Imagine for a moment that seemingly sharp, black and white, day and night divide between our physical world and the spiritual world. God calls a steady mental focus on the former (i.e., carnal mindedness) ‘death’, and he calls a focus on the latter (i.e., spiritual mindedness) ‘life’. (Romans 8:6) This is far, far different from what we call death and life, isn’t it? I guess this makes us to be ‘the living dead’, because from the crib-to-the-grave, we are well schooled in that which God calls death. This reminds me of just how erroneous our thinking is when we say, Get a life! It also signifies a need to change our personal definitions of these terms. Life and death are much more than the presence or absence of breath, a heartbeat, a good social life and enough money to fund it!
But what about us Christians who have new, eternal life in Christ, and how does this relate to all those “God’s gonna do it” sermons? From my experience, such sermons may tend to throw a religious cloak on carnal mindedness. How? Glad you asked!
The Bible says “…My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” (Hosea 4:6). This is typically interpreted as lack of adequate knowledge of the Scriptures. In response, we are prompted to study and even memorize scriptures; and some become so well versed in our favorite scriptures that we can quote them at a moment’s notice. Not bad. But this does not necessarily signify wisdom in applying the knowledge of God, or of the many laws and principles that govern His Kingdom and the spiritual world. These are the deeper things God refers to as revealed in the context of the above Scripture. Knowledge of The Word does not necessarily equate to wise application of it to our lives, neither does it throw off the religious covering that cloaks carnal mindedness.
For example, back to that sharp divide mentioned above, if our mental focus remains tightly on the ‘day’ or physical side of this divide, we remain in death – carnally peering and waiting for something to ‘cross the dividing line’ and impact our lives. Please realize whatever crosses this line is essentially the ‘after-birth’ of that which has already been born in the world of spirit – an important point echoed often in this blog. Whatever crosses this line is already history on the other side – i.e., yesterdays’ or yesteryear’s news flash, so to speak! This is not to diminish our joy for the arrival of physical manifestations of our hope and faith. Rather, it should help strengthen and increase our faith in the faithfulness of God who answers prayers in accordance with His will. Moreover, it should hopefully prompt us to seek fresh, breaking news from the other side! How? Again, glad you asked!
God told the ancient prophet, Amos, to write this: “Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.” (Amos 3:7) A prophet is anyone who speaks forth the Word of Truth as the Spirit of God leads him/her. This qualifies you to be a prophet if/as you invest your life to be so led. It also opens the windows and doors for you to ‘see’ and perceive into that which is unseen by carnally minded residents of planet earth. This, my friends, would make you
“More than a Mere Man/Woman”
(as suggested by 1 Corinthians
3:3).
Wisdom in applying the knowledge of God, the many laws and principles that govern His Kingdom and the spiritual world means dramatically shifting our mental focus to ‘the other side’ of existence, i.e., to what God calls ‘life’ and away from what He calls ‘death’.
The Scripture we ‘know’ arms us to understand and to apply wisdom to these laws and principles in order to perceive:
1. Areas in which we, ourselves, may be in violation; amends we need to make; and steps to help ensure and not block God’s unfolding plan for our lives
2. Critical insights into current, real-time workings of spiritual forces in our world, more broadly; and how to respond in wisdom, accordingly.
So
c'mon. Get equipped, armed and catalyzed to spend more time peering
into the other side of life, and to apply operational wisdom to your
knowledge of Scripture as your life unfolds. The rewards and benefits
are beyond your imagination!
Commendations to you for another important Godly thought-provoking post. We are called to do the actions to seek and follow our LORD. Your section here is politely challenging:
ReplyDelete"Knowledge of The Word does not necessarily equate to wise application of it to our lives, neither does it throw off the religious covering that cloaks carnal mindedness."
I tell my kids that we need to ask our Heavenly Father for our Daily Bread. He Gives it to us Gladly, but we need to eat it or we will starve. He Won't force feed us. It's not a matter of "God's Gonna Do it by feeding me and I'll tell him what I want."
