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A Renewed Mind

12 May
A Renewed Mind

I’m continuing my posts about the teachings that the Apostle Paul referenced in his letter to the Ephesian church.

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Ephesians 4:22-24 NIV

My last few posts dealt with the putting off of the old self. Now I want to talk about the second thing that the Apostle Paul said was taught to the believers in Ephesus. He tells us that we need to be made new in the attitude our minds.

In the sequence of putting off the old self and embracing the new, the mind becomes the battlefield. It can be our greatest ally or our worst enemy. That’s because our mind can side either with the flesh or the spirit.

In order to win the war, our minds must be renewed. This can be a very quick process, if it’s done in the spirit. But the mind must be in agreement with submission to the will of God.

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Romans 12:2 NIV

So many people have approached me over the years asking how they could find God’s will for their lives. The reality is that you can never “find” God’s will. According to Scripture, you must approve the will of God for your life. This will only happen as your mind comes into agreement with what God wants for you.

God has a perfect plan for your life. He developed it before the foundation of the universe. He knew you before you ever existed.

Even so, He’ll never implement His plan without your approval. That’s why we’re told not to conform…to the pattern of this world. That literally means don’t be forced into the world’s mold.

Instead, we are to let our mind be renewed. The word Paul uses for this is like the English word morph. We know about morphing in special effects in movies and on TV. When one thing changes into another, we say that it’s been morphed. That’s what God wants to do with our mind.

He wants to remove the thought pattern that we’re used to, the attitudes of the world. Then the Lord changes them into His thought patterns. In that way we’re renewed into His way of thinking. This is a work that the Lord must perform in us.

We’ve watered it down, in this generation, to the point where I’ve heard it taught that all you need to do to renew your mind is to read the Bible.

What is the Scriptural way to a renewed mind? It’s right in the second verse that we first looked at.

…to be made new in the attitude of your minds;

Ephesians 4:23 NIV

Again, the translation waters down the true meaning of this verse. We need to get back to the original meanings. The literal Greek of this verse says renew, in the spirit, your mind. Let that sink in. We need a spiritual renewal. How can we ever expect our mind to renew itself?

There needs to be an outside force at work in our mind. That’s where true renewal comes from. It’s a work done in the spirit.

I don’t know why we keep striving to do in the natural what can only be worked in the spirit. You may think that I’m wrong for continually emphasizing it, but our spiritual prayer life is more important than we realize.

Question: How has your thinking changed since you’ve been saved?

© 2023 Nick Zaccardi

 
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Posted by on May 12, 2023 in Power of God, Prayer, Prayer in the Spirit, Revival, Spiritual Walk

 

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Getting Behind Christ

06 Apr

As we continue to study the Gospel of Mark, we see the Lord bringing His disciples to a deeper level of knowledge about Himself.

He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.  He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
Mark 8:31-32

Jesus began to explain to the disciples that the Messiah must undergo rejection by Israel.  Then, He needed to die on the cross, be buried and three days later, rise from the dead.

Peter was obviously upset by this.  He was so taken back by hearing about the Lord’s death that he totally missed the part about rising from the dead.  He began to rebuke Jesus for His “negative confession.”

But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter.  “Get behind me, Satan!” he said.  “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
Mark 8:33

No, Peter was not possessed by the devil at this time.  The Greek word, satan, means accuser.  Jesus was not calling Peter the devil, but describing his actions.  (Actually, the devil would have enjoyed seeing Jesus die.)

In his statement, Peter was accusing Jesus of being out of the will of God for his life.  Peter was placing himself on the same level as Christ, telling Him what He should be doing.

That’s why the Lord told him to get behind me.  In other words, you’re not my peer; get back in line following me where you belong.  He explained that Peter was not thinking like God thinks, but like men think.

Jesus took this as a teachable moment.

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.”

“What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?  Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?  If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
Mark 8:34-38

Christ makes it clear that in following Him, we have to give up our fleshly, human way of thinking.  Ministry in the kingdom of God is not based on what I think is best for God.  It’s about what He thinks is best.

Too often we’re guilty of giving God our opinion of what should be done.  Then, we run off with our plans and seek God’s blessing on it.  We then get frustrated wondering why it has no effect.

Instead, we need to seek the Holy Spirit to change the way we think.  We need our minds to be renewed.  Because if I can think the way God does, then I’m going to want His perfect will.

This is important.  I won’t need to seek His will; I’ll know it because I want what He wants.  Then it will be blessed – not because I prayed for God to bless it, but because it’s already anointed by God.

That’s why we need to spend quality time in the Lord’s presence.  But not spending all our time seeking things and answers to problems.  We must desire to know Him better – His thoughts, His will, and His heartbeat.

Question: What’s the difference between seeking God’s will and seeking God’s heart?

© 2018 Nick Zaccardi

 
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Posted by on April 6, 2018 in Ministry, Prayer in the Spirit, Spiritual Walk

 

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How Do I Find God’s Will?

11 Apr

 

ButterflyMy last two posts talked about our faith being tested and approved – that’s the fire. Next I talked about prayer in the spirit – standing beside the burnt offering. The next question is; now that I’m hearing God’s Word in my spirit – what do I do with it?

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12:2

There’s still a choice to be made. This is where, according to Christ, the thorns and thistles of distractions could choke it. We need to be careful about what our heart dwells on.

