, clutter, resentment. It is important to fill our minds with what God says, not what the enemy says! When Satan makes inroads into our minds, he causes us to feel hopeless, fearful, confused or apathetic.  But those are feelings.  They are not facts.  So we need to base our lives on the facts of the Word of God.  We need to learn how to weed out the harmful, unsettling, useless thoughts and fill our minds and hearts with life-giving thoughts.

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.” (2 Corinthians 10:3-6, NKJV)

Walking in the flesh simply means our lives are dictated by our soul which is our mind, will and emotions. But we can choose to be dictated by truth, by the Word of God.  That’s where the warfare comes in. When Satan brings thoughts to our minds, we can entertain them and follow through on those thoughts, or we can draw on the Word for direction, and then bring those thoughts and feelings into obedience to the Word.  No matter how we feel, we can choose to walk according to truth.  When we submit ourselves to God, we are resisting the devil (bringing every thought into captivity to Christ, the Word) and Satan will flee from us. (See James 4:7)

 God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”  (2 Timothy 1:7)

“God is not the author of confusion, but of peace”.  (1 Corinthians 14:33)

When Satan tries to plant confusion, fear and feelings of helplessness in us, we need to uproot them immediately before they begin to grow and bear fruit. Those feelings are not born of the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God does not direct us in that way.  When those feelings come to us, it’s time to stop and seek the Word. He gives power to overcome fear, love that leads us in the path of the Father and a mind that is led by the Word, which will bring a sense of peace and unity with Him.  We can have a sound mind.  One that is complete in Christ. The Amplified Bible says it is a mind with “sound judgment and personal discipline [abilities that result in a calm, well-balanced mind and self-control].”
            Allowing our minds to wander without restraint can be detrimental to having the mind of Christ. The default mode is one of evil because it follows the pattern of fleshly feelings and desires rather than the Spirit of God. Left alone our minds will entertain all kinds of thoughts, many which will lead us in a wrong direction.

“And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”  (Genesis 6:5)

Our mind is the framework of who we will be, what we will do, how we will respond to circumstances around us.  It creates, imagines, determines and processes our responses to situations. It will guide us, or we will guide it by activating the Word of God in us by faith. This framework is the structure that determines the course of our lives.  It is either shaky and unsettled, or built on the firm foundation of Jesus Christ, the Word.  We are born in default mode, but we do not have to live in default mode.  We have a choice.

 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 minds are renewed when we fill them with the Word of God.  Being conformed to this world means we are allowing our mind to run in default mode. We are following our feelings and our own thoughts.  But we can be transformed to walk in the light of truth.  The power of the Spirit and Word in us transforms us, and the Word continues working mightily in us as we are surrendered to Him.

“…Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:25-27)

            The Word works in us by revealing areas in our hearts that need to be changed.  They are dealt with by allowing the Word to cleanse us and bring us into agreement with Christ. As we act upon what we read in the Bible, we are growing and being established.
Jesus spoke these words as a prayer to the Father shortly before He was crucified.

Sanctify [set apart] them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” (John 17:17, NKJV)
           
            We are set apart from the world to live in the kingdom of God and to be conformed more and more into the image of Jesus. Paul spoke to the Ephesians about those who lived in default mode.  Their minds were darkened to the truth and they lived their lives in darkness and evil. Then he said this:

 But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.”.  (Ephesians 4:20-24, NKJV)

Choose life, light and order.
Be renewed in the spirit of your mind.