The Renewed Mind

Two things that I feel God has been highlighting to me over the past few weeks are 1) Intimacy and 2) Mind renewal. I wanted to write about the revelations I have had concerning the renewed mind and it's importance because I feel this subject is one of the most vast and most vital facing the body of Christ today. I hardly know where to begin writing about it, however, I'm sure this will just be the first post of many regarding mind renewal.


As human beings we are divided into 3 parts; spirit, soul (mind, emotions, intellect) and body. When we are born again, our spirit is united with that of Jesus, and we become one with him, identical to him in our spiritual DNA (1 John 4:14 "as he is so also are we in this world"). However, when we first believe in Christ and make that official commitment to enter into His Kingdom, we do not automatically get given a renewed mind filled with all the spiritual truths and revelations that Jesus had. On a spiritual level, we are Jesus's identical twin, alike him in every way, however the thing that seperates us from "doing the works that Jesus did and greater" and walking as he did, is the level to which our mind is renewed. The choices we make each day, how we handle certain situations, and the way we percieve the world around us are directly influenced by our mind.
Certain moves of God that have been before and are still in operation today, will often take one of two extremes; they either exalt the mind and it's knowledge far above the things of the spirit and elevate doctrine, theology and biblical teachings above intimacy with Christ, or they dismiss the use of the mind in any way, regarding it as a tool for used for evil. Neither views are what we are called to take according to the scriptures.
Having a look at the life of Jesus, we know that he was both fully God and fully man. God humbled himself and took on the form of man, and as a result, he faced the same struggles, temptations and testing situations that we do, making him able to witness with all our hardships. Jesus was not any different to us as born-again believers; he was a tripart being made up of spirit, soul and body, just as we are, and was a man in right relationship with his father. Out of this relationship and right-standing with the father, he knew his identity, and as a result, miracles, healings, signs and wonders flowed out of his life daily. Jesus had the same spirit as we do, however the one thing that he possessed that most of us do not, is a mind completely renewed after the things of God.
However, a renewed mind set on heavenly things is not something that is lofty and impossible for us to attain, in fact, on the contrary, we are called and comissioned to "be transformed by the renewal of our minds" (Romans 12:2) so that in ever situation, in everything we face daily, we are able to "discern what is the pure and acceptable and perfect will of God" and then demonstrate that here on earth (thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven). Sometimes as believers we put things like a renewed mind up on a high counter-top and develop the thinking that it is far too hard for us to attain in this lifetime. We take on a form of false humility in believing that we are forever unworthy and will never quite reach the place where we think as Jesus did and thus do what Jesus did; this is not God's way, and this thinking is a direct by-product of an unrenewed mind that leaves us stuck in stagnant waters. The Lord has designed the mind of every human being to be set on the things that are above and thus be constantly renewed after the things of the Kingdom of heaven. This is not impossible, this is not above our grasp, if it were, Jesus {who was fully human remember}, would not have been able to demonstrate it as he did. The more we realise we are exactly like Christ, and have his mind (Philippians 2:5) the more we will start to act this out and live like he did.
An understanding of this is not supposed to make us feel as though we have to strive by our own might, and with hard work and toil, eventually have a renewed mind; quite the opposite actually, we are to submit to that which has already been done for us and provided for us at the cross - the mind of Christ. When we truly come into agreement with this truth, and make a choice to repent (the true meaning of repentance is to "change the way you think"), and set our focus above, where we are seated with Christ in the heavenlies (Ephesians 2:6), and when we lift our gaze from within to behold the face of beauty, this is when our mind is effortlessly renewed. Seeing things from above, where we are seated, and seeing things from the Lord's heavenly perspective is when our thinking starts to shift and our minds are renewed not after this world which is temporal, but after the realm of the eternal where we are dwelling now in spirit, and will dwell forever more.


A spirit and a mind that are in harmony with eachother, then have a two-against-one effect on the body that starts to live out the perfection - that was attained on a spirit level - at the hour of salvation by our simple faith in Christ.
My prayer for this season is that the spirit of wisdom and revelation that brings us into the knowledge of God, would minister to me daily and that I would have my head in the heavenlies where I am seated, and my body on the earth, and live and reign out of an overflow of a renewed mind.
The Lord has revealed to me that a renewed mind really is a matter of life or death. Ultimately a Christian with an unrenewed mind and a Christian with a renewed mind will both die and live for eternity in heaven, but it is our time here on earth that requires us to live with a transformed mind if we are to see the will of God made manifest here on earth. We, as Christians are quite cabable of living with an unrenewed mind, and so many believers that have gone before us have demonstrated this truth quite accurately, but this was never what we were created for. We were created, called and comissioned to do the works that Jesus did and greater, and the only way in which we will live this life is when our spirits are masters over our minds as Jesus's was.