Be Renewed In The Spirit of Your Mind
 

Have you ever known people who accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior but still spoke, thought, and behaved the same way they did before they got saved? This scenario is not uncommon among Believers. Many times, certain behaviors are attributed to a person needing a spirit cast out of him, when, in reality, the issue is that he has not renewed his mind in a particular area.
The hope of every born again believer is to be transformed into the image of Christ. (Gal.4:19) In order to be transformed, we must renew our mind by the constant bathing of the word of God which has power unto salvation. "...our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power." (1Thess. 1:5)
We are not to conform to the ways of this sinful world which is temporary. The Holy scriptures have the power to turn our thoughts and attitudes toward God and away from the carnal ways of the world. Without the cleansing power of the word, we become insensitive to sin.
Having to live and work in an unbelieving world can greatly influence the mind. By the end of the day, we often find ourselves thinking and even acting like unbelievers due to such close association. Most of us are bombarded daily by backbiting, competition, vulgar language, gossip, and all kinds of worldly temptations.
"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." (Romans 12:2)
As physical beings living in a physical world that we can see, feel, and touch, it is very easy to get caught up in its ways. We can't escape all of the corruption that is in the world today but we can reduce its influence by the cleansing power of the word. "Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you." (John 15:3)
Paul said that we can't isolate ourselves from the wickedness around us (1Cor.5:9-10) but that we can take the necessary steps to protect ourselves from its influence by the renewing of our mind. Bible study and prayer can renew the righteous thoughts, feelings and intent which the world can so easily strip away.
God's holy word has the power to cleanse our mind of worldly contamination, filling us with the knowledge of God while prayer strengthens our spirit and increases our wisdom. The word of God is our sword and an essential part of our spiritual armor.
Consistent renewing of our mind through prayer and meditation in God's word pushes worldly influences out and renews our thinking, transforming us into the image of Christ.
Therefore, we should strive to renew our mind by faithful prayer and Bible study in order to be conformed to the image of Christ; which is the perfect will of God.
 
 

