RENEWING THE MIND

Much of the battle the believer has is actually not wholly of the devil. It is within you, your mind. The old feelings, ideas, thought patterns which reflect the world, old hurts, bad thinking, etc. remain in the believer and it is up to him/her to study the words of God's Word every day to replace those old thoughts and feelings with the new ones as presented in the Word. The devil simply makes use of these old ways - prompting you backward toward them. If you reject his suggestions you beat him in the battle for that moment for your mind and he won't be able to sway you to his way of doing things until the next challenge. But you have to have a new way in your mentality to do that. So you certainly can reject that old way in favor of the new - if you have studied the bible and accepted the truth of the new thinking to replace the old. That's a big if. It is a struggle considering how long you and I have harbored these old mental ways and how new the bible is to you and me.

I still recite Pr 3:5-6, (even last night over and over thinking of the meaning of each phrase), when I find my thought patterns unacceptable - my thoughts wandering back to the old patterns. After that I actually turned on a cassette player that plays back the book of Romans to me so that I can focus on those words and not on my incredibly depraved thoughts. Isn't it interesting that the bible does speak to this renewing of the mind:

[Ro 12:2]: "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. [See it starts with your mind.] Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will."

[2 Cor 4:16]: "Therefore we don't not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day."

[Phil 4:8-9]:

[Notes in brackets reflect a personal application to you and I drawn from the context of this passage]

(v. 8) "Finally, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things."

(v. 9) Whatever you have learned or received or heard from [the bible] or seen in [the bible] put into practice. And the God of peace will be with you [in practice, in your presence of mind]."

Sad to say most Christians miss the study part in order to renew their minds and substitute false theological concepts like unintelligible prayer language, emotionalism, phony spiritual gifts that purport to reflect miracles or the bible and actually do not, singing songs without paying attention to the words, jumping around and waving arms and dancing and falling over backwards, (slain in the spirit which is unbiblical), crying 'spiritual tears', etc., so they end up with the same old unrenewed mind to live the rest of their lives with - always in a struggle, never doing much for the kingdom of God, eventually suffering great loss of rewards and position of fellowship with the Lord at the believers'Judgment Seat of Christ.