Renew Your Mind
"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-His good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:2
When God saves you, He places His Spirit in you. With His Spirit also come love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22) However, you and I must make a conscious effort to renew our minds. This is something that God will not do for us, we must choose to do it. You may be asking the question, 'What does it mean to renew my mind?' For starters, we must get into God's word and I don't mean just read it every once in awhile or read it when you "feel" like it. You need to read and meditate on His word so that it changes your thinking. As you continue in God's word, you will be transformed.
This transformation is a process and it is also a battle. We are in a battle with the world, the flesh and the devil. If you are not careful, you will easily slip back into old ways of thinking. Every thought that enters your mind is not going to be good and holy, so you have to choose to cast those thoughts out of your mind-any thought that goes against God's word. Friend, you are either feeding your flesh or your spirit. We all know it is so much easier to feed our flesh. It is just our nature. The world screams 'more, more'....if you listen to the world, you will never be satisfied with the way you look, the clothes you wear, your job, your spouse, your house or your car. The world will tell you that you never have enough or you could never be good enough. satan will also try to flood your mind with thoughts of evil, condemnation, deception, lies, rebellion, lust and pride. Everything in the world contradicts the word of God. God tells us in 1 John, "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the Father is not in him. For everything in the world-the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does-comes not from the Father, but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever." (2:15-17)
Now, I want to be clear, when you have impure thoughts, this in itself, is not sin-it is temptation. It is only when you continue to think on those thoughts and eventually act on them that it becomes sin. God has already provided a way out for us. "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." (1 Corinthians 10:13) When you experience temptation, know that it is common to man or rather, there have been others who have had the same temptation and made it through the temptation.
Understand my friend, that you are in a battle. We are selfish by nature and want what we want when we want it. Paul goes into detail of this very battle in Romans. He said, "for what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate to do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do-this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but is is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members." (7:15-23) Fortunately for us, Jesus Christ our Lord will rescue us from this "body of death." (7:24-25) I consider Paul one of the greatest apostles that ever lived. As I read those verses that he wrote under the power of the Holy Spirit, I am encouraged that he faced the same struggles that you and I face each day. satan would like you to think that you are the only one who ever had to battle against your own flesh. He would like you to think that something is wrong with you or that you will never be an overcomer Thankfully for us, Jesus Christ has already won the victory for us! Every sin we have ever done or ever will do was nailed to the cross over two-thousand years ago. We don't fight for victory, friend, we fight from it! "But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness." (Romans 6:17-18) In Christ, there is no condemnation! His Spirit of life set us free from the law of sin and death! (Romans 8:1-2)
What I want you to remember is that as long as you have breath, continue to press on through every trial and every tear. You have the same power that raised Christ from the dead living on the inside of you. He will equip you with every thing you need in this life. Put on His armor daily by renewing your mind in His word and remembering His truths. There is coming a day when we will see our Jesus face to face! Oh friend, when that happens, everything we have gone through on this earth will be a distant memory in the light of His glory! He is coming back for His own!
I want to leave you with these words from 1 Corinthians. "He (Jesus) will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is FAITHFUL." (1:8-9)
When God saves you, He places His Spirit in you. With His Spirit also come love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22) However, you and I must make a conscious effort to renew our minds. This is something that God will not do for us, we must choose to do it. You may be asking the question, 'What does it mean to renew my mind?' For starters, we must get into God's word and I don't mean just read it every once in awhile or read it when you "feel" like it. You need to read and meditate on His word so that it changes your thinking. As you continue in God's word, you will be transformed.
This transformation is a process and it is also a battle. We are in a battle with the world, the flesh and the devil. If you are not careful, you will easily slip back into old ways of thinking. Every thought that enters your mind is not going to be good and holy, so you have to choose to cast those thoughts out of your mind-any thought that goes against God's word. Friend, you are either feeding your flesh or your spirit. We all know it is so much easier to feed our flesh. It is just our nature. The world screams 'more, more'....if you listen to the world, you will never be satisfied with the way you look, the clothes you wear, your job, your spouse, your house or your car. The world will tell you that you never have enough or you could never be good enough. satan will also try to flood your mind with thoughts of evil, condemnation, deception, lies, rebellion, lust and pride. Everything in the world contradicts the word of God. God tells us in 1 John, "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the Father is not in him. For everything in the world-the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does-comes not from the Father, but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever." (2:15-17)
Now, I want to be clear, when you have impure thoughts, this in itself, is not sin-it is temptation. It is only when you continue to think on those thoughts and eventually act on them that it becomes sin. God has already provided a way out for us. "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." (1 Corinthians 10:13) When you experience temptation, know that it is common to man or rather, there have been others who have had the same temptation and made it through the temptation.
Understand my friend, that you are in a battle. We are selfish by nature and want what we want when we want it. Paul goes into detail of this very battle in Romans. He said, "for what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate to do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do-this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but is is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members." (7:15-23) Fortunately for us, Jesus Christ our Lord will rescue us from this "body of death." (7:24-25) I consider Paul one of the greatest apostles that ever lived. As I read those verses that he wrote under the power of the Holy Spirit, I am encouraged that he faced the same struggles that you and I face each day. satan would like you to think that you are the only one who ever had to battle against your own flesh. He would like you to think that something is wrong with you or that you will never be an overcomer Thankfully for us, Jesus Christ has already won the victory for us! Every sin we have ever done or ever will do was nailed to the cross over two-thousand years ago. We don't fight for victory, friend, we fight from it! "But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness." (Romans 6:17-18) In Christ, there is no condemnation! His Spirit of life set us free from the law of sin and death! (Romans 8:1-2)
What I want you to remember is that as long as you have breath, continue to press on through every trial and every tear. You have the same power that raised Christ from the dead living on the inside of you. He will equip you with every thing you need in this life. Put on His armor daily by renewing your mind in His word and remembering His truths. There is coming a day when we will see our Jesus face to face! Oh friend, when that happens, everything we have gone through on this earth will be a distant memory in the light of His glory! He is coming back for His own!
I want to leave you with these words from 1 Corinthians. "He (Jesus) will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is FAITHFUL." (1:8-9)
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