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Saturday, June 26, 2004
As the World Wide Web evolves, it seems as if a war is raging between the biggest players - the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), other browser manufacturers and Microsoft. And the developers? They're caught in the middle. By Lee Underwood. 0617 [WebReference News]
 11:48:57 PM.
As the browser wars continue, the battle appears to be changing as many users are switching to other, lesser-known browsers, resulting in an increase in their popularity. Whether a statement of personal choice or a reaction to Microsoft, that remains to be seen. By Lee Underwood. 0623 [WebReference News]
11:48:32 PM.
We had hoped to ship NetNewsWire 2.0 before WWDC—or at least have a public beta released. But, well, I was optimistic. It looks like it will have to wait until July.
Just so you know, here’s where it’s at...
The major new features are all in testing, except for synching, which I’ve been concentrating on this week. As soon as synching is in testing—either this week or right after WWDC—then all that remains is adding a couple small features, fixing bugs, and adding polish.
In other words, we’re just about to turn the corner and enter the home stretch.
We have a large group of testers, and they’ve been doing a great job of banging on things. Stability is job #1, and it appears to be at least as stable as 1.0.8, if not more so. Performance is also important—some of our testers have huge subscription lists that we’ve been testing with, and we’ve done a bunch of work to make NetNewsWire faster. (Stability and performance are ongoing jobs, of course, and we’ll continue to work on them after 2.0 ships. Every app could be faster and more stable.) DilemmaMy dilemma is: when should we release a public beta?
On one hand I want the public beta to be highly polished, so that people get a good impression of the app.
But on the other hand I’m eager to have you get a chance to use all the new features, even if they’re not quite perfect yet.
As an example of what I mean, look at the tabs above. Note how the close button is on the right side. This is an example of the many little details that need to be cleared up before shipping the final version. (Should the close buttons be on the left, a la Safari? But then should the favicon move to the right? Should it be a pref? Or...?)
With a closed testing program, everybody has a stake in improving the app. With a public beta, lots of people evaluate it as if it’s a finished, shipping app—which isn’t fair to the software, but they do it anyway.
So I’m torn between releasing the public beta early, before it’s very polished yet, and releasing it later, when it’s very close to being the final, shipping version. What do you think? Would it be dumb to release the public beta sooner rather than later, or should I just go for it, release it at the soonest possible date? A few factsI’ve mentioned these things before, but I figured I’d repeat them since they’ve scrolled off my weblog...
NetNewsWire 2.0 will be a free upgrade. Everybody who bought (or will buy) 1.x will get all 2.x updates for free.
And here’s a partial list of the new features in 2.0:
Searching 11:47:57 PM.
Ted Leung flatters me when he writes about the NetNewsWire testing process. Ted is a great tester, and it’s fun to work with him.
(For example, his subscription list is the longest I’ve seen or even heard of—but, instead of treating it like an outlier, we’ve used it to work on NetNewsWire’s scaling and performance.)
Of more general interest, Ted writes, “Is it odd for an open source guy to feel such a kinship with a closed source/proprietary software guy? I don’t think so.”
I don’t think it’s odd, either. I like very much that the two worlds mix. OS X itself as an expression of that mix, and I myself have released some parts of NetNewsWire as open source, so I’m not purely a closed-source guy.
There’s another way to slice things: there is software by large companies and software by small, independent developers. Open source and closed source software comes from both places.
But I like the small companies best: Bare Bones, Rogue Amoeba, TheCodingMonkeys, Panic—and even smaller companies and individuals like Flying Meat (Gus Mueller), Karelia (Dan Wood), and Adriaan Tijsseling. (And many more.)
I like the independent developers because they’re much closer to their individual users than large companies can afford to be. Apple, for instance, makes some great software—but you’re probably not going to talk to Steve Jobs. You’ll listen to his keynote, but that’s not the same thing as emailing or chatting with him or taking him out to lunch. (On the other hand, you may get to know some individuals at Apple, which is cool.)
If you’re like me, you like it when software development is collaborative. Collaboration can take the form of sharing source code, but it doesn’t have to.
In fact, most users of most pieces of software probably wouldn’t benefit from the source code, either because they’re not programmers or don’t have time—but they do benefit when they describe something they’d like to be able to do and then it appears in the software.
There are two languages used to create software: computer language and human language. The human language is more important.
Of course, I’ve often thought that if I were independently wealthy then NetNewsWire would be open source. Why not? As I hope I’ve made clear, I like open source software, even though I don’t usually look at things as open-source vs. closed-source—instead I see collaborative vs. ivory-tower, and I prefer collaborative. [inessential.com] 11:47:23 PM.
11:46:58 PM.
Read news from thousands of news sources updated every 15 minutes on the most powerful news aggregator.
Create custom feeds with more items, descriptions, select your version of RSS... Check out NewsIsFree's services! [Scientific American] 11:46:30 PM.
"Movable Type and Bl. New prolific.org. "Movable Type and Blogger Pro driven." Hmmm. (Nice design, BTW.) [evhead]
11:46:06 PM.
Scott Rosenberg at Salon has a new piece on blogging that's fairly level-headed: "...to lazy reporters, the world of blogs represents their worst nightmare: It's an endless parade of experts in every conceivable subject they might write about, all equipped with Internet-style megaphones ready to pounce on errors. Careful and thoughtful journalists will nevertheless welcome the advent of blogging: At worst, it should keep them on their toes and give them an incentive not to slip up, and at best, it should give them a chance to do their job better." [evhead]
11:45:38 PM.
Steven Johnson: "The collective future of blogs lies not in dethroning the New York Times -- but in becoming a force that can make sense of the Web's infinity of links." I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Steven Johnson is smart. That's, unfortunately, all I have time to say right now, though my brain's going a million miles on hour. [evhead]
11:45:13 PM.
I previously said that Google does not use SSL encryption to secure your email. True, by default, Google redirects you to their unencrypted site. However, once you've logged in, you can simply visit: https://gmail.google.com/gmail (note the additional s after http) to get your connection encrypted. (Thanks to Jon Gales for the tip.)... [Google Weblog]
11:44:51 PM.
Google Images has been updated. Now when you search Images for a topic in the news, let's say google , not only do you get vaguely-related images from the Web at large, but you also get vaguely-related images from news sites (along with headlines) right at the top.... [Google Weblog]
11:44:30 PM.
The following is a report from a temp employee of Google about what things were like today. If you were around Google today, please share your story. I'm glad "The Announcement" is happening, actually, because that means that tomorrow it will be over. No more rumors. We're going public. I'm sure there will still be lots of media around, particularly when the actual IPO happens in a few months' time, but until then, there won't be much to report on. The rumors have been around for so long that the elevated hype this week was pooh-poohed by many, but it has been crazy around here this week and a total circus today. At the main (SGI) campus, there have been security guards manning the entrance to the parking lot all week, and you have to show your badge to get in. This screens out the media who haven't made plans with PR in advance to be there - according to a security guard I talked to, Google gets some very aggressive journalists showing up at random and is trying to shield employees from being hassled. Today the local NBC affiliate had a news van outside the parking lot, plus there were photographers and another news van I didn't recognize. I should have been tipped off that today was definitely the big day by the presence of a photographer at the building where I work. As I was coming in this morning, he was taking pictures of the sign at the entrance to the parking lot. This was unusual: I'm still at the old campus, and the media don't come here; there's no security roadblock in our lot. The front desk girl was calling security on the guy by the time I had parked my car and walked inside. (She asked, "He's on the sidewalk?", making me wonder whether the guy could be asked to leave if he was standing on public property - but photographing private property. Don't know what the law is around that. There are AP images of the Google building signs anyway, so it's not like he was getting an exclusive, never-before-seen shot.) Apparently the day's announcement was a surprise for Googlers as well. Suddenly this meeting was called via e-mail, causing other meetings in progress to be adjourned; everyone dropped everything and vanished. It was like the plague had struck. We temps were not informed, but had to put two and two together from the sudden exodus and from the e-mail we received announcing that the cafe (which is huge and has a stage with a sound system, usually used for DJs and jam bands at lunch) would be closed until 1 due to "a special event." A coworker and I tried to gatecrash and got as far as walking up to the cafe from the inside hallway, seeing the backs of hundreds of people and hearing the voice of whoever was at the mic, before being turned away by security for having the wrong color (temp) badge. There was a BBQ grill going outside that we were welcome to peruse, though, so we got food and sat down to wait and watch. All we could see were the backs of people visible through the sliding glass doors; the rest of the cafe was under whiteout conditions, with blinds pulled to block all views inside. This is impressive since the entire front facade of the cafe, which is about three stories high, is made of windows! We observed lots of periodic clapping, and there was a Q&A session after the main piece had been said. Eventually people spilled out into the sunshine. Sadly, I saw no one run out of the building yelling, "I'm rich! I'm rich! I'm filthy rich!" I did see Larry Page go by looking bemused but snazzy in a colorful striped button-down shirt - and it looked like he was wearing his best sneakers. We grabbed someone we knew, who told us, "I think we're doing the right thing." I hope that's true. Thanks to our contributor for this report. Again, if you were around Google, please tell us your story.... [Google Weblog]
11:44:02 PM.
