The Joy of having a Renewed Mind - Series by Pastor Paul
In this series we look at Feeding the Mind, a Sound Mind, the Mind of Christ, Loving God with your mind, Imagination, and having a Thankful mind
The Joy of having a Renewed Mind
“Be transformed by the renewing of your mind”
(Romans 12v2)
FEEDING THE MIND
The New Testament has three words in the original language that are translated “mind”: Psuche, Nous and Phronema.
Psuche (from which we get our words psyche, psychological etc.)
literally means soul = mind, emotions, feelings, imagination, memories:
“Consider Him that endured such contradiction from sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds (psuche – souls)” (Hebrews 12v3).
Pause for thought:
What makes you weary in your soul?
The antidote is to remember how much grief people gave Jesus yet He did not give up on them and considered that we were worth dying for!
Nous means entire mind:
“Unto the pure all things are pure but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure, even their mind (nous – whole mind) and conscience is defiled” (Titus 1v15).
Our key text for this series (Romans 12v2) uses the word nous for mind:
“Be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (nous – literally whole mind). In other words, to be transformed (completely changed) we need our whole mind and conscience renewed (not just bits of it). To have a renewed or changed mind we must keep feeding it with the right kind of thoughts…
Phronema literally means thoughts that are fed into the mind: “They that are after the flesh do mind (phronema – have thoughts on) the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit” (Romans 8v5). In other words those who are worldly have worldly thoughts, and feed those thoughts all the time with worldly things, and those who are spiritual must feed themselves with spiritual thoughts in order to remain spiritual.
Pause for thought:
Where do our thoughts come from? – It could be quite a list of sources!
How do we feed our minds with right thoughts and spiritual thoughts?
Here’s one source of spiritual thoughts: Colossians 3v16
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord”
We are exhorted to think like Christ did:
Philippians 2v5 “Let this mind (phronema – thoughts) be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” In that way if believers are thinking and acting the way Jesus would, Philippians 2v2 will happen: “being like-minded (phroneo – having the same thoughts) having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind (phroneo - one in thought).
Having a renewed mind is not so much trying not to think bad thoughts
as feeding and filling our minds with good things
(Philippians 4:8)
Pause for thought:
From Philippians 2v1-8 and other scriptures how did Jesus think?
“Be transformed by the renewing of your (nous - entire) mind”
(Romans 12v2)
A SOUND MIND
“God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love
and of a sound mind”
2 Timothy 1v7
The Apostle Paul asserts that as believers, God has given us a sound mind, but that statement is made in the face of it also being possible for us to be fearful, (literally, timid) and lacking in confidence as Timothy was obviously prone to be (so we are in good company!). So how can we live in soundness of mind as God wants us to do?
In the original Greek the word translated sound mind in English is: sophronismos from which we get our words sophisticated and sophist which are all to do with a state of mind.
Sophronismos is made up of two Greek words: sozo which means saved or made whole, and phronema which means to think - so sophronismos is to have saved thoughts or wholesome thoughts, and that is the secret of how to have a sound mind – think wholesome thoughts!
What we feed our minds with and how we exercise our minds, determines the health of our minds, in just the same way as what we feed and exercise our bodies with, determines the health of our bodies!
“Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit (set their minds on) the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Romans 8v5-6).
Pause for thought:
How have you experienced the above principles and scripture in your life so far?
HOW TO MAINTAIN A SOUND MIND
The New Testament talks about sound doctrine, sound words, sound speech and sound faith, these go along with, and help to maintain a sound mind. Let’s see how…
SOUND DOCTRINE maintains a sound mind “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth” (2 Timothy 4v3-4). Paul gives a terrible list of things in 1 Timothy 1v8-10 including, rebelliousness, perversion, and lying which are all contrary to sound doctrine – so obviously that kind of thinking and behaviour comes from an unsound mind.
SOUND WORDS Paul said to Timothy, “Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 1v13). If we hold on to sound words (which always boost faith and love), we will maintain a sound mind.
SOUND SPEECH Paul encouraged Titus to “show yourself to be a pattern of good works, in doctrine, integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned” (Titus 2v7-8). If we keep our speech wholesome and healthy, our minds will be the same. What we say comes out of our minds but also what we say will lock us into a mindset that is either healthy or unhealthy.
SOUND FAITH Paul in Titus 2v1-2, showed that sound doctrine produces “sound faith, love and patience” and these are the hallmarks of a sound mind.
Pause for thought:
Can you see the connection between having sound doctrine, sound words, sound speech and sound faith and having a sound (healthy) mind? Look again at our key text below and think about what that means to you.
