Renewing of your mind

Active participant – free will

As we previously heard in part 1,  in Jeremiah 12:5, you cannot run with the men on horseback unless your mind is settled by a life of practice in obeying God’s Word;

How shall we escape (appropriate retribution) if we neglect so great salvation?

Hebrews 2:3 ― How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;

A chilling account of the mind in last days, which seems like that which we see today

2 Timothy 3:2-5 ― For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, high minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

We cannot live as the unsaved do!

Ephesians 4:17-32 ― This I say therefore , and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour : for we are members one of another. Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour , and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

This is how a person with a passive mind misconstrues the Word of Father God

As an example, let’s consider …

Philippians 2:6-11 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

To a passively minded person

Philippians 2:6-11, means that God will work everything out for me. God does the willing and doing.

To an actively minded person

Philippians 2:6-11 means that God will work in me as I obey His commandments and line myself up with His Will. Then His good pleasure is done in and through me.

Following the god of this world brings a blinded mind

2Corinthians 4:4― In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Doubt, unbelief, questioning God, adding to what God has said brings instability

Genesis 3:1-6 ― Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Results of yielding to wrong person or attitudes

Romans. 6:16 ― Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

Please read and consider these scriptures which teach about the active versus the passive mind

Proverbs 3:5-8 ― Lean on, trust in and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind, and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know, and recognize and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; reverently fear and worship the Lord, and turn (entirely) away from evil. It will be health to your nerves and sinews, and marrow and moistening to your bones.

A prescription for good mental, spiritual, and physical health, the rest of these scriptures will provide more insight

What do you need to do to change your Mind from Passive to Active?

We must Repent of a Passive Mind, and change our mind by changing our conduct. This is a matter of self-discipline. The Holy Spirit reveals, heals and leads – but you still have freewill. If you choose to embrace the Passive Mind, it will not be able to be healed.

The battle for our minds began in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve.
In Matthew 3, we see the contrast between the minds of those obeying God and those in disobedience.
In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.
Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

The passive mind is blind to the Word of God. In a Christian, the passive mind will hear and accept the Devil’s opinions about life and its situations. It looks at them in the Devil’s light rather than the Light of God. It uses great swelling words to argue with God – “BUT GOD”. The passive mind is a reprobate mind. After much agreeing with the Devil, soon God is not in all our thoughts, and we become vain or empty of the truth (Romans 1:28).

All sin in played with in the mind before it is committed. Cults, spiritism and mind control need minds empty of God to fully operate in (Ephesians 4:17-20). An active mind should get stronger as it matures. An inactive mind desires to do these things but does very little (II Corinthians 4:16). Inactive minds babble away by talking too much, often about things they know little about, using incorrect facts and assumptions. The un-relaxed mind causes sleepless nights (Proverbs 3:24; 10:19).
[The Mind: Freeing – Restoring – Protecting by J.M. Haggard, Yorktown, Indiana 47396.]