Study Guide
We Control the Fleshy Mind
1,165 words, about 6 min read
The wise son of God will discipline the mind of his flesh and seek the counsel of his inner man; the one who is renewed in the mind of Christ; the one who is made perfect, pure and holy, and tell it to stop thinking, shut down and let Him walk the body through. We do not want to do this because it is too easy. This takes the stress out of flesh. The inner man will only do that thing which pleases the Father. He will move in accordance to the will, Word and purpose of God. The things that please the Father will not always gratify and just may humiliate the flesh. But that is why we offer up our flesh as a sacrifice. We offer up its dreams, aspirations, desires and wants. The son knows how to present this body as a living sacrifice. The fleshy mind must stop warring with Him. We do not have to beg the flesh to do anything—We must demand it to serve God. Paul said that he kept his body under.
I Corinthians 9:27
27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
He demanded his body to remain aligned with the purpose of God. He realized the vessel (house) had no power, but the power was in the new creature on the inside. We have allowed the fleshy mind to deceive us. We have listened to it as it boasted of its power. All our life this fleshy mind has been getting us in and out of situations and has become cunningly crafty in manipulating its way through life. The fleshy mind has convinced us that it has all the answers. So much so, that we feel we have gotten where we are by the workings of our own mind. Now that we are in God, the fleshy mind wants to maintain that control and leadership.
But why is it so easy to get to this point? Is it not because you, the born again new creature have not agreed with God? You have the power over your body including its mind. When you disagree with God you commit idolatry in that you worship and cater to your own flesh. You give it power and allow it to think on things contrary to God’s will.
Romans 8:14 tells us, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” The fleshy mind must now listen to the Spirit and be brought in control of and in subjection to the Son of God. Tell the fleshy mind to “Be still, and listen to my Spirit, because He has the answers.” This is the only way. The fleshy mind must learn to listen to our Spirit and follow Him. The son already has the mind of Christ. He must now prove the presence of God in this body not only to the world, but also to himself. God allows flesh to get in situations, circumstances and relationships to prove that He is in us. He allows us to move to a state of helplessness where flesh is bound and has no power. These are just opportunities for Him to prove that He is in us.
Philippians 4:16 says, “Be careful for nothing…” In other words, do not worry about anything. If we do not regard the fact that the Father and the Son are one with us and are living in us, we will continue to worry. If we ever accept the fact that God is really in us, and agree with Him, we will rest. We must come in agreement that many of the situations we find ourselves in, He has designed just for us. He can even take situations wherein we were disobedient to Him, and turn them into glory for Himself. He, therefore, is not moved by any of our situations, whether they are a result of obedience or disobedience to Him. He can use any one to get Himself some glory. He is God but He makes Himself vulnerable in His forbearance and longsuffering with us. He watches as we fall down, fail and even sin over and over. He gets us up, washes us off because He is trying to prove His love to us. He wants us to know that we are not alone. We must realize that everything about us is to glorify Him.
Even if we do not believe Him, He cannot deny Himself. We still belong to Him. Even in our mess, “the son” still belongs to Him. He is not moved by the mess. He is God! He can get us out of the mess we are in and redeem the time. He can even take our mess-ups out of the heart and memory of people. No one can do us like Him. He is not like flesh. He is not looking for retribution. He is a forgiving God who forgets our sin once we repent. He will be glorified, even in the midst of our mistakes. His name will be glorified. He created us for His glory. We must never forget that every negative situation to come up in our life, He knew about it because the devil had to check with Him before he could touch us. God has never lost control. He only let the devil do to us the thing that He knew would bring Him (God) glory.
GOD HAS AN ETERNAL PURPOSE THAT GOES PAST US. We did not volunteer for His work. He is the One who said He would show principalities and powers His manifold wisdom, by the church (Ephesians 3:10). If we fall, God’s eternal purpose and plan are not disturbed nor destroyed. We must tell our mind to “be still and hear the Word of the Lord.” John, in Revelation 2:7 wrote the words of Jesus, “.... hear what the Spirit says to the churches . . .” We are not to listen to our own fleshy mind. Our mind will always assess a situation as dark and gloomy, and say that we have no way out. But God can always make a way out of what seems to be no way.
Chapter Reference and Resource Subject
1. Being under the authority, control, or power of another.
2. One under the authority, control, or power of another, esp. one owing allegiance to a government or ruler. Webster’s Dictionary
I Corinthians 2:14-16
14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.