Yesterday, we asked: Are you living a life that is powerful, free, and deeply satisfying? Or do you feel weighed down, blind, guilty, lost, depressed, and distressed by the cares of this world? My friend, if you have absolute certainty that you are born again, then it’s important to understand the priceless choice you have about how to live each day: You CAN choose to live in the Spirit of God and have peace, supernatural love, wisdom, strength, freedom, satisfaction, and joy!
In contrast to living after the flesh, Paul explains how to live according to the Spirit:
“For those who live according to the flesh SET their MINDS on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be CARNALLY minded is DEATH, but to be spiritually minded is LIFE and PEACE. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
Romans 8:5-8
Paul makes it clear that to live after the Spirit means we must reset our mind.
What does it look like to SET your MIND according to the Spirit, from which life and peace spring?
When we are born again, we have the opportunity to have what the Bible calls the “mind of Christ!” (1 Corinthians 2:16)
What does God say about His own mind?
“My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways…For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:8-9
And yet as lofty as God’s mind is, He has given His children the ability to think and live in the wisdom of His ways. Paul the Apostle explained:
“We speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”
1 Corinthians 2:6-8
Paul emphasized that it is ONLY those who are born again—AND who choose to be subject to the leading of the Spirit as taught in the Word—who ARE ABLE to have the mind of Christ:
“These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.”
“But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
”But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For ‘who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.”
1 Corinthians 2:13-16
To have the mind of Christ will give us our best life.
God wants His Spirit to rule over our flesh because that is where we experience our best life. When we allow the flesh to reign over the Spirit, we find ourselves bound by the sinful patterns explained by Paul in Romans chapter 7. This is slavery!!! When we choose to live in loving obedience to Christ, the course, the direction, the progress of our life is directed by the Holy Spirit and the Word. It is continued and progressive because our flesh is always there striving and warring against us. (Seriously, read Romans 7 and you will see that even the great Apostle Paul struggled with this!) But after we are born again, Jesus resides within us and our flesh becomes an alien and detested force. We no longer have to walk after the desires of the flesh, obey it, or accept it as our guide.
The mind is the strategic battleground where the flesh and the Spirit fight for dominance.
That’s why the Bible instructs us to:
“…be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may PROVE what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
Romans 12:2
The EVIDENCE that our MIND is changing is manifested when—how we THINK, TALK, and ACT—are more in line with God’s Word. Furthermore, the fruits of God’s Spirit pour out of our life and supernaturally attract people to Jesus. Is “life in the Spirit” what you really desire? How committed are you to your own peace and life? Are you willing to do everything it takes? Are you ready to passionately study God’s Word and unquestionably follow God’s Spirit? Are you committed to dedicating sufficient TIME and passion to a deep and abiding relationship with God? If you are willing to commit—I guarantee you—living after the Spirit produces a satisfaction like nothing this world has to offer!
Loving God with all our heart, mind and soul is a prelude to heaven.
2 Responses
Thank you for giving your time to sharing Gods word with us. I want you to know I read your devotionals almost every day. Be encouraged
Praise God and thank you for the encouragement!