"And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."
- Ephesians 4:23-24
One of the great handicaps that exist among believers today is that they think "too much" with their natural minds. The reason I call it a handicap is because the natural mind is unconditioned to carry spiritual thought. It has built in limitations that restrain it from thinking outside the sense realm. Paul said, "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Cor 2:14). Although Paul is directing his statement toward the unbeliever as being a natural man, he does go on to talk about the contrast between a carnal and spiritually minded believer. Listen to how similar his thought is: "And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk and not with meat; for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able" (1 Cor. 3:1-2).
The whole concept of "not being able to bear it" points to this built in limitation that keeps the mind bound by its own natural thought processes. Take for example, someone makes a statement that is inflammatory. Suddenly, you are confronted with the thought of them being disapproving or judgmental. The first thing the natural mind wants to do is fight back. This immediacy to react is where the idiom came from that describes a person wearing their feelings on their sleeves. In other words, the flesh has certain trigger points that make a person highly sensitive, and who oftentimes find it very hard not to react.
When a believer lives all tied into their natural mind it causes their feelings to be in control. That is why it takes being able to transcend your natural mind so that you don't live so close to your feelings. And, this is really where transformational thinking makes all the difference in the world. If you stop and think about it, the word "transformation" is made up of two words: Trans and formation. If you have ever been in the military you understand the word formation. We often use this word to describe how things are lined up or how things are brought together to form a single line or thought. The word Trans means to go over or above. The natural mind has it own formation of thought. It judges everything by how it sees, hears, or feels a thing. When you begin to live out of a transformational mind it takes you beyond that built in formation of thought and allows the Holy Spirit to reform or reshape your thinking.
One of the great benefits that comes with transformational thinking is our ability to communication between our spirit and the Holy Spirit. When Paul said, "Be renewed in the spirit of your mind," he was actually referring to what I call "a new mind for the new man." There is a side to your mind that can grasp spiritual realities, but only after it has been reshaped, remade, and reconditioned by the power of revelation truth. See, the natural mind feeds on natural knowledge while the renewed mind feeds on revelation knowledge.
Jesus said, "Take heed how you hear..." (Luke 8:18). He also said, "Take heed what you hear..." (Mark 4:24). That might not sound like an important point, but believe me it is! What you hear is the determiner of thought and how you hear is the qualifier of thought. Hearing is essential to what you think and how you think. Paul said, "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God" (Rom. 10:17). The actually meaning behind this word "hearing" carries far more than just the sound of words. It has to do with "hearing to hear." It is an application of thought that is awakened to the sensitivity of what is behind the words. If a person is more engaged in just hearing without really hearing to hear, then they are most likely going to miss something in the hearing process. That is why many times, spiritual truths fly right over folk's head. They hear it, but they really don't hear it; meaning they can't bear it because there isn't a mind that has become accountable enough through renewal to be able to answer to the revelation it holds!
