Locked Up

There are “positional” or “in Him” truths that many Believers have yet to apprehend. For some Believers, The Promises of God are too far reaching to ever embrace. For others His Covenant is fantasy or an impossible dream. Without a revelation of The Love of God, His Promises will remain unattainable. 
Positional truths are not all reserved for Heaven. We do not have to wait for the time “When we all get to Heaven” to obtain them. The Savior’s Earthly Ministry in part was to secure victory for us while living on earth. It is The Father’s Heart to return us to the status mankind one experienced in the Garden of Eden. Jesus guaranteed this lofty status for us with His Eternal Blood. (Hebrews 9:11-15)
Resolve in your understanding that what JESUS endured on The Cross was sufficient for all your victories. In fact, your earthly triumphs are proof that Jesus is presently seated at The Right Hand of God. (Hebrews 7:25)
 

Locked-Up

God is a Father, and just like any respectable Parent, He desires the absolute best for His Offspring. Sadly, He has been accused of poor treatment of His Children. An overwhelming majority of Believers are convinced that it is God Who is mysteriously at work behind the adversities in their lives. Not only is He accused of mistreatment of His Children, but The Father receives the blame for all the natural disasters inflicted on humanity as well. 

The kinds of abuse that has been credited to The All Mighty should have had Him easily indicted. Actually, He should be locked-up for all of His Eternal Life. I realize that statement borders on the ridiculous, but it is no more ridiculous than ascribing such cruel behavior to our Loving Heavenly Father.

There is a time when The Father will become a Warrior. He does defend those who are in Covenant with Him. (Exodus 15:3 and Hebrews 8:6) He will come to their assistance. He does not randomly select individuals to vex to prove His Divinity. Covenant Love protects those who depend on Him. 

• “My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips” (Psalm 89:34).
• “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant” (Hebrews 13:20).

Where do we place blame? First of all – do not blame God. Even the enemy is not the blame for he is defeated. The Prophet Hosea wrote, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: ...”(Hosea 4:6) It is clear that an impoverish mind, a mind unaware of The True Character and Nature of God, is ultimately the culprit behind mankind’s destruction. 

Before we go any further, we must be reminded of The Nature of God. God is Love. (1 John 4:7-8, 16) Our Heavenly Father is ABSOLUTE LOVE. There is no malice in Him. If He were The Instrument of Destruction, as the uninformed believe, He would have to violate Himself.  Yet, even with the understanding that God is Love; some Believers will go on to say, “Well, God uses Satan to carry out His dirty work.” The enemy does not require God’s Endorsement; he is bad without any assistance. 

Remember, “My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge”. We could easily paraphrase that part of the verse to read, “My people are ignorant of My Covenant, which is why they are destroyed.” 
“There are no mountains anywhere. Every man’s ignorance is his mountain.” (Dr. David O. Oyedepo) It is ignorance of The Word that is at the core of hardships. On the other hand, to knowingly reject The Promises of God is to despise The Blood and Finished Work of Christ Jesus. (Hebrews 10:29) “...because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.” (Hosea 4:6) 
 

What is Man?

We must go back to the beginning of Creation to determine God’s Original Intent for His Man. Why are we so special? What is man? 

• “What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him? (Job 7:17)
• “LORD, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him! (Psalm 144:3)
• “But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? (Hebrews 2:6)

Adam was The Image of God - a spirit being. Adam looked exactly like His Creator. His spirit was not created. The spirit of Adam came out of God. (Hebrews 12:9) His mind or soul was spiritual also. His body was clothed with The Shekinah of God. Adam was so clothed with God’s Glory he was not aware of having a physical body. 

However unique our spirits may be, our renewed minds have been tasked with the responsibility of expressing the hidden man. (You can appreciate the importance of renewing your mind when you consider the previous statement.) (Romans 12:1-2). Adam’s thoughts were in harmony with His Creator, subsequently, he fellowshipped with God intellectually as well. Think about it, in Adam’s mind were the names of every living creation and God did not object to any of the names he gave them. (Genesis 2:19-20) Adam’s contact with God was not simply spirit to Spirit; it was also mind to Mind. 

The Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:23, “And be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” The Contemporary English Bible reads, “Let the Spirit change your way of thinking.” If we yield our minds to Holy Ghost we will understand spiritual matters. (1 Corinthians 12:1) We can alleviate guessing and come to the place of knowing spiritual things. A Spirit Filled mind should be the norm for every Believer. We should purpose to have intimate relationship with God. However, this fellowship will not be on our level, it is on The Divine Level. 
 

Love Surpasses Knowledge

(Ephesians 3:17-19 Amplified Bible) 

• 17). “May Christ through your faith [actually dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love, 
• 18). That you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints [God’s devoted people, the experience of that love] what is he breadth and length and height and depth [of it]
• 19). [That you may really come] to know [practically thought experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself.”

We have been invited to have working knowledge of God’s Supernatural Love. Natural knowledge is based on experience; however, God’s Supernatural Knowledge is based on Love – without experience. Through God’s Love we can actually gain insight into natural and spiritual mysteries and avoid the moral corruption that is in the world. 

By faith we can know The Breadth, Length, Height, and Depth of God’s Love. Is that right? Absolutely! Why? He lives in us. Natural experience is not the best teacher – Love is. The renewed mind has the capacity to comprehend The Fullness of The Invisible God; otherwise, Paul’s prayers were heretical. “[That you may really come] to know [practically through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]...” 

You and I should know God spiritually. We can also have a meaningful intellectual relationship with Love Himself. Moses received knowledge from God. His retention level was supernatural. He received the Ten Commandments, plans for the tabernacle, directions for the priest’s garments, wrote the first five books of The Bible and more. This was an Old Testament Saint with The Anointing of God on his mind. (Exodus Chapters 19 through 31) 

Revelation’s impact, on our mind, is only retained and empowered by the degree of Love’s Influence upon it. Peter and Nathanael briefly comprehended, by way of revelation, Who This Special Man was that stood before them. However, neither of them was able to maintain this revelation in their minds. (Matthew 16:16 and John 1:49) They both eventually abandoned Him. 

The fullness of God’s Love can actually be understood. Through faith, our minds can be transformed. 1Corinthians 2:16 announces “...we have the mind of Christ.” You may be thinking, “How is this possible?” It is only possible when God is The Teacher. (Isaiah 54:13, John 6:45 and John 14:26) 
Love hung Love on The Cross. Love chose to remain on The Cross. Love’s Purpose was clear. He desires mankind to come into The Knowledge of LOVE. 

“But now faith, hope, and love remain--these three. The greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13 World English Bible)

Secrets Unveiled

Over the years I have heard Christians complain they lack God’s Power in their walk of faith. They discourage themselves and others with statements like, “I can’t seem to catch a break.” Their problem is obvious; their tongue is tied to an undisciplined thought life.

Our mindset should not be, catching a break; but, demanding one. That type of boldness requires a fresh mental attitude. Sometimes while on a website I find it necessary to refresh the page I am visiting. For reasons, often unknown, I am unable to receive the content provided on that website. That is when it becomes necessary to refresh the page. Considering the days we live in; it is time to refresh our minds and receive The Priceless Content hidden in The Word of God.

“Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity” (Romans 12:2 The J. B. Phillips Translation).
Our renewed minds have been tasked with the responsibility of expressing the inner man. The renewed mind allows a greater freedom of expression of things that pertain to the spiritual realm. However, a carnally minded Believer will not accomplish much in their Christian walk. Their decision to follow sense knowledge will handcuff them to natural experiences. This will, in turn, cut them off from The Free Flow of Holy Ghost in their lives.

Natural thinking also limits the expression of a Believer’s true identity. The real you or the spirit man is greatly inhibited, even though filled with God, due to being natural minded. The carnal mind acts as a barrier or blockade, prohibiting the supernatural experience for which we were designed.
 

Thank God for THE BLOOD

“For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: 14) How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your consciencefrom dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:13-14)

There is one irrefutable cure for cleansing the carnal mind - it is THE BLOOD of JESUS. Do not limit the working of Jesus’ Blood to securing you eternally with God. The Blood is efficient in cleansing persistent sin, and accomplishes this task – again and again. In fact, in 1John 1:7 we read, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”  The Amplified Bible, from the later part of this verse, reads, “...the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses (removes) us from all sin and guilt [keeps us cleansed from sin in all its forms and manifestations].” 