This verse literally says; don’t let the world squeeze you into its mold. Instead, let the Word renew (renovate) your mind.

If you want a life that’s well-pleasing to God, it will require a renewed mind. It’s the renewed mind that will transform your walk. That word transform is the Greek word metamorph. It’s how a caterpillar changes into a butterfly.

It’s only when we are allowing the Word to renew our mind that we are able, have the power, to test and approve God’s well pleasing will.

Many people have asked me, “Pastor, how do I know God’s will?” The truth is that you will never know God’s will before you do it. It’s by faith.

I get my faith approved. Then I stand beside body praying in spirit to hear God. I allow God’s Word to renew mind.

Then, as I live out my faith, opportunities arise. I feel a stirring on the inside of me, “I believe God wants me to do this.”

I now have the power to test and approve God’s will for my life. I step out. By faith, I expect either a miracle to confirm what I’m doing or the intervention of the Holy Spirit to stop me from doing it.

Paul understood this and tells us the bottom line.

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.
Romans 14:17-18

To be well pleasing to God, it’s not about the rules you place on yourself. It’s a life lived in the spirit. That’s what God finds well pleasing. Because the flesh can never fulfill God’s perfect will.

Simply put, a well-pleasing life requires a spiritual walk.

Question: What do you believe is the next step in God’s plan for you right now?

© Nick Zaccardi 2014

 
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Posted by on April 11, 2014 in Faith, Ministry, Word of God

 

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Get Rid of Powerlessness Once and for All

21 Nov

For a few posts I’ve been talking about the nature of spiritual power.  I’ve been using the example of electrical power to explain these truths.  We have seen that love is our spiritual “voltage”, while a saved mind is spiritual “current”.  In this final post of the series, I’ll talk about the importance of a saved mind.

From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things…and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.  “Never, Lord!” he said.  “This shall never happen to you!”
Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!  You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
Matthew 16:21-23

Peter was acting on the principles of an unsaved mind.  This actually caused Peter to rebuke and contradict Jesus.

We can end up in that same state if we don’t allow our minds to be saved and renewed by the Word.  We must always check to see what principles we’re acting on.  Are they the truth of God’s Word, or the principles of the world system?

Don’t get into the position where you contradict the Word of God, because you’re acting out your own human wisdom.

“The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.”
Matthew 13:22

This verse shows the result of an unsaved mind.  Your actions will be based upon worries, the desire for riches and pleasures, rather than the will of God.  A mind choked by the cares of this world is unfruitful, even if we’re hearing the Word of God.

Unfruitful means that the Word does not produce any change in our lives.  If change is not being produced, then that, by definition, is powerlessness.

If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.  Each one should test his own actions.  Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else…
Galatians 6:3-4a

If you find yourself in this state of powerlessness, don’t add the condition of self-deception to it.  Take stock of your life.  Do you see the marks of the power of God or not?  Is there room for improvement?  If so, then allow the working of the Holy Spirit to move you into a closer walk with the Lord.

Don’t be satisfied with the same old mediocre walk that most of Christianity calls normal in this generation.  Break free from that mold and seek the power of God to flow freely through your life.  It all depends upon your attitude and your willingness to humble yourself before a holy God who already knows your condition.

Question: Do you desire the power of God in your life?  What’s your next step to walking in it?

© Nick Zaccardi 2012

 
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Posted by on November 21, 2012 in Power of God

 

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The Secret of Knowing God’s Will

19 Nov

I’ve been posting about the power of God at work in us.  This is the power that changes us and others.  We saw that the first component of the Holy Spirit’s power in us is love.  It’s this love of Christ that provides the spiritual pressure that propels us forward.

We started by looking at Paul’s view of this power.

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
2 Timothy 1:7

The second component of power is described here as self-discipline.  Actually the word translated self-discipline is literally a saved mind in the Greek.  I believe that the two components of power in the Word of God are love and a saved mind.  If we follow this through we find that the rest of Scripture confirms this.

Remember what I said about electrical power.  The two parts were voltage and current.  How does electrical current relate to the truth of a saved mind?  Physically speaking, current is electrical movement.  Current is how fast the electrons are moving through the wires.  In the verse we read from Second Timothy, Paul said that the components of spiritual power were love and a saved mind.  Just how important is it to possess a “saved mind?”

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12:2

Without a saved mind, a mind that has been washed and renewed by the Word of God, we will never grasp what God’s will is for our lives.  The problem is that most modern Christians don’t place a priority upon renewing their minds.  We want to think and act the way the world does.

This makes for a very interesting dilemma.  Most Christians seem to want to know God’s will for their lives.  Yet, we don’t prepare our minds to receive it.  According to this verse the only way to know God’s will, is to renew your mind.

This was evident in the ministry of Christ.

“For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.”
John 6:38

“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”
John 4:34

In natural terms, electrical current is the movement of electricity in the lines.  Power requires movement or action.  Jesus was able to move and act because His mind was attuned to God’s will.  It’s clear from Scripture and the life of Christ that a saved mind is spiritual current because it produces action.  We know from the Word of God that “faith without works [action] is dead.” (James 2:17)  A saved mind is a mind that is full of faith THAT ACTS upon that faith.

Question: Is renewing your mind a priority in your walk with Christ?  What do you do to accomplish this?

© Nick Zaccardi 2012

 
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Posted by on November 19, 2012 in Power of God

 

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