Brad of The BradLands reports that Google will give access to your Gmail account to anyone who can answer your secret question, and since most people's secret question is something easily discoverable (mother's maiden name, pet, etc.), this isn't very good news. On the other hand, as Matt and Brad point out, most other services (Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail, etc.) have the same problem. So if you do use Gmail, do pick a more difficult challenge question. On a more uplifting note, Brad notes that Gmail is starting to work decently with Safari now, if you click past the your browser is unsupported screen by hitting "sign in anyway". And Dane Carlson notes the suspicious potential beginnings of a Google Blog (look at the URL).... [Google Weblog]
11:43:35 PM.
Google had three different pressures on them. They had investors who wanted desperately to send Google money. They had shareholders who wanted to cash out. And they had founders who didn't want to give anything up and wanted to stay honest. Their IPO cleverly manages to solve all three problems. The founders keep honest by telling folks they have no respect for investors and that Google is probably a bad investment (and also by bypassing the comically corrupt investment bank system). They keep control through the dual-class stock system. And then they let the investors hand their money to the shareholders. Now I'm no expert, but IPO lawyer Gordon Smith, at his venturpreneur weblog, has been analyzing the Google IPO and doesn't think Google has much of a growth story. Nor, apparently, does anyone else.... [Google Weblog]
11:43:07 PM.
Finally: Google's got an official weblog. Hi, Evan!... [Google Weblog]
11:42:39 PM.
Google finally bit the bullet and added mailing list support to Google Groups: Google Groups 2 - BETA. It even lets you create your own mailing list, just like Yahoo! Groups. Google says: Group creation: Users can easily create, join, and search email-based mailing lists; administrative interface enables customized access controls to designate a group as public or restricted Dynamic conversations: Postings appear within 10 seconds and are indexed within 10 minutes Enhanced user interface: Users can track and mark favorite topics using the "My Groups" feature and view postings in a variety of ways including by message summary, title, or conversation view... [Google Weblog]
11:41:56 PM.
Ido Kenan, NRG Maariv has filed a story about Google's ethics committee. He sent us this translation: Google has an ethics committee for decisions on changes to their algorithms. The committee is comprised of Google workers "who are concerned about ethics", said Dr. Eran Gabber, a software engineer with Google, at a lecture yesterday (Monday) at the Tel Aviv University. Dr. Gabber came to Israel to recruit Computer Science students for an annual Google project, where 100 students from around the world are invited to work at Google for a 12-week period during the summer. Dr. Gabber said: "We change Pagerank when we find that spammers are abusing it, but we don't change it often. There's an internal ethics committee in Google. Internally, there are people who are concerned about ethics. In Google, there are a lot of people who find ethics important". There are photos at the original article (in Hebrew). Thanks again to Ido Kenan, NRG Maariv for this story.... [Google Weblog]
11:41:20 PM.
NYT: Google Moves Toward Clash With Microsoft. "Google is preparing to introduce a powerful file and text software search tool for locating information stored on personal computers."... [Google Weblog]
11:40:52 PM.
Perrspectives: Google's Gag Order. Another piece on Google's bizarre no-hate-ads policy, but this one suggests it is applied with a conservative bias. The author had a political commentary website which included an article which called the President "secretive, paranoid and vengeance-filled". His site was taken down. Yet another site, whose _name_ is "Michael Moore Hates America", is allowed to run ads for "Michael Moore". It is increasingly clear that Google cannot enforce their censorship policy with any semblance of fairness. Worse, [their editorial policy in ads undermines their claim of fair, computer-generated results](http://google.blogspace.com/archives/001233). Google should stick to ensuring adds are accurate, and let the computer decide which ones to show based on which are popular.... [Google Weblog]
11:40:22 PM.
Small-time web publishers, fanzine writers, and webloggers have had little or no chance of standing up against The Man when sent a legal letter or email asking them to "cease and desist" with whatever it is they are publishing online. Not until now, that is, thanks to the arrival of Chilling Effects. [WriteTheWeb]
11:39:51 PM.
11:39:14 PM.
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11:35:14 PM.
What do you use QuickTopic for? Discussing off-topic stuff that crops up on mailing lists? There's waaaay more to it than that, as our interview with founder Steve Yost reveals. [WriteTheWeb]
11:34:43 PM.
11:33:14 PM.
Visions of God, and/or revelations of His Kingdom are replete, abundant from within God's Word. As you study these revelations or visions of God, you begin to perceive a portion of God's vastness and depth.
Spiritual perceptions of God in vision or or by other means of revelation are given to believers in Christ for profit; they also inspire and awe us for motivation by the majesty of our Father'sgreatness!
The revelation manifestations of the holy spirit born in you bring solution; as acted upon, they impart God's power for glory to God and for developing "fruit of the spirit."
Many of these Biblical visions will come alive for you by the revelation manifestations as you study and ponder God's Word; they will also motivate you in carrying on in spite of adversity of satan's opposing kingdom upon earth.
I do not mean to confuse the definition of revelation by the revealing manifestations of "word of knowledge,""word of wisdom," and "discerning of spirits."
Reading the Bible and gaining spiritual understanding is not the specific meaning of "the revelation manifestations." But, while reading the Bible, one may receive vision or other means of revelation concerning sections of Scripture, making it living and real for you.
Visions of God, of the True God, Will Always Be in Agreement With and "Never Flow at Cross-Purposes" to God's Word
Don't know about you, but I have heard, first-hand, some pretty wild tales of visions and dreams by others?! I know that most of them can not be of the true God, because their visions do not fit with the accuracy of God's Word.
Many of people's, so-called, "visions" are counterfeit revelations coming from satan rather than coming from the true God, for satan gives revelation too, Matthew 4:8! And, many times, these false revelations given to the ignorant and unwise, usually become "another gospel" for a lot of misled folks.
Only the Word of God gives man a referrence point for checking one's visions or dreams - - as to whether they are true or false perceptions.
The Apostle Paul's Visions of God
"It is not [no, not; absolutely not] expedient [necessary, profitable] for me doubtless [truly, indeed] to glory [to speak authoritatively]. I will come to visions and revelations [apokalupsis; revealing] of the Lord."
As the context shows, Paul came to visions regarding the revelation of the Lord, regarding the time of the book of Revelation - - - - in the second part of the parousia.
The setting of the context is in the middle of Paul's declaring multiple details in the immense amount of spiritual opposition that he was receiving in the moving of God's Word. God gave Paul a glory trip by visions of the times ahead. This was what Paul needed in order to be inner-strengthened and to move-on in spite of all the damnable adversity of satan's kingdom that was working against him in evil men upon the earth.
"Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened [endunamaoo; empowered] me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion."
