At the center of every believer's walk with Christ stands something that must constantly be checked and straightened out. This thing resides in each of us and if not balanced by the Spirit of God will keep us from entering into our rightful place with God. The thing of which I speak is the mind.
In 1 Chronicles 28, King David tells his people and his son Solomon that God has commanded Solomon to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant. Before he gives Solomon instructions for the temple he says in v.9 And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever.
In 2 Corinthians 8:12 Paul says, For if there first be a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.
In these 2 scriptures we begin to understand the importance of our minds in the work we do for God. Our mind's involvement in this process can sometimes be troublesome. The mind processes positive information; things that we have experienced through our senses. Things that we haven't experienced cannot be processed by the mind or at least not as easily. (This is where faith comes into play, but faith will be the topic of a future post.)
So a question must be posed.
How do we get willing minds?
As we know, its always God and His Spirit that does the work in and through us. When we move in faith to God he moves to us. Hebrews 10:22 says, Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith... This first happens through salvation. After we are saved we have the Spirit of God with us. God's Spirit equips us and quickens us to do His work. Ephesians 4:23 says, And be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Romans 12:2 says, And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind... So we find in order to have a willing mind it must be renewed.
How are our minds renewed?
Our minds are renewed by God's Spirit. But the renewing must happen first in your spirit man. David understood this well. After he committed adultery with Bathsheba he prayed to the Lord, Psalms 51:10-12 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. What might have happened if David wasn't convicted in his spirit? Maybe his kingdom would have fallen like Saul's before him. Thank God for David's desire to be renewed because Jesus was a descendant from the line of David.
But let's not be mistaken. A sin doesn't need to be committed in order for our minds to need to be renewed. The need for a daily renewing is imperative. We need God's grace to help us through every choice we make, every word we speak, every move we make. Our flesh needs to die so that God's purposes, plans and perfect will can be done. Its only when we take a seat that God can rise within us. He can't use us if we are allowing our minds to be used for or by other things. Its not that we lose who we are when our flesh dies out; we become a much better version of ourself as God's Spirit indwells us because we become who God created us to be.
In part 2 of this post we will discuss what a renewed mind is and what some of the fruits of a renewed mind are. Look for it later this week.
Until then may God keep and bless you greatly! And may the grace of God be with you!
Thanks for this word!! It truly is a blessing! Looking forward to reading more from you!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for reading Natalie! I pray that you continued to be blessed! And feel free to share the blog with anyone you think may be interested. I'm doing my best to get it out to as many people as I can. I believe and know this message is something God wants for His people.
ReplyDeleteAll the best to you!
God Bless!
Phil this is an excellent subject. One thing I've learned through the years is that our mind has to be willing. It is a scripture I pray all the time when praying for people. Because God in all of his might will not go against a man's will. So in order for us to do anything for God we must love Him; for without it our minds will not be willing to do what God has called us to. There is so much division in the body of Christ instead of Unity which is what God is leading you to convey; and that is because of the mind. The heart follows what the mind tells it. So again our heart must be towards God. We must find ourselves loving Him more than the life we live. So often we walk over our sins or sinful nature and think that somehow God will continue to bless us. No knowing that God turns away from us. And we wonder where "our" God is! You also made a good point when you spoke about David and the fact that he knew he needed to be renewed and have a clean heart... when you speak of descendants it makes me think of those of us God has called and the descendants who may not have the opportunity to serve God because we are not in our right place with Him... Can we truly achieve unity in the body if there is no unity in the home?
ReplyDeleteYou have brought out some really key principles. One being, "God in all His might will not go against a man's will." He is all powerful and able to do all things but because He created us to have free will and He is righteous and holy He will not violate His word or plan. He desires that we desire Him and will not force us. He wants so much for us to want a relationship with Him, so He calls us and its up to each of us to respond to the call. Another good point is that the division starts in the mind and manifests itself through the heart. The word says as a man thinketh in his heart so is he." How does the heart think? "The heart follows what the mind tells it" as you pointed out. So it stands to reason, if our hearts are after God seeking His kingdom and its righteousness, as the word instructs us, all things will be added to us.
ReplyDeleteAnd the question you pose, "Can we truly achieve unity in the body if there is no unity in the home?", is so timely and a question I think every believer should be asking and praying about. The Word of God tells us that a house divided against itself will not stand. If we look at that in relation to the Church I think it speaks to a lot of what is currently happening. There is so much backbiting and people climbing to get to a position or be recognized or seen. When the truth is if you get a position or recognition that wasn't by God's appointment it will not last and God is not pleased. If we seek to please God then He will elevate us when it is time.
ReplyDeleteIf we look at this question in relation to our natural homes we still find that it creates many problems. But where there is light and truth it will always overcome darkness. God may set us in some dark and dry places for a time that we might do His work of providing light and water (which we know to both be representative of His word). But still there is the promise of a land flowing with milk and honey. The "good and fat of the land" is ours to be had as will hold on and fight the good fight of faith!