RENEWING THE MIND

Key Scripture Key Truth * The devil blinds people’s minds so that they cannot understand the
Romans 12:2 We can take charge of our lives by gospel. Their minds are darkened and they cannot see the truth.
taking charge of our mind (2 Cor. 4: 4)

The Mind is the Battle Field: The Bible says that as a man thinks, so is his life. That means our mind
With our minds, we think, learn, imagine, remember and understand. controls our lives and dictates our action. We must realise that our
Our minds have the power to reason, understand and make decisions. dominant thoughts will dictate the course of our life.
Our minds determine our actions - how we live, how we behave and how
we conduct ourselves. We need to get our mind renewed to God’s truth, Satan knows how strategic our mind are.
God’s thoughts, God’s ideas and God’s way of thinking. The Bible has a
great deal to say about the mind with more than 200 verses listed. These That is why he tries to:
Scriptures reveal the power of the mind. (Genesis 11: 6; Proverbs 23: 7) * Build strongholds (a fortress, fortified place, a castle) in our minds,
Our minds are the same before and after receiving salvation. Only our such as strongholds of lust, fear, rejection and poverty.
spirit is instantly transformed through the grace of God. Living the * Fill our minds with vain imaginations (impression, mind pictures,
victorious life is the result of thinking the way God thinks. Behaviour images)
patterns, actions and lifestyle all begin in the mind. * Convince us to question God’s Word by infiltrating our minds with
intellectual reasoning (Philosophy, theories of men, religious tradition,
Renewing our mind is reprogramming and that involves a lifetime of false teachings contrary to Scriptures)
retraining. We must continually feed God’s Word into our mind to * Inject negative thoughts into our minds by planting seeds of doubt,
reprogram our subconscious mind to living God’s way and not the \ worry, anxiety, failure and rejection.
world’s way. * Corrupt our minds by sowing lies into our minds about God, ourselves,
our families, our circumstances, the church and other people.
What does it mean to Grow Up as a Christian? * Assign spirits of fear and heaviness (depression) to influence our minds.
We could also call this “being transformed”. Being transformed means
“a complete and total change from one life to another” A caterpillar, for The Key to changing the Mind is Meditation on the Word until it
example, goes through a metamorphosis when it becomes a butterfly. becomes part of our everyday behaviour.

If our life today is the same as it was last year, we need to be transformed. Meditation on the Word of God is another way of saying “renewing the mind”
We need to begin maturing. In fact we must make retraining, Psalm119:15 Psalm 119: 97 Psalm 119: 112
transforming and growing up part of our lifestyle. Renewing the mind is
not just learning. It is actually applying what we learn so that we “change”. God’s Word converts (changes, renews, transforms) the soul
In involves being a doer of God’s Word. (Psalm 19: 7-10)

It involves receiving the revelation of truth of God’s Word and then Here are some results that the Word of God Accomplishes:
diligently putting it into practice (James 1:22). Believing, receiving and * The Word of God converts our soul
obeying God’s truth is actually what transforms our life. The transformed * The Word of God makes us wise
life is one in which we change, grow and progress to become more like * The Word of God makes our heart rejoice
Jesus every day. * The Word of God enlightens our spirit, giving us understanding
* Obey and practice it.
* Many people learn truths, but do not apply them to their lives to
institute a change. Some people, for example, attend Bible College. Renewing the mind means retaining our minds - which only the Word of
They walk in one door and two or four years late, walk out the other God can accomplish.
door the same person.
The Word trains, educates, disciplines, teaches, instructs and disciples
* Other people learn about nutrition and exercise, but have not our spirit and our minds.
conquered their weight problems. Husbands and wives may learn These produce spiritual growth.
about successful relationship but that does not mean their own God’s Word is alive - living, operative, full of Divine energy. God watches
relationships will change. Many Christians learn all about prayer but over His Word to perform it. The Word of God is like a hammer and it
still never have a prayer life. All these people have learned but not will break, demolish all the negative demons - inspired stronghold in our
changed. minds.
Jeremiah 23: 29
The essence of the renewed mind is one whose thoughts life has come
under the lordship of Christ. God’s Word is energized with God’s life, God’s power and God’s Spirit.
There is a special anointing on the Word of God to manifest the
These six properties reflect the Renewed Mind: works of God that sets men free.
1. A renewed mind is under the government of Christ, at peace without
turmoil or anxiety. (Philippians 4: 6-9) Remember, to be carnally minded - a mind rules by senses - brings death.
2. A renewed mind exhibits humility (1 Cor. 10:31). True humility is to But to be spiritually minded - a mind renewed to God’s Word - brings life.
see oneself just as the Lord sees us. This means having no A renewed mind is the Word of God taking us over - drawing in our life with
confidence in one’s ability or self. increased momentum until God’s Word rules our life one hundred percent
3. A renewed mind has accepted forgiveness from God and freely of the time.
extends forgiveness to others both for past and present wrongs
suffered. (Mark 11: 25-26) 1 Peter 2: 2
4. A renewed mind has a deep desire to know the Lord and His ways How does this take place?
better. (Philippians 3: 10-15). It is always striving to become more like How do we purity our souls and renew our minds?
Jesus because once we become satisfied with where we are, we We do so by reading and meditating regularly - daily - on God’s Word.
begin to backslide. To “Meditate” means “to consider”; “to dwell upon”; “to fix our
5. A renewed mind has wisdom that is not measured by cleverness or thoughts on;”
great knowledge but how well it reflects the character of God “to focus our attention upon.”
(James 3: 13, 17)
6. A renewed mind has concern for others; it is not self-centred Consistent meditation in the Bible:
(1 Cor. 13: 4-7) * Converts our soul - (Psalm 19: 7); * Restore our soul - (Psalm 23: 3)
* Prospers our soul - (3 John vs. 2)