EP 08 | Renewing Your Mind

In this week's episode, Dr. Christy Bee leads listeners in a talk on an important aspect of their Christian walk--renewing their minds. To start, she provides a clear definition of what renewing the mind is according to Romans 12:1-2. Then she walks through different symptoms in a life that point to the need for one to renew their mind. Using the Biblical narrative of Gideon and her own personal anecdotes, she not only presents biblical truths of renewing your mind, but also invites listeners to consider this episode as Holy Spirit initiating the process of renewing their mind, that they could discern the will of the Father for their lives and align with it.

Transcript

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Welcome to the Necessary Things Podcast, where we have necessary conversations about faith, life, your soul, and everything in between. And the purpose of these conversations is to point us to the most necessary thing in life, which is submission to God, His Word, His Will, and His Spirit. I'm your host, Dr. Christy B, and I must tell you, I'm so happy to be here. And I'm actually really excited that you're here. Whether you are a newcomer or someone who's been viewing every week when we drop new episodes, welcome. And let's jump into our very next necessary conversation. Our minds as humans are a powerful aspect of our makeup. Within it, God has given us various capabilities, whether it's from dreaming or creating, planning, expressing emotions, storing memories, or even coming to conclusions or processing information and experiences that we've had. When I describe the human mind, I like to think of it as a strong engine that drives the different aspects of our lives. The decisions we make are governed and led by our minds. Even the thoughts that we think and the feelings that we feel, they are all governed by our minds. Scripture also gives us a clear picture of the centrality of the human mind in the human experience. Let's go to Proverbs 4, verse 23, which says, to keep, or another translation says, guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it springs the issues of life. To guard or to keep is a call to become a watchman, like one who stands or sits at a tower looking far off to see if there's danger to come. And in this scripture, the word heart that is used is speaking figuratively of the mind, which is the innermost part of man. It's the seat where we make our decisions, where we feel our feelings, and where we process information. This call to be a watchman over our minds is because out of our inner man flows all the issues of our lives. Similarly, in Proverbs 23, verse 7, if we read from verse 6, it starts to say, Don't eat the bread of a selfish man. Why? Because as he thinks, verse 7, in his heart, so is he. Eat and drink, he says to you, but his heart is not with you. In this scripture, once again, we have the word heart being used to represent the mind or the innermost part of this man. And because his character is one of someone who is selfish, even though he is saying to you, eat and drink, even though he is giving you a piece of bread, because he has already thought, or because the innermost part of who he is is selfish, we can trust what the innermost part of him is and not his words or his actions. Similarly, in Luke 6, verse 45, we see the Lord Jesus giving us this admonishment that really clarifies for us where our actions, our words, and really the fruit of who we are comes from. Luke 6, verse 45, and it reads, A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good, and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. This word heart in the Greek is the word cardia, which is describing the mind once again as the center and seat of all spiritual life. It's describing that the mind is the fountain of where thoughts, passions, desires, appetites, affections, and purposes all live. Here Jesus is saying the fruit of what you do is an expression of what is on the inside of your mind. What these scriptures point us to is this. If you want to understand the patterns of the decisions you make or the root of the words that you speak, you can trace them back to the activity going on in your mind or the innermost part of who you are. So, yes, our minds are the strong engines that God has given the capacity to do multiple, various amazing things. And yes, the activity of the mind is the root of where our emotions, our thoughts, our actions, our words come from. But at the same time, these strong, powerful faculties that are our minds that guide all the aspects of our lives, are also vulnerable to attack, manipulations, and deceptions. And the truth is that these vulnerabilities, this vulnerability that our mind has, can end up being an open door through which we become misaligned with the will and purpose of God for our lives. Let's go to Romans 12, verse 1 to 2. It's a common scripture if you have been in the church for but a day. You've probably heard this before. Romans 12, verse 1 to 2 says, I beseech you therefore, and I'm reading in the King, New King James Version, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you would present your bodies a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may be able to prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. In these two scriptures, Paul presents us with multiple truths. The first being our reasonable service to the