THE MIND OF A MANIFESTED SON

Recently, God has caused us to understand that we must raise the level of our expectancy of Christ. He wants us to do so by raising our expectancy of Christ in ourselves and in one another. Christ and His ministry are always present with us but we often times cannot see Him because we have trained ourselves to receive Him through a specific methodology or because of carnality within ourselves or one another. As sons of God, we are very Christ and through our relationships with one another we should be strength and truth to one another. We cannot be satisfied with carnality in the Body of Christ. Whether carnality arises through what we deem as blatant sin or the failure of our brother to give his part in the Body, we must no longer settle for such mindsets among us. We are a body of baptized believers and we have been given a commission to heal a dying land. For all those who would be free, we have been charged with liberating them but we must first liberate our own minds from traditional ways of thinking. Let us broaden our perspective and expectancy of Christ and retrain the way we listen for and see ministry.

In a conversation with a fellow laborer, we were discussing the plight of the impotent man in the book of John. In this conversation we discussed how life had come unto the man through Jesus but because his mind had been trained to accept God through another means, he could not discern Christ.

John 5:5-8

5. And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.

6. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?

7. The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.

8. Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.

The impotent man waited and believed for thirty-eight years to get into this pool of water. He had no idea that his healing was going to take place in another dispensation called Grace and Truth. God had moved from the pool and was in a man called Jesus Christ. Please pay close attention so that you do not miss this very important principle. We understand that the pool of Bethesda was troubled by an angel at a certain season and whoever got into the pool first, would be healed. This man had seen God work miracles of healing in the lives of many through this pool. He believed in this methodology so strongly that he never gave up attempting to make it to the pool even after thirty-eight years of failure to do so. It did not matter that this man believed a certain way for thirty-eight years. God had already established a method by which this man was to be healed and he had a choice to stay inside his belief, in which he saw God work year after year, or embrace God’s method for the present time and be healed. Truth was staring him in the face in spite of all he knew of God’s methods. He did not allow his thirty-eight years of believing a certain way to cause him to miss God’s visitation. He did not fight to keep his tradition but agreed with God and became a witness of a new dispensation which manifested that God was doing a new thing. When we believe God, it raises our expectancy and causes others to encounter present truth because they will now see in us what God has done or is doing.

JESUS IS TRUTH

The scripture says that Jesus is a quickening spirit. We must understand this. Otherwise, unlike the impotent man: we will not discern Christ. We will not be able to discern that certain methods that worked for us at one time will not work for us now. Oftentimes, truth has come unto the church, but those in the church do not understand that it is truth. Our deliverance is inside of that truth if we would accept it. At this point in our walk, it is more vital than ever that we rely only on the truth of Christ that has come nigh unto us. We cannot rely on what we knew or did in the past but only what God has presently told us. In spite of the way you feel or think now, accept the deliverance that God has placed before you by believing in what God has proclaimed He can accomplish through you. One principle that we can learn from reading the story of the impotent man, is the changing of a belief system by accepting Christ. Now let us discuss by what means we are to change our belief.

John 5:9-17

9. And immediately the man was made whole; and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the Sabbath.

10. The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the Sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.

11. He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed and, and walk.

12. They asked him, what man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed and walk?

13. And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place.

14. Afterward, Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold thou art made whole: sin no more lest a worse thing come unto thee.

15. The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.

16. And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the Sabbath day.

17. But Jesus answered them, My father worketh hitherto, and I work.

This man became a witness of the power of God which was manifested through Jesus Christ. Although this man believed God he still had to be tested. He had to stand up to a well established religious group of men and testify that he was the manifestation of God’s new method and Jesus was the author of it. God left him beside a pool for thirty-eight years until He raised up a manifested son to prove God was no longer in the pool but He was in a man called Jesus Christ. Here, the mind of Christ is defined. Jesus said that as the Father works, I work. In this situation, the Father wanted to be glorified through the healing of the impotent man and He used Jesus to heal him. Jesus did not simply see the man and decide on His own will that He wanted to heal him. It is very important that we realize that this mind is not secluded to Jesus. Any mindset built outside of this mind is carnal. If we have any other mind other than “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work..”, we are carnally minded.

1 Corinthians 4:2-4

2. Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.

3. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment: yea I judge not mine own self.

4. For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord.

Paul is advising us that man’s judgment should not supersede the judgment of God. We, however, have been guilty of living inside of the opinions of others and as a result have discarded satisfying righteousness. This is especially seen when we deal with leaders. We have been guilty of expending so much energy making sure we do not “ruffle” the feathers of the leaders or make sure we are seen in a positive light. This is one of the greatest oppositions in the traditional church. Leaders have taken the place of God in the minds of their congregations. But God is destroying this mindset! God is erasing the idols we have set up in our own minds! He is making sure we do righteous judgment, considering God in all things. We will live holy and perform righteousness because we value His judgment. We have allowed the Word to disciple the mind of Christ.

Romans 12:2

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Paul is instructing us not to turn to the world, even after salvation! But allow the Word to disciple our minds into being transformed. The Word of God has the power to change our minds . . . a fornicator, but now I walk holy, a lesbian or homosexual but now a heterosexual, a liar but now I tell the truth! Our entire way of thinking has been changed. My previous way of thinking has to be deleted and another way of thinking has to be imported. How I think has put me in a mental captivity and until I allow the mind of Christ to change my way of thinking, I will never be able to prove what is the good, perfect and acceptable will of God. When the mind is renewed the actions of the body changes! This is the evidence of a life that has been transformed. We too, like Jesus, now become able to prove what is the acceptable will of God.

Be Encouraged. I love you, Apostle Mike