The assignment of sin is to lodge itself in the soul. It intends to find expression through our thoughts and actions. It has a goal of lingering in the thoughts to pervert the mind and sway others to agree with its deviant process of thinking. Sin’s ultimately goal is to destroy lives. But, thank God for The Blood which carries The Divine Characteristics to continually cleanse us from all sin and its effects. 

“So surely the blood sacrifice of Christ can do much more. Christ offered himself through the eternal Spirit as a perfect sacrifice to God. His blood will make us completely clean from the evil we have done. It will give us clear consciences so that we can worship the living God” (Hebrews 9:14 The Easy-To-Read-Version). The Blood enables our minds to be “...completely clean from the evil we have done.” This thorough Blood Cleansing postures us to serve God with our minds. 
 

Secrets Unveiled

For us to walk in our Divine Inheritance (The Blessing of The Lord), our souls must prosper. “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers” (3 John 2 New King James Version). We can not prosper spiritually beyond our mental embrace of The Living Word. Once The Anointing of God has possession of our mind, there are no restrictions for Holy Spirit’s Flow through us. We then actually comprehend “...with God all things are possible”. (Matthew 19:26)

• “The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. 35) Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. 36) If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light” (Luke 11:34-36).

The “eye” is the conscience. (Luke 11:34 Amplified Bible) The conscience is the spiritual aspect of the mind. It is where our moral compass is set. The conscience can be swayed for good or evil.Opaque or dark knowledge clouds the human mind with worldly concepts and natural limitations. On the other hand, when our conscience is single or clear, as opposed to opaque, Divine Light will flow out of our spirits and freely into our minds. 

Some years ago The LORD challenged me to submit the knowledge I had gain, prior to my total commitment to Him, to my local church. He said, “Take all the knowledge you have gained and give it in submission as a service to your pastor.” I would like to say I willingly and promptly complied – but I did not. Pride (dark knowledge) was deceiving and misleading me into thinking no one had the right to that level of commitment except God. 

My eye was not single. Consequently, my thoughts were not single. That led to my words not being single. In my rationale and reasoning it became easy to substantiate my prideful thinking. Unknowingly, my carnal thoughts were actually opposing God.

Thank God for His Mercy. Eventually I did respond, out of a pure conscience, to His Directive. In return God is continually revealing the mysteries of the faith to me. Oh what a ride it has been! I would have missed out on many intimate exchanges with “Abba” God had I not allowed the eyes of my understanding to be enlightened. (Ephesians 1:18)

“Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience” (1 Timothy 3:9).
Abraham held in his thoughts the mystery of Isaac being raised from the dead. Peter’s mind had been so renewed that God’s Glory flowed out of him at a maximum of shadow’s length. Paul’s pure conscience allowed The Presence of God to flow out of his spirit into handkerchiefs or cloths. Evil spirits left people once those Anointed clothes were passed from Paul’s body to theirs. 

I challenge you to open your mind to allow Holy Ghost to have Lordship in your understanding. It is The Father’s Desire for us to be completely filled with Him. Allow Jesus, “The Living Word”, access into your most innermost thoughts. You will experience His Love cleansing and ordering your thoughts rightly.

“Let the Spirit change your way of thinking” (Ephesians 4:23 The Contemporary English Version).

The Purpose of Your Mind?

“Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you” (Romans 12:2 Message Bible).

The mind is a major player in God’s Plan for man. Our spiritual development is irrevocably tied to the mind. So, it is fundamentally basic that we engage our minds spiritually to be successful in our Christian walk.  What we do, or do not do, with our minds will determine our achievement in life. “I pray that you may prosper in all things and be healthy, even as your soul prospers” (3 John 2 Weymouth’s New Testament)

According to Romans 12:2, when the mind is not fixed on God and making constant adjustments towards Him, it will become accustomed to functioning just like the world. Secular cultures are on satanic assignments to fashion our thoughts to fit within its “norm”. (1 John 4:5) The world is set on influencing us to think like it, talk like it, look like it and eventually, act like it. However, we should have settled that issue long ago. Refuse to function like the world. (2 Corinthians 6:17)


Throughout Paul’s writings we read regarding his intense desire for the church to be conformed to The Word and not its surroundings. It is no different for us today. The enemy is obsessed with plans to carry us off as his trophies. Therefore, the media has devised schemes and ploys to divert our minds from serving The True God. As technology continues to develop, the list of “the must have (s)” or “I gotta get me one of those” are increasing more than ever.

