Having the Mind of Christ
ICS Daily Devotions
1 Corinthians 2:14-16 (NKJV) But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
God cannot instruct us unless we have the mind of Christ. However, if we have not fully laid down our lives to allow Jesus to be the Lord of our lives, our own minds might still cause us to do things our way. Therefore, we need to have the mind of Christ so that we will not be hindered in hearing God and can act upon what the Spirit of God tells us.
We are essentially spiritual beings, with a soul, living within a body. The body is sensitive to the physical world through the five senses. The soul encompasses our intellect, emotions, and will. Natural ears are created to hear in the physical realm. The story of the rich man and Lazarus shows they could hear and speak despite being departed spirits (Luke 16:19-31).
Therefore, we can conclude that the spirit man has spiritual ears, which are made for hearing the voice of God while alive on earth. Once a Christian is joined with the Holy Spirit, their spirit can communicate with Him. We must listen to the leading and impressions that come from the Holy Spirit through the spirit man. Once we understand this, we also need to be constantly conscious of the Holy Spirit residing within us.
Although the natural man cannot understand spiritual things, once we are born again, we can understand spiritual truths and spiritual wisdom. These are foolishness to the natural man, which is why non-Christians often do not seem to understand the Bible. Spiritual wisdom is imparted to our spirit man and lights up as an idea in our mind. Our renewed minds give us awareness that this is possible for a child of God. Therefore, we can judge spiritual things.
We must have the mindset that God is within us. The Holy Spirit, who resides in us, is the third Person of the Godhead, present at the time of creation and responsible for creating everything based on the spoken Word of God. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-present. God will reveal things to us through the Holy Spirit, who will reveal them to our hearts, or inner man.
Whenever we ask for wisdom, strategy, and the will of God, besides the Word of God, communication from God is through this channel. Therefore, we must be open for the Holy Spirit to speak to our hearts, positioning ourselves by being quiet and ready to receive after we have prayed.
Sermon series: Are you connected with the Almighty Intelligence (AI)?
