HEAVENLY MINDED “For our conversation is in Heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20). Solomon the wise, through the wisdom that was given him by God, gave an important clue in his dark sayings, which is very vital that the Church should arrive at an understanding of it, to enable them to live their lives according to the preordained standard. He said, “For as (a man) thinketh in his heart, so is he…” (Proverbs 23:7). This is very essential; a revelation which when a child of God acquire a good understanding of it, it enables him to be in charge to steer his own life, to flow in the direction of God’s will and purpose of his life. When a man clearly understood, that, his way of living is a reflection of his way of thinking, the man has the chance to make his life conformable to even a set standard, for example, when a child of God comes to know that God had predestinated for him “…to be conformed to the image of His Son…” (Romans 8:29), He realize why the Apostle Paul said, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5), why? Because, before you can be conformable to Christ, you must think as Christ. For your thinking produces your actions, and your actions also defines your character, or reveals your nature. So when you’ve received the nature of Christ, that nature will be manifested in your doings, and your doings are also styled by your thinking, for every man’s life characterizes his thoughts. Therefore, when the wise Solomon stated that, as a man thinks, so he lives, he meant also that, the direction of your life is controlled by the direction of your thinking. Again, your life’s conformity is the end product of the thoughts you accommodate in your heart, thus, your very conversation (your manner of life) springs out from the state of your heart; “…for out of it are the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23). From the abundance of the heart, speaketh the mouth, and what the mouth speaks controls what the body does, and the body also behaves to indicate a particular mental state, which means, your heart controls your thoughts, and your thoughts also controls your actions, and your actions define your being. Herein comes the understanding for the necessity of doing Romans 12:2: it began teaching you how to condition yourself for the purpose of God for your life, it says, present your bodies acceptable unto God; which means, position yourself in accordance with God’s will, which is your reasonable service; meaning, acting along or in consonance with God’s purpose for your life in a realistic manner; accommodating thoughts, that are all in the direction of God’s will for your life, by that, you are positioned in the direction of His purpose for your life, for all your thoughts enhances, encourages, and promotes your conviction to focus on Him. Romans 12:2 say that, for the sake of serving God reasonably, “…be not conformed to this world [even because, “…the friendship of the world is enmity with God…” James 4:4]: but be ye transformed [changed, metamorphosed, transfigured] by the renewing [reprogramming] of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” To acquire a deep insight into the importance of Romans 12:2, first, understand that, in the sight of God, there are two basic natures of men in the earth; the nature of the first Adam, and the nature of the second Adam, all others fall under either the first man: or the second man. And the Spirit through the Apostle Paul distinctively clarified that, “The first man is of the earth, earthly: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthly, such are they also that are earthly: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly” (1 Corinthians 15:48). Thus is the origin of the two basic different mindsets in the earth; the first man, being of the earth, lived with earthly mindset: but the second man, being the Lord of heaven, lived with heavenly mindset. Therefore, to be conformable to the image of Christ, because He lived with the mentality of heaven, you also must develop a mentality of heaven to live by, in order to exhibit His nature in you. Furthermore, the idea of the world was inherited from the first man: but the idea of heaven was inherited from the second man, herein take grounds, the essentiality of Romans 12:2, “…as we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly” (1 Corinthians 15:49). Men after the first man, until the second man, bore the image of the first man: but concerning us that hath believed in the second man “…hath He quickened, who were [also] dead in trespasses and sins: Wherein in time past (we also) walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation [our way of living] in times past in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others” (Ephesians 2:1-3). The first man disobeyed God, and so died, and as a consequence, all his children by nature die as well: but the second man obeyed God even unto death, and so was raised back to life, and as a consequence, all His children by nature live. That is, the inherent nature from the first man is the nature of death: but the inherent nature from the second man is the nature of life. Again, the first man had a mindset, by which he ended down in the earth: but the second man had a mindset, by which He ended up in heaven. So, if your mindset creates your manner of life, then, to be conformable to the world, is to think in the direction of the first man [earthly minded]: but to prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God, you must think in the direction of the second man [heavenly minded]. This is why the Spirit through the Apostle Paul wisely instructed, to direct all our focus on heaven, saying to us, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:1-2). Notice something here, if ye then be risen: risen from what? Risen from death. Meaning, ye, who have believed in the Word of Life, has passed from death to life, and if so be it, that, we have passed from death which worketh in the flesh to life which worketh in the spirit, then, “…we are debtors, not the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if…the Spirit…ye shall live” (Romans 8:13). Remember that, after the first man had eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the spirit died; and the eyes of the flesh were opened, and man became debtors to the flesh, and lived after the flesh: but Christ came and crucified the flesh, and gave life to the spirit, therefore, “…ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you…And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness” (Romans 8:9-10). Here gives a good reason to do Romans 12:2; ye are not in the flesh, that means, refuse to think as the world, for the world is the realm of the flesh, and the realm you walk in is your consciousness, and your consciousness also is born by the things you