A war is when two forces come together for combat. A war is usually caused by a particular action, or the two forces is fighting to possess a particular thing. To engage in warfare, one must be a disciplined soldier: one who is obedient, shows great devotion and has great expectation for victory. When a war breaks out, the government enlists abled-body people in to go and fight. The majority of the time the people don’t want to go and fight, but they have no choice. They have to enlist in service, or go to prison. When we express faith in Jesus Christ, we automatically are enlisted in spiritual warfare. We are now soldiers in Christ’s army.
A soldier endures sufferings and hardships. Paul writes to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2: 3,4 and tells Timothy to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, and no man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
A christian soldier must not allow ordinary affairs of this life to become the main object of existence. A soldier on duty keeps himself in readiness for orders from headquarters. His desires is to please the one who enlisted him. The believer has been enlisted by the Lord for service. The bible says our war is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
The enemy wants to come in, swift as wheat, and take our souls. But for the devil to be successful, he has to reign supreme in the territory of the mind. The mind is the door way to the heart. The mind gives commands that the body follow.
There is a war going on in the battlefield of the mind between good and evil. Blessed be the Lord because through the work that was done on the cross, we who were sometimes alienated and enemies in our minds, he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present us holy in his sight. God has given us what we need to win the war in the battle for our minds.
THERE MUST BE A RENEWAL OF THE MIND FOR
TRANSFORMATION TO TAKE PLACE (ROMANS 12:1,2)
Renewal happens when our moral, spiritual vision, and thinking adjusts to the mind of God,which is designed to have a transforming effect upon our lives. The mind is the seat of reflective consciousness, comprising the faculties of perception and understanding, a newnature. Once our mindset gets focused on the meditation of God’s word, a transformation takes place. Transformation means metamorphoo: to change into another form, to undergo A complete change which, under the power of God, will find expression in character and conduct: the inward change.
Example:(1)David encouraged himself in the Lord. The battle that’s in the mind: past failures, discouragement, and doubt in God’s word.
(2) When you come to a depressed state, think yourself happy. Renewal comes by spiritual discipline (1corinthians 2). Our minds have to be intuned with God’s will for us to be effective. We must avoid being fashioned and shaped by this world. When our minds is renewed, transformation takes place.
WHEN TRANSFORMATION OCCURS, A PRENSENTATION OF OUR BODIESS AS LIVING SACRIFICES, HOLY AND ACCEPTABLE UNTO GOD TAKES PLACE.
Paul urges the receivers of this letter, the saints at Rome, by God’s everlasting love and his forgiving grace, to offer their bodies to God. Sacrifice comes from the Greek word thusia, which means the act of offering. The body is a veichle in operation with the only purpose of doing the will of God (1corinthians 6:19,20).
Our reasonable service means spiritual worship. (James 4:1-8).
Worship and service is very important (Colosians 3:1-10).
In the Old Testament, followers of God had to sacrifice animals. Now in the New Testament, believers are encouraged to offer their bodies as living sacrifices. We need to yield our bodies as instruments of righteousness unto God (Romans 6:12).
AFTER THE PRENSENTATION OF OUR BODIES UNTO GOD TAKES PLACE, WE THEN EMBRACE A NEW NATURE AND A SEPERATED LIFE (2CORINTHIANS 5:17).
A new nature means as the fish lives in water and A man lives in the air, so A believer lives in the Spirit. He not only lives in the Spirit, but the Spirit lives in him. The new nature occurs as A result of being born again (John 3). The old way of worldly thinking is passed away, and a new spiritual mindset is received, which is of life and peace (Romans 8:6).
Example: Paul’s dilemma (Romans7)
Paul’s victory (Romans8)
Our renewal happens daily (2Corinthians 4:16).
There needs to be A separation from the ways of this world to do the will of God (1John 2:15).
CONCLUSION:
We need to draw on God’s power and unlimited resources to walk in A way pleasing to Him. There are three keys for knowing God’s will: A transformed mind, A yielded body, and A separated life. When we try not to succeed our own merits and depend upon God, we will experience spiritual growth and produce good fruit.