Lord. Consider the cross, when consider all that Christ gave for us, our reasonable service is to live a life that is holy and set apart to Him. Secondly, Paul presents that if someone is conforming to or aligning with the patterns of this world, that's because they've made that choice. And you can trace how they think back to that decision that they've made. Their conformity to the ways, the patterns, the customs of this world guide them in what they do and don't do. Another thing that Paul presents to us in these two verses is that true transformation, where a complete metamorphosis of a human mind, life, and body occurs, can only be achieved if you are renewing your mind. And it's only when we've renewed our minds that we can discern what is the perfect, good, and acceptable will of God for our lives. So could it be that if you are unable to identify God's purpose for you, that that is pointing to the need for you to renew your mind? Or could it be that the inconsistency in your decision making is a symptom of you needing to renew your mind? Could it also be that your inability to see God, yourself, and others around you in the correct way is pointing to or an expression of you needing to renew your mind? And lastly, could it be that the reckless way of living that you've taken on that is completely deviant of what we're called to live in Scripture is telling that you have an unrenewed mind. These two verses that Paul has written in Romans 12 answers yes to all of those wonderings. So if we as believers are going to be transformed to reflect the image and character of Christ, if we are going to be an expression of his character and his heart in the earth, if we are going to partner with God, know his will, and submit to it and end up fulfilling the purpose that he has for us, we have to address the health and the functioning of our minds and submit it to the process of being renewed. This is why we're having this necessary conversation today. Because it is utmost important that throughout the life of the believer, they are continuously going through the process of being renewed in their mind, that they can be transformed, made completely new to reflect the image, character, and heart of Christ. So let's talk through some biblical truths about renewing your mind. The first is that renewing your mind is a complete change for the better. That word renewing in verse 2 of chapter 12 of Romans, Paul is talking about undergoing a complete renovation. It's the complete change of your mind for the better. Paul is not just speaking of someone thinking positive thoughts or someone trying to be more optimistic. What he is expressing in this verse is the complete gutting out of the faculty of one's mind that changes how they process information, changes how they react to the things going on around them, and changes how they make decisions. This type of renewal, this type of transformation is necessary because of the effects of the fall that happened in the garden. Because of the sinful nature that we have because of the fall of Adam and Eve in the garden, we need this level of renovation in us as we embark in a journey of intimacy with Christ. So, for one, the renewing of our mind is the complete change of our mind for the better. A second biblical truth about renewing your mind is that a person cannot renew their mind without the process first being initiated and then sustained by the Holy Spirit. Within our humanity, we do not have the capacity to change ourselves for the better. If we did, then it would have not been necessary for Jesus to come down and give his life for us. It is through the sacrifice of Jesus, it is through his victory over sin, hell, and the grave, it is through his ascension, it is through his glorification, it is through the life and sacrifice of Jesus that we are able to access this transformation that we desperately need. In Romans 12, verse 2, the word transform that Paul is using in the Greek is where we get the word metamorphosis from. It's speaking about the complete transfiguration or the changing of a person into something new. In this case, the mind into something new. It's a level of transformation that can only be fulfilled by Holy Spirit. So I appreciate that some individuals have created 10-step programs to sustaining or attaining a better life. But without the work of the Holy Spirit, those 10 steps won't lead you that far. And I appreciate the call to think positive thoughts and to try to be more optimistic. But the process of our mind being renewed is not an act of our own will. It is the work of the Holy Spirit in us to transform us into the likeness of Christ. A third biblical truth about renewing your mind is that it is an ongoing process. It is not a one-and-done type deal. Philippians 1 verse 6 says, being confident in this very thing, that he who has begun a good work in you shall complete it until the coming of Jesus Christ. The work that God has started in us through Holy Spirit, it will continue until Christ returns. And so the act of being renewed in your mind is a process that will continuously undergo until that glorious day when he returns. The fourth principle of renewing your mind is that it is an active act that requires our participation in it. Holy Spirit initiates it. Holy Spirit sustains us in it. But we have a role to play. And it's a necessary work if we are going to not just mature in our faith and become more like