RENEWAL OF THE MIND

RENEWAL OF THE MIND

by Kathryn Bonner

What do Mind and Spirit Have To Do With One Another?

"The unspiritual self, just as it is by nature, can't receive the gifts of God's Spirit. There's no capacity for them. They seem like so much silliness. Spirit can be known only by spirit-God's Spirit and our spirits in open communion. Spiritually alive, we have access to everything God's Spirit is doing, and can't be judged by unspiritual critics. Isaiah's question, "Is there anyone around who knows God's Spirit, anyone who knows what he is doing?" has been answered: Christ knows, [we have the mind of Christ] and we have Christ's Spirit."

1 Corinthians 2: 15-16 The Message [NIV]

What do you notice immediately here? I see from the first verse listed here, we have "TWO SELVES" an UNspiritual self and a Spiritual self. Thinking about this causes me to burst with passion here! Which "SELF" do you want to live by? For me, and I'm sure for most of you reading this choose your SPIRITUAL SELF. But wait a minute, let's look at this a bit deeper.... go with me here... If we are to be honest with ourselves and were to answer the question: "What percentage of your daily life is lived through your SPIRITUAL SELF vs. your UNspiritual Self?" What would your answer be? Why is it that our UNspiritual self gets such a hold on us? God has given us healthy minds gifted with the power of choice. So why aren’t we choosing to live more fully into our SPIRITUAL Selves? Do we fear this kind of living? Do we? I think we do, and yet I think we want it, even crave it. Then fear creeps in and snatches it away.

The very next part of the sentence states that the Unspiritual self can’t even receive the gifts of God’s Spirit!!! Oh my gosh! That answers SO much. When we choose not to live as the Spirit leads then we basically have what I will call our “Spiritual Antenna” down. We fail to pick up on the leading of the Spirit, we fail to connect with God, our ears are plugged up, our hearts are hardened, our minds aren’t receiving through the Spirit, or the mind of God. Why in the world do we choose this self, the Unspiritual Self? And what’s more, we fail to see the power, the untapped amounts of real life that we could have. We see it from a warped lens, seeing it as “silliness” as ridiculous, stupid, or absurd. It’s like we voluntarily choose to live a powerless life. A life unfulfilled, disgruntled, and dissatisfied. Why? Why are we choosing this over what is readily available to us? What’s here? What’s the reason for this kind of choosing? I know we all do it, I know we blindly choose it. Is it because we are so used to choosing this kind of living? Are we just not really aware?

Well, we need to be AWARE of what we are choosing. Because once we become aware, then our AWARENESS DEMANDS ACTION. Even doing nothing is an action. We need to be awakened to our full potential to live alive, to live powerful lives. To live into our SPIRITUAL selves. As I become more aware and contemplate the power of the Mind and the Spirit, I become absolutely enthralled, especially when contemplating them coupled together. Once we become aware of the action we can choose we can live awakened lives, with the Spirit and mind of Christ. Why do we want to miss that? What would happen if you were to choose this, for one day, one week, one month, one quarter, one year, ONE WHOLE LIFE? What would be different for you? What would be different for the world?

The passage goes on to say these things “Spirit can be known only by spirit-God's Spirit and our spirits in open communion. Spiritually alive, we have access to everything God's Spirit is doing, and can't be judged by unspiritual critics. Isaiah's question, "Is there anyone around who knows God's Spirit, anyone who knows what he is doing?" has been answered: Christ knows, [we have the mind of Christ] and we have Christ's Spirit.”

What we have here is a gift that has been lovingly and powerfully delivered to us, living within us is both the Spirit and Mind of Christ, IF we choose it.

“Spirit can be known only by Spirit, God’s Spirit and our spirits in open communion” ummm ummm ummm… I LOVE this! I KNOW this; my Spirit resonates completely with this. When I am in the company of others who are “Spiritually alive” my Spirit recognizes this in them immediately, I know yours does the same. We together in communion recognize this within each other. We feel and experience the power of the Spirit in one another.

Let me share another Scripture with you. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting the baby (John) leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Luke 1:41

This confirms what the 1 Corinthians passage above is telling us. Spirit can be known by Spirit, God’s Spirit and our Spirits in open communion. Spiritually alive! I love this! --Elizabeth was then at least six months pregnant as v. 36 tells us. She notes the reality that John "leaped" in her womb as an indication of his joy that Mary, who would bear the Messiah, had come for a visit. The Holy Spirit also came upon Elizabeth then making it known to her to greet Mary as the mother of Messiah. The Spirit evidently gave her intuitive understanding of Mary's role. She expressed her blessing excitedly in joyful praise to God and because of the Spirit's propelling.

I have had my Spirit rise with joy when I am with others who love God. It’s amazing the connection (that communion) – we feel when our Spirit recognizes the Spirit in another human being. I have some really deep soul/Spirit connections with some amazing women, especially on the WPPI Team, and together we grab hold of our God-given passions and go! Have you had your Spirit rise with this amazing joy at a Holy Spirit connection with someone? I’m sure you have. You might not have called it that, but I really want you to become more and more aware of these things of the Spirit. I believe we all experience our Spirit’s rise with joy when we are with others who love God! It’s amazing the kind of connection that comes forth, AND the more power we have together in the Spirit, BECAUSE WE HAVE ACCESS TO EVERYTHING GOD’S SPIRIT IS DOING, we have the Spirit living and dwelling within us. We begin to live our lives with more and more of the Mind of Christ; living out our callings with His power, and His will. His will is amazing and truly rocks! We begin seeing the world more as He does and start doing and being and living by the Spirit…

Let our challenge be to live out this verse in our living! Let us choose our God-given SPIRITUAL SELVES! May you live in that amazing POWER today and always!