BE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR …

1 1 CHAPTER 7 "BE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND""THEY HAD ALLOWED THEMSELVES TO STRAY AWAY FROM THEWORD (WILL) OF GOD INTO RELATIONSHIP WITH THE WORLD ANDITS WAYS".."I urge you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodiesa living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service ofworship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be TRANSFORMED by the renewingof your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good andacceptable and " Romans 12 "Put the trumpet to your lips! Like an eagle the enemy comes against thehouse of the Lord, because they have transgressed My covenant and rebelled againstMy law. They cry out to Me, My God we of Israel know thee! Israel has rejected thegood, the enemy will pursue they sow the wind and they reap the whirlwind.

2 The standing grain has no heads, it yields no grain. Should it yield, strangerswould swallow it up".. Hosea 8:1-3,7As the Lord spoke this ominous warning to His people, through the prophetHosea, He was addressing a problem which - throughout the ages - has repeated itselfover and over again in the midst of God's people. They had "allowed" themselves tostray away from the Word of God into relationship with the world and its ways, andbecause of this the enemy (Satan) was able to continually attack the people of Godto steal, kill or destroy in their midst. "THE BORN AGAIN CHILD OF GOD WAS NEVER MEANT TO FUNCTIONIN THEIR OWN UNDERSTANDING"In this last hour the trumpet has once again been raised to the lips of those whoserve God from a pure heart. Over the nearly two thousand years since the day ofPentecost Satan has attempted to feed small dosages of his insidious lies into thechurch in order to deceive Christians into relying on (exercising faith in) their own2understanding - that is to say, the flesh.

3 Any part of the child of God's"understanding" which does not have as its source, the revealed knowledge of God'sWord - that is, the knowledge of God's Word "revealed" to their by the Holy Spirit -is based on the darkened wisdom of the "world" system. The born-again child of Godwas NEVER meant to function in their own understanding, but rather to be renewedin their "thinking" to the living Word of God - in order that by the Holy Spirit theymight understand and see ALL things according to the wisdom of God (Proverbs 3:5)(Proverbs 28:5). "TO THE DEGREE ONE PLACES THE WORD OF GOD AS THEIR TOPPRIORITY, IT IS TO THAT VERY SAME DEGREE THIS PROCESS OFTHE RENEWAL OF THE MIND WILL MANIFEST ITSELF IN THEIRLIVES"For too long the church - as a whole - has "allowed" themselves to be dictatedto and influenced by the world! It is certain that the time has come for us, as childrenof God, to forsake ANY worldly ways and live by the Word of God alone - seekingdiligently to be led by the Spirit in ALL things.

4 The first and foremost step forEVERY believer must be for them to base their entire lives upon the "revealed" Wordof God! In doing this, their mind and their thinking will begin to conform to the Word(Will) of God rather than to the wisdom of this world - and the self-desire that it bothsustains and fuels. To the degree one places the Word of God as their top priority, itis to that very same degree this process of the "renewal" of the mind will manifestitself in their lives. The believer who truly loves God will, ultimately, have to separatethemselves from everything which would hinder their spiritual growth - in order towalk in the "fulness" of the Father's perfect will for their life. This takes a true anddeep repentance (change of heart) and a revelation of the Father's love - for one doesnot give up what one "loves" (lusts after) unless it is superceded by a greater love. CAN THERE BE ANY DOUBT AS TO WHAT WE HAVE BEEN CALLEDTO?

5 In Luke 10:27 the Word of God states: .."You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, andwith all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself"..3 From this passage we can clearly see the "absoluteness" of our calling and,therefore, we must put ourselves in the position - in obedience to the will of theFather - to be trained and taught by the Holy Spirit in ALL things - "divinely"prepared for every good (righteous) work. It must be clearly understood by everyChristian that a "good work" is not something that we "think" is in accordance withthe will of God. It is a work which initiates in the heart of the Father and is "revealed"to us by the Holy Spirit in our spirit. For too long many of God's children have"allowed" themselves to be deceived into continually sowing to the flesh - as far astheir spiritual service is concerned.

