By Pastor Julie Shannon
1 Corinthians 2:16 “Who can know the Lord’s thoughts?
Who knows enough to teach him? But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.” NLT
Working towards having “The mind of Christ” brings us an understanding of what Spiritual reality is. We can have confidence as Christians that we are being conformed, our minds are being transformed and healed if choose to want to be like Him. Touching this spiritual reality brings us to view and respond to situations just as Jesus did while He was here on earth.
We have been commanded to live in this reality, it’s not just for the “spiritual ones” it’s for every person who loves the Lord!
1 Cor 13:12 “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”
Romans 8:29 “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”
There are three levels of spirituality that a Christian needs to learn to move in to become like Christ and therefore be an effective Christian witness in the world.
1. SPIRITUAL AWARENESS
Moses, Isaiah, Solomon, David, Deborah, Hanna, Esther, John the Baptist, Luke, Matthew, Mary, Peter, Timothy and Paul – these were all men and women just like we are. The key to their successes was that they not only heard from God, but they also responded to Him correctly!
ANY BUSH WILL DO
When God spoke to Moses in the desert wilderness, there may have been hundreds of bushes in view on the hillside, different shapes and sizes, different ages and a wide variety of flora to choose from. How did God choose the one bush through which He spoke? Was it how beautiful, large and healthy it was? Or did it just happen to be in the right place at the right time? Only God knows, we don’t, we can’t. So why do we try to work out why God has called us to do certain things or have certain gifts or made us a certain way?
Once we conclude that it is God’s choice who He will use, we are left with the conclusion that it is not our innate ability on which the success of our mission is based. Rather, since “any old bush would do”, we must place all of our dependence on Him. This frees us up from Pride, self Righteousness, Fear, Arrogance, and trying to perform for God and others.
The key to Spiritual Awareness is the understanding that God has chosen us and that He will work through us. He does this when we are available. If we make ourselves available to Him, He will use us where we are at spiritually mentally and physically.
We hand over our availability to Him. He imparts grace and faith according to how much we need, and some of us need it more than others! He doesn’t waste any experience, good or bad!
2. SPIRITUAL HEARING
In Romans 10:17, we find one of the pivotal verses of the Bible. “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ”.
This verse implies that Faith and Hearing are likely dependent on each other, with both qualities hinging on the word of Christ.
John 1: 1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.”
Jesus is the word, he reveals himself through the written word and through the Holy Spirit who lives inside of us when we accept Christ into our hearts.
Hearing God is the access valve for receiving your faith, the thing all Christians need to learn is how to open their own personal access valves. If we immerse ourselves in the word – (Scripture and Jesus) we will begin to have spiritual hearing. Spiritual hearing is very rarely physical hearing (through our eardrums)
Hebrew 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
Hearing the word goes deep into our very beings: e.g. ways people hear God…….
3. SPIRITUAL ACTION
When you have surrendered yourself to Jesus and begun to be transformed into His likeness you can’t help but want the mission he has given to all of his believers.
Psalm 22:27 “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him”
Matthew 28:18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,[b] baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Acts 13:46 “For this is what the Lord has commanded us: “I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth. “
Once you have accepted Christ, your mission is to take action, no-matter how small it seems to be.
How would you go about taking action? Would you jump on a plane and hope it all worked or would you make sure you were prepared as much as possible so the rescue is successful?
THE NEED TO PREPARE
First, you would have to undergo rigorous mental and physical training.
Also, the procedure of action would have to be determined. Will you make a swift frontal attack, or will you secretly secure their release?
Then, there would have to be a confirmation of the authority under which the rescue attempt would be launched, who is in charge, who do we report to, who backs us up from base camp?
Can you see the correlation? As a believer, you have been selected for the mission of setting the captives free. However, your job assignment is not the same as my assignment. Your rank in the spiritual army is not the same as each other, but we are all being trained both as individuals and as a group of soldiers for the Lord.
We each must get our individual assignments and then, be sensitive to the leading of The Holy Spirit. It is His responsibility to direct us in our job assignments. It is our responsibilities to “pray and obey”.
DECISIONS
As we move out in obedience and surrender, we will need to be willing to instantly respond to the leading of Holy Spirit. Jesus, our pattern, said that He did nothing except what He saw The Father do. He said that we would have the same relationship with Him that He had with The Father. He also said that the Holy Spirit would, “Guide us in all truth.”
We are called to be a living sacrifice, this is a giving up of ourselves and our agenda’s and trusting all things to the Lord.
Living Sacrifice – Dying to Self
So, how do we truly present ourselves to God as a living sacrifice? In a nutshell, we must die to our prior selves. This concept is wonderfully presented in this anonymous poem…
When you are forgotten, neglected, or purposely set at naught, and you don’t sting or hurt with the oversight, but your heart is happy being counted worthy to suffer for Christ;
That is dying to self.
When your good is evil spoken of, when your wishes are crossed, your advice disregarded, your opinion ridiculed, and you refuse to let anger rise in your heart or even defend yourself, but take it all in patient, loving silence;
That is dying to self.
When you lovingly and patiently bear any disorder, any irregularity, any annoyance; when you can stand face to face with waste, folly, extravagance, spiritual insensibility, and endure it as Jesus did;
That is dying to self.
When you are content with any food, and offering, any raiment, any climate, any society, any solitude, any interruption by the will of God;
That is dying to self.
When you never care to refer to yourself in conversation or record your own good works or itch after commendation, when you can truly love to be unknown;
That is dying to self.
When you can see your brother prosper and have his needs met, and can honestly rejoice with him in spirit and feel no envy, nor question God, while your own needs are far greater and you are in desperate circumstances;
That is dying to self.
Conclusion
We as Christians are called to have the mind of Christ, Jesus commanded us to be a light to the gentiles so His word can transform the world to the ends of the earth. For us to be effective we need to understand the spiritual realities of awareness, hearing and action. Understanding who and what the word of God is, is paramount in our becoming transformed into the likeness of Christ. Having His mind, His heart and His guidance will bring release for the captives. He will start with you and move you on to others, until he comes, this is our mission. Be part of the mighty army and live a full life, one of sacrifice of self, one of knowing Christ and becoming like Him, one of setting the captives free.