“God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind”
2 Timothy 1v7
THE MIND OF CHRIST
2 Corinthians 2v16
As believers the scripture tells us we have the mind of Christ – let us explore what this means in practical terms…
THE WAY THE HUMAN MIND WORKS
Your mind is the bridge between the world around you and the real you (spirit) but it is already conditioned by such things as: your upbringing, your environment, nationality, culture, your experiences in life, your choices, your values, and the influence of other people. The mind then filters (thinks through, accepts / rejects) and responds to whatever is going on in our lives and the things that are happening around us:
1.What we see – with our physical eyes – good and bad things, what we read
2.What we hear – with our ears – what people say, music, natural sounds
3.What we remember – things from the past, things we have learned
4.What we imagine – usually based on what we see, hear and remember
THE WAY THE MIND OF CHRIST WORKS
The mind of Christ in the believer gives us a new dimension to our thinking, it colours the whole of our thinking (or should do) and becomes the filter of:
1.What we see – we can now see things from God’s perspective and with the eye of faith
2.What we hear – we can now hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to us
3.What we remember – what God has said in His Word
4.What we imagine – with a sanctified imagination
Pause for thought:
If as believers we have the mind of Christ, how does it act as a filter for all the things that bombard our minds, and how does this work for your own life?
WHAT IS THE MIND OF CHRIST LIKE?
Let’s examine how Jesus thought. We can only do this from what is revealed in scripture but maybe we could start by saying what Jesus did not allow in His mind – obviously He did not think impure thoughts, sinful thoughts, malicious or unkind thoughts about anyone (do we? – if so we are not thinking with the mind of Christ!). However we know that Jesus was “tempted in all points as we are – yet without sin” (Hebrews 4v15) and those temptations would have come into His mind – but His mind immediately rejected them – that’s how the mind of Christ works!
Further insight into the mind of Christ is given to us in Philippians 2v3-9 where we see the guiding values of His life and the beautiful attitudes of His mind:
LACKED SELFISH AMBITION OR CONCEIT (2v3) He did not hold on to His “rights” (as the Son of God) but willingly made Himself of no reputation (v7) because He considered the need of humanity to be more important than His own (v3).
LOOKED OUT FOR THE INTERESTS OF OTHERS (2v4) He came to serve and to do that He came as a vulnerable human being, sharing our frailty and ultimately death in order to help and save us (2v7-8)
LAID DOWN HIS WILL TO OBEY GOD THE FATHER (2v8) “He humbled Himself and became obedient” - “Therefore when He came into the world He said… ‘I have come to do your will O God” (Hebrews 10v5-9) Can we say with Jesus “Not my will but Yours be done”? (Luke 22v42).
Pause for thought:
What aspects of the mind that we see in Christ stand out for you and why?
"May the mind of Christ, my Saviour,
Live in me from day to day,
By His love and power controlling
All I do and say."
Kate Wilkinson 1925
LOVING GOD WITH YOUR MIND
Matthew 22v35-38
We are to love the Lord our God with every part of our being: heart – the core of our being, our spirit and will, soul – our feelings and emotions, and mind – our thoughts and understanding. It is significant in comparing this statement with the one in the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 6v5) that the word mind is an added extra – The mind is part of the soul but Jesus specifically separates it to emphasise the need to apply our minds to loving God.
Pause for thought:
Think of someone you love and then work out how you love them with your mind (e.g. you think about them often with fondness), this will give us some clues of how to love God with our minds but here are some more ideas from scripture…
WAYS TO LOVE GOD WITH YOUR MIND
Being Single Minded in devotion to God
It is possible to be double minded in our devotion to God – part of us loves Him but another part of us loves something - or someone else more. The Psalmist declared: “I hate the double-minded, but I love Your law” (Psalm 119:113) but he also admitted that “I have gone astray like a lost sheep” (v176) so he needed to “seek Him with the whole heart” (v2) and “cleanse his way by taking heed according to Your word” (v9). James said a “double-minded man (is) unstable in all his ways” (James 1:8). We cannot be truly loving God if half the time we are thinking sinful thoughts which are against God’s word. Are we single minded in our devotion to God?
The God Mindset
All of us have a mindset. As believers we can set our minds on earthly things: “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” (Romans 8v5-6), or we can “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:2). How often do we think about heavenly things?
A Willing Mind
King David gave this vital advice to his son before he died: “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever” (2 Chronicles 28v9). Do we have a willing mind towards God – and what does that mean in practical terms?
Be Mindful of what God has done
One of the major reasons why the Children of Israel, God’s people, failed to love the Lord their God with all their hearts and minds at different points in their history was by pointed out by one of their outstanding leaders, Nehemiah. When he prayed in repentance for them he said: “They were not mindful of Your wonders that you did among them but they hardened their necks” (Nehemiah 9v17). The prophet Isaiah said a similar thing when he warned God’s people: “There will be desolation because you have forgotten the God of your salvation and have not been mindful of the Rock of your stronghold” (Isaiah 17v10). Do we take time to remember what God has done for us?
Apply your Mind to study the Word of God
God’s word will keep us on track in our devotion to God (cf. Psalm 119v9-15). So it is good to apply our minds to studying God’s Word like Ezra who had “prepared his heart to study the law of the Lord and to do it.” (Ezra 7v10)
“God be in my head, and in my understanding;
God be in mine eyes, and in my looking;
God be in my mouth, and in my speaking;
God be in my heart, and in my thinking;
God be at mine end, and at my departing.”