6 Because of this, the Evil One continually controlsand neutralizes their spiritual effectiveness as they continue to lean upon their ownunderstanding (Jeremiah 1:16) (2 Timothy 1:9). It is time for EVERY true believerto judge themselves in light of God's Word and begin to conform themselves to whothe Bible says they are (in Christ). Gaining a revelation of one's glorious inheritancewill break down - and eliminate (bring to nothing) - ANY influence that the spirit ofthe world has had in their lives, and they shall be found serving God from a pure heart(2 Timothy 2:21-22)."IF ONE TRULY LOVES GOD THEN THEY WILL CONTINUALLY SEEKOUT HIS WORD (WISDOM) AND ACKNOWLEDGE HIM IN ALL OFTHEIR WAYS AND CIRCUMSTANCES"As we read in Luke 10:27 we must love the Lord our God with ALL of ourheart. How then do we do this? Jesus said in John 14:15:.."If you love Me you will keep My commandments".. Therefore, it is quite clear that we must "know" what those commandments areif we are going to keep them!

7 It is for this reason that if one truly loves God then theywill continually seek out His Word (wisdom) and acknowledge Him in ALL of theirways and circumstances - rather than leaning upon their own understanding. As thebeliever continually "practices" this habit of bringing every thought captive to theWord of God, their mind will be gloriously TRANSFORMED and renewed and they shallbegin to discern ALL things spiritually - and with perfect accuracy. "IT IS THROUGH THE MIND (THOUGHT-LIFE) THAT THE EVIL ONECONTINUALLY ATTEMPTS TO KEEP THE CHILDREN OF GOD INBONDAGE"4As long as the child of God is inclined to lean upon - and, thus, exercise - the"flesh" they will not be able to recognize their Enemy - who will continually attemptto hide behind the mask of flesh and blood, causing them to keep their "focus" off ofhim, and on their physical circumstances and their natural emotions. It is through thisavenue of deception that the Evil One is able to continually neutralize the believer'seffectiveness against himself.

8 It is through the "mind" (thought-life) that the Evil Onecontinually attempts to keep the children of God in bondage, therefore, one mustcome to see clearly the importance of bringing "every" thought captive to a perfectobedience (revelation of the Father's will) in Christ. In these most glorious days wemust whole-heartedly seek to present our bodies a living and holy sacrifice as well -as allow ourselves to be TRANSFORMED by the RENEWING of our minds - for our successor failure depends upon our diligence in this area!"IT IS BOTH A STRANGE AND TRAGIC THING IN THE EYES OF THEFATHER THAT MANY OF HIS CHILDREN ARE STILL SUFFERINGUNDER THE BONDAGE OF THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH"In Proverbs 8:13 (Amplified Translation) the Word of God states: .."The reverent fear and worshipful awe of the Lord includes the hatred ofevil. Pride, arrogance, the evil way, and perverted and twisted speech I hate"..From this scripture we can see two things: first we can see clearly the disdainwhich the Father has for anything which is a manifestation of evil and, secondly, wecan see the need to remove ourselves from any way which would cause us to lean onour own understanding rather than on the wisdom of God.

9 Because many children ofGod have, for the most part, failed to obey the commandment of God to be separatedfrom "heart-fellowship" with the world (Romans 12:2) (James 4:4), they have"allowed" themselves to be lured into a position outside the covenants of promise thatthey have with the Father, in Christ - and there is great danger in this! It was exactlythis situation that the Spirit of God was speaking of in Hosea 8:1. In this last hourmany have "transgressed" the covenant and rebelled against the Word of God -thereby "allowing" Satan and his forces to set them up for a fall. It is both a strangeand tragic thing in the eyes of the Father that many of His children are still sufferingunder the bondage of the law of sin and death when, in reality, all this time (the lastnearly two thousand years) they have been redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb(Galatians 3:13)! 5"HOW EASILY WORDS WHICH ARE NOT IN ACCORDANCE WITH THETRUTH FLOW FORTH FROM THE MOUTHS OF THOSE WHO DO NOTKNOW THE FATHER INTIMATELY"How much the heavenly Father loves each one of His children, and how oftenHe is misunderstood by those who "mentally ascend" to His love - basing all on"notions" which proceed from their own darkened understanding.

10 How blessed is theone who seeks His face in all things for they shall surely find and experience theloving and tender heart of the Father towards them. Often He has been maligned asa cruel and difficult Father who does not meet the needs of His children or one whoremains silent in the face of His children's adversity. These are lies direct from the pitof Hell - and should be treated as such! How easily words which are not inaccordance with the Truth flow forth from the mouths of those who do not "know"the Father intimately, but on the other hand how the praises flow forth from the heartsof those who have experienced the richness of His tender love. As long as the childof God holds onto a distorted or perverted image of the Heavenly Father they will notopen their hearts wide to Him nor will they trust Him to meet their needs (spirit, souland body) - and because of this they will continue to lean upon their ownunderstanding in an effort to sustain themselves.