Word of the Week - Carnally Minded

For to be Carnally Minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.  Romans 8:6-7

Since the Garden where Adam and Eve committed original sin, our human bent (Carnal Mind) is to be independent of God’s way of thinking.  This is when the mind fell under the law of sin and death and as stated above in Romans 8:6-7, our Carnal Mind in its original state is at war with God.  Praise be to God that Jesus came to break this curse through the cross and give us the power to be reborn of the Spirit and have our minds renewed in Christ.  Once we are born of the Spirit we have the power to choose to be spiritually minded but we have to turn from or die to the things of the world and pursue the things of the Spirit as stated in Romans 12:2  “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing and perfect will.”  As believers, I think we would all agree that we desire to know God’s perfect and pleasing will for us and live in peace.So how do we truly walk by the Spirit and enjoy the Fruits of God’s Spirit in our lives?  First we must truly understand what Jesus did for us on the Cross.  By dying and pouring out His blood he not only gave us the gift of salvation but He gave us the ability to be cleansed of our past, present and future sins.  The enemy was defeated, the grave overcome, physical and mental healing was made available to us to have victory over our oppressor and accuser.  Access to this power simply requires childlike faith and courage to face our demons head on by the power of the Holy Spirit. We must believe and then pursue the things of the Spirit to include prayer, God’s Word and truth, healing and deliverance, godly relationships, praise and worship, serving and humility to fill our Spirit man daily and displace the old Carnally Minded habits and patterns with the new things of Christ.  If we eat of the things of this world we will eat of the flesh and produce sin and death but if we eat and drink daily of God’s spirit we will reproduce of the spirt and life.  Eating of the bread of life and drinking living water of Christ will keep us from hungering and thirsting for the things of the flesh.  He fills us with good things.It is very important to understand that the Carnally Minded Sin nature produces sins that leads to death but the life giving Spiritually minded produces peace that leads to life.  Not comprehending this and taking hold of it produces a continuous cycle of sins, condemnation, repentance, a temporary victory and the repeat of the agonizing experience.  This is the “pattern of the world”.  You cannot reform flesh with flesh, it can only be transformed by the Spirit.   This happens through the process of dying to our flesh and being born again of the Spirit.  “That, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth”. Ephesians 4:22-24So let’s take hold of the life that is truly life and walk in the things of the spirit…Have a great week…-Duane