Jesus, but if we are going to become who God has predestined us to become in the earth. To continue this conversation, I want to shift us to Gideon. Gideon is the story of Gideon is one that I absolutely love just because there are so many rich principles, life principles, spiritual principles in it. And you can extrapolate from the story of Gideon just truths that apply to the everyday life of a believer. We've spoken about the story of Gideon here at the Necessary Things podcast before, but today I want to take it from a different perspective. One of the reasons, or another reason why I love the story of Gideon, is because it really shows us the process or the journey of his mind being renewed, and how that process of him being renewed in his mind allowed him to partner with God and become who God called him to be. So in Judges 6, we're introduced to Gideon, and he is a young man from the tribe of Manasseh who is hiding from the Midianites in a winepress. And while he's hiding, he is threshing wheat. If you didn't know, a wine press is not where wheat was threshed. A wine press is where ancient peoples would crush grapes to make wine. But because the Midianites and the Midianites were people, a harsh people, Judges 6 tells us. They were so harsh that they would steal all the crops and cattle from the Israelites. So the Israelites created dens and caves for themselves to hide from them because they were just harsh oppressors. Because the Midianites were so harsh, we're introduced to Gideon, hiding in a wine press to thresh wheat or to separate the wheat from the part that was unnecessary for him and his family. This act of Gideon is an expression of the fear that all of the Israelites had during that time. And so we're introduced to Gideon in the beginning of Judges 6, and we're given the context of not just the harshness of the Midianites, but the fear that Gideon and his people are living under. In verses 11 to 14 in chapter 6 of Judges, we see God used the angel to initiate a conversation with Gideon to introduce him to who he was predestined to be. The angel first says to Gideon, The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor, in verse 12. And then in verse 14 he says, Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you? Gideon is introduced to God's purpose for him, and his first response is a question in verse 15. How can I, Gideon says, How can I possibly be the one to save Israel? Indeed, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. Gideon responds to the call of God with a limitation, and it reminds me of Moses in front of the burning bush, right? Oftentimes, when we respond to God with a limitation, with a fear, with an excuse, it is an indication that we need to have our minds renewed. Our inabilities to accept what God is saying about us shows that there is a distance or a disconnect between our ability to see ourselves, our way of processing who we are, and what God is saying about us. So Gideon responds with a question, and here we are shown just how much he needs to renew his mind. As we continue through the story of Gideon from Judges 6 to 7 to 8, we see him embark on a journey that God initiates to renew his mind, that he be transformed to align completely with this call, this identity. This is who Gideon is, a mighty man of valor. And this process catches Gideon up to the revelation of who he was made to be, his true identity, and allows him to align with it. So in verse 15, he responds with a question, but then in verse 17, he asks the Lord to show him a sign. He says, Listen, show me a sign so I know that you are actually the Lord speaking to me. And God in his compassion does. And although Gideon is given what he needs in this moment of time to believe that it is the Lord who is speaking to him, who is calling him to this great assignment, he still is struggling with limiting mindsets, with fears, and there's just a lot going on within his mind that tries to get in the way of him becoming. So in Judges 6, verse 17, Gideon acts for the sign, the angel of the Lord gives him the sign, and he perceives, okay, this is the Lord speaking to me. As we continue on in Gideon's story, the next thing that God calls him to do is to tear down the altar that his own father erected unto a false God. Verse 27 of chapter 6 tells us that because he feared his father's household and the men of the city too much to do it by day, he did it by night. We still see Gideon wrestling with this fear. We still see Gideon wrestling to fully align with this identity that God has stamped him with. A man of courage, a man of might, a man of valor. But yet he is still engaging in the process. As we go on, verse 34 of chapter 6 tells us that the Lord clothes Gideon with grace, with strength to do the thing he called him to be. I have to stop here to say this process that we see Gideon go through is the same kind of process that God calls us to when he's renewing our mind. It's not a linear process. We will continue to wrestle with things, and it will take time for us to fully put to death the very lies and limitations, the ideologies and false identities that we have embedded in us that resist the very call of God upon our lives. So after God's spirit empowers Gideon, he leads him to the next stage of his journey. And once again, Gideon acts for a sign. This time we see Gideon is in a threshing floor. And I just think at this point of his story, it's such