By the renewing of your mind
By the renewing of your mind
I want to start by showing you from my own life what it means to renew one’s mind. It is a simple example but very meaningful and powerful. It helped me realize the principles behind renewing one’s mind. When these principles are applied to God’s word, they take on a dimension that is beyond anything one can imagine. The results it brings are peace, joy and an abundance of faith in God and not in one’s abilities.
Please do not confuse renewing your mind with changing your mind. They do not even compare. If you keep changing your mind you are double-minded and if you change your mind once in a while that is a natural human way of being undecided about something and can even go as far as to be categorized as a person who does not keep his word.
The example from my life that illustrates the renewing of the mind is as follows.:
I used to be very nervous about things without understanding why. This nervousness manifested in my dropping physical things, rushing around, banging into things and talking fast. When I realized this, I began consciously to slow down my hasty way of doing things. I made a mental assent and note to do this each time. By constantly applying my newfound truth, I was able to slow down my thinking and renew it. This slowed down the performances in my daily life to a level of calmness I had not known before. It did not take long at all to achieve this. I was able to construct and order my thoughts accordingly. I no longer panicked or became hasty as in previous times but kept an eye out for symptoms of nervousness.
Now, I know when I am nervous because when I drop something physical frequently and in a short space of time and manifest other hasty symptoms, I know I am already into nervous behaviour. Mind you, the dropping of things is only there to remind me of my state of mind and therefore an indicator that I have become nervous again. Since the mind can block out a lot of one’s warning signals, I believe the manifestation of my dropping things became my warning signal. It is then that I seek to change my situation by literally stopping myself. I do this by maybe sitting down or taking a deep breath. Then I attempt to proceed with life again. The frequency of dropping things and other hasty acts have now become minimal because I have realized what had been happening and the kind of forces that were affecting my nervousness. So, my mind is pre-ordered to take things more calmly. That does not mean aggressive external forces do not attempt to bring me into nervousness and confusion again. However, now they face the opposition of calm and peace and have no say in my life. Peace is an extremely powerful tool against life’s circumstances and the devil because it is peace in God and given by God. It is not obtained but given by God to a person. All who ask will get peace.
Now, if we apply the same principles to our spiritual life, we will be able to discern when we are losing ground to fear, panic, nervousness and undue concerns. We know that the mind is the battleground and that is where life’s circumstances and the devil have their breeding ground. Since the soul is connected to the mind, it is important to guard the will and emotions along with the mind (intellect). There is an armour called the helmet of salvation which protects the mind. This piece of armour is designed to increase our capacity to maintain salvation which is, eternal life, soundness of mind, prosperity, reproductive power (multiplication), health and security. It is in all these areas that our minds become clogged with anxiety caused by the circumstances of life and the devil. By using the helmet of salvation and faith we overcome the negatives of life and the attacks of the enemy and appropriate what God said about salvation. We must calm our minds down by what the word says and then take up the challenges of life and attacks of the enemy.
Along with this helmet, the word of God which is the sword of the Spirit is an extremely important aspect of our protection. It is the word that designs what we think if we receive it and the helmet protects what we have received. The mind gives out the commands based on what it has received. If we receive the word of God, it will give out the commands that defeat both the natural circumstances in life and the devil.
For example, the devil or life cannot take away my absolute faith and trust in Jesus no matter what comes my way in life or death. Neither can they separate me from the love of God. So, this Coronavirus has been defeated by my faith. That does not mean I behave in a manner of stupidity but maintain and increase in faith in God as I read His word and keep getting information on what to do. This is what the Spirits of revelation and wisdom do. It is not only the virus that is the problem, but life itself. The economy, the future for family and others in life are constant thought patterns in our lives even in good times. Therefore, we must know what to think and be able to renew our minds with changing circumstances. The governments of this world do not know what to do with Coronavirus. I do. Treat it with the antidote of the blood of Jesus, His word and the power of the Holy Spirit. These are the three elements of power and sanctification given to us by God. Use them by the application of the word and you cannot fail.
It is precisely this that I want to address in this letter. The changing circumstances are there for us to renew our minds in the word of God. The Pharisees of old had the word but did not renew their minds by mixing the gospel with faith it tells us in Hebrews. We must not be like them. The word is easily forgotten as a living word and so if we do not renew our mind by mixing events on earth with the word of faith, we will also be left behind. We must not go back to old school thinking but renew our minds in the word of God and what the Holy Spirit is saying to us today, now. This is a new battle. Only then will the Sword of the Spirit be effective, and our concerns will disappear, we will know how to pray and position ourselves to reap the blessings. Hallelujah!
There have been global famines and situations of dire need in the nations before in history. The only reason mankind survived is because God had given some righteous people prophetic insight as what was to come and gave both instant and future solutions through His word. In the same way, now, we must understand the times and prepare our hearts to hear God and do what He says. This will bring us through into His plans. We must pray.
I am applying the principles I have learnt about renewing my mind and have started to kill off sacred cows. Sacred cows could be instilled thinking based on my understanding of the word. I rather seek what the Holy Spirit is saying to me now and not just on what He had said in the past though in many instances it is still good. It is the now of what the Holy Spirit is saying that we need to hear in the same way as Jesus admonished the churches in the Book of Revelation. “If you have an ear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches”.
This takes seeing and understanding scripture in a new light by listening to the Holy Spirit who brings relevance to our existence as children of God now. The new wine has been prepared and is being poured out. The question is, are we prepared as the new wineskins. I believe a generation of people who are in touch will arise out of this and new power and anointing will be released. We must position ourselves to receive it.
I am weary of the old ways I see so much off in the church. I see a division growing and a gap that will become insurmountable very soon and the separation of the old and new church will take place for everyone to see. When the Church was born on the day of Pentecost, that is what took place and the new received untold persecution from the old. The same is happening already. Many who do not understand the ways of the Lord are working against the new Church from within the Church making themselves righteous in the process in the same way the Pharisees did.
Be aware of your mind and what it is telling you. It could be dragging you back to the old you, rather than the new creature in Christ Jesus who is being changed into the image of Christ. People believe this is an automatic thing. It is not. It comes with the renewing of your mind. It does not have to do with ministry either. It has to do with character. With each change that the Holy Spirit desires to bring in us, there comes a discipline of the renewing of the mind. This is because we enter a new phase of the journey of life and spiritual matters that we have never been exposed to before. Therefore, it is important that we attend to the matters of the mind or we could lose our opportunities, become fearful and even pull back.
The spiritual realm is not to be trifled with. It is an entirely different dimension to what we know on earth. The mind must be able to adjust to the new things that we experience. When the prophets of old and others experienced the supernatural, their minds were protected by God and this brought a renewing in their thinking. I always pray a prayer asking God to expand my capacity to receive what He is wanting to give me. I know, to receive it (do it the way I suggested in my example by changing habits), I must come out my old way of thinking along with old habits. Habits are easily formed even if they are not sinful. These habits can become patterns of defeat in a thought life and which become traditions. They will most definitely keep a person in the old and will not allow them to go to the new. Too many Christian live with the bad old and the brand new at the same time. This cause huge confusion and many cannot understand the good, acceptable and perfect will of God. Rom_12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Blessings –
Pst Noble
05/04/2020