Paul, in verse 4 of II Corinthians 12, was "caught up," or more accurately "caught away" by vision into the third heaven. In verse 2, "paradise" would have to be the third heaven's paradise, because the first one was destroyed during "The Flood.""Paradise" is the Greek word paradosia, only used in the Old Testament as the Garden of Eden and dwelling place of God with man, and is not mentioned again except for Luke 23:43, here in II Corinthians, and then in Revelation 21, speaking in all occurrences of the paradosia in the new heaven and the new earth that will be re-established at the end times. Paul was "caught away" in vision to this time-frame and place of "the third heaven," meeting God in the paradise of that time.
God gave Paul visions; it was necessary for his inner-strength and motivation to move on in the face of tremendous odds of horrendous spiritual attack by satan's kingdom, by Paul's thorns in the flesh.
God gives us vision as well, but most of the time through the knowledge revealed from His Word. These visions that God has given to others are now recorded in God's Word, and are given for our profit and motivation, and solution as well. As they are studied in accuracy and understood in relationship to the Biblical age and administration in which we live, then they may be perceived as living realities for our benefit and inner-strengthening, as well as for others.
The greatest vision of God, the greatest revelation given to Paul for the Church was the great "mystery of God," which is now revealed in Scripture as shown at the given link.
The most anchoring vision and revelation of God's Word, for our Administration of Grace, is the Biblical hope of Christ's return, as recorded in II Thessalonians, chapter 4. Following is a link to an article, onsite, concerning this event, which will take place in the future before the time of the book Revelation... Biblical Hope Assures, Anchors the Soul.
However, in this study, I wish to give you a few accounts in Scripture prompting greater perceptions of living "out-from-within" heavens stomping grounds as a wonderful son or daughter of God.
Even though we are not "physically" dwelling within the spiritual realm, the spirit of God living within us is dwelling continuously within the spiritual realm of God's Kingdom; it is continually impregnating truths, visions, or revelations concerning things proceeding out from the Spirit, Who is God, our heavenly Father.
Elisha's and His Servant's Visions of God
"And when the servant of the man of God [Elisha] was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him [Elisha], Alas, my master! how shall we do?
"And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.
"And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha."
The servant, the young man, SAW. You can not see with your physical eyes the spiritual realm. It was a vision that the young man saw. He saw this vision with his spiritual eyes by the spirit of God upon him.
This vision given to Elisha, and then shared with his servant by God's spiritual power, is a vision recorded in God's Word "for our learning" (Romans 15:4). It is a vision of eternal, spiritual realities that is also available unto us in our administrational, Biblical age of Grace. It is given for greater spiritual perceptions of God's Kingdom and His protection about our lives by His angels of might - - as needed and as we live for Him.
Paul's and John's Visions of God
Next, are the above visions of II Corinthians 12:1 that were given to Paul, but of which he was not permitted to utter to anyone, verse 4. Paul, later, only wrote *about* the visions, and only John, later, was permitted to speak and write in detail about what they both saw regarding the time of the book of Revelation...
"After this, I looked, and behold, a door was opened in heaven. . .talking with me, which said, Come up thither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.""And immediately I was in the Spirit [receiving spiritual vision by "word of knowledge"]: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.
"And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.
"And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders [heavenly, spirit beings] sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.
"And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits [angels, or spirit beings1] of God.
"And before the throne there was [as] a sea of glass like unto crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts [living beings, living creatures; the cherubims of Genisis 3:242] full of eyes before and behind.
"And the first beast [cherubim] was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.
"And the four beasts [cherubims] had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.
"And when those beasts [cherubims] give glory and honor and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever,
"The four and twenty elders [living being, spirits] fall down before him [the Lord God Almighty] that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
"Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created."
The great, apostle Paul shared the grace and vision by revelation of the great "mystery of God" that he received from God with God's people as shown in Ephesians 3:2 thru 12. Then Paul continues, in verse 13...
"Wherefore I desire that ye faint not [do not grow weary, tired] at my tribulations [mental pressures] for you. For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth in named, That he [the Father, God] would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened [endunamoo] with might by [by means of] his Spirit in the inner man. . .Unto him [the Father, God] be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. A-men," Ephesians 3:13 thru 16, and 21.
Indeed, Paul did come to many visions of God for personal inner-strength and for profit in the edifying and benefiting of all of God's people in the revealed mystery, grace, glory and might and power of God.
Footnotes: 8:44:36 PM.
Spiritual understanding of God's Word is a perception, not a forced understanding by analytical thinking. Spiritual perception is given of God as we consider Scripture. Think about II Timothy 2:7...
"Consider [noeo; observe, mark, think about, ponder] what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding [sunesis1] in all things."
It is God, Who and that imparts "intelligence, insight into ... cleverness ... quickness of apprehension"1 concerning His Word of truth.
It is God, Who and that. . .and not you!
It is God, Who makes life gel and click, and Who makes your understanding flow together - - rather than splitting out!
It is God, Who gives the "increase" in the learning of His Word!
(The "one-liners" page, onsite, gives more detail on perception of spiritual knowledge.)
Luke 1:3,
Luke is referring to the book of Acts, which he wrote as God gave him perfect, accurate, precise understanding from above. He wrote the book of Acts in progressive order concerning the events of the first century Church as God gave him revelation.
The word "understanding," in our above verses, is an interesting word in the Greek. It is sunesis! In profane Greek literature, sunesis was used as water tributaries flowing down from various areas into streams, the streams flowing into larger rivers, and finally the much larger river flowing into the "big picture" of the ocean.
What a great mind picture for understanding the word "understanding." Most people's "rivers of understanding split-out" (I Corinthians 1:19), because they do not "consider" but rather wrestle with the knowledge of God's Word.
They are real sharp in business, in their professions, in their worldly knowledge, but their understanding of God's Word and life in relationship to God and His son, Jesus Christ, splits-out rather than flowing together to see the big picture.
They do not set it to heart to allow God to give the understanding, the flowing, the gelling. They want to figure it all out on their own; for this inflates man's ego in self-importance.
Their rivers continue to split-out; thus, the saying is brought to pass... "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding [sunesis] of the prudent ["understanding ones;"sunetos; putting together in mind2]."
A man or woman must first receive Christ, they must first become "born again" before they can ever hope to grasp an understanding, a flowing together of the big picture of God's Word in its eternal verities and purposes. Look at this verse...
"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," I Corinthians 2:14.
God's Word must be "spiritually discerned" - - not analyzed. And, men and women who do not have the spirit of God born within them are called, "the natural man." They are the scientific man, the humanist who can only go by what he or she sees, hears, smells, tastes, and touches or feels. It is an absolute impossibility for them to ever understand the Word of God until they first come to Christ to receive the spirit of God, to get "born again."
Then man, woman has the spiritual ability, the enablement, the means by which to understand the things proceeding out from the Spirit of God. The "Christ in you" gives you the means to perceive the truth of God's Word. It gives you the means to "spiritually discern" as you "consider, ponder, observe, mark, apprehend" the things God says in His Word.
It is God Who energizes His power in your spirit, now born in you, giving you revelation for understanding. You then "perceive" that revelation as you study His Word and ponder, believe, and act upon God's majestic Word.
Have a flowing together today, a clicking, a gelling of God's wonderful matchless Word by study and in prayer while comtemplating what is written and acting thereupon!
Footnotes:
Another God-log on spiritual understanding by Joe [Joe Christian: Spiritual Understanding, Gelling] 8:44:19 PM.
This new category page started with Spiritual Understanding, Gelling, the post just below the following article.
It was originally a God-log post on May 13, was expanded, and moved to this category page because I felt it was that significant in ability to help people in coming to a greater understanding of God's Word.
But, first, this article to lay a footing.....
"All life is principle,1" people.
As you apply principle from God's Word - - then, life CLICKS in God! For example, when you believe with fully persuaded believing, you receive; when you tithe and give, you open God's floodgates of prosperity and spiritual abundance; when you ponder God's Word, you discern spiritual matters; when you speak in tongues much in your private prayer life, God speaks to you by revelation; when you speak God's Word and minister God's power, people are healed (if they believe); when you love, people are made whole; when you smile, people are blessed; when you renew your mind, power is demonstrated; when you behold Christ continuously, you are transformed, etc., etc., etc.
