CHAPTER 3
THE RENEWING OF OUR MINDS!
In order to overcome the consequences of the Fall of Man in the Garden, we have to renew
our minds. So many people live in a state of total frustration because they have not renewed
their minds. It is true when we become born-again, that the Holy Spirit comes and dwells
inside of us, giving us full power over sin and death. We become New Creatures, even in our
minds. “For the carnal mind is enmity against God” (Rom 8:7). “But we have the mind of
Christ” (I Cor 15:16). Whose mind? Christ’s mind! “And you, that were sometimes
alienated and enemies in your minds by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled” (Col 2:
21). Praise the Lord! Jesus has set us free and given us new minds! “God has not given us
the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of sound mind” (2 Tim 1:7). That’s what we’ve
been given!
In Heb 8:10 God says, “I will put my laws into their minds.” We have been given a new
nature. We have become partakers of the divine nature of Christ in us, the hope of glory.
Yes, He takes up residence in us and the process of regeneration begins. But so many
people stay right there, living defeated, depressed, condemned Christian lives never to bring
praise or honor or glory to our precious Lord and Savior. Why? Because we just sit back
and expect that God will do it all for us. We take the Scripture out of context that says,
“God puts in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure” (Phil 2:13). So we just say, ok,
bless God. I’ll just sit back and wait for Him to do the work in me. Yet we know that more
should be happening in our lives. We know that we should be seeing some changes
occurring in us and we know that we should be having more victory in our lives. What is
wrong?
The problem is that we have not fully recognized the fact that Scripture also puts a
requirement on US to do! It constantly says things like, “you put on”, or “you take off” or
“you let this mind.” Who is to let? US! Consider these Scriptures about our mind. The
Scriptures seem to emphasize the importance of grasping this concept, because it talks so
much about the mind.
“And come with all the desire of his mind—unto the place which the Lord shall choose—then
he shall minister to the Lord” (Deut 18:6). We are to come with all the desire of our mind.
David says to Solomon, “know thou the God of thy father and serve Him with a perfect heart
and a willing mind—for the Lord searcheth all hearts and understandeth all the imaginations
of the thought—if thou seek him, he will be found of thee, but if thou forsake him, he will cast
thee off forever” (1 Chron 28:9). Now this puts it back on us.
“Thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee—because he trusteth in
thee” (Isaiah 26:3). Here we are told to keep our minds stayed on Him and to trust Him!
Here is a command from the Lord for us in Matt 22:37, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy strength and with all thy mind.”
“They received the word (how) with all readiness of mind and searched the Scriptures daily”
(Acts 17:11).
Acts 20:19 tells us that we are to, “serve the Lord with all humility of mind.”
“So with the mind I myself serve the law of God” (Rom 7:25).
And here is a beauty! “And be not conformed to this world but be ye (you be) transformed
by the renewing of your mind…” (Rom 12:2). You were taught, with regard to your former
way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be
made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in
true righteousness and holiness” (Eph 4:22-24).
You see, we have it already. We keep praying and waiting and no change seems to come
about. We have not entered into the battle again Satan for our minds. The Commander
(Jesus Christ) has given us the artillery, we have the big guns (power) already, but the
enemy keeps us on our knees crying out for help instead of going out to war! Yes war,
against the devil who wants to take and keep control of our minds. What are we going to do
about that?
Our minds have a lot to do with our thoughts. We understand that we are now new
creatures in Christ Jesus, we possess the mind of Christ, we have the power of the Holy
Spirit living inside of us; so we must begin to take control of our thoughts and of our minds.
We are not to give ourselves over to negative thoughts, dark thoughts, impure or lustful
thoughts, hateful or envious thoughts, thoughts that lead to bitterness, anger or jealousy.
No! We must re-new (make anew) our minds in order to live in victory, joy and peace. We
must do battle against the enemy of our soul when thoughts come in. We must judge them
right away! Don’t react but take the time to examine it and see if the thought is from God,
self or the devil.