set your mind on. Therefore, “…they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit” (Romans 8:5). You see why you’ve got to diligently renew your mind? Because, if you have believed in the second man, then His life is in the Spirit, and He lived after the Spirit, and so they that are after the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit, and that is the life you have inherited from the second man; the life of the Spirit. Therefore, you live after the Spirit, and that is, you think in the direction of the Spirit, and the Spirit also comes to guide you to heaven, that means, your walk with the Spirit, is a journey to heaven. So now, you know that, your part with the Lord from heaven, is your journey to heaven, and that you are predestinated to be conformed to His image, and before you will be conformable to something, you must set your mind on that thing, or retain thoughts pertaining to that; to walk in the consciousness of the reality of that: the more you look, the more you become. This is a very important reason for meditating on the Word; to gain a consciousness of the Word, to become the Word minded, and the Word is in heaven, thus, becoming the Word minded is becoming heavenly minded, and that also conditions you well to enjoy all the spiritual blessings in heavenly places. Here comes in our theme scripture, “For our conversation is in Heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20). The Apostle after saying to the Romans that, “do not think as the world: but change your way of thinking, to walk in the perfect will of God,” explained further to the Philippians, saying, “because, our way of life is of heaven; in that we anticipate the coming of the Lord from heaven,” which means, we live a life conformable to heaven, waiting for the One who’s coming to take us away from here, to be with Him forever. It means, there is a way that we live, which gives evidence that we belongs to heaven; our manner of life bears witness, that, we are living unto heaven: for we are in the world, but not of the world. We are heavenly, sojourning in the earth today, and we are so heavenly minded, that, we walk in the light or the reality of heaven in the earth. Though, in our bodies, we are walking in the earth: but in our hearts and minds, we are living in heaven, that’s what it means to say, you are in the world, but not of the world; you are walking in the earth, but you belongs to a different class, the heavenly class. You are seen in the world, but in your mind, you are living outside the world; you think not as the world. And the principle is that, as you think, so are you, therefore, if you think not as the world, you can’t be of the world. That is to say, if your life is the character of your mind, then when you accommodate the thoughts of heaven; thinking heaven, heaven, heaven, you will walk in the consciousness of heaven, and that will consequently cause you to live a life conformable to heaven, so you will be in the earth by the flesh: but above the earth by the Spirit. My goodness! Who will be able to receive this, your life has come to a turning point; you are beginning the life of the supernatural. Moreover, the only way that the devil can influence your life, is when you are not heavenly minded. For example, when the devil tried to influence the course of the Lord from heaven, because, his only advantage over man is when man becomes earthly minded, he tempted Jesus with a carnal offer; “…the devil taketh Him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto Him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.” [Even this should tell you something; the fact that the devil could present all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them to Jesus, will tell you, whom he that conforms himself to the world belongs to, because, and that, the whole world according to the bible, lies in the hands of the wicked one: Nevertheless, because, the Lord from heaven was heavenly minded, He found it trifling, and worthless; to bow down and worship the deceiver to inherit vanities, for what? And He thus resisted the liar, saying,] “…Get thee hence, satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve” (Matthew 4:8-10). Unlike some ladies, when they go and apply for a job: and the employer being filled with evil eyes; instead of seeing the application form, rather sees the body of the lady, and being compelled by lust, wickedly, attempt to use the job to take advantage of her body. When such a lady is not heavenly minded, she lack the awareness, that, her body is supposed to be the temple of God’s Spirit: and that her body is far more valuable, and more important than any job in this world, irrespective of any amount of salary to be earned. This I say then, become heavenly minded, and you will perfectly understand why the devil couldn’t trick Jesus with all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, and why he can’t trick you also with all the treasures, beauties, and pleasures of this temporal life; for you will live a life superior to the world, because, your affection is set on things above, and not on things in the earth. That’s what it means to live supernaturally, living beyond the natural world; being spiritually minded, and living above carnality. Remember, the devil seeketh whom he may devour, and to be carnally minded is also death, that means, to be carnally minded is to live in favour of the wicked one. Therefore, to renew your mind from the world, is to climb above deceptions; and always remember John 8:32. Finally brethren, to believe in the Lord from heaven, is to believe in heaven, and to believe in heaven, is to receive of heaven, and to receive of heaven, is to live unto heaven, and to live unto heaven, is to exhibit the life of heaven, and to exhibit the life of heaven, is to think heaven, and to think heaven, is to mind the things of heaven, and that is to be heavenly minded. Is time to overlook whatsoever is going about here; and focus on where we are heading towards; “For our conversation is in Heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20). If you want to receive Christ into your spirit, kindly pray thus: “O LORD GOD, I COME TO YOU IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST, YOUR WORD SAYS, “…WHOSOEVER SHALL CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD SHALL BE SAVED” I ASK JESUS TO COME INTO MY HEART TO BE THE LORD OF MY LIFE. I RECEIVE ETERNAL LIFE INTO MY SPIRIT, I DECLARE I AM SAVED; I AM BORN AGAIN; I AM A CHILD OF GOD; I NOW HAVE CHRIST DWELLING IN ME, AND GREATER IS HE THAT IS IN ME THAN HE THAT IS IN THE WORLD! I NOW WALK IN THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF MY NEW LIFE. HALLELUJAH!”
Posted on: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 13:52:16 +0000
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