Indeed, "All life is principle!" And - - it is God that gives spiritual understanding unto men and women as they ponder, consider, observe, mark, think about God's Word without wrestling with it in forced analytical scrutiny but with a believing heart.....
I Kings 4:29,
If you were a forestry student in college, then you would first attain knowledge and apply it out in the field. You would learn about the trees and what affects them, thus you would need to learn about bugs and the many means of controlling them. You would learn about the animals of the forest, their behaviors, numbers, and different kinds; plus, you would obtain wisdom by field study and application of your learned knowledge. Then, after several years of learning and applying your knowledge, an understanding would then settle in, a gelling, a flowing together begins coming together so that you begin seeing the overall, comprehensive view of forestry. You begin developing understanding within your field of study. So it is with the Word of God...
Proverbs 4:7,
God's Word is not learned overnight but is a lifetime of exceeding growth in knowledge, wisdom, and a gelling of God's Word by His spirit born in you.
There is an attitude that must be developed in your life for these things to occur, a humility, a meekness to the reception of the Lord's song in the depth of your heart.
Read the article just below to learn the principle of Spiritual Understanding, Gelling with keener perception. Indeed, All life is principle for the more than abundant life in Christ, Romans 10:10.
Footnote:
Another God-log on spiritual perception for spiritual understanding by Joe [Joe Christian: Spiritual Understanding, Gelling] 8:43:54 PM.
"Renewing the mind" is a process of transformation, a dynamics of changing of forms from worldy thinking to spiritual thinking. It is a putting off of the old man nature, and a putting on of the new man nature in 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."
Salvation only restores man by the creation of the spirit of God within his being - - which is fantastic - - but is not enough for man's soul to live in unity with God in manifested righteousness and holiness.
There are many Christians today who do not bring forth the goodness and love of God's nature within their beings toward their neighbor. It is evident from within culture that salvation alone does not affect the mind of the believer, for example: many Christians of today are full of fear, doubt and Scriptural mistrust, lacking God's power when needed for answered prayer, lacking power for healings and miracles; hence, many are weak and sickly, and needy financially.
Many Christians are undedicated, without proper self-control in personal self-discipline; and many are partial, unforgiving, merciless, high-minded, strife-filled and factious, becoming trouble-makers and word-battlists in bitter-pride and rejection of good and truth and godliness; many are also slumbered in deception and error, worshipping worldly things in lusts, controlling addictions, and perversions.
Hence, it is evident that more is needed for helping Christians than just becoming "born again.""Salvation" just simply does not restore trust and confidence and believing in the soul of the believer, nor righteous, sound thinking and judgements in the mind of the believer, nor does it restore the believer's "walking in God's love" in his soul.
Therefore, the "renewing of your mind" is the Biblical solution and process needed for transfiguring or transforming the mind of the Christian believer - - and not the spirit.
"The spirit of God" living in Christians is perfect and does not need a "mental" newing-up. The spirit of God is only fed and built-up by speaking in tongues.
Thus, the renewing of your mind is the Biblical answer for dynamics in spiritual, emotional, mental change of the soul of Christians everywhere.
An unbeliever, the "unsaved," can not genuinely "renew" the mind; he or she has no image after which to mirror. They do not have the spirit of God to mirror, to reflect. They do not have the means by which God may communicate unto them internally. Thus, therapy and drudgery in "remodeling" oneself after worldly wisdom is abundant throughout the world.
"But the natural man [the unsaved, the physical man and woman, the scientific man without the spirit of God] receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God [pneumatikos; things proceeding out from the Spirit of God]: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he [or she] know them, because they are spiritual discerned [examined, divided rightly in truth, and thus decided for belief and practice]."
The "unsaved" only have a body and a soul; they do not have the spirit of God, hence they can not receive the things, the truths of God proceeding out from His Spirit. It's all silly to him or her. And, it is an absolute impossibility for the "unsaved" to spiritually and to rightly divide, examine, investigate and then judge the truths of God's Word in verity. They must become "born again" first, then they will see, perceive truth for doctrine and practice.
(If you wish, go to the May 31st post in this category, Spiritual Understanding, Gelling to learn a little more on I Corinthians 2:14.)
There is really no dynamics for "the unbeliever, only for the mind of the believer in Christ.
The "renewing of the mind" is dynamics in genuine reformation for the Church, for Christian believers on the whole, but for transformation of the individual mind of the believer.
Dynamics means a "force producing motion" (Merriam-Webster's Dictionary); but as used in our study "dynamics" is the power or ability for change and continuous changing.
Reformation is the act of "making better or improving by removal of faults; to correct or improve one's own character or habits" (Merriam-Webster's Dictionary).
This term, reformation, is used in our study concerning only the Church as a whole, regarding believers as a whole - - and not concerning the renewing of the individual mind of the believer. The renewing of the mind is a thinking of thoughts that are different from previous thoughts, a newing-up in quality thoughts for transformation, and not a reformation.
When the Church as a whole renews their minds in unison, continuously, then reformation takes place in the Church. After a believer's mind is changed by spiritual transformation, then his or her entire being is becoming reformed and restored to what God orginally designed and desired man to be.
The dynamics of God's Word gives believers the power for being changed, ability to change, and power for constant changing, for transforming (not remodeling) the mind of the believer - - and causing skill in the believer's soul for developing good character and habits that are "unmixed unto evil" - - for restoration in innocence, manifested as righteousness and godliness, upon transfiguring.
Renewing your mind means what it says, "your mind" - - and not your spirit. Men and women - - in Christ - - have three parts to their being: a body, a soul, plus a spirit. The body is composed of your members and of your brain that has a mind. The mind has thoughts, feelings, and will, purposes, and desires. Your body with its members lives and your brain also lives because you have a soul. The addition of spirit though is the life of God born within as "the spirit of God." You are renewing your mind and not your spirit.
The "mind" in New Testament Greek Scripture is the Greek word nous, and is not the Greek word for "spirit," which is pneuma. The nous is your whole mind thinking, perceiving, and making decisions based upon processed information within the organic brain of the body and the mind, the soul; it is the whole mind with a living, breathing-soul - - thinking.
The nous is the thinking of "the whole mental organ of perception," called the mind, which receives information via the five senses - - but which, in a Christian believer, may also receive information from God's spiritual realm via the spirit of God via the spiritual senses. (This added ability may cause one to "walk with God.")
"Soul" is the Greek word psuche; it is your "soul-life."Psuche is your breath-life, and it is spirit but is a different kind of spirit from the spirit of God living in Christians. Precisely, the "soul" is in the physical realm, but it is called spirit because it can not be seen. It is sometimes referred to in the Bible as "the spirit of man," but most references in the Bible concerning the soul of man are given as "soul" - - rather than the spirit of man.
Most people have trouble discerning between the physical realm and the spiritual realm, between "soul and spirit," but the Word of God is "sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit...," Hebrews 4:12b.
This is speaking of breath-life or soul-life as separated from the spirit of God-life, which is eternal life spirit. When a living creature takes its last breath, then life has come to an end for that creature. However, God's promise is that when Christ returns, believers in Christ shall be given new bodies in eternal life, powered not this time by soul-spirit but by eternal life-spirit, by spirit of God power and life.
According to Leviticus 17:11, the life of the body (which is soul) is in the blood. Soul-life is carried from generation to generation through the blood in the seed of man, uniting with the egg of the woman. That potential for new, breathing soul-life is then continued at birth upon the newborn's first breath!
Our new bodies at Christ's return will have no blood in them; our new spiritual veins will only carry eternal, spirit of God life within them. (Readily seen in the resurrection of Israel in the futuristic vision of Ezekiel 37:1 thru 14, regarding "the resurrection of the just," especially in verse 14. "Blood" with soul is never mention for the life of their bodies, but only the spirit of God for breath-life in their new resurrected bodies is stated. Just fantastic! The same will be for us as is for Jesus Christ, who had no blood in his new resurrected body as seen in his post-resurrected body, in Luke 24:39, which account again does not mention blood.)
