THE SPIRIT OF THE MIND
AND BE RENEWED IN THE SPIRIT OF YOUR MIND. Ephesians 4:23.
When the mind is renewed with truth and righteousness godly wisdom, knowledge, and understanding will triumph and occupy the “high places.” Even though we become “new creations” in Christ, at first our natural memory, imaginations, emotional, and mental capacity remains the same. The old man may have died spiritually, but the minds capacity to know and understand the truth must be renewed. In other words, our mental desires, emotions, attitudes, and motives must change.
The renewing of our minds must take place in the “spirit of the mind.” The “old man” must make way for the “new man” which is Christ to rule and reign supreme in our hearts and minds. The old man must decrease in order for the new man to increase within us. The old man must die in order for the new man to live.
The “spirit man” is where Christ comes to dwell in us. He does not dwell in our flesh but our spirit. It is the spirit of the mind that must be renewed in order for Christ to rule and reign supreme as Commander in Chief within our lives.
Our spirit is where Christ comes to dwell within us by His Spirit. The Bible tells us where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty. However, when we become born again our minds do not automatically possess or use godly wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. That is why we are admonished to “study to show ourselves approved of God.” These things are all imparted to us through the “learning curve.”
OUR TOUR OF DUTY
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. Romans 12:2.
As Christians we are admonished to be “transformed” by the renewing of our minds. The word “transformed” in the above scripture comes from the Greek word “metamorphomai.” The English word “metamorphous” is derived from the Greek word “metamorphomai.” In other words, there must be a metamorphous or change which must take place in order for our minds to become “spiritually renewed.”
In order for our minds to become “spiritually renewed” we must first cast down the imaginations and thoughts which rule/ruled our “soulish realm” before we were “converted.” In the military when a soldier goes into a foreign land or hostile territory to fight it is called a “tour of duty.” Soldiers in “hostile territory” serve on “active duty” for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
If we do not know what the will of God is we will be unable to please Him. If we do not know or understand what the will of God is, how can we pray that His will be done on earth and in our own lives? Being transformed in the “spirit of the mind” will give us insight into the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God.
As soldiers of Christ, the Lord sends us on a “tour of duty” in the mind to extract the thoughts that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God. Those thoughts war against the soul, and hinder the processes of peace and freedom in our thoughts and hearts. The thoughts that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God hinder our faith and allow the character of the old man to remain in control of the spirit man.
As Christians our “tour of duty” will continue 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, until we take off our earthly cloaks and our spirit returns to the Lord who created us. Our enemy never takes a day off, and neither can we. If we are not constantly on guard, the enemy will surely find a way to lead us into temptation and will somehow hinder our walk with the Lord.
It is “our duty” to submit to the will of God and become transformed in the “spirit of our mind.” It is the knowledge of God that introduces us to the weapons we need in order to “fight the good fight of faith” and win the Battle for the Mind. Make no mistake, there is a battle raging in the hearts and minds of many Christians and many Christians are losing those battles daily.
WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING
Wisdom and understanding are components that must be utilized or the knowledge of God is useless on the Battlefield of the Mind. Without godly wisdom and understanding, Christians cannot defeat the enemy on the Battlefield of the Mind. Fighting our spiritual enemies without wisdom and understanding is like going onto a natural battlefield armed with an unloaded gun expecting to kill the enemy with it.
We are combating an enemy that has been fighting spiritual battles in the minds of individuals for millennia. We are fighting an enemy that is heavily armed with weapons of “mass destruction” who have deceived and destroyed “the masses” since the beginning of time.
Fortunately, the weapons we have in our arsenal are more formidable and powerful than our enemy’s weapons. Unfortunately, many Christians do not know how to use their “spiritual weapons” or they do not even know they exist.
If Church leaders would focus more on spiritual warfare training than social events, Christians would experience more peace and freedom from oppressive and possessive spirits.
The spirit of the mind is where we become more than conquerors over the enemy. The “flesh man” cannot win the battle for control of the mind because he has already submitted and surrendered to “carnal mindedness.” His thoughts are already “allied” with the principalities and powers that rule this present world.
According to the Bible the “flesh man’s” carnal mindedness is considered to be “dead” in the eyes of God. The carnal mind is “the enemy of God.”
THE PRINCIPLE THING
WISDOM IS THE PRINCIPLE THING; THERFORE GET WISDOM, AND WITH ALL THY GETTING GET UNDERSTANDING. Proverbs 4:7.
Wisdom is our most precious asset on the Battlefield of Life. The Bible tells us that Christ is our wisdom. Without godly wisdom we cannot expect to defeat the enemy who uses the “wisdom of this world” to deceive and manipulate the masses.
The wisdom that comes from above is a Tree of Life. The Tree of Life was/is a representation of Christ. The wisdom that comes from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is devilish and sensuous. It is filled with deadly poisons. Adam and Eve learned that valuable lesson when the Serpent temped Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit.
With godly wisdom comes godly understanding. When we obtain and utilize the precious wisdom which comes from the Tree of Life, the Serpent will not have power over us. The Tree of Life is filled with the fruit of godly wisdom and understanding.
The Bible tells us to “get wisdom and understanding and forget it not. If you do not forsake her she will preserve and you honor and award you with a crown of glory.” (See Proverbs 4:5-9). Without wisdom we cannot be victorious over an enemy that is “dutifully deceptive” and devilishly calculating by nature. Using godly wisdom on the Battlefield of Life we can and will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the Devil.