RENEWING YOUR MIND
 

Unfortunately, once you are born again absolutely nothing will change in your life unless you begin the process of renewing your mind, or changing the way your mind operates.
This is because your fleshy body is still being controlled by your mind. Your body does what your mind tells it to do. Renewing your mind is the same thing as changing your mindset, and it is this renewing of the mind that lets a born again believer have brand new Godly attitudes, goals, ideals, opinions, desires, and ideas.
But unfortunately for most believers, their spiritual growth stops when they became born again because they don't do anything about changing the way they think. Most go no further than being born again because most people think that once they are born again, then that is all there is to it because now they are saved saints of Jesus Christ that no longer sin. They feel that now that they are born again, the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ are going to keep them out of sin.
But the truth is, the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ are both there to help you but they will only help and assist you if they see effort and labor on your part. No effort, then no help. That is why so many believers continue to commit the same old sins and have the same old shortcomings that they had before they were born again.
Once you are born again, God isn't suddenly going to show up and magically change you into a non-sinning happy and contented believer. Once you are born again you are still going to have a temper problem so that you still get angry if another person "gets in your face" or cuts you off in traffic. Your still going to succumb to the lure of alcohol. You can be born again 1,000 times and your still going to watch those filthy programs on television.
The sad truth is that many people who are born again still live in misery. Still are depressed. Still have thoughts of suicide. Still curse people out. Still beat up the kids. Still drink too much. So many born again Christians have to put on that phony face so that it appears to the world that they are happy sinless Christian followers of Jesus Christ.
So being born again doesn't mean that you are going to stop a single sin that you have been committing. Nor does being born again prevent you from having all those bad and depressing feelings. They are all still going to be there.
It must be a terrible shock to a great many born again believers when they realize that nothing has changed, that their life style is still evil, that they are still committing the same old sins, in fact, they are still sinning just as much now as they were before they were ever born again. They must wonder why in the world did they ever get born again in the first place.
But what they don't realize is that all being born again does, is tell Almighty God that you really and truly want to change your life around and that you are going to do everything in your power to change. Being born again simply tells God that you no longer want to follow the world but that from now on you want to follow Jesus Christ. It is here that God gives you a new heart, but that new heart is not enough. It is still vitally important for you to change the way you think about most of the things in your life.
Romans 12:1-2 tells us what we must do after we become born again believers. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove to be what is good and acceptable and perfect in the will of God."
As I mentioned earlier, when you were born again God gave you a brand new Godly heart, as it tells us in the following verse. Ezekiel 36:26-27. "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new Spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you".
However, it is when you combine that new heart with a brand new mindset that you will have awesome and incredible Godly changes taking place in your life. For this is when you will suddenly find yourself well on your way to surrendering your entire life over to Jesus Christ.
But renewing your mind involves two things that most people hate to do. Renewing you mind involves a great deal of work and effort. Renewing your mind takes a great deal of hard work on your part.
If you think about it, you cannot even start on your road to spiritual growth and spiritual maturity until you have a whole new mindset. You must renew your mind. Remember that your mind is the thing that has control over every single one of your actions. You mind controls your thoughts. Your mind tells your body exactly what to do. It tells your mouth what words to speak. It tells your eyes what to look at. It tells your ears what things to pay attention to and what things to tune out. It tells your brain what to think about. It tells your entire being how to respond in every single situation.
So until you renew and change your mind, the world and your flesh are still going to control you because your mind is being so greatly influenced by the flesh and by the world. Until you are willing to put your born again experience into daily, minute by minute practice by changing the way your mind looks at everything, you will see little if any improvement in your physical or spiritual lives.
When you were born again you made the conscious effort to surrender your entire life over to Jesus Christ. That means giving to Jesus complete control over your body, heart, soul, and mind. And in order to do that you must stay in contact with Jesus Christ 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Everything you do has to go through and be approved by Jesus Christ. In other words, if you have a desire to have a few drinks, then first talk to Jesus about it. If you want to watch some filthy programs on TV, first ask Jesus his opinion. If you want to hang around with some godless friends, first ask Jesus what he thinks about it. He will definitely talk to you. He will talk to your heart and mind. He will talk to your moral fiber. He will talk to your character. He will talk to that part of you that wants to lead a Godly life. He will talk very loud and very clearly to everything that goes into making you a child of God.
And you have to keep on doing this until your mind no longer wants your body to commit that sin. And you do the same thing not only with each sin, but you must do it with each bad memory, each depressing feeling, each and every thing that takes your focus off of God and places it on you and your problems. See what I mean about the hard work and all the effort that it takes to renew your mind? It is certainly not easy to renew one's mind.
However, when you were born again Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit came to live within you, and they are incredibly powerful forces and their greatest desire is to help you. But, they want to see effort on your part. They need for you to keep the lines of communication open and to make sure that they stay open, and you do this through prayerful conversation with them all day long. Constantly listen for Jesus and the Holy Spirit to speak to your heart, your mind, your conscience, your sense of moral righteousness and fairness, to your sense of what is right and Godly.
And those times when you do sin, talk to Jesus about it immediately. Ask him to help you analyze why you committed that sin, what are the circumstances that bring that sin on, what is the situation that is present at the beginning of that sin, what are the factors that allow that sin to walk through the doors of your life, and what steps can you take to prevent any future occurrence of that sin. And you have to do this each and every time you sin with each and every sin. And you have to do it over and over and over.
If a believer does this, then soon the believer will begin to understand the meaning behind a great many verses in the Bible. Verses like 1 Peter 1:14. 1st Peter 1:14 "Now that you are obedient children of God do not live as you did in the past. You did not understand then, so you did the evil things you wanted."
As you can easily see, renewing your mind is not a one time event but rather it is a life long process. It's a lifestyle. That is why the renewing of a person's mind, is only possible for a believer who sincerely wants to live a Godly life. Renewing of the mind is only for the believer who truly wants to surrender their life completely and fully over to Jesus Christ. Renewing of the mind is only for that believer who truly loves change, but only if it is in harmony with the Word of God.
Renewing of the mind is not for the part time Christian or for the Christian who obeys God only when it suits him. Renewing of the mind is a waste of time for those people because there is no hunger or thirst for Jesus Christ in their hearts. Jesus Christ is not at the center of their lives.
So the important thing when it comes to renewing your mind is to stay in a constant state of prayerful communication with Jesus Christ. You cannot take your eyes off of him for a second. Not in this world. Not when sin is pressing in on you from every conceivable angle. But, if you constantly and continuously keep your focus on Jesus Christ, then sin for the most part will be eradicated from your life.
 
