Renewed in the Spirit of Your Mind Ephesians 4:23

Since the Ephesian church members “heard” and were “taught by” Jesus, Paul the apostle desired for them to “put off” their “former” manner of living which was “corrupt according to the deceitful lusts”. In chapter four and verse twenty-three of his letter, Paul challenged the Ephesians to be “renewed in the spirit of” their minds where we read:

And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

The verse begins, “And be renewed...” Paul began, “And” which means “in addition, adding to, even, also and indeed” “be renewed” or “renovated and reformed”. The Ephesians needed a new way of thinking, and like the renovation of a dilapidated edifice or automobile, they needed a thorough change and renewal.

The verse continues, “...in the spirit of your mind;” Paul added, “in the spirit” which means “the vital principal by which the body is animated and the disposition or influence which fills and governs the soul of any one” “of your mind” which refers to “the faculties of perceiving and understanding and those of feeling, judging, determining spiritual truth”. The Ephesians were to be “renewed” in “the faculty of perceiving divine things, and they were to recognize goodness and hating of evil”.

When we consider these words of Paul, we see there is not only a “putting away” of our previous way of living, but we are also to be “transformed” by a new way of thinking and acting. Christians are to be different than the world, and those who have obeyed Paul's exhortation have begun to think and act like Jesus. Because many people are watching us as Christians, it is imperative that the “spirit of our minds” are “renewed” and altered to be like Jesus. May God Almighty, our Heavenly Father, transform us in our “minds” until we think, act and have attitudes like unto His.

Next time Paul tells the Ephesians to “put on the new man”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.