When feelings arise within us such as anger, jealousy, selfishness etc. judge them! Don’t
react 1st. Say to yourself, “is this feeling I am having right or wrong?” Is God desirous for
me to feel this way?” If they are wrong thoughts or wrong feelings, rebuke them in the Name
of Jesus (either silently or scream it out) get mad at the devil and say to yourself, “No! I
refuse to let this thought go from my mind into my heart. I WILL resist this thought and
refuse to give in to it or give any place to it in my mind.” Then say out loud, “In the Name of
Jesus get out of here!” I WILL remember that sin no longer has dominion over me for I have
been set free by the blood of Jesus. I WILL not react to this! The Bible says in James 4:7,
“Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” See how much our WILL is involved? We must
put up a stand against the enemy and resist!
When we do this, then, we are beginning to renew our minds. We begin to re-program our
minds with new ways of thinking. We begin to take control of our minds and our feelings in
order to glorify God. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in
the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no
reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men”
(Phil 2:5-7).
“In lowliness of mind let us esteem one another more highly (or better) than ourselves” (Phil 2:
3).
“Gird up the loins of your mind” (I Peter 1:13).
“God shall keep your heart and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:7).
“Lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds” (Heb 12:3).
“Fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind” (Eph 2:3).
“Be of the same mind one towards another. Mind not high things but condescend to men of
low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits” (Rom 12:16).
This is how we are to think. A little differently than we do, right? “Finally brethren,
whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just,
whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good
report—if there be any virtue and if there be any praise think of these things” (Phil 4:8).
And finally Eph 5:18-20 tells us to be “filled with the spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms,
hymns spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart—giving thanks to God
always for all things.”
In light of all of these Scriptures, we can see that mind is very important to have control of.
We need to guard our hearts and minds, and the above Scriptures tell us what we should
keep our thoughts and minds stayed on.
This is doing spiritual battle so press on!
THE RENEWING OF OUR MINDS!
In order to overcome the consequences of the Fall of Man in the Garden, we have to renew
our minds. So many people live in a state of total frustration because they have not renewed
their minds. It is true when we become born-again, that the Holy Spirit comes and dwells
inside of us, giving us full power over sin and death. We become New Creatures, even in our
minds. “For the carnal mind is enmity against God” (Rom 8:7). “But we have the mind of
Christ” (I Cor 15:16). Whose mind? Christ’s mind! “And you, that were sometimes
alienated and enemies in your minds by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled” (Col 2:
21). Praise the Lord! Jesus has set us free and given us new minds! “God has not given us
the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of sound mind” (2 Tim 1:7). That’s what we’ve
been given!
In Heb 8:10 God says, “I will put my laws into their minds.” We have been given a new
nature. We have become partakers of the divine nature of Christ in us, the hope of glory.
Yes, He takes up residence in us and the process of regeneration begins. But so many
people stay right there, living defeated, depressed, condemned Christian lives never to bring
praise or honor or glory to our precious Lord and Savior. Why? Because we just sit back
and expect that God will do it all for us. We take the Scripture out of context that says,
“God puts in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure” (Phil 2:13). So we just say, ok,
bless God. I’ll just sit back and wait for Him to do the work in me. Yet we know that more
should be happening in our lives. We know that we should be seeing some changes
occurring in us and we know that we should be having more victory in our lives. What is
wrong?
The problem is that we have not fully recognized the fact that Scripture also puts a
requirement on US to do! It constantly says things like, “you put on”, or “you take off” or
“you let this mind.” Who is to let? US! Consider these Scriptures about our mind. The
Scriptures seem to emphasize the importance of grasping this concept, because it talks so
much about the mind.
“And come with all the desire of his mind—unto the place which the Lord shall choose—then
he shall minister to the Lord” (Deut 18:6). We are to come with all the desire of our mind.
David says to Solomon, “know thou the God of thy father and serve Him with a perfect heart
and a willing mind—for the Lord searcheth all hearts and understandeth all the imaginations
of the thought—if thou seek him, he will be found of thee, but if thou forsake him, he will cast
thee off forever” (1 Chron 28:9). Now this puts it back on us.
“Thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee—because he trusteth in
thee” (Isaiah 26:3). Here we are told to keep our minds stayed on Him and to trust Him!
Here is a command from the Lord for us in Matt 22:37, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy strength and with all thy mind.”
“They received the word (how) with all readiness of mind and searched the Scriptures daily”
(Acts 17:11).
Acts 20:19 tells us that we are to, “serve the Lord with all humility of mind.”
“So with the mind I myself serve the law of God” (Rom 7:25).
And here is a beauty! “And be not conformed to this world but be ye (you be) transformed
by the renewing of your mind…” (Rom 12:2). You were taught, with regard to your former
way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be
made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in
true righteousness and holiness” (Eph 4:22-24).
You see, we have it already. We keep praying and waiting and no change seems to come
about. We have not entered into the battle again Satan for our minds. The Commander
(Jesus Christ) has given us the artillery, we have the big guns (power) already, but the
enemy keeps us on our knees crying out for help instead of going out to war! Yes war,
against the devil who wants to take and keep control of our minds. What are we going to do
about that?
Our minds have a lot to do with our thoughts. We understand that we are now new
creatures in Christ Jesus, we possess the mind of Christ, we have the power of the Holy
Spirit living inside of us; so we must begin to take control of our thoughts and of our minds.
We are not to give ourselves over to negative thoughts, dark thoughts, impure or lustful
thoughts, hateful or envious thoughts, thoughts that lead to bitterness, anger or jealousy.
No! We must re-new (make anew) our minds in order to live in victory, joy and peace. We
must do battle against the enemy of our soul when thoughts come in. We must judge them
right away! Don’t react but take the time to examine it and see if the thought is from God,
self or the devil.
When feelings arise within us such as anger, jealousy, selfishness etc. judge them! Don’t
react 1st. Say to yourself, “is this feeling I am having right or wrong?” Is God desirous for
me to feel this way?” If they are wrong thoughts or wrong feelings, rebuke them in the Name
of Jesus (either silently or scream it out) get mad at the devil and say to yourself, “No! I
refuse to let this thought go from my mind into my heart. I WILL resist this thought and
refuse to give in to it or give any place to it in my mind.” Then say out loud, “In the Name of
Jesus get out of here!” I WILL remember that sin no longer has dominion over me for I have
been set free by the blood of Jesus. I WILL not react to this! The Bible says in James 4:7,
“Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” See how much our WILL is involved? We must
put up a stand against the enemy and resist!
When we do this, then, we are beginning to renew our minds. We begin to re-program our
minds with new ways of thinking. We begin to take control of our minds and our feelings in
order to glorify God. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in
the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no
reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men”
(Phil 2:5-7).
“In lowliness of mind let us esteem one another more highly (or better) than ourselves” (Phil 2:
3).
“Gird up the loins of your mind” (I Peter 1:13).
“God shall keep your heart and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:7).
“Lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds” (Heb 12:3).
“Fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind” (Eph 2:3).
“Be of the same mind one towards another. Mind not high things but condescend to men of
low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits” (Rom 12:16).
This is how we are to think. A little differently than we do, right? “Finally brethren,
whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just,
whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good
report—if there be any virtue and if there be any praise think of these things” (Phil 4:8).
And finally Eph 5:18-20 tells us to be “filled with the spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms,
hymns spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart—giving thanks to God
always for all things.”
In light of all of these Scriptures, we can see that mind is very important to have control of.
We need to guard our hearts and minds, and the above Scriptures tell us what we should
keep our thoughts and minds stayed on.
This is doing spiritual battle so press on!
| Women for the Lord www.WomenfortheLord.com "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies." Proverbs 31:10 |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| All information contained in this website is covered under copyright. If you would like to distribute any information you find, please contact the editor at Women for the Lord. ( 2006-11) |