Be Renewed In The Spirit Of Your Mind

“If indeed you heard about him and were taught in him, just as the truth is in Jesus. You were taught with reference to your former way of life to lay aside the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires, to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and to put on the new man who has been created in God’s image—in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth.” Ephesians 4:21-24 NET

Paul is making a point to those who have heard about Christ Jesus and were taught in Him, to realize that by being baptized you have declared your own death to self (the old man) and it was put into the ground by the symbolic act of going under the water and dying to the old nature, and coming out of the water as symbolizing the raising to new life in Christ, this point couldn’t be more clear.

Many of us try to utilize the flesh (our old man) to be the catalyst for the new life in Christ, the Heavenly Father will have nothing to do with it, He want’s to see Jesus brought forth from for our lives not just our flesh rejuvenated.

One thing that the Heavenly Father does is reach out to little children, even the little children that reside in each of us. The enemy of our soul tends to target little children as his victims to damage their young lives so that as adults, they never become what God had destined them to become. I have spoken with so many adults that as children they had fallen victim to someone else’s misdeeds, whether it is abuse, molestation, or even the death of significant people in their lives, they tend to bear the emotions of fear and shame connected to the event and end up acting out that trauma in different destructive ways. Depending on the severity, it can have devastating life-changing consequences upon one's life and future, how a person respond to it determines the outcome, God’s enemy knows this all too well.

There are different trains of thought regarding the topic of inner healing of damaged souls, there are some that deny that there is even such a thing as inner healing. I personally believe that our Heavenly Father wants to embrace us all as a fully integrated person, even though some may be segmented and compartmentalized into walled off protected areas of their psyche because of the trauma that they may have suffered. Our Heavenly Father loves us as we are, and He sees us as we are, and hears us when we open up to him. To be seen and heard is huge, it is what everyone wants and needs.

It is through building trust with Heavenly Father that we all can begin the process of inner healing, allowing the Father to hold us where we are broken, and begin healing those broken parts of our soul, slowly and confidently like a well-trained surgeon allowing healing and restoration to an old wound. It is through one-on-one relationship with the Father, and with other believers, that we begin this journey of restoration.

Jesus said, "If you see me, you have seen the Father." Jesus is the human representation of the Father in flesh and blood. The passage above assures us that when we lay aside the old man (the desires of the flesh), we can be renewed in the spirit of our mind and put on the new man that was created in God’s image—in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth. The truth is in Jesus, not in ourselves. Jesus bore much trauma regarding what He suffered, but He did not let the suffering He endured become an obstacle to His mission; he was constantly in the Father’s heart, communicating and sharing what the Father was giving Him to communicate and doing what the Father wanted Him to do.

Paul's message is clear: If you have been taught in Jesus, you must allow Him to live in you by the renewing of your mind with the life-giving spirit. This is a call not only to the Jews in Ephesus but to all who read his letter. Embracing the gospel is simple; do not harden your hearts but let the peace of God fill and embrace you. This is beautifully expressed in the song “Spirit Song” below by John Wimber:

"Oh let the Son Of God enfold you, with His Spirit and His love,

let Him fill your heart and satisfy your soul.

Oh let Him have the things that hold you, and His Spirit like a Dove,

will descend upon your life and make you whole.”

 

“Oh come and sing this song with gladness, as your hearts are filled with joy,

lift your hands in sweet surrender to his name.

Oh give Him all your tears and sadness, give Him all your years of pain,

and you’ll enter into life in Jesus’ name.”

Jesus oh Jesus come and fill Your lambs

Jesus oh Jesus come and fill Your lambs

Written by: John Wimber

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Stephen Barnett