Renewing Our Mind
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RENEWING OUR MIND...WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
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At first people were obedient to God and things were good. Then people became disobedient. This disobedience separated us from God.[1] To re-establish our relationship with God we need to re-establish our obedience to Him.
Focusing on being obedient to God is called "renewing the mind." This takes effort, but like anything else, as it becomes a habit it becomes easier. The typical Christian renews their mind sporadically and shallowly. A disciple strives to renew their mind continuously and deeply.
To renew our mind, we must first learn the Word and be obedient to it. When we do, we'll receive the Holy Spirit. We must then strive to learn the Word deeper. The Holy Spirit will reveal deeper truths. We must then be obedient to them. A disciple continues this cycle until death. This is how we overcome the devil, his demons, and this fallen world.
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LET'S GO A LITTLE DEEPER
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THE WORD -
The Word (bible) was written by people, but these people were inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit reveals Jesus to us.[2]
The Word and Jesus are so closely intertwined that they can be considered one-and-the-same.[3] The Word reveals Jesus to us. It reveals His thoughts, desires, and feelings. Knowing this, when we are obedient to the Word, we are obedient to Jesus. When we are obedient to the Word, we are letting Jesus lord over us. Only when we are obedient to the Word can we genuinely call Jesus our "Lord." We based our logo on this fact, which shows our submission to the Word (Jesus).
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THE HOLY SPIRIT -
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We prove to Jesus that we love Him by being obedient to His Word.[4] When Jesus recognizes our love for Him, He'll ask His Father to give us the Holy Spirit. The Father will then send the Holy Spirit to indwell us.[5] The Holy Spirit does many things for us. Among them is He reveals the deeper things of God.[6]
For most Christians the Holy Spirit remains mostly dormant. This is because the Holy Spirit is a gentleman and doesn't make us do things against our will. We must WANT the Holy Spirit to move. We show this "want" by being obedient. The key that unlocks the moving of the Holy Spirit is obedience.
When Jesus sees us seeking the deeper things, He'll have the Holy Spirit reveal some of them to us. After we prove ourselves obedient to these revelations, Jesus will know that we are ready for more. He'll have the Holy Spirit reveal even more deeper things to us. This is the continuous cycle that forges a Christian into a disciple.
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SOME OF THE DEVIL'S STRATEGIES AT HINDERING THE RENEWING OF OUR MIND
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The devil doesn't usually come at us with head-on attacks to hinder us from renewing our mind. He's sneaky and often attacks us subtly.
A common way the devil hinders us from renewing our mind is through the cares of this world. He bombards us with these cares. He likes to magnify them, making them seem greater than they really are. These cares pull us into worrying about the world's problems, rather than our obedience to God. A disciple is aware of this and won't be pulled into this trap. If a disciple is sitting at a table with a group of Christians, the conversation will often focus on the frustrations surrounding Covid, mandates, politics, crime, abortion, the LGBTQ agenda, etc. Emotions often run high. The disciple will listen to this conversation and even participate to a degree to be social, but deep down is unfazed by these cares. The disciple's focus is obedience to God and part of that obedience is not to let the cares of this world bother us. A disciple knows that the cares of this world can weigh a person down and distract them from renewing their mind. This disobedience hinders the moving of the Holy Spirit, which would hinder the power the disciple can walk in. This is why we can't be a good soldier for God if we let the cares of this world influence us.[7] It is good for disciples to often remind themselves they should be seeking rewards in heaven, rather than this world.
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Another common strategy the devil uses to hinder us from renewing our mind is feeding us a gospel that is mostly true, yet he so subtly twists it that we don't realize it. Or he feeds us a gospel that is incomplete, yet we don't realize it because it's generally accepted by the church. This is why it's important to research the bible ourselves and use our own mind and the Holy Spirit to find truth. Don't let another person, even a pastor, have the final say on what the Word says and means. We can use their guidance, but WE are ultimately responsible for our own soul.