"Of man," in the phrase "spirit of man," places spirit in the physical realm; it is breath-life spirit but is not eternal-life spirit. The nous lives because it has soul-life. The body, with a brain and a mind, lives because it has soul-life, the spirit of man. The nous is the mind portion of the human body, and the soul (that lives in the whole body) includes breathing, along with being, living, and independent thinking or self-consciousness within the nous.
Body and soul are in the physical realm; but, the spirit of God, in the Christian, is in the spiritual realm. And the brain is only organic matter with no life until it has a mind, which is a soul, soul-life breathing in and out continuously with conscious thinking.
The nous, the whole mind, would then include the "heart." The Greek word for "heart" is kardia. The kardia of the mind is like the physical heart to the body. The mind has a heart, it is the inner-sanctuary of the mind, where the "issues of life" emanate from. Your believing and, subsequently, your actions emanate, proceed out from the heart of the whole mind thinking, as given in Proverbs 4:23.
The Christian man or woman, as shown in I Thessalonians 5:23, is a three-part entity: having a body, a soul (the spirit of man), and spirit (the spirit of God).
Again, the body has an organic brain with a mind, the nous, with living-thinking and a free-will, with desires, and phronema or thoughts. The mind of the brain is the soul; and the heart of the mind, that innermost-sanctuary of the mind, with all its thoughts and will and desires is the object of the renewed mind.
After salvation, the heart of man must be renewed via the thoughts of the mind by renewing your mind to come into more perfect alignment and harmony, into unity with the spirit of God living within.
"Renewing" is the Greek word anakainosis; it is to "new-up."Renewing is present tense and continuous action; it is continuous acquiring of different, new-in-quality thoughts, and a putting-on of them in the mind. Renewing is like adding new versions or updates to your computer software that are different and new in quality, bringing greater functionality to your computer, hence gaining greater results in your work for effect.
"Thoughts" of the nous, of the mind, is the Greek word phronema; it is the noun form, and the verb form is phroneo. Its meaning is "the thoughts, the will, the desires or feelings" of the nous.
Here are a couple of its uses, the verb and then the noun form...
"For they that are [walking] after the flesh [the 5 senses] do mind [phroneo; verb form, do think] the things of the flesh [the 5 senses]; but they that are [walking] after the spirit the things of the Spirit."
verse 6,
Renewing the mind by different and new-in-quality thoughts, and by transformation accomplishes the work of reformation and restoration for yielding "...your members [of the physical body] servants to righteousness unto holiness," Romans 6:19c.
"Transformation" in the renewing of your mind is a process of changed and changing thinking in fashion and form: changed from a thinking that is "conformed" or fashioned after the world, and becoming transfigured in a new form. It is a process of putting-off worldly fashions and of putting-into the mind different, new-in-quality thinking of God's Word that gives us ability for changing the mind - - and thus the heart - - a transformation!
Transformed in our verse of study - - Romans 12:2 - - is the Greek word metamorphoo. The English word is well known as metamorphosis, being the changing of forms, the transfiguring of forms of the worm or caterpillar into a moth or butterfly.
Here are more occurrences of the Greek word metamorphoo in Scripture...
"And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured [metamorphoo; changed in form] before them."
Matthew 17:2,
II Corinthians 3:18,
Renewing one's mind brings on a change-in-form, a transfiguring, an acquiring of a "new glorious figure." The renewing is your part; the transformation is God's part. Becoming transfigured is supernatural via the spirit of God living in you, as energized or coming out from the Lord, the Spirit - - God. It's just like Jesus Christ's transfiguration on the Mount, but the transformation is more in a spiritual sense within you and then shows to others as effects, like: love, joy, peace, etc. - - but also power as needed!
Many thoughts flip through the mind that you never act upon or do, praise God. But, when thoughts of the wrong kind are allowed to stick around, then those thoughts of the mind begin "funneling" down into the inner-depths of the heart ...organically, chemically, and electrically etching chains of belief and habits upon the neurons of the brain.
This is what many call "the sub-conscious mind," but it is actually the kardia, which is the heart of the mind. The heart of the mind speaks and pumps with greater force than does the flippy thoughts of the mind. Therefore, what is in your heart and what is written on the neurons of the brain is what you do most of the time.
"For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he...."
You become what you think about the most and are delighted-in or reverence in awe; you become and are what you behold and dwell upon the most - - then allowing to filter down and become etched upon your heart.
The love of God coming from God is poured-out within our hearts by the holy spirit that has been given unto us. The renewed mind is the only way to manifest God's love from within our lives, in the Church, and among others. And God's Word says, that the love of God in a renewed mind.....
"Doth not behave itself unseemly [with moral deformity], seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked [made to get angry], thinketh no evil;
"Rejoiceth not [delights not, is not pleased] in iniquity, but rejoiceth [delights, is pleased in conjunction with] in the truth."
The heart and soul of the mind, when really renewed, will not delight any longer in iniquity ("doing contrary to right"). But, in contrast, will rejoice, delight, be pleased in conjunction with the truth of God's Word. What a great truth!
The soul of your mind and heart will rejoice and become pleased in the truth of right living before God.
Again, your soul is not your spirit. Your spirit is what God gives you upon salvation. Your soul is your thinking and breath-life, which causes your organic body and mind to live in the physical realm.
The spirit of God in you is not affected by this mental renewing process, except as is activated by your renewing of the mind - - for tranfiguring.
Thus, the renewed mind principle for power to change becomes critical for arriving to a more "perfect alignment and harmony" with God, truth, and His spirit living in you, for having fellowship with God via the holy spirit, look at I Corinthians 1:9 and then I John 1:3 and 4.
The spirit of God living in you is perfect. Receiving it brought God's eternal life to you in salvation by your believing on and receiving the faith of Jesus Christ, also called and described, in II Corinthians 4:13, as "the spirit of faith." Salvation brought the perfect, impregnated "spirit of God."
"Now we have received, not the spirit [pneuma; spirit] of the world, but the spirit of God...."
Salvation came by the reception of that holy spirit now born in you. The "spirit" is not renewed by thoughts within your mind, however "your mind"is renewed by a change of thinking - - for spiritual transformation in your heart.
(As you will see more of later, this"transformation" is a spiritual phenomenon of God as ordered in "the law of change." Keep in mind that Jesus Christ said, "...the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life," John 6:63b.)
The spirit of God is only fed, built-up or renewed daily by speaking in tongues (II Corinthians 4:16) - - - - but the soul of man's life is fed and then renewed by the spiritual words, thoughts, and life from God's Word, Matthew 4:4.
The fall of man in Genesis created a need for man's salvation in Christ today. Christ is man's redeemer from his fallen state. Upon salvation, by believing on the name of Jesus Christ (as shown how-to in Romans 10:9), a man or woman is "saved" by grace by receiving "the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8), which is the holy spirit, Acts 2:38. To receive the gift of God is to receive the holy spirit, or the spirit of God. That is the meaning of salvation.
"...because the love of God is shed abroad in [en; within] our hearts [kardia] by the Holy Ghost [pneuma hagion; the gift, called holy spirit] which is given unto us."
I Thessalonians 4:8b,
The holy spirit that is given unto us is "the same measure," a poured-out but unlimited measure of spirit, also described as "the same spirit of faith!" We all received "the faith of Jesus Christ" (which is the spirit of God, the spirit of faith) at the new birth, upon becoming born again.
You became "saved" in God's salvation by the gift of Holy Spirit, which is also called "Christ in you!"
It is the same spirit of faith that Paul had, that Peter had, that John, Luke, and Timothy had - - and that every person receives - - when they become "born again" of God's Spirit, receiving the gift of God!
When you received this gift, at that same instant, you became a member of God's family in "the household of faith" (Galatians 6:10), a member in the household of God's family, as a member of "the one body in Christ."
But, again, "salvation" - - and all that it entails - - still does not affect "your mind," until you begin greater studies and thinking, and practice of Scripture...
"...think soberly [wisely], according as God hath dealt to every man [every Christian believer: man, woman, and child] the measure of faith.
"For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office [action, function]:
"So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another."