Have you ever known people who accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior but still spoke, thought, and behaved the same way they did before they got saved? This scenario is not uncommon among Believers. Many times, certain behaviors are attributed to a person needing a spirit cast out of him, when, in reality, the issue is that he has not renewed his mind in a particular area. Let me share with you some practical steps on mind renewal that will help you have a better understanding.
Things You'll Need: Accept Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior
 
1.     Step 1
Renewing your mind is the key to success... Mind renewal is the key to living a successful life as a Christian, as well as overcoming the mindsets that keep us bound in ungodly lifestyles. Numerous people who struggle with addictions and all sorts of habits they just cannot seem to break are in torment because they know these things are wrong according to the Word of God, but they just can't seem to find the brakes to stop. To them, change is an unattainable goal. Whenever I see someone who is born again, but is actively engaged in a lifestyle or habit that goes against the Word, I immediately know their mindset is the problem. They have to change their thinking to line up with what God says about the situation. Without this vital step in the process of Christian development, it is impossible to see lasting change.
 
2.     Step 2
Walk in the Spirit... Galatians 5:16 says something so powerful that we all need to understand and apply to our lives on a daily basis, "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." First, we must understand what it means to walk in the Spirit. When we walk in the Spirit, we have a mindset that lines up with God's Word. It is thinking that is sound and subjected to God's way of doing things. Walking in the flesh is the exact opposite. To walk in the flesh means to have a way of thinking that goes against the Word of God.
 
3.        Step 3
The mind is the control center... It is critical to understand that the mind is the control center of our lives. Our dominant thought patterns and beliefs will inform and shape our behavior. Unfortunately, before coming to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, most of us picked up a lot of wrong thinking from our environment, whether it was from family, friends, television, or some other source. But when we become born again, we must enter into the most important part of our walk with God which is renewing our minds. Romans 12:1, 2 says we are not to be conformed to the world, but we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we can demonstrate and prove the perfect will of God. Isn't it exciting to know that renewing your mind has the power to absolutely transform your entire life? You can break any habit or behavior by making a quality decision to renew your mind daily through the meditation and study of God's Word.
 
4.     Step 4
Be consistent... Renewing the mind is not a one-time event, but it is an ongoing process that must continue for the rest of our lives. We can renew our minds to the point where even our subconscious thoughts and automatic responses become aligned with the Word of God. When mind renewal takes place on this subconscious level, we are actually renewing the spirit of our minds (Ephesians 4:23). This is the depth of transformation every Believer should aim to achieve because it is the pathway to genuinely changing our behavior. You may be thinking your situation is so bad that you simply cannot change. I want to give you some good news today--you can! First, ask God to give you the desire to want to change. That's right, you have to want to change first. Then, make a commitment to the process. Find a scripture in the Bible that deals with the area you are dealing with and make it a priority to meditate on that scripture until it is more real to you than what you are going through. When you begin to think, speak, eat, and breathe the Word of God, you will begin to live it. When you find your decisions aligning with God's Word, you will know renewing your mind is paying off!
 
ReThink Your Life: A Unique Diet to Renew Your Mind
Phase I.  Detoxification
Practice 1. Surrender control
Practice 2. Detoxify your mind
 
Phase II.  Realignment
Practice 1. Consider a new view of you
Practice 2. Make mass media your friend
Practice 3. Surround yourself with positive people
 
Phase III.  Reinforcement
Practice 1. Create a circle of accountability
Practice 2. Cultivate an attitude of prayer
Practice 3. Stretch your thinking
 
Phase IV.  Perseverance
Practice 1. Challenge your mind