"Spiritually
Minded"
It
comes as no surprise that Man is born a natural being. What seems not to
"register" with some is that because
of this, he is also absolutely void of
the spiritual. Man, therefore, must be redeemed back to the spiritual because the God Who desires fellowship with him is
a Spirit—and as such, can communicate only with
the spiritual.
We
tend to automatically assume that if one has a spiritual title, then he is spiritual. Such is not the case,
for spirituality is conferred through
knowledge and in order for one to
learn of God, he needs to acquire spiritual knowledge.
How
are we to acquire knowledge of God? Through those who have received revelation.
No doubt, this explains why there seems to be such a lack of exchange of
information. You see, to receive revelation, one must endure something for the Lord. If one's greatest interest is in
escaping something, he will remain ignorant.
Not
only will a lack of experience hinder one from accessing the knowledge of God,
one will still remain ignorant if he has no Holy Spirit through whom to process his knowledge. Even worse than
this, if one is without the revelation of the Spirit, one cannot accomplish
what the Lord expects us to achieve.
One
who has accepted the Spirit must be willing to operate with a spiritual mind. Why
is this of such overriding importance? You see, the life that we enter upon
salvation is a spiritual one. What happens in it and to us is no longer
understandable through the natural eye or understanding. Everyday occurrences
take on a new meaning and indeed, nothing
that happens has the same meaning as it did before salvation. One finds himself
miserable in salvation trying to
operate and understand as he did before salvation.
Exactly
what does it mean to have the "mind of the flesh?" One who has the
"mind of the flesh" seeks his own. All that he does is done on behalf
of himself. He looks for the end result of all things to be for his personal
blessing. Generally, this person looks to be blessed of God for what he does
and really does believe that this is how God works. You will find such a person
frequently void of obedience and submission, but virtually, tireless in
"working" for the Lord.
One
who is "spiritually minded," of necessity, will be "spiritually
directed." Despite what we would like to believe, it is impossible to be a
"child of God" without being
spiritually directed. After all, how could one perform the functions of being
within the "family of God" without knowing what the Father requires?
Why
do so many of us have such relatively complicated "natural" lives? You
see, for many of us, this is where our focus lies--on natural things! This
forces the Lord to meet us where we are. Therefore, this is where our problems
occur. He has to be able to get our attention through some means.
Just
think of the injustice we commit concerning ourselves when we refuse to allow
the Lord to take us to the higher heights and deeper depths that are our privilege through serving Him. This can only happen when we are not just looking
to better our own situation.
The
only way one can ever change (that
is, operate in a different manner) is to be "born
again." You see, when we speak of "coming to salvation," we are
not simply talking about coming to church, speaking in tongues and then, going
back to "business as usual." Coming to anything means that something
is "left behind." In this case, it must be that "old man" of the flesh. The Lord is looking
for those who come to Him to present themselves as completely new creatures!
he concept with which we are dealing is not unlike that of
the military. When one decides to give his life to his country, he is not
allowed any vestiges of his former life. Whether one needs a
haircut or not, he gets one. Whether one shaves everyday or not, he will
now . You
see, the individual does not count any longer. The overriding
concern when considering the defense of the country is teamwork and doing what
is best for the common good. This is the very description of Jesus,
Himself, Who did not take Himself or His comfort into consideration, but did all that He did in the best interest of
us and the Father. Now, His "mantle" has been cast onto us.
If
your interest is really to be "spiritually minded," you will change
how you "do" things and every action will be changed from being based
in the fleshly to being based upon what is spiritual. There is no way around
this and if your life is lived in the flesh and you have managed to convince
yourself that you have no problem, you
are deceived !
Are
you interested in really knowing who you are? Identify what moves you! If it is
fleshly occurrences, you then know where you "live." The way out? To immediately place oneself under subjection
to Jesus Christ the moment you see things happening in the flesh.
As the people
of God, we have one choice—and one choice only. We choose to be
"spiritually minded" and enjoy the benefits of the Lord or we live as
unredeemed man lives—and reap his reward. n