You must first come into a realization that you have already been given "the same measure" of the gift of the Holy Spirit, as every other Christian believer, before you can really understand God's Word to any degree of clarity in relationship to your actions in God's great household, the one body in Christ.
God is now your Heavenly Father. You may now come to realize that you are a son or daughter of God as declared in Romans 8:14-17, and I John 3:1 and 2. God is your Father, and you are His child, having become a member in His family, which is also called the "one body in Christ."
Again, "the gift of God" born in you is "the same measure,""the same spirit of faith", given to each and every "born again" Christian believer in the "one body in Christ."
Your actions, your function within the body of Christ are determined from then on by the act of "renewing your mind." Salvation does not affect the mind, only the reception of eternal life spirit. Only the renewed mind, in the light of God's Word, affects the mind of the believer, and restores the mind of the believer in sound thinking and judgements in the love of God.
"Let love [agape; God's love born in you] be without dissimulation [hypocrisy; falsehood, pretense, fakeness, pretend]. Abhor [shudder with horror," Bullinger] that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.""Be kindly affectioned one to another in brotherly love [philadelphia; from phileo love; human or brotherly, sisterly love]; in honor preferring one another."
After that, renewing your mind comes through much, pinpointed study of God's Word.
By study in God's Word, you begin learning what is "pleasing" unto God and what is not.
"Love [agape; God's love born in you] worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
"The night is far spent, the day is at hand [present]; let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
"Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantoness, not in strife and envying.
"But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof."
You begin "putting off" displeasing things unto God because your "spiritual taste buds," so to speak, start dynamically changing to "eschew evil," to "shudder with horror" evil, to then enjoy the good things of God's Word within your life. You begin "putting on" the new and valued things of Christ, things that are pleasing unto God.
"That ye put off concerning the former conversation [way of life] the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
"And be renewed in the spirit [psuche, not pneuma; psuche is your soul {not your spirit}; it is the entire soul, the entire life] of your mind.
"And that ye put on the new man, which after God is [was; aorist tense] created in righteousness and true holiness."
By developing control over the thoughts and subsequent "feelings" that you continuously entertain, which is in direct proportion to WHAT YOU LOOK AT, to what you continuously behold, then change in tranfiguring becomes dynamic.
"For to be carnally minded [5 senses minded in thought and ruled] is death; but to be spiritually mindedis life and peace.
"Because the carnal mind [phronema] is enmity [at odds] with God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
"So then they that are in the flesh [those living by the 5 senses] cannot please God."
The Word of God, verses from God's Word, gives you power for controlling your thoughts when believed and as worked deeply into your heart. God's Word then becomes deeply rooted within your heart.
Proverbs 4:23 instructs,
King David said.....
"Thy word [God's Word] have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee."
Psalm 119:105,
Psalm 119:133,
Renewing the mind is a continuous, daily action, of putting off evil thoughts and putting on God's spiritual thoughts, because none will be perfect until Christ returns, Ephesians 4:13. It is not available yet to perfectly renew our minds. But we keep hiding the thoughts of God's Word in our hearts, letting the Word of God light our paths, and allowing His words within His Word to order our steps in God's ways by following or imitating Christ's ways according to Scripture.
"Let this mind [phronema; thoughts of the mind, in regards to thinking] be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."
Renewing the mind comes into fruition by beholding God's Word, looking at Christ, and studying the live of others who have successfully practiced the principles of God's Word. As we continue by study and thinking God's spiritual thoughts in Christ, via Biblical thoughts from verses of Scripture, then we hide that Word deeply within our hearts. We begin utilizing those verses, which we have hid in our hearts, in day-to-day practical living and loving obedience.
Our actions of renewing our minds then begins and continues to transform us, helping us become more "spiritually minded" each new day, finally "...proving what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" - - - - manifesting "life and peace!"
When Jesus Christ was tempted of satan's power, he utilized memorized Scripture that was hidden from within his heart. Those Scripture verses in his heart were "the sword of the Spirit" that he wielded for up-close and personal confrontation with evil.
Jesus Christ overcame the devil's adversity in temptations by memorized, believed, and wielded Scripture. He exercised his authority in God, proclaiming, "IT IS WRITTEN!"
For example, if you are being tempted with "slumber," tempted with not continuing in prayer, or with deep sleep, laziness, procrastination, or an attitude of indifference and weary unbelief, then you might use this verse of Scripture to counter the spiritual attack, - - - - Romans 12:11, "Not slothful [to delay, shrink, hesitate, delay] in business; fervent [red hot to the point of boiling] in spirit; continuing instant in prayer."
Change is best effected by something greater in ability than ourselves, but that we utilize. And Biblical change is always a dynamics - - by your free-will - - in God's ability that produces motion for inner-change. The change is supernatural by God's power within us, by the living, in-working, dynamics of His Word.....
"For the word of God is quick [living, quickening, life-giving, enlivening], and powerful [in-working, energetic, effectual in operation]...."
God's Word is the basis and the dynamics for change, because it is a living, powerful, enlivening God who stands behind His Word - - which is effectual in operation - - with life-flowing, majestic might and power. His Spirit is connected by His life and His power to your spirit and in communication with your spirit, that is, to the spirit of God living in you. When God energizes His power within you, then effectual, enlivening change is resultant, as well as, life and peace.
The dynamics of Biblical change is spiritual and supernatural; the transformation is the process of God within us as we act upon what is that good and acceptable and perfect instruction of God's Will made known to us, becoming revealed to our minds from God's Word.
The metamorphosis of the larvae into the butterfly is the law of change commanded of God in the DNA.
Spiritually, the same is true of transformation in the renewed mind. We put off being "conformed to this world," and we new-up in the different and new-in-quality thinking of God's Word, conforming to the creation of "the new man" born within. God then steps-in by energizing His "power from on high" born within us as the gift of Holy Spirit, bringing to pass miraculous, supernatural, spiritual transformation.
We are transformed like the ugly, crawling caterpillar into a beautiful, flying butterfly. That is dynamics, the ability for change in continuous changing - - bringing about genuine transfiguring in the mind of the believer - - as we continue putting off the old man nature and continue putting on the new man nature of "Christ in you" by being Christ-like in thought and action.
The change is innate in our spiritual DNA, in a manner of speaking, and comes into being as the very certain conditions of renewing our minds is met. Renewing our minds triggers God's spiritual law of change within us, via the "Christ in you!"
This figure of speech - - "Christ in you" - - is not true to fact, but the figure does describe and emphatically pronounce the dynamic abilities of "the gift" of the Holy Spirit born in you, emphasizing that the spirit of God in you has the same abilities as the Christ.
Jesus Christ truthfully declared,
"Verily, verily [truly, truly], I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father."
And, His Father is now your Heavenly Father, too. "Christ in you" conveys tremendous truth of the power of God living in the believer that may be evidenced via a renewed mind for proving the truth of what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God from His Word.
Continuous Renewing of Your Mind is Living in Fellowship with God; The Fellowship of that Union will Manifest the Love of GodThe renewed mind and the love of God are inseparable. You can no more manifest the love of God without renewing your mind, then you can have eternal life without becoming born again of God's gift of holy spirit.
"But whoso keepeth his word [God's Word], in him verily [truly] is the love of God perfected: hereby [in this] know we that we are in him."
The transformation within the renewing of your mind produces "fellowship with God."Fellowship with God produces power for answered prayer and power for demonstrating, for "...proving what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."
"He [the man, the woman, the child] that dwelleth [dwells, lives, abides] in the secret place of the most High shall abide [live, dwell] under the shadow of the Almighty."
The "Almighty" is conveying God's unlimited majestic might and power over all other would-be powers. The "Burly One" is also able to cause overflowing abundance in all areas within your life. You see, truly, the renewed mind brings fellowship with God in the secret place for God's might and power in array over, around, and in your life.
"The shadow" is the defense, God's defense for you.
Thus, those who live, stay-put in fellowship with God - - in the secret place - - by the renewed mind, shall absolutely dwell under the defense of the All-powerful Lord God, and thus the love of God is perfected in them.
