Our Mind And The Will of God

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Rom 12:2)

I have been told as a child that an ‘idle mind is the devil’s workshop’ which carries some truth. Moving closer to truth, the mind is the beachhead of the devil’s assault to influence and finally to cause us to be deceived into losing sovereignty of our will. We have to be in constant watchfulness ‘as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ’ (2Cor 11:3). The corruption of the heart enters through the mind through demonically inspired thoughts and temptations (Gen 2:17).

Good intentions are not good enough because it is of the heart; we need a renewed mind to secure our regenerated life in Christ. Similarly with faithfulness; men can love their wives with their hearts and yet be unfaithful and mentally hold separate relationships. If we concede in the battle of the mind, evil will work its way to our heart or emotions and from there control the entire being (John 13:2) and steal the Word from our hearts (Luke 8:12). We should be circumspect in our though life and not allow the devil any foothold. The foothold the devil takes is when we give our minds over voluntarily by lack of carefulness to guard it.

The meaning of repentance is a ‘change of mind’. This does not mean altering our thoughts but renewing a mind by a complete wiping clean of world and past conformity to the conformance to the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:16). Things that play through our minds will tell us if the renewal is being done and if the peace of God resides with us (Php 4:8-9). We cannot afford to be passive in our mind, but be active in meditation of His Word which allows God to work in first and subsequently work out in our everyday living. Genuineness of faith is shown in the living and the doing (Jam 2:20). If we desire to know the good, acceptable and perfect will of God for us personally, for our family and for our church, it will begin with us actively engaging in warfare to regain surrendered ground of our mind.

Diligence to Enter Rest

Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest….. (Heb 4:11)

It seems strange that there is an indication that there is an exertion of body and mind or our totality to enter into rest. The word ‘rest’ does not indicate a place of ease or freedom from discomfort, pain or labor. Rest speaks of an abode or state of being. Rest is not letting go of responsibility and plunging into ‘blind’ faith. Faith is never blind, but rather true faith opens our eyes and heart to the unfurling of all of God’s promises and things previously hidden into living heavenly reality.

……. and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: (Heb 4:6)

What then is the place of rest or abiding look like? ‘Unbelief’ in the original Greek is disobedience or rebellion, which is the disqualification to enter into the place of abiding. The state of being through obedience is the place of standing on the ground of grace and God’s loving favor (Rom 5:2). Beyond His divine favor, the grace of God is an enabling power to live without the propensity to sin; not just being made free from sin but the ability not to go back to the former state (Rom 6:7, 11). Abiding is also the place of answered prayer (John 15:7) and love (John 15:10). Abiding is the place of being well pleased of the Father, not working to please. This is the position of utter security and love, a knowing that we know that we are loved and where all strife cease. Abiding is the place where God speaks His dividing Word into us (Heb 4:12), that we may be separated from death into life, from wrath into redemption, from enmity into son-ship. The word of invitation is open to one and all, is there an ear to hear and quickness in Spirit to obey to enter into God’s eternal realm, not when Christ returns, but beginning on this side of eternity. To enter into abiding in Christ we have to purpose that our total being to be subjected in unquestionable obedience to Christ.

Sin, Our Enemy

Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom 6:11)

Enemies are frequently thought of as people or the devil that oppress with the intention to destroy us.  The reason why Jesus Christ came into the world, to live, show the light, die and rose from the dead is to save us from sin (Mark 1:21). It is sin that made fallen mankind enemies of God and it took nothing less than the death of the Son of God to reconcile us to Him (Rom 5:10). Jesus’ death save us from sin, not save us in sin. It is the leaving and never returning to the bondage of sin (Exo 20:2).  Therefore we have to conclude that sin is to be an arch enemy which should never to form alliances with. Sin must be dead to us and it to us (Gal 6:14)

….. than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season (Heb 11:25)

It would be sad if we would passively ‘wait’ to be delivered from the grips of sin, could it be because there is still something in sin that we still enjoy? Wanting to secure a place in the Kingdom yet a foot in the world and its pleasure thereof (1 John 2:15). The invitation for total freedom from sin is as much as is for salvation; it is to be shown the path of life and the fullness of joy in living in it (Psa 16:11). God is ready with all His divine power; we have to purpose in our heart to do our part by responding in faith. Faith is the meeting point where the Lord can make complete deliverance from sin a permanent reality.God is faithful and just to forgive us because we are not infallible (1 John 1:9). We must however have the attitude that violently treats sin as our sworn enemy (Matt 11:12).

Is Jehovah God’s True Name?
Excerpted from Michael L. Brown, What Do Jewish People Think About Jesus?


The name Jehovah is actually based on a mistaken reading of the biblical text by medieval Christian scholars who were educated in the Hebrew language but were not aware of certain Jewish scribal customs. In short, they did not realize that it was a Jewish tradition to write the vowels for the word ’adonai, Lord, with the consonants for the name Yahweh, known as the tetragrammaton, and they wrongly read this hybrid word as Yehowah, or Jehovah in English. That is to say, the name Jehovah (or Yehowah) did not exist in Israel—despite the popularity of this name in English-speaking, Christian circles, and despite religious organizations like Jehovah’s Witnesses.


Before getting into more specifics about the original pronunciation of God’s name, YHWH, let me explain the Jewish scribal custom known as qere-ketiv (pronounced q’rey, k’teev), Aramaic for “read” and “it is written.” This practice included several different scribal customs, including: (1) the practice of not reading certain words that were considered objectionable in the biblical Hebrew text and replacing them with less offensive words in their place; and (2) the practice of replacing one reading of a word with a variant reading of that same word, normally reflecting a minor difference in spelling or grammar. An example of the former would be the reading of the verb “lie with” (Hebrew shakab) for the verb “ravish” (Hebrew shagal). This occurs four times in the Tanakh, Deuteronomy 28:30; Isaiah 13:16; Jeremiah 3:2; and Zechariah 14:2, which is why the NIV translates with “ravish” (as written in the Hebrew text) but in an ancient synagogue, the marginal text with “lie with” would have been read. In this case, “ravish” would be the ketiv, what is written in the main Hebrew text, while “lie with” would be the qere, the word to be read in place of what is written. An example of the latter would be the substitution of the plural form of a word for the singular form, or, to use English as an example, substituting the spelling “color” for “colour.” These types of substitutions occur frequently. Again, the substituted form is the qere while the replaced form is the ketiv.


How did the Jewish scribes indicate this? In some manuscripts, the word to be replaced (the ketiv, the word written in the main text) would be left without vowels, which would be quite conspicuous. Then, in the margin of the text, the qere would be written in full (that is, with both consonants and vowels). In other manuscripts, the consonants of the word in the text (ketiv) would be preserved but the vowels of the word to be read in its place (qere) would be substituted, creating a hybrid form, while the consonants of the qere word would be written in the margin.


Read full article here