The Renewed Mind – The Battle is for Your Mind – A Renewed Mind Happens Every Day

From Ps. Anne – The Renewed Mind – The Battle is for Your Mind – A Renewed Mind Happens Every Day

One of my favourite subjects to talk about is the Renewed Mind.  We come to Jesus, He becomes our Lord, but what then?  What do we have to do to make a difference in our lives and a difference in how we see ourselves and others?

First let me say, two of the Bible verses we need to know and understand as Christians, either new Christians or in fact even as older Christians are:

Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you can prove what is the good and acceptable will of God (for your life).

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but are mighty in God for the pulling down of strongholds and casting down arguments and every high thing which exalts itself above the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive unto Jesus.

I will come back to these verses but let me say – there are two kingdoms who are in eternal conflict and these two kingdoms are fighting to be the one who has the most input into your mind.  Your mind is the ultimate prize worth fighting for.  Your mind will decide where you spend eternity, and the two kingdoms are the Kingdom of Light and the Kingdom of Darkness.  God and Satan, both want you!  God and Satan will not give up on you while there is breath in your body and life in your limbs.

Satan does not come to you with evil thoughts and dreadful ideas – sometimes he does – but most often he comes with the same kind of temptations he tried using with Jesus – worldly ideas, prideful thoughts, tempting and yet innocent sounding propositions which would give you greater prestige, power, popularity.  He appeals subtly to our personal pride or ambitions, or he uses his very first weapon – doubt.  Matthew 4 and Luke 4 have the three temptations Satan tried to use on Jesus and each time Jesus had an answer.  That answer was in the Word of God,

What are the three temptations in Matthew 4 and Luke 4?

The three temptations which Matthew records give an insight into the issues that Jesus was possibly wrestling with during His forty days in the wilderness:

“Tell these stones to become bread” – The first dilemma which Jesus faced was how to use His miraculous power, whether to use it for selfish reasons or to help others. Jesus denied Himself the opportunity to satisfy His hunger, even though He had been fasting for forty days and nights. This shows that He is not concerned with material things but with spiritual food given by God.

“Throw yourself down” – Jesus was told to throw Himself from the highest point of the temple. On this one occasion the Devil Himself quoted scripture. Again, the challenge to Jesus was to misuse His power. But it also asked Jesus to prove that He was the Messiah and that God really cared for Him. This question was an important one for Jesus to deal with because He would be faced with it again and again as people questioned His identity and authority.

“Bow down and worship me” – This temptation tested Jesus’ devotion to God and any desire He may have had for political power or worldly power. However, Jesus showed that His idea of a Messiah was not one who had political power but one who put God’s kingdom first.

Jesus responds to each temptation with a quotation from the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy. This shows that when Jesus is tempted and feels He was in a difficult situation, He used to God’s word as His weapon of choice.

As a result of the temptations, Jesus was stronger and more prepared for His ministry because He had rejected three false ways of doing His task:

• providing only for people’s material needs.
• using His power to do miraculous tricks and win popularity.
• giving in to evil in order to gain political power.

Jesus is, was and will always be the Word of God – and it is only by the Word can our minds be renewed. He is the ultimate answer in “It is written solutions for our lives.”