Fellowship with God via the renewed mind is still the secret place to live and the secret to life for God's power and His love in manifestation.
To continue in the evidencing of God's love, one must continue abiding, living in fellowship with God. To continue living in fellowship with God, the desirous believer must continuously be putting off evil thoughts and actions, from the least to the most evil forms, and he or she must be putting on "righteousness and true holiness," conforming to the spirit of "the inner-man," which is "Christ in you" - - the spirit of God.
Following are more pointed Scriptures for the renewing of your minds: Ephesians 4:25 thru 32 and Colossians 3:1 thru 25.
Summary and Conclusion
Change in the human heart does not take place by beholding your darkness. You must "cast off the works of darkness" and put on "the armour of light." Only light dispels darkness. Learn more here about beholding God in reverent-awe for change... Continuous Beholding is the Key!
God wants our hearts as Adam and Eve's before their fall; Adam and Eve only knew good until evil thoughts and actions were learned and experienced at the fall. God desires our hearts to go further in disciplined good than Adam and Eve's - - as Jesus Christ's heart was before God when he lived upon the earth.
Salvation gives us eternal life spirit; it gives us the spirit of God by grace, by the work of Christ. The work of Christ made it possible for us to have eternal life as a gift without having to personally pay the price. He paid the price for us.
But, the renewed mind is by "works." God does not give out new brains that work right upon salvation. Just be thankful that you have eternal life! So, now, just get busy with the joyful work of putting on thoughts of God's kind! Those thoughts have dynamics, ability, power to change you deeply within forevermore, as you develop "fully persuaded" believing in the depth of your heart - - and act.
Again, salvation came by grace, but the renewed mind is gained by "works!" Putting on "the mind of Christ" is work, and it is a work of growth in gradual, but dynamic change. And it is a "deep and abiding change" in the truth of God and His Word, developing a rejoicing, a delight in our souls in conjunction with the truth.
Occassionally, pat yourself on the back and forgive yourself as God already has. Tell your Heavenly Father your faults and ask His forgiveness in the name of Jesus Christ when you stumble or fall, I John 9; 2:1-5. Learn to keep self-accusing, condemning thoughts out of your mind, Romans 8:1. Acknowledge your sins, but move on - - for God's sake and yours - - always keep moving-on in the work of the renewed mind. It works, powerfully!
Jesus Christ was tempted in all points like as we are, yet he was without sin, Hebrews 4:15.
To transfigure the mind of the believer to innocence from experiential evil, then the believer must continue in the joyful work of the renewed mind with newing-up with different, new-in-quality thoughts while also casting off the works of darkness to become unmixed unto evil - - with only good remaining and building in his or her heart. Only the renewed mind can accomplish this feat.
"...but yet I would have you wise [skilled] unto that which is good, and simple [unmixed] concerning [unto] evil."
This first occurs by receiving God's gift as the holy spirit. Then the renewed mind process plays the role for inner-change within the mind - - in God's dynamics - - as we put off evil and begin putting on "what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" - - then "proving" the same.
Renewing the mind in believing and applying God's Word is the only way, after salvation, to restore your justification, righteousness, and sanctification in evidence as innocence before God and man - - and the devil.
Renewing your mind sometimes is just simply *claiming* your sonship rights, accepting them freely, and acting like what they define!
Realizing your positional-identification together with Christ will cause your continuous transformation to be spiritually electrifying! - - guaranteed.
We become unmixed unto evil by not being "conformed to this world," and by renewing our minds (by changing what we read, look at, listen to, and what we think about) - - triggering supernatural, spiritual transformation by God's dynamic power - - as we control our thinking in skilled application of "what is that good. . .will of God!"
And, finally, the key to renewing is beholding! - - - - your beholding The Perfect Law, That of Liberty - - Christ Jesus! [Joe Christian: Renewing The Mind and The Love of God] 8:42:50 PM.
"The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power," I Corinthians 4:20. And, it is a spiritual kingdom in God - - a spiritual temple - - and is and will be a family household and city of citizens in God's love and majesty and power and might and protection.
To understand God's Kingdom, one must distinguish between the physical realm and the spiritual realm. Jesus Christ said, "...the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life," John 6:63b.
The Word of God comes from the spiritual realm and not the physical realm, and God's words produce genuine life in man within the physical realm via Jesus Christ.
The Word of God separates between "soul and spirit" as recorded in Hebrews 4:12. The "soul" is breathe-life, which is in the physical realm; but, the "spirit," which is holy spirit, is living within the spiritual realm; it is "eternal life" spirit - - - - and, it dwells within the very presence of God, continuously.
Once you begin perceiving and discerning the difference between these two major realms, then God's Word begins flowing together and making sense.
Hebrews 11:13,
It is Jesus Christ who makes the spiritual promises of God available unto men. He is God's "agent of salvation." Many Old Testament saints died before Jesus Christ was born in Matthew; however, all of these believers saw in their minds and believed in their hearts the promise and the re-establishing promises of the first coming of Christ as given by the Old Testament prophets.
These believers, who all died - - and who are still dead and in the ground, were fully persuaded concerning the coming salvation in Christ as promised of God, and embraced it - - - - and then they confessed, though and while living here upon earth, that they were foreigners, and only living beside as residents, as "by-residents, as sojourners1" in a strange land.
In their thinking and believing, they separated the physical realm from the spiritual realm, and according to God's promises - - they confessed the reality of their citizenship in God's Kingdom rather than having citizenship in the world under satan's authority and control and pleasure.
Hebrews 11:24 thru 26,
"Choosing rather to suffer [endure] affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
"Esteeming [regarding, viewing ahead2] the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence [pay back] of the reward."
Learn more here about... living in the real world; then read this Bible study article and proclamation of God's Word... The Lord's Song ...to gain more perspective concerning the Kingdom of God "...in that which is to come."
For Old Testament saints, their believing was "accounted unto them as righteousness," Galatians 3:6, though they will not be in the "gathering together" at the return of Christ, at the reappearing of Christ, at the parousia. However, they will be in "the resurrection of the just," reserved for all Old Testament saints, and for all others who believe on Christ during the time in the book of Revelations - - which will be after Christ's return or reappearing in the "clouds," in the "air"to gather the "Grace Age" saints together, I Thessalonians 4:17 and Ephesians 1:10.
Between the sufferings of Christ during the Gospel period, and before the time of the apokalupsis or apocalypse (glorious revealing) of the Christ - - as given in the book of Revelations, and as also foretold by Paul in II Thessalonians 2:8 (which will be after the first stage of the parousia) - - there is an age, in which we live, named, The Dispensation, or rather The Administration of Grace.
Biblically and chronologically, this Age of Grace is represented by the Biblical books of Acts through II Thessalonians. The Administration of Grace began on the day of Pentecost, which was 40 days after the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and then 10 days after the ascension of Jesus Christ, as seen in the beginning chapters of the book of Acts. 40 plus 10 = 50, and "pente" means, fifty.
This"grace" era was kept secret, veiled, or hidden in God's foreknowledge "since the world began," Romans 16:25! Even Peter and the rest of the apostles did not realize what had actually occurred on the day of Pentecost until years later, as Paul revealed what had taken place.
I Peter 1:10 and 11,
"Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ [of the Gospel period], and the glory that should follow [in the future, at the revealing in judgment, during the second stage of the parousia of the book of Revelations]."
The Old Testament prophets could only see a time-period with no explanation. They searched God's Word diligently to find out what it was all about, but God would not allow them to see what it was.
The "mystery" or secret of this hidden administration was not made known to anyone, it was not unveiled or revealed until it was given of God by revelation (Ephesians 3:3) unto the Apostle Paul, and that revealment came through the power of the gift of the Holy Spirit born and energized in Paul (...look at Galatians 1:1, 11 and 12; and then II Peter 1:21).
The Administration of Grace was and still is a time slot, a slipped-in period of time, an age of grace unto mankind, given of God between the sufferings of Christ and the glory to be revealed at the time of Christ's revelation from the heavens in judgment during the apokalupsis.
This time period is the family time of God's great Kingdom upon earth being manifested. God's sons and daughters are being born upon the earth during this time of grace, becoming born again. Look at I John 3:1 and 2, and then Romans 8:15 thru 19. No other time-frame within God's Word has ever or will ever enjoy such priviledge nor greater blessings than during this age!
I Corinthians 2:7 and 8,
"Which none of the princes [the devil and his host] of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory [the Lord Jesus Christ]."
Glory, people! This is "unto our glory!"
The Age of Grace was embedded in the heart of God as His Fatherly, primordial desire, which God kept as a "mystery" in His hidden wisdom as a safely guarded secret - - - - until He openly declared it by revelation to the Apostle Paul!
Indeed, had satan, his host, or his evil men in the earth known of this great, hidden secret of God, then the devil would not have allowed his evil kingdom to crucify the Lord Jesus Christ! Had satan known what would become available to the people on the earth - - because of Christ's accomplishments - - then he "would not have crucified the Lord of glory!"This is almost unfathomable! that satan would have rather only dealt with Jesus Christ upon the earth then now having to deal with millions of people, as God's sons and daughters, with "Christ in you!"This spiritually-electrifies me, that is, everytime I ponder and re-realize the great truth of the great "mystery" of God being now revealed unto you and me.
Romans 16:24 thru 27,
"Now to him [God] that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel [Paul's gospel, because God gave it to Paul to make known], and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began.
"But now [lately] is made manifest [open, evident, naked, uncovered], and by the scriptures of the prophets [New Testament prophets], according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:
"To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. A-men."
People - - - - "Wherefore I desire that ye faint not [do not grow weary or tired] at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named," Ephesians 3:13 thru 15.
Ephesians 3:17 and 18,
"[That you] may comprehend [suddenly, excitely lay hold of, seize upon, or seize with the mind3] with all saints [ton hagion; heavens holiest; with all other believers] what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height.""Breath, and length, and depth, and height" of what??! - - - - of God's spiritual temple, and of God's family and the Kingdom of God. That's the context of the message as seen in verse 15 and then back in chapter 2, verses 19 through 22. It is a spiritual building of the temple of God, of which each Christian believer is a "tabernacle." A tabernacle is a dwelling place for God, it is a housing for God's personal presence by His Spirit dwelling within you via the "Christ in you (Col. 1:27)!"
The Kingdom of God, God's Kingdom is comprised of this spiritual temple that is growing in the Lord Jesus Christ upon the earth in the sons and daughers of God, by the Father's Will, and is also comprised of God's holy angels living presently in the heavenlies.
But, some day in the future, after the return of Christ, and after "the gathering together," and after the resurrection of "the just" (later, during the time of Revelations), the Kingdom of God will be comprised of the ekklesia, or of the called-out ones as the church of body of Israel, which is "the bride of Christ" - - and, it will be comprised of God's children, who were born again during the Age of Grace as the ekklesia, as the called-out ones as the church of "the body of Christ." Christ is the head, we are the body, and it is supposed to be "one body."
Ephesians 3:6,
The overall expanse of God's Kingdom will include the resurrected believers on Christ's first coming, whose physical living domain will be upon earth in the new or third earth; and, the Kingdom of God will include God's born again ones as well as God's mighty angels, that will not be limited to the earth but have unlimited mobility within all of the new or third heavens and the third earth!
The Kingdom of God is spiritual; and, it is in power for life, for life more abundantly - - and not by the intellectual word of man.
I Corinthians 2:13,
The written Word of God conveys the spiritual message in God's wisdom and in the life of the majestic power of God for salvation in Christ to all peoples who believe today on the name of Jesus Christ.
Behold, the Kingdom of God is come unto you in the name of Jesus Christ.
Finally, just lovingly respond to God's giving by confessing Romans 10:9 for God's salvation in Christ; so that, when Christ returns some day, then you will be gathered together up into God's Kingdom and into God's Fatherly arms of eternal life and love!
Footnotes:
Another God-log on eternal verities and God's Kingdom in Christ by Joe [Joe Christian: The Kingdom of God] 8:42:17 PM.
I John 5:14 and 15, "And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his [God's] will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him."For "the move" of God's Word: II Thessalonians 3:1 and 2, "...brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you: And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith."For health: I Peter 2:24b, "...by whose [Jesus Christ's] stripes ye were healed."For health and prosperity: III John verse 2, "Beloved, I [God] wish [desire, will] above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth."For God's abundant return on your tithing and giving in financial prosperity: II Corinthians 9:8, "And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work."
Philippians 4:19, "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."For a family member to be born again, or sanctified:
I Corintians 7:14, "For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy."For "anything":
John 14:14, "If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it."
Matthew 18:19, "Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven."
To get "cued-in" on more focused, "right-believing" in your prayers according to the Grace Administration time of God's Word ...then, check this new article out... on "past tense" verb usage in your prayers.
Here is a prayer study lesson in praying God's promises... Pray with the Understanding; go to the middle section of the article on using God's promises in prayer. [Joe Christian: Biblical Promises for Prayer] 8:41:52 PM.
Do you want to see for yourself the truth of God's Word? Then you must take a different course of action to do so. I show you how within this article... Lord, Make My Blind Eyes See.
"Fellowship with God" is the secret place to live for dwelling under "the shadow," under the defense of the Almighty. And beholding God in reverent-awe in "the renewed mind" is the key to fellowship with God - - and is the key to proving God's power in manifestation for demonstrating God's "...good, and acceptable, and perfect..."WILL!
...working on a new article for publishing onsite, titled, The Basis of Confidence IS God, His Word, His Son, and His gift.
After a recent remark concerning the following article, Place Your Confidence in God, Not Five-Senses Facts, I have decided that more truth from the light of God's Word is needed to clarify the great Biblical truth resident within the article.
Also, I think that some people read into the above title that, the five senses are excluded completely from the walk with God in confidence. That is not so. It would be more like: Common-sense and revelation go hand-in-hand, and not, common-sense verses revelation; this is readily seen in Act 16 in Paul's walk with God.
God's Word shows the answer...
"A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps."
Jeremiah 10:23,
The point of the above article is that man should not be dominated by his senses and senses-facts, but that he gives God's Spirit in his life the pre-eminence for influence, for "directing his steps." Is this not what we are instructed to do in Proverbs 3:5 and 6?!
Eventhough I have worked the subject of walking with God, of having confidence in God, of walking by divine revelation from God, from time to time for many years now - - for days, I have been working all related Scripture on the subject, letting God work within to gel my understanding with greater perception. After I am done, then I will present the article for your consideration and growth - - not for critical, skeptical scrutiny.
An article onsite is in-place for your consideration and belief concerning "walking with God." That article is named, Walking With God, How-to.
The truth of God's Word needs no defense, it is its own offensive weaponry. It must only be declared for people's acceptation and action - - or rejection.
It still amazes me that people have trouble understanding the truths of God's Word. I know, Scripturally, that the problem lies generally in their lack of letting God work to crystallize His Word in their hearts.
Many times people read into Scripture their "experiences" before letting the truth of God's Word speak for itself. It must be remembered, that your experiences neither prove nor disprove the truth of God's Word; only truth is truth, not needing a defense of its position.
Only error needs defense; truth only needs declaration and a witnessing thereof. If no one believes it, their unbelief does not change the truth of God's Word, in its unchanging reality.
The complications come many times by people comparing their experiences to God's Word, rather than forgetting their experiences and simply allowing God's Word to speak.
This is growth in God's Word for greater experiences.
Their experiences would then become richer if they would stop hindering or limiting their own believing of more pointed knowledge found in Scripture concerning the given subject of study.
Paul taught, "Consider what I say, and the Lord give thee understanding in all things," II Timothy 2:7.
Scripture must be pondered in belief -first- before God can give understanding. Some of the truths of God's Word may be learned quickly, but other truths require growth in varied areas and topics of God's Word before understanding can gel, flow, or click for you in your area of interest.
Sometimes people's lack of understanding in a particular area of God's Word can cause them to speak evil concerning that which they have not been illuminated to yet. It is best to reserve judgements until you have worked God's Word thoroughly to