And God forgives us our sins, when WE confess, WE ask for/receive/apply His Cleansing and WE repent. We receive His Grace and Mercy.
Thanks + blessings.
Hi there. Thanks for reading this potentially provocative post. Thanks also for sharing your perspective. Hopefully other readers will elaborate their views and touch on some of your points. Would be great to get a good exchange going on. The underlying issue this post explores is what does spiritual mindedness vs carnal mindedness (Romans 8:6) really look like in our world today?
DeleteGreat post! “Get A Life”
ReplyDeleteIt’s very intense; as a matter of fact this is a topic that I as an individual, certainly need to focus on.
surely quoting the scripture is one of my favorite things to do. Yes, it’s true the carnal mind is death
and the spiritual mind is life. It is agreed that it’s not about ”God's is Gonna Do it”. But It’s what He’s
already done, in the Spiritual realm. As Christians we need to exercise this spiritual gift we have been
given. According to 2 Cor 9:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself
against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought to the obedience of Christ. My prayer is that
we can focus on the spiritual side; believe that we are new creations in Christ, and have what Christ
said we have in the Word. Also that we can do what he said we can do in the Word. Perhaps than we
can see with the spiritual mind we already have the things we ask for in the spirit. Knowing who you are
in Christ will increase shifting our mental focus from the carnal to the spiritual side where there is life.
“For to be carnally minded is death but to be spiritually minded is life” Yes we already have a life in
Christ.
Amen!
Hello. Thanks for reading this post, and for your thorough comment. I hope other readers will see it. I like your penultimate sentence!
DeleteAlso, have you noticed what the world calls 'carnal' is NOT what God calls 'carnal'? Given this, the concept of 'carnal mindedness' (Romans 8:6) may have little operational meaning to Christians! That is scary.
I’m not sure I understand you when you say one can be more carnally minded, when the messager speaks on “God’s gonna do it”. What I do know is there is power in the presence of Jesus. If the Holy Ghost(Spirit) did not give it to you then there’s no meaning to any message. Jesus has to be real to us before anything will happen, healing, deliverance, salvation, and just even enjoying life. I also know that waiting upon the Lord is between the flesh and the Spirit.
ReplyDeleteHello. Thanks for stopping by, and for your comment. Consider the typical perspective of a person waiting for something to arrive from the other side of a very tall, locked gate. "God's gonna do it" sermons (some preachers say, "God g'on do this and that") may well prompt hearers to focus on the "it" to arrive, checking out every physical situation and sifting every notion, earnestly expecting "it", and getting increasingly frustrated when "it" doesn't show up on their schedule, whether "it" is a car, husband, healing, money or whatever. Could such a sustained focus on "it" break one's focus on spiritual matters, most notably the laws and principles by which we are to operate in The Kingdom here on earth? For an example, such an intense focus on "it" might be at the expense of missing the need to forgive or repent concerning a particular matter, resulting in a serious blockage in Heaven's supply lines, and delaying the manifestation of "it". Rather than focusing on that closed gate and every situation this side of that gate, looking for "it", I think God, through Paul (Romans 8:6) was prompting us to focus more on what may be happening "on the other (unseen) side of the gate". This is when/where we hear God's still, small instructional voice more clearly, perceive our real enemies more sharply, and understand what moves we may need to make. A sustained focus on the "it" that "God g'on do" is a missed opportunity to walk in The Spirit. The underlying issue this post seeks to flag is: realistically, what does spiritual mindedness really look like? Is it quoting Scriptures, and talking 'church talk, or is doing as Jesus regularly did, namely breaking away from our carnal lifestyles to pray, meditate and muse what The Father is doing (John 5:19) so we can know what we should do? Hope this is clear. Perhaps other readers may like to share their thoughts on this rather provocative post.
Delete