The battle for freedom is conducted in the mind. The glory of freedom is also experienced in the mind. Our dual God-human nature finds its biological anchor in the brain. The fear-based reptile brain is focused on survival only. It is in conflict often with the rational freedom-based mind to grasp and enjoy the presence of an all-providing God.
If the Spirit of Christ sets you free, you are free indeed. This freedom is the very opposite of mind control.
If I place myself in an airplane, certain of my freedoms are removed by that choice while other of my freedoms are increased. If I place myself in the very heart of Jesus, I have restricted my freedom to “sin,” while increasing my freedom to glorify God.
The “quality” of our thinking increases exponentially when we align our thinking with the mind of Christ. This kind of thinking is based on abundance, provision, wisdom, love, peace, and right choice.
How does this “alignment” of thinking occur? It begins with knowledge of who God and Jesus are. It begins with an understanding of the power of the Holy Spirit. That is, it begins with basic knowledge. That knowledge is followed by a choice. It is a “choice” of both the mind and the heart. The “choice” is also an act of trust faith and hope. There is a decision to go forward from a place of being “stuck” in a dead-end material world to being truly “free” in a new spiritual world beyond our actual vision.
Once that decision is made, spiritual gifts are bestowed on the believer. Also, an individual undergoes a gradual spiritual transformation of character. The person becomes more “Christ-like.” Sometimes quickly, and sometimes over many years, an individual begins to see a change in his own character, a change that defies and transcends any “self-improvement” program.
With this change, an individual moves from passive receiving to active giving. A maturation occurs in which an individual realizes that he is in the service of a King and that he lives within a spiritual kingdom here and now. The dominant emotion and motivation of this entire transformational process is love.
ROMANS 12:2 “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
If the Spirit of Christ sets you free, you are free indeed. This freedom is the very opposite of mind control.
If I place myself in an airplane, certain of my freedoms are removed by that choice while other of my freedoms are increased. If I place myself in the very heart of Jesus, I have restricted my freedom to “sin,” while increasing my freedom to glorify God.
The “quality” of our thinking increases exponentially when we align our thinking with the mind of Christ. This kind of thinking is based on abundance, provision, wisdom, love, peace, and right choice.
How does this “alignment” of thinking occur? It begins with knowledge of who God and Jesus are. It begins with an understanding of the power of the Holy Spirit. That is, it begins with basic knowledge. That knowledge is followed by a choice. It is a “choice” of both the mind and the heart. The “choice” is also an act of trust faith and hope. There is a decision to go forward from a place of being “stuck” in a dead-end material world to being truly “free” in a new spiritual world beyond our actual vision.
Once that decision is made, spiritual gifts are bestowed on the believer. Also, an individual undergoes a gradual spiritual transformation of character. The person becomes more “Christ-like.” Sometimes quickly, and sometimes over many years, an individual begins to see a change in his own character, a change that defies and transcends any “self-improvement” program.
With this change, an individual moves from passive receiving to active giving. A maturation occurs in which an individual realizes that he is in the service of a King and that he lives within a spiritual kingdom here and now. The dominant emotion and motivation of this entire transformational process is love.
ROMANS 12:2 “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
The Daily Peanut 