Sarum Primer, 1558
IMAGINATION
THE GOD GIVEN GIFT OF IMAGINATION
Imagination as the dictionary says is: “mental creative ability” - it is part of being created in the image of our creator God. Mankind has the ability to create things in the mind before they are brought into being in the material world. This is a very powerful facility which has produced many wonderful inventions, buildings, fashion, beautiful art, glorious music, and much more. It is also a highly dangerous ability. In it’s fallen state, the imagination, when it is godless is out of control and can be inspired by Satan. That is what happened at the Fall: Eve “saw” what she had not seen before, because of Satan’s deception: “The fruit was good for food and pleasing to the eye,” and she “saw” beyond the material “and also desirable for gaining wisdom” (Genesis 3v6). This left mankind with a corrupted, fallen imagination that could now imagine evil things, as well as good.
Before we came to Christ the following scripture was as true of us as it was of the people of Noah’s day: “the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Genesis 8v21).
Also how true these words are of our day and generation:
“All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people who walk in ways not good, pursuing their own imaginations.” (Isaiah 65v2).
And the words of the Apostle Paul:
“When they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened” (Romans 1v21).
But when we came to Christ our minds began to be renewed and along with that, our imaginations were too.
THE JOY OF A SANCTIFIED IMAGINATION
Believers have their imaginations cleansed by Jesus’ blood as part of being redeemed and having a renewed mind. However we still have to bring the sinful imagination under control: “Casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10v5).
Pause for thought:
From the scripture just quoted how do we do that in practical terms? (See Philippians 4v8)
Imagination and FEAR
As soon as Adam and Eve sinned, fear entered their lives (Genesis 3v10). Fear is fed by the fallen imagination. Job said that “The thing I greatly feared has come upon me, what I dreaded has happened to me” (Job 3v25). He had obviously imagined the possibility of losing all his prosperity – but what he had not imagined was all the good that was going to come out of his loss and the way that God would recompense him (Job 42).
Pause for thought:
How as believers do we overcome our natural inclination to imagine the worst?
Imagination and FAITH
We need to guard against thinking that imagining great things is faith – that can lead to disappointment and disillusionment, but faith can be fired by a holy imagination. David did it as he faced Goliath – David imagined what he could do to him – based on his knowledge of God and practical experience of God’s work in his life (1 Samuel 17v36-37). Holy imagination is seeing what God can do, and frees the believer to rise up in faith when others would remain stuck in fear and hopelessness!
Pause for thought:
Has your faith ever been fired by your imagination?
Be transformed by the renewing of your mind” Romans 12v2
THANKFULNESS
Everything is filtered through the mind – everything we see, hear or read, the mind accepts, rejects, ponders, thinks about, worries about etc. “As he thinks in his heart – so is he” Proverbs 23v7 e.g. if we think proud thoughts - we are proud, if we think unhappy thoughts – we will be unhappy people. If we think thankful thoughts we are thankful people and thankful people are positive people. So there is great advantage to being thankful…
Being thankful is one of the ways of thinking with a renewed mind:
Giving thanks in all circumstances (I Thessalonians 5v18) This is something that doesn’t come naturally - but which those with a mind renewed by Christ can do – but we still have to choose to do it! It is worth the effort!
Giving thanks replaces negative sinful thoughts that attract God’s wrath (Ephesians 5v3-4).
Giving thanks for people Time and again the Apostle Paul thanks God for his fellow believers and what God has done in their lives (e.g. 1 Corinthians 1v4, Philippians 1v3, Colossians 1v3, Philemon 1v4) Again this does not necessarily come naturally – often people hurt, disappoint or irritate us – replacing this with thanksgiving for their good points turns our thinking around!
Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father (Ephesians 5v20) Naturally we may be able to give thanks sometimes for some things but it takes the transforming power of God to give thanks always for all things. Believers can do this because we know that in everything God is at work for good to those who love Him (Romans 8v28). If we look for the good e.g. the lessons we can learn, the mercies of God, God’s help in difficult circumstances – we can be thankful.
Giving thanks is the least we can do in response to all that God has done for us – see the story of the 10 lepers and Jesus’ dismay at human ingratitude (Luke 17v12-19).
Giving thanks in prayer takes away anxiety (Philippians 4v6) We can be naturally very anxious about many things in life but thanksgiving is the oxygen of prayer. To give thanks as well as making our requests, breathes faith and hope into our prayers and then into our minds.
Giving thanks is the threshold of worship (Psalm 100v4 and Colossians 3v15-16) We cannot really enter into worshipping God unless we are thankful. Worshipping God then transforms our lives that bit more each time we do so (2 Corinthians 3v18).
Giving thanks made way for a miracle Jesus always gave thanks before He eat and before feeding 5,000 with five loaves and two fishes and 4,000 on another occasion with 7 loaves and a few fish, He blessed them and gave thanks – making way for a miracle each time (Matthew 14v13 & 15v32). Maybe being thankful will make way for miracles in our lives that otherwise will not happen.
Pause for thought:
If you agree with the following statement, discuss ways of being more thankful in your life:
THANKFUL PEOPLE ARE POSITIVE PEOPLE – IT TAKES EFFORT BUT IT’S WORTH IT