a beautiful thing because in the beginning of the story, he was hiding in a wine press to thresh his wheat. But now he's in the place he should have been from the beginning. And that is a symbol, an indication that there's this breaking off of fear that's happening in Gideon's life. So he's on the threshing floor and he says, Lord, if you are really with me, here I'm gonna put this fleece on the ground. I'm gonna come back tomorrow. First, what I need to see is that the ground is completely dry, but only the fleece is filled with the dew of the morning. God says, okay, he comes back, and what he asks of the Lord is true. The ground underneath the fleece is completely dry, and he takes the fleece and it's drenched, so much so he's able to wring out a bowl full of dew. But Gideon doesn't stop there. He says, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, show me another sign. Let me come back tomorrow, but this time let the ground be completely wet and let the fleece be completely dry. And when he comes back the next day, just like he asked the Lord, it happens. And we seek the compassion of God the same way he extends compassion to you and I. When we ask him for what we need, as we engage in this process of our mind being renewed, in his love, in his mercy, he gives it to us because God is committed to us being transformed, God is committed. To our minds being renewed so that we can not only perceive his will, but agree with it and submit to it. So if we continue to go through the story, Gideon is starting to walk out a little more boldly the call of God over his life, but still there's some fear. In verses 9 to 10 in chapter 7, God says to him, If you're afraid, I want you to take this person with you and go down to the camp of the Midianites. God doesn't say if you're afraid because he's not sure. He knows Gideon is still afraid. In his compassion, he gives him what he needs, similar to what he did to Moses. He said, Moses, okay, you're feeling like you're not confident in this voice that I've given you. Take your brother Aaron with you to go to Pharaoh. God in his compassion tells Gideon, take this person with you and go down to the camp of the Midianites. I want to show you something. And that experience that Gideon had at the camp of the Midianites completely changes the Gideon we see show up in the rest of the story. When Gideon goes down to the camp of the Midianites, he overhears one of the Midianites recalling a dream that he had and the interpretation of the dream. And the interpretation of the dream is this, in verse 14 of chapter 7. Then his companion answered and said, This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash, a man of Israel. Into his hand God has delivered Midian and the whole camp. Gideon's enemies knew him by name and knew that he was one called and sent by God, and understood that they were going to be defeated at his hand because God had given them that victory. And what's so powerful is that after that experience, Gideon falls to his knees and worships. Then he returns to the camp of Israel with this strength, and he takes charge and leads them into victory. From verse 15 of chapter 7 all the way to the end of chapter 8, we see after that experience where his enemies knew who he was, and his enemies were able to declare and tell of the fact that they were going to be defeated by him, but by the power of God. We see Gideon believe, Gideon obey, and Gideon conquer. I absolutely love seeing how God is able to take someone full of fear and limiting mindsets, expose them to the call that he predestined over their lives, and then graciously lead them through a process of renewing their mind so that they could not just believe what he says, but partner with him and submit to it. I too have experienced in my own walk different examples or different experiences where God has called me to and walked me through a process of renewing my mind. One that I want to share in this particular moment is the journey that God took me through to renew my perspective of who I was. I grew up in a home that was very toxic. On the outside, we looked like a picture perfect family. Both parents lived in the home, the children were respectful, we all went to church on Sundays. On the outside looking in, no one could see any issues. But behind closed doors, there was a lot of brokenness and toxicity in my family. One of the ways that this toxicity lived was through verbal abuse. At the hand of my parents and my siblings and even extended family members, I endured years of being broken down by the ideologies and lies of other people concerning my value, my beauty, my worth, and my capabilities. In that home, I was taught to be more aware of what others thought was wrong with me than the truth of who God made me to be, the beauty of who God made me to be, the uniqueness of who God made me to be. And because I endured years of this verbal abuse, what it did was tear me down. I had very little self-worth. My self-esteem was non-existent, so much so that I couldn't look in the mirror without feeling disgusted and feeling like I wanted to smash the mirror because I just so hated what I saw. Because of the verbal abuse that I endured, I had a poor view of myself. So when I started to engage in a personal relationship with God, that was the first thing that he went after. I remember it was a summer day. I was home watching TV, and there was this program that