Welcome to this Come to Jesus Daily Devotional. Today, we reflect on how The Holy Spirit transforms the thinking - the mindset - of those who receive Jesus.
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‘Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.’ (Romans 8:5-8)
What do you recall about the experience of becoming a Christian? For me, my decision to receive Jesus as Saviour was also marked with joy and new desires to serve Him. I wanted to read and know His Word. I went to prayer meetings. I wanted my friends to know Jesus… I was far from perfect, but my heart and mind were changed.
Our internal life - what we think about - reveals a lot about us. Today’s text reveals a deep truth about our thinking; it teaches that what our ‘minds are set on’ reveals whether or not we are Christians. To be clear, our salvation is not the result of the condition of our thinking, as if good thinking could earn our salvation! Rather, our thinking is the result of spiritual condition - what we set our minds on flows out of our spiritual condition; as the condition of the water in a river is dependent on its source, so our thinking - our mindset - is dependent upon our spiritual life.
Paul, in the previous verses of Romans 8 has spoken of how Jesus’ death and resurrection deals with both the guilt and power of sin in our lives; The death of Christ deals with the guilt of our sin and so he can say ‘There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus’ (8:1); however the cross also deals with the power of sin, and so he says of Christians: ‘who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.’ (8:5) Simply put, those who have received Jesus have been justified and born again and so they think and live in a new way.
The Christian is described as:
‘…But those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires…but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace…’
The Christian is contrasted with the non-Christian as those who ‘Live in accordance with the Spirit [having] their minds set on what the Spirit desires.’ This is not about living a perfect life, but it is about having an overarching love for God and desire to please Him. The Christian’s ‘mind’ - his thinking and will - are ‘governed by the Spirit’. The truth of our confession of Christ will be seen in a new kind of life.
How is your thinking? What is your mindset? Is life about fulfilling your will and ambitions? Alternatively is your mind set on the desires of the Spirit? Today are we rejoicing that in Jesus we will never face condemnation? Are we also pursuing a life that is pleasing to God, a life that the Spirit wants to impart to us?
Community group notes and study
1. Notices
It might be good to begin with notices. Please share from this week’s Church News.
2. Icebreaker
How has God been speaking to you from His Word this week and how has this helped you?
3. Worship together
Let’s begin our time together by lifting our eyes and hearts to worship our great God. Perhaps you have readings and songs that you would like to use together. Let’s be open to the gifts that the Spirit wants to give in order to encourage one another.
4. Study and pray together
Our message on Sunday was based upon Jesus’ rebuke aimed at Peter in Mark 8:31-33. Here we see the importance that Jesus’ places on our seeking to put God’s will - His ‘concerns’ - as paramount in our lives. God is not to be our servant. We don’t follow Him to make our lives better. Rather, a Christian has died to their old life; they have been purchased by Jesus; His will is to become our delight and our will. Jesus wants all of us to ‘have in mind the concerns of God, [not] merely human concerns.’
Please read Matthew 16:21-23
What would you say is the main point of this text?
Did God speak to you about anything specifically from Sunday’s message?
What is Satan seeking to do in this account and what does this teach us?
How is what Peter is doing following the pattern of Eve in Genesis 3:1-7?
How do you ensure that your zeal for God and His will is kept central in your life?
SIV - How will a correct application of this account lead us into a life on God’s mission?
SIV - Do we have any stories of how we have ‘Served, Invested, and inVited’ recently?
SIV - Spend some time together talking and praying about who and how you are seeking to bring your community to Jesus.
Let’s pray together that, this week, we will have opportunities to SIV; and pray for anything else that's come out of our time in God’s Word.
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