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Part 1
In Romans 7:23(NLT), The Apostle Paul describes for us the struggle that takes place in all of us today. He said, “But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind.” From this, we can understand that there are two powers within our human temple, and these two forces are working against one another. There can be no doubt that the principal power is that of the mind, because it’s function is supreme. Fighting against the power of the mind is the power of the flesh. Both are serious forces to be reckoned with, but here’s the astonishing, immeasurable difference between the two: one is temporary, and the other is forever.
The nature of spirit is expression. John 4:24 (KJV) tells us, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” God is God all by Himself! How many times have you heard this phrase? It’s a pretty common one, and we know with certainty that it is true. Heavenly Father doesn’t need anyone or anything to be God. He’s sovereign, all-powerful, all-knowing, and everywhere present; yet, we also know that God is love.
Love is the most dynamic aspect of God’s identity, and it is through love that we, the objects of His love, can identify Him. God expresses His essence, the very nature of His being, through love.
We are made in God’s image. We are spirit beings, with a soul, all housed in a body. With the gift of eternal life made available through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the spirit and soul are permanent fixtures; the body is not. The body that you and I have today is a practice suit.
Our intelligence would be stifled if we believed that the existence of our own spirit being began only at the point that our bodies were conceived. Ephesians 1:4 (NKJV) tells us, “Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” You and I do not have a way of quantifying time before the foundation of the world, but we can be sure that it was a really, really, really long time ago.
God handpicked us out. He chose us to be His very own. We were preordained—predestined to be without blame. We were chosen to stand continually before Him; dipped, clothed, wrapped in His love. This is our destiny. This is the thing that drives us even when we do not recognize we are being driven.
Our full expression of God’s love is more than a call. As spirit beings that belong to Him, it is the very breath of our existence. Anything in our lives that is at odds with this destiny must be expelled, and therein lies the struggle.
To exist in balance, and to be synchronized to the Plan and Will of God, we absolutely must, beyond any question or doubt, renew our minds. For as Christ is head to the body of believers, our mind is head to the body and soul. Even the Holy Spirit that indwells us will not violate the will of the mind.
In this practice suit, you are learning to reign in the Spirit. It is practice for the day in which the now useful will make way for the more useful. Jesus Christ demonstrated this for us. As we ponder the dynamically powerful and loving example of Jesus Christ, who walked and talked with the disciples and taught them Kingdom truths, it is almost unbelievable to fathom that anything could be better or more useful. Yet Jesus told them in John 16:7 (NKJV), “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.”
With growth and evolution, the useful must always, always make room for the more useful. The blessing must always make room for the greater blessing. So we know concretely that the purpose of the useful is to present the foundation upon which growth and evolution can continue. It was always God’s plan that we should be full of the Holy Ghost. It was always His plan that we should operate within the confounds of a body. However, the full expression of His love dictates that our wills can never be violated to achieve this. He has given us the gift of free-will, and Romans 11:29 tells us that His gifts will never be withdrawn.
Jesus Christ has made it possible for us to have God’s gift of Holy Spirit operating internally. As you can see and will no doubt agree, we have a temple with amazing capacity. Many of us have never taken the time to thank God for just how intricately and brilliantly we have been fashioned, but we must make time to do this and do it often.
The body that we will have after Jesus Christ returns will be far superior to the one we currently have. The Apostle Paul told us in 2Corinthians 5:1-5(NLT):
“For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. 2 We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. 3 For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. 4 While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. 5 God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.”
In this earthly realm, we are learning to reign with the dominion and authority of Jesus Christ in a body. This is the only way we will be fit and prepared for what is to come. Learning to govern the body temple with the mind of Christ is critical to what God has prepared for those He has called, and we have been given the Holy Spirit as an internal teacher and guide. He, the Spirit, is preparing us for heavenly bodies.
Your mind is key, and if you have allowed it to be ruled by your body, it will be transformed by the world and not renewed according to the standard of Christ. You cannot capture your destiny this way. The enemy’s chief mission is to steal the focus of our minds, so that we are so concerned and consumed with the world that we will not discipline ourselves to learn, grow, and develop as spirit beings of Christ. We must recognize the trickster and the trick.
The Holy Spirit that indwells you knows where you need to be, when you need to be there, and how to get you there. He knows the amazing destiny that God has planned for you, and you must feed your mind with God’s miraculous, life-giving Word, so that you recognize what he, the Spirit that indwells you, is revealing to you. You’ve got some place to be, Woman of God. There are lessons you must learn, and you must be prepared in a way that only the Holy Spirit can articulate. Your only alternative is to catch up with your destiny. Then you will get to the place that God has ordained you to be, and not be left behind. ■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“When My Mind Won’t Catch Up with My Spirit, Part 1” written by Reverend Fran Mack, edited by Kim Times for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2016. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.
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