Renewing the Mind

The Very first command from Jesus upon launching his Ministry was to change the way we think. Mark 1:15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

GROUP QUESTION: What does the word repent mean? (you would be surprised how many Christians do not know this, the first command from Jesus upon launching his ministry.)

No repent does not mean to turn away from your sin. It includes that, but that's not what it means. The definition of the word repent means to change your mind. The Greek word is metanoia where we get the word metamorphosis (meta) and noia (mind). Yes, it includes turning away from sin, to forgive, etc, but in order to do that you need to change how you think about that sin. So ultimately, Jesus says before you believe, you change your mind first. You need to know what the new thing is to believe don't you? Repent first, then believe in the gospel.

GROUP QUESTION: Why is it important to have repentance before faith (believing)?

Nothing will change in your life if your mind is not renewed. Change ultimately happens in the heart but you have to know about it first? Jesus saves! But you have to know about it first. So if the mind is not changed nothing else will change. Sin will remain the same because your mind is not renewed about that sin. It’s not just about being forgiven, but we need to walk in a different direction now.

The reason many Christians still struggle with sin (or faith) is because their mind has not renewed in that area. They don’t understand how destructive sin is so they try to keep it under control and eventually give in. But when you study it in the bible you will learn how evil and destructive it is and learn to hate the sin where you want nothing to do with it. We cannot have a casual approach to sin for example. Its deadly.

Romans 12:9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor (Hate) what is evil. Cling to what is good.

(AMP) 9 Love is to be sincere and active [the real thing—without guile and hypocrisy]. Hate what is evil [detest all ungodliness, do not tolerate wickedness]; hold on tightly to what is good.

I struggled with sin before only to fall right back into it because I never renewed my mind about it. I soon realized I need to study that specific sin. Then I would get Christian books listen to messages and see what the Word of God says about it. I was changing my mind about it and the Holy Spirit was leading me into that truth to destroy that stronghold. I understood how that specific sin was so destructive and how the enemy uses it at an access point in our lives, I soon ended up detesting (hating) that sin and holding on tightly to what was good.

GROUP QUESTION: Can you recall a moment when renewed thinking changed your behavior or broke a pattern in your life? What shifted in your understanding?

The Holy Spirit cannot guide you daily if you have no Word in you. Your life and belief must first line up with the Word. Then the Spirit of Truth will use that Word to direct your steps. It’s not the Holy Spirit first, it’s the Word of God first, and then the Holy Spirit lines up with the Word.

Galatians 5:16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Your physical body does what it's told. If your mind doesn't line up with the word then your body won't line up with the word. Walking in the spirit is a mindset. That's lines up with the Word. If your mind is not renewed neither is your spirit. Walk in the spirit or Walk with the mind set on Gods word and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh or the strong intense appetites of the flesh. The flesh has its own intense appetites based in selfishness. What is the flesh? Your physical body is based in your mindset. It's based on a mindset (a carnal mind) that goes against or does not line up with the Word of god.

GROUP DISCUSSION: What are the consequences of not renewing our minds daily with the Word of God?

Romans 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

If you're tempted to do something that does not line up with the word, then you need to purposely set it to do something that does line up with the word. However your mind is set, whether it's on the Word or not… That's what you will end up doing.

GROUP QUESTION: How do you recognize when you are being “carnally minded” versus “spiritually minded”? What symptoms show up in each direction?

Colossians 3:2 (AMP) Set your mind and keep focused habitually on the things above [the heavenly things], not on things that are on the earth [which have only temporal value].

Your mind is the battleground for faith. If your mind is set on the Word you will end up walking in the Word. Just like an alarm clock.

Joshua 1:8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

GROUP QUESTION: Why do many Christians know Scripture but still fail to experience transformation? What role does meditation on the Word play in turning knowledge into change?

Romans 12:1-3 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. 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.

Don't be conformed to the world’s ways of thinking, operating, and ways of doing things. It is based in selfishness operates by fear and Satan is the lord of that system. The world’s way will contradict and twist the things of God. It is set against the Word of God.

Ephesians 4:22 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; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

GROUP QUESTION: What important things have you had to change your thinking about and what did you learn? (ex. money, relationships, healing)

When you renew your mind you change. Transformation will not happen if you don't renew the mind. If your mindset stays the same then your money problems, sickness, addictions.. Stays the same. Nothing changes until the mind changes. It doesn't matter how much you go to church, read books, and listen to sermons. If your mind does not change with that information, nothing else will change. Renew your mind change your life and understand and prove the perfect will of God.

Everything about success, faith, failure in your life will be based on whether you renew your mind or not. When you understand what the Word says, then you KNOW what belongs to you. You have boldness. You use it with that knowledge. You have to know what Gods promises are. Until you know what you know, you will not change and the enemy will deceive you. All you will do is complain, and that will make it worse.

Christianity is about being transformed in the image of Christ. The Christian walk is not just a spiritual walk but an intellectual walk. Christian progress and success is not possible, will not happen unless you renew the mind. 30 years can pass you by and you will remain the same if you do not renew your mind. Renewing the mind is not just a one-time event. The day you stop renewing the mind, your life stops, the spiritual growth stops. Every issue you face will require what you know about the Word. I need to think differently about this. How do you do that? You line up your thinking to what the Word says about that situation.

Renewing the mind is simply exchanging the thoughts, ideas and beliefs you have to change to Gods thoughts, ideas, and beliefs. It’s that simple. Don’t change the Word, let the Word change your thinking. Some people get in problems and then want God to fix it, just to get in another problem because they refuse to renew their minds. This includes financial, healing, any area. Some people get miracles, and slowly, because of their renewed mind, they lose it.

GROUP QUESTION: Has there ever been a time when God got you out of a mess, but you ended up back in it because your mindset didn’t change?

Romans 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

Being carnally minded is not just about sinful actions—it's a way of thinking that puts self or the world first, rather than God. For example a person gets a drug addiction spirit cast out, and they are free. On the way home they throw the drugs out of their window and a week later they out there looking for the drugs. They failed to renew their minds. When a demon goes out of a person, it comes back with 7 spirits more wicked and finds the house swept clean. Notice it’s empty. It hasn’t been filled with the Holy Spirit, it hasn’t learned anything new. They think well maybe it didn’t work. Maybe I’m just too bad that God don’t want to deal with me. And all they needed was a new way of thinking about those drugs. Wrong thinking will get you back in bondage. Right thinking will keep you out.

Romans 8 said what’s on the line if you refuse to renew your mind. Death. In the story of the prodigal son, Look at what changed his situation?

Luke 15:17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,…. 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.

When was he dead? When he was carnally minded. This separated him from his father and His provision. The new thought, the new mindset turned him. Wrong thinking got him in the problem of the situation, but right thinking brought him to the father and his provision.

When the prodigal son came back he repented. He did not come back with excuses. He was willing to work and do whatever it took to get the father to forgive him. Repentance means to change the way you think. Most people never repent, they just say forgive me. They failed to change the mindset only to do it again later.

GROUP QUESTION: Are there any areas where you currently need to change how you think?