Some Believers are willing to compromise themselves. They are being seduced by the world to forfeit their future for immediate or temporary gratification. You know you have fallen prey to the world when you are defined by; what you wear, what you drive and who you know. Our Father wants more for us than things and status.

Please, do not misunderstand my purpose for what I have written so far. The Bible says God has given us all things to richly enjoy. (1Timothy 6:17) However, when enjoyment crosses over to god status and then begins to dictate in what is life, it is time to reconsider what really is valuable.

“Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity” (Romans 12:2 J. B. Phillips Translation). 

However unique our individual spirits may be, our minds are tasked with the responsibility of expressing the hidden man. In essence, the spiritual mind is the gateway or portal to the realm of the spirit. If you are closed minded regarding Divine Matters, when the supernatural is displayed the mind will quickly write it off as coincidental. 
 

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

“I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.” (Psalm 139:14)
Teamed with the converted mind, the recreated spirit is poised to release The Presence of God within us and then out of us. So, the degree to which the mind is renewed will determine the amount of POWER flowing out of your life.

The mind acts as a gatekeeper. Our level of submission to God’s Word also determines the flow of power out of our spirit and through the mind. The more compliant the mind is to The Word, the more demonstrative God’s Power. 

The mind can also act as a dam to hinder the spirit man. Think about it, we can stop The Power of God from flowing through us or we can release a deluge of Glory. It is difficult for God to open the Floodgates of Heaven if He cannot open the floodgate of our minds.

We must be spiritually minded. Another way of saying this is our mind clothes the spirit man. The mind is animated by The Power of God residing in our recreated spirits. We do not live out of our mind. Rather, our mind receives its life from our spirits.Similarly, the unsaved spirit of a man empowers their minds with devilish power and they act out what is empowering them – demon powers. (Ephesians 2:2-3) 
Word based thoughts permit us to surpass natural reasoning. We can in fact process natural and supernatural thoughts beyond our human capacity. This is that point where we have heard and read where all limits are removed. The word “can’t” is removed from our vocabularies. Remember Saints, we are no mere human beings – we are filled with God Himself.

Like Adam, prior to the fall, degenerate thoughts have no dominion over us. We, because of a mind void of oppressive thoughts, can in reality think God’s Thoughts. This is what the Prophet Ezekiel experienced when he received instructions regarding the rebuilding of the Temple and the distribution of land in Ezekiel chapters 40-47.

The Original Purpose of the Mind

The Word of God regenerates or revives our mind. “Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.” (James 1:21) Peter is not writing to the unsaved, he is writing to Born Again Believers. A fresh mental attitude will begin to immerge as a result of our minds being delivered.

The original purpose of the mind is rediscovered as our thoughts become God’s Thoughts. We begin to supernaturally process the deep things of God. We understand by faith things that were previously vague and ambiguous. What was once mysterious, a thought too deep to even imagine, can actually become a normal way of thinking. (Philippians 4:8)

Doubt in the validity of God’s Word becomes impossible when we think like Him. This unyielding position regarding the legitimacy of God’s Word is directly connected to the transformed mind.

Thoughts superior to our mental capacity to comprehend spiritual matters can become so clear that our imaginations seemingly are on steroids. Knowledge of witty inventions arises to the conscience level. 

1 Corinthians 8:2 Amplified Bible reads, “If anyone imagines that he has come to know and understand much [of divine thing, things without love], he does not yet perceive and recognize and understand as strongly and clearly, nor has he become as intimately acquainted with anything as he ought or as is necessary.”

It is possible to be filled with knowledge that you did not receive through intense study or reading. Love is The Enabler which permits us to achieve this otherwise impossible task. Love is the key to discerning the world around us and comprehending God in us. God, Who is Love, knows all things.

You know we love you!