Don't be spiritually blind because you chose to be led by the spiritually blind. This can be seen in churches that hinder the moving of the Holy Spirit by not consistently casting out demons and healing the sick (sadly, this means almost all churches). Remember...JESUS COMMANDED US TO DO SUCH THINGS! It's part of His great commission for us.[8]
Demons pull us away from obedience to God, that's their job. We need to get those suckers casted out so we can continue to renew our mind to deeper levels. We need to be obedient to GOD! Getting demons cast out of us is a mandatory part of the process of evolving from a typical churchy Christian into a power-filled disciple. Jesus is the deliverer and he enjoys doing it through His good soldiers, power-filled disciples!
Another common way the devil hinders us from renewing our mind is through distractions. He slowly and subtly releases them into our lives. They seem innocent enough at first, but down the road they can become idols. Maybe it's TV, movies, social media, work, games, or sports. A little bit may be relaxing and fun, but there may come a time when we start feeling a conviction from the Holy Spirit about it.[9] You know...that subtle, yucky feeling that's telling us something's wrong with what we are doing. We need to pay attention to these convictions and stop what we are doing when we feel them.
A very common way the devil hinders us from renewing our mind is through trauma. This trauma can be physical, but more often is psychological. For example, the trauma a child receives from parental neglect or abuse can last a lifetime. This trauma can cause wounds that seem to hurt all the way down to the soul. These are "soul-wounds." Soul-wounds can make us feel justified in holding onto negative feelings (which is sin). For this reason, a soul-wound can cause us to continuously sin, which makes those soul-wounds act like a magnet for demons.
We must repent for harboring self-pity. We must also repent for feeling justified in harboring sinful feelings. When we repent, Jesus will send the Holy Spirit in to heal those soul-wounds. Then, after the related demons get cast out, we can permanently be set free from a lifetime of torment.
This is why disciples always reject self-pity. They also refuse to feel justified in holding onto negative feelings, regardless of how bad they were wronged.
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IN A NUTSHELL...
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As we continue to remain obedient and seek the deeper things, the Holy Spirit will be moving more and more through us. There is a reason that HOW to cast out demons and HOW to heal the sick aren't mentioned in the bible. It's because these are the "deeper" things of God and are only revealed by the moving of the Holy Spirit. All of a disciple's supernatural power comes from the moving of the Holy Spirit through them.
The key that unlocks the moving of the Spirit is obedience. As the Holy Spirit moves more in our lives, we will start interceding for others. We'll cast out demons to tear down the evil strongholds in people's lives. We'll heal the sick. We'll be proving the Word is true by demonstrating God's power. We'll guide and encourage people in becoming disciples themselves. We'll be walking in power just like the disciples we read about in the bible...just as Jesus intended for us to do! This will happen if we continuously renew our mind.
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REFERENCES
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[1] ...your iniquities are coming between you and your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you... (Isaiah 59:2, KJ3)
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[2] I have yet many things to tell you, but you are not able to bear them now. But when that One comes, the Spirit of Truth, He will guide you into all Truth, for He will not speak from Himself, but as many things as He hears, He will speak; and He will announce the coming things to you. That One will glorify Me, for He will take from Mine and will announce to you. (John 16:12-14, KJ3)
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[3] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. (John 1:1-2, KJ3)
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[4] the one having My commandments and keeping them, that one is the one loving Me... (John 14:21, KJ3)
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[5] If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate, that He may remain with you to the age, the Spirit of Truth... (John 14:15-17, KJ3)
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[6] ...the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things... (John 14:26, KJ3)
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[7] ...suffer hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one serving as a soldier entangles himself with the affairs of this life, so that he might please the One having enlisted him. (2 Timothy 2:3-4, KJ3)
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[8] ...disciple all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things, as many things as I commanded you... (Matthew 28:19-20, KJ3). What are among the things Jesus commanded them to do? And having called His twelve disciples, He gave them authority over unclean spirits, so as to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every infirmity of body. (Matthew 10:1, KJ3). And going on, proclaim, saying, The kingdom of Heaven has drawn near. Heal feeble ones, cleanse lepers, raise dead ones, cast out demons. (Matthew 10:7-8, KJ3)
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[9] And having come, that One will convict the world concerning sin, and concerning righteousness, and concerning judgment; (John 16:8, KJ3)
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