A
person without the Spirit of God residing within them cannot understand the
things of God, because these truths are spiritually discerned. Unbelievers
consider Biblical truth as foolishness and they make fun of Believers (1
Corinthians 2:14-16; 1 Peter 4:17).
It
is only as we repent of our sinful ways, and believe in, trust in and rely only
on Christ in us, that we can comprehend God's truths through His Spirit and the
mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5-11). This changes our life forever.
We
compare spiritual things with spiritual; not in human wisdom, but as they are
pointed out to us by God's Spirit within us (1 Corinthians 2:13-16). God
replaces our fears with His power, love and sober mind (2 Timothy 1:7). We have
hope all the days of our life in God's grace for us through Jesus Christ (1
Peter 1:3, 13).
Learning
to walk in the Spirit is a daunting task, because we have to stop listening to
our human reasoning, and chasing our own dreams; and instead, to start embracing God's
will for us (John 5:30; 1 John 2:6; Romans 8:1-39). As His children, we follow God
just like Jesus did (Ephesians 5:1).
We
do not only worship with the church, but we also practice pure religion, which is
righteous before God. We support missions in our own city and throughout the
world, we visit orphans and care for widows, and we reject the vain
philosophies of this world as useless (James 1:27).
Human
wisdom is lacking when compared to God's wisdom and discernment. We learn to think
with the mind of Christ given to us by the Spirit of God, even if we are mocked
by those without God's Spirit in them (1 Corinthians 2:5-15).
We
receive Christ's mind through faith in Him as the Spirit transforms our mind
(John 1:12; 1 John 5:12; Romans 12:1-2). We use the measure of Philippians 4:8
on our thoughts and we find the source of our negative thoughts by bringing
them to God for healing.
Once
we realize that we already have the mind of Christ, because He abides within us
by His Spirit, we access His mind by consulting Him each moment of our day
(Proverbs 3:5-6; 1 Corinthians 2:16). This changes our perspective, purpose and
priorities forever.
Prayer:
Father
God, teach us to control our thoughts until they line up according to Your Word
(2 Corinthians 10:4-5). Then Your indescribable peace will infiltrate every
area of our life. It is hard to reject the thoughts we obtained through a
lifetime of experiences; but we choose to believe Your Truth, rather than the
lies spoken to us by Satan and by well-meaning, condescending or bullying people in our past
(Romans 8:6).
You
gave us the mind of Christ, which gives us sound thinking, and allows us to
focus on Your Kingdom, rather than pursuing the goals formulated for us by this
sin-filled world. We want to learn to reject our carnal thoughts, and to focus
instead on things of Your Spirit through Christ in us. You are our Creator and
Provider and we give You all of the praise and glory for Your work in our life.
Thought
for the Day:
Recognizing
the motivation and perspective of the mind of Christ, we develop humility, as
well as obedience to the leading of God's Spirit (Philippians 2:5-8); we live
each moment dependent on our Father God (Luke 5:16; Proverbs 3:5-6; Ephesians
4:30); we use every opportunity to share the gospel with the lost (Luke 19:10);
and we have compassion on the brokenhearted and less fortunate than we are
(Matthew 9:36).
