I wrote that I believe strongly that our beliefs empower our behaviour. It is because our beliefs, heart beliefs, determine our actions that the scriptures say so much about our thinking. It is thus important that we embrace what Paul taught in the following scriptures.
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, Philippians 2:5 (NKJV)
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be 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 12:1-2 (NKJV)
These two powerful passages are significant in our spiritual walk. What about that little word “let.” It highlights both choice and responsibility. Our mind is not renewed by some mysterious force acting upon us. It is renewed by embracing Jesus life and actively engaging with Him through His word and presence. So how do we do that?
A friend of mine often says things like, “We need to hear what the Spirit is saying.” Or “It needs to be mediated by the Spirit.” What I then see him do is inwardly pay attention to tune into what the Spirit is saying. In fact he is frequently in this state of inward attention. He is actively turning theory into practice. Knowingly or not he is demonstrating the truths revealed in the passages below. The hidden person of the heart functions by learning to be quiet, to become internally calm and hear His voice on an ongoing basis.
Have you ever thought of connecting the two passages below?
10 Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! Psalm 46:10 (NKJV) 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. 1 Corinthians 2:11-12 (NKJV)
This is part of ‘letting’ Jesus mind be in us guiding our behaviour. The other part is being grounded in His word. For our beliefs to align with scripture we need to know and adhere to what the scriptures teach, in particular the New Testament, as it defines how we are to live as Christians. At the same time what we learn above from 1 Corinthians 2 is that the Holy Spirit can reveal to us the mind of Christ as we learn to depend on Him and weigh what we hear against His word. After all, Paul who told us that we are to let Jesus mind be in us summed up this section of 1 Corinthians 2 by saying that the spiritually mature have “the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16). I believe that as Christians we all have access to His mind, the mature have cultivated a lifestyle of hearing Jesus heart and mind.
Where are we at?
