“…But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.”-{Romans 8:6}
WHY is it important that the Mind Be Ruled By The SPIRIT?
Because the first and greatest commandment says, ” He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”-{Luke 10:27}. Why is it important that the MIND be ruled, controlled by the Holy Spirit? So that we can love God, intelligently, accurately, and not end up with creating a god of our own imagination as did the people whom He delivered from Egypt, and they made an image of a golden calf and said this is the God who delivered us. They created a dumb idol, could not move, speak, needed them to help move it. And they said it was the God who delivered them. How insane is sin.Spiritual insanity. How deceived their minds and corrupt their hearts. “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?”– {Jeremiah 17:9}.
” When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.” Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”
When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the Lord.” So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’ “I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people. ” -{Exodus 32:1-9}.
The golden calf was useless, sinful, dishonoring the One true God. The people gave credit to something other than God. They made their own “gods,” and in doing so it took away from His Glory. That is stealing, what is rightly belonging to Him and attributing it to something or someone else! Why did they do this? Their impatience on waiting on Moses who had gone to speak with the lord. They had been quick to turn way from what the LORD had commanded them and into idolatry and they were “corrupt,” a “stiff necked people,” who attributed the work of God to something else! It’s a little like the “self made man or woman” who forgets ‘what d you have that you have not received.” taking for themselves Glory for what God has allowed the to have. Conceited, arrogant, self deceived, “CORRUPT”of heart, turning away from God to give glory to… themselves!
Don’t touch His Glory. Don’t Take His Glory, but Do Tell of His Glory!
Idolatry is placing something or someone else in His place!
Also remember that the Scripture teaches behind every idol is a demon. “No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons. ” -{1 Cor 10:20}
“…we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.”-{1 Cor 8:4}
If we are to love Him we must THINK rightly of Him which is revealed where? His Word. If we are to love our neighbor, how will we know how to? It is revealed in His WORD.
For example there are over fifty verses on what we are to be to “one another” as Christians. How we should treat one another for example it teaches we are to “accept one another; bear one another’s burdens; care for one another; be devoted to one another, encourage one another; forgive one another, honor one another, be kind to one another, love one another, prefer one another…etc. And for our enemies it teaches to bless them, do good, pray for them… and we learn from HIS WORD not to return evil for evil but instead return with good. How would we know how to love if our minds are not being renewed by the Spirit of God through His means the Word of God. How would we know the revealed will of God if not through the WORD OF GOD. -{Read Rom 12:1-3}.
How would we know what is acceptable worship to God if not through the Word of God which is HIS WORD. We must think rightly about Him, His Person, character to ascribe true worship to Him. “Who is like You among the gods, O LORD? Who is like You, majestic in holiness, Awesome in praises, working wonders?’–{Exodus 15;11}
How could we understand apart from the Spirit of God residing in us as our Teacher, Reminding us when we forget, inspiring and empowering us to desire and do His will and to what end? “…. for HIS GOOD PLEASURE”-{Read Phil 2:13}
The Holy Spirit- The Spirit of Truth;
The Holy Spirit Will GUIDE us;
” But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; “- {John 16:13}
The Holy Spirit Will REMIND us;
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. “-{John 14:26}.
The Holy Spirit will INSPIRE and EMPOWER US; ” For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. “-{Phil 2;13 NLT}
The Word Of God- The Word Of Truth
“If you continue in My WORD AND YOU WILL KNOW THE TRUTH AND THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE.”-{John 8;31-32}. “Whatever is TRUE…DWELL on Theses Things.”-{Phil 4:8}. The word “DWELL” to consider, evaluate, calculate.Live there make truth your home for your mind, so as to influence your choices-{Read Phil 4;9}. God is True,-{Read John 17:3}; His Word is True,-{Read John 17:17} Jesus is the Truth-{Read John 14:6}. So thinking rightly about God, His character His Word and His Son, are great and glorious themes to occupy our mind with. The Truth is found in His Word, which is TRUTH {Read John 17:17; Psalm 119:151}. So if we want to know what is truth, then we give our attention to the Word of God,which is the Word of Truth, in order to think on truth, to know truth, to be conformed to truth that reveals the life of the LORD Jesus who He is,and who you are “In Christ,” what He has for you, and the reality of things are truly in this world and the world to come!
Thank God for His generosity, graciousness in providing us with “everything pertaining to life and Godliness…”-{Read 2 Peter 1:3-4}. He has gifted us the Holy Spirit to teach us, empower us,illumine and bring to remembrance His Word to us, so that we might know God better and who we are “in Christ,” and what we have through Him and His revealed will for us.
“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.-{Deut 29:29}
“Your word is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path.” -{Psalm 119;105}
Jesus on the road to Emmaus with the two despondent disciples opened their mind to understand the Scriptures,”And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself. “- {Luke 24:27}. Look to Jesus. Look for Jesus when you read.
If we did not have the Spirit of God and the WORD of God we would be like the lost, heathen, bowing down to idols and honoring them as though they were God, we would be blasphemers, idolaters. Perhaps today, it may not be a stone,or a golden calf, it maybe prestige, fame, materialism that a person bows down to. It can be a religious system and that is all it is, man made but not reality, not the one True and Living GOD… and so we come to His WORD THAT we may KNOW THE GOD WHOSE WORD IT IS and Love Him, truthfully, accurately, with all our being and that includes what we think of Him . And how do we know what to THINK of Him? He has revealed Himself through His Word,” And beginning with Moses and ALL the prophets He revealed himself in ALL the SCRIPTURE.”{Read Luke 24:27}.
THINK RIGHT- {READ PHIL 4:8}
DO RIGHT -{PHIL 4:9}
WHY is it important that the Mind Be Ruled By The SPIRIT AND The Word of God?
So that we know how to think right about Him in order to love Him, worship Him aright.
Guard your mind, Renew your mind! – {Read Rom 12;2}… and also as our mind is governed, controlled by the Holy Spirit, it leads to life and PEACE! -{Read Rom 8;6}
“…But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.”-{Romans 8:6}.
God Bless,
Aidam