Renewal also means renovate. Paul does not mean just to change the things that we think about, but to completely change the way our mind works.
The word repent
means to change your mind, but not just about sin.
Mat 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying,
"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”In this verse, Jesus was not addressing sin. He was telling the Jewish people they needed to change the way they thought about the kingdom of heaven. They were looking for an earthly Messiah to come to restore the kingdom of Israel, a king like David who restore the glory of that earthly kingdom. Jesus is telling them that they had to change their way of thinking about the kingdom, because the true kingdom of God was right there.
Not just change
what you think about, but change your entire way of thinking.
We need to view
reality from God’s perspective. Without
repentance we remain locking into carnal ways of thinking. When the Bible uses
the word carnal, it doesn’t necessarily mean obvious, disgusting sin.
1Co 2:12-14 Now we have received not the spirit of the
world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things
freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom
but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are
spiritual. The natural person does not receive the things of the Spirit of God,
for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they
are spiritually discerned.
We need to
have the spiritual mind to understand the things of God.
Right now in
the room you are in, movies are playing all around. If you had the right
receiver or satellite dish, you could pick them up. Just because you can’t see
the waves passing through doesn’t mean they aren’t there. With the right
receiver you could watch all kinds of TV shows, ball games, movies, or listen
to music on the radio, even listen to private conversations on cell phones. But
without the proper receiver, you can’t pick up anything.
The Bible
says that the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God. If
God is speaking on FM radio and we are on AM, we can turn that dial all the way
from the left to the right, turn the volume all the way up, but we are not
going to receive God’s message.
1Co 2:9 But, as it is written, "What no eye has
seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for
those who love him"—
I love this
verse. I have often quoted it, and reflected on it, considering that we cannot
even imagine the glorious things that God has prepared for us. But I just
recently caught what the next verse says.
1Co 2:10 these things God has revealed to us through
the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. The wonderful things that God has planned for us, things that no eye has seen, ear has heard, or mind has imagined; those things God has revealed to us.
I am
personally convinced that God has much more for us than we currently
experience. Peter spoke of joy that is inexpressible and full of glory (1 peter
1:8). Paul spoke of peace that passes understanding (Phil 4:7) and being
content no matter what the circumstances are (Phil 4:11). Paul prayed that we
would we would have spiritual wisdom and understanding to be able to comprehend
the breadth, length, height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that
surpasses knowledge (eph2,3). Jesus said that we would have power to proclaim
the gospel, heal the sick, and cast out demons. (Matt 10:8, Luke 9:1, Acts
1:8) Paul said that we can do anything
in Christ (Phil 4:13). He also told us to do all things without grumbling or
complaining (Phil 2:14). Everything that God commands us to do, He also
empowers us to do…love our enemy, do good to those who hurt us, forgive all the
time, love unconditionally, live in unity with our brothers, care for other
people more than for yourself.
Maybe we
don’t experience everything that God has for us because we are stuck in an old
mindset, an old way of thinking. We need a renewed mind. How often do we default to an old way of thinking?
“I can’t be
happy until I have enough money to pay all the bills.”
“I won’t be
fully satisfied until I am married.”
“I can’t
forgive the person who hurt me, the hurt is just too deep. ““I am not able to share the gospel with someone. I am just too shy, too afraid, don’t know enough. “
“I can’t pray for someone to be healed because I don’t know if God wants to heal and I might be embarrassed. “
“I am just in a bad mood. I can’t help that. “
“You made me so angry. “
“I am not smart enough to understand the Bible”
All of these are lies. If we listen to lies, we will have hard time hearing God. The lies are like a storm that will cause interference on our TV receiver. We have to clear out the interference so that we can receive the revelation of God. This is where repentance comes in. We need to repent, to change our way of thinking, and really BELIEVE what the Bible says. We need to turn on the receiver that God put in us so that we can hear God and understand the things that He says.
2Co 10:3-6 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not
waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of
the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion
raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey
Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is
complete.
How?
First,
acknowledge, or confess, “My mind is set in old patterns.” Ask God to show you what you believe that does not line up with His truth.
Any thought pattern that brings a feeling of guilt, condemnation, shame, discouragement, fear, confusion, anger, hate, bitterness, depression, resentment, darkness…is not from God, does not line up with his truth.
When you realize that the things you are thinking are taking you there, stop. Confess, repent, make the decision to line up your thinking to God’s truth. Ask God to show you, to speak to you, to reveal Himself to you.
No comments:
Post a Comment