The Mind

 

The Renewing of the Mind

The light of God's world cannot coexist with the desires of the flesh in a spiritual world; they have no place in the light. Yet we, as Christians, have been saved in that exact body and in that exact state, housing the spirit of new birth in a body tainted by sin. The mind is where it gets interesting; we are given new minds, in a sense, but we still have to unlearn old, sinful habits. Paul teaches us not to be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Let’s spend some time breaking this down.

• So, it’s the mind that needs to be worked on
• How must that happen?
• What must be changed, and from what thought process to what new thoughts?

But we must have the end goal in sight. Heaven with all its glory. A love affair with the Creator of heaven and earth. The only true God. The only husband for our eternal life, even Jesus Christ, our Lord and beloved partner.

We obviously need to walk in the light or in the Spirit, and we do so in several ways. We look to the Word of God for direction. We do not thumb-suck ideas filled with humanism and then somehow expect spiritual victory. What did we expect? Psychobabble is ideas filled with self-worth, which is the enemy of God. We need to get out of the way and let the Word of God properly expose us. Let the Spirit of God guide us into all truth, especially the truth about ourselves.

It’s imperative that we start thinking correctly. The first warning is “do not be conformed to this world,” so the ideas pushed from the world’s perspective are to be avoided. This is clear. Pay attention. You cannot mix oil and water and expect them to coexist in harmony; there will always be separation.

How do we get the penny to drop with this mindset?

We need to walk in the light and wear the full armour of God. Don't talk about it. Wear it. Because this is war, whether people understand that or not.

“Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”
Ephesians 6:11

People hear “the armour of God” spoken about all the time, but do we actually understand what it means to dress for battle spiritually?

The Belt of Truth
holds everything together. Without it, everything falls apart spiritually. The world teaches people to follow their feelings and themselves, but Jesus Christ said He is the truth. Without a belt to hold up our pants we may loose them and always be clutching at them and pulling them up.

The Breastplate of Righteousness
The enemy attacks through compromise, lust, pride, bitterness, guilt, and secret sin. Righteousness is obedience before God even when nobody is watching.

Feet Shod With the Gospel of Peace
Our walk matters. Where we go matters. What we watch matters. Wrong environments poison the mind quickly. The Gospel gives direction and stability.

The Shield of Faith
The enemy constantly fires thoughts into the mind. Fear. Lust. Doubt. Condemnation. Faith blocks those attacks. Not positive thinking or affirmations. Faith in God’s promises.

The Helmet of Salvation
The helmet protects the mind. Again, the mind. The enemy wants believers trapped in confusion and compromise. Renewing the mind through Scripture is not optional. It is survival.

The Sword of the Spirit
This is the Word of God. Not culture. Not emotions. Scripture. You cannot fight lies if you do not know the truth.

Prayer
Prayer keeps us spiritually alert and connected to God. Soldiers do not wait for bullets to be fired before communicating during battle.

Our minds need to be reprogrammed with new information, and that information is the Word of God. All of it. As much as we can chew on and digest. The more we consume it, the more our thinking changes.

Always remembering we have an enemy who walks around looking to trip up the believer, we will be tested along the way. When we go back to our own vomit again and again, we prove but one thing, that we have failed the test.

But thank God that while we have breath, we have hope, for God’s grace affords us another opportunity to right our wrongs.

But we must learn new techniques to overcome. We must walk in the light, dressed in the armour of God. We must dress for battle, habitually and intentionally.

This is a new outlook, and it reprograms our minds to avoid conforming to this world. In turn, this will teach us what is good, perfect, and acceptable to God for our lives.

The flesh will lie to you constantly, excusing sin, but the light exposes it for what it really is. And it must all be applied by faith.

Truthfully, the first person I am reminding about all of this is myself. I am not writing this from some mountain top as if I have mastered this walk perfectly. Far from it. I know what happens when we drop our guard spiritually. Sinful thoughts do not take long to arrive, and if we entertain them long enough and act on them, sin will always follow. That is the reality of this flesh. I know what it is to trip, struggle, wrestle, and fail in this war within the mind. That is exactly why this matters so much to me. That is exactly why we must stay spiritually dressed for battle.

We must all ask ourselves what we want.

I have my answer.

As much as I trip and fall along the way, I want to please my God. I want to live a life that shows thankfulness for what He has done for me. When I drop my guard or forget to dress for battle, I become vulnerable again. And the flesh wastes no time reminding me what it wants.

We all know what fruit that brings. Guilt robs us of the victory Christ won for us on Calvary.

To be like Jesus is our only hope.

We must pursue that, but because of our frailty and the bodies we house His spirit in, we need grace to press towards the mark of the high calling of God. It is an unnatural way to live, but the only way God will accept.

Have you understood this?

We must have an objective to pursue, a goal. We must be locked in, and if not, we now need to do whatever it takes to become locked in spiritually.

The mind must be renewed.
The armour must be worn.
The light must be walked in.
And it must all be done by faith.

Signing off,
Tyrone