was on the TV where a woman was sharing her testimony. This woman had struggled for years with severe anorexia, self-image issues, and self-hate. And on this program, they were showing the journey that she went through, how bad it got, but then the victory that she had when the Lord delivered her from that. So I'm sitting down, I'm watching this testimony, and I'm amazed to see this woman who is an adult struggle to see herself correctly. Everyone around her can see that she is at death's doors. But when she looks in the mirror, this woman only sees I need to lose more weight. So in her testimony, not only do we get to see how bad it got and how discouraged her family members and the doctors and the people who were servicing her got, but then she invites us into the turning point, what changed the trajectory of her life. She was away at this rehab because that's how severe her anorexia was. So as this woman is at this rehab facility, she's introduced to the gospel of Jesus, and that's where she realizes something is wrong. I am not seeing myself in the right light, and it is causing this self-harm. And she shares a prayer, a simple but beautiful prayer that changes the trajectory of her life and puts her on the path of being renewed in her mind and puts her on a path of transformation and healing. And the prayer was simply this God, help me to see myself the way you see me. I remember being so moved by that prayer. Because here I was, a young girl, experiencing something similar. Years of verbal abuse had brought me to a place of such low self-esteem and self-worth that I was harming myself through overeating, that I was harming myself through cutting, that I was harming myself through trying to find a way to end my life. I could not see myself the way that God saw me. And because of such, I had no hope for living, and I wanted to escape. But in that moment, the voice of Holy Spirit said to me, Christy, I need you to pray this prayer too. So I go upstairs to my room, I close the door, and in a moment of complete brokenness and tears running down my face, I pray, God, help me to see me the way that you see me. And what that prayer was was Holy Spirit initiating me into this process of my mind being renewed. Holy Spirit revealing to me there's something wrong. You can't see yourself rightly, and you are hurting yourself because of it. The compassion of God to initiate in us the process we need to be set free. Oh, I can't, sometimes I feel like I don't have the words to express it enough, but God loves us so much. God loves us so much that He will initiate the process, He will call us into the deliverance that we need, and He will sustain us through it. Now, as I mentioned before, the renewing your mind is a process. So when I prayed that prayer, God help me to see myself as you do. That was the beginning of years of work where the Lord was renewing how I saw myself, where he was tearing off every false label, where he was healing the wounds of verbal abuse, where he was transforming me from the inside out. And this is what God is inviting you, those who are viewing, you who are listening into. Maybe your situation is not as severe as the woman in the video, or as severe as mine, but you have a need for your mind to be renewed, and it's expressed through your inability to accept who God is calling you to be, like Gideon did. Expressed in your inability to see yourself as the beautiful, capable person that God has made you to be. As I mentioned earlier, we play an active role in our minds being renewed. It's not passive work. Yes, it's initiated and sustained by Holy Spirit, but there's a role for us to play too. And so before we go, I do want to share a few ways that you can partner with Holy Spirit in renewing your mind. The first being to respond to what Holy Spirit indicates as an aspect of your mind that needs to be renewed. If he brings it up, don't shoo it away. If he highlights it, don't turn your eye away from it. The same way the Lord used that testimony to show me something was wrong is the same way that God will give you an indication of what exactly is hindering you from aligning with Him. A second way that you can partner with Holy Spirit in renewing your mind is taking inventory of the thoughts that go unfiltered in your mind. Whether these are thoughts about God, thoughts about yourself or the people around you, journal them and submit them to God in prayer. A third way that you can partner with Holy Spirit in renewing your mind is asking God for just what you need. Gideon was bold. He said, Lord, don't be angry. He said, Please don't be angry with me. I got I got a request. Do you know what faith it takes to ask God for what you need? But he loves that. Every time Gideon asks, he said, Yeah, I'll do it. Because he is a compassionate father. In James, it says, if you lack wisdom, ask of the Lord and He will give it to you. He is a God, a father who loves to give good gifts. He will not withhold good things from his children. If you need something to align with the process of renewing your mind, ask him for it and he will give it to you. A fourth way that we can partner with the Holy Spirit in renewing our mind is rehearsing scripture when fear or limitations want to overtake us. And we rehearse scripture so that we can replace these fears, replace these limitations, replace these lies with the truth of God's word. I shared earlier that the process of renewing my mind that God took me through was years of work. And what it looked like was every time I was reminded of a lie that I heard as I was being verbally abused by my family, I would replace it with what I saw in Scripture and knew to be true. I would replace it with knowing, no, I'm fearfully and wonderfully made. I would replace it with knowing, no, the Lord is with me. He loves me. He is guiding me along the best pathway of my life. He has good plans for me. He's not gonna forsake me. It's not just enough to identify what's wrong. This work of renewing our mind also requires us to replace the lies, replace what's wrong with God's truth so that we can walk in victory. And last but not least, another way that we can partner with the Holy Spirit in renewing our minds is through worship. I remember once I was sharing with someone that I was discipling just the importance of spending time in God's presence and worship in your journey of healing and being transformed. And I said it this way: I said, there were certain chains that fell off of my life in God's presence where all I had to do was worship and they were gone. All I had to do was make God bigger than my experience, make God bigger than my fear, make God bigger than the lies that I was hearing, make God bigger than the enemy, and chains fell off of my life. There is a power in worship where you ascribe unto God the worth that He is worthy of. When you do that, that allows you to partner with God in renewing your mind. There's certain work, there's a certain level of transformation that happens in his presence that all you have to do is worship him. And that is the best, one of the best ways that you can partner with Holy Spirit in your mind being renewed. Now, before we pray, I do want to resurface a few questions that I asked earlier in the episode. Could it be that your inability to accept the call of God on your life is an indication that your mind needs to be renewed? Or could it be that your inability to trust God at His Word is an indication that your mind needs to be renewed? Could it be that the inconsistency of your decision making is a symptom of you having an unrenewed mind? Could it be that you living a reckless life not aligned with God's word, but aligned to the customs of this world is telling that you have an unrenewed mind. The answer to these questions are yes. And if any of these questions are a good summary of what you've been experiencing, I'm here to tell you that this episode is God initiating through Holy Spirit, through the words that He's given me, the process of you renewing your mind. Let's pray. Father, we come before you and we thank you. We thank you for who you are. We thank you that you are a compassionate God. We thank you that you are a God that sees us, that knows us, that accepts us, but doesn't leave us the way you find us, God. You will that we be transformed into the likeness of Christ. You will that we be transformed, completely transfigured, made new. And the way to do this is through the renewal of our minds. So, Father, I thank you for my brother and sister, those watching, those listening, those you are calling into a journey of renewing their minds, that they would not only be able to identify, but also agree with and submit to your will for their lives. Father, in the name of Jesus, I ask that every hindrance, every part of them, every thing in their environments that tries to stand against them agreeing to submit to this process, may it bow to the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ right now. I ask, Lord God, that every obstruction to their ability to see you rightly, every obstruction to their ability to hear you clearly, Father, let it be removed now that they may hear your voice, as Jesus said, as a good shepherd, and respond to it. Father, we are asking, Holy Spirit, that you would shine a light on what you want to do in them. Shine a light in the very place of their lives where their mind needs to be renewed. And I bless them with the courage, with the strength, with the willpower to submit to this process, knowing that he who has begun a good work in them will complete it until the coming of Jesus Christ. Lord God, empower my brother, empower my sister. May they no longer choose to waddle in the waters of distance from you. But Lord, I pray that they would catch up to the revelation of who you say they are through the renewing of their mind, and that they would completely be transformed into the likeness of Christ as they submit to it. We thank you for your grace, we thank you for your goodness, and we exalt you in the mighty and matchless name of Jesus Christ. Amen. I love you all, and I pray that today's episode has been exactly what you've needed it to be. Whether it was confirmation of what God is calling you to engage in, which is a process of renewing your mind, I pray it's so. Whether it is enlightenment to realize my mind needs some renewing, let it be so. Whatever it is that you have been in need of, I pray that the words that have been spoken today do exactly what the Holy Spirit intended them to do in your life. And until next time, I pray that you yield to the work that he's doing in you, that you wouldn't resist him, but that you would submit to what he's calling you closer to experience. Until we meet again for our next necessary conversation, stay blessed, yield to Holy Spirit, and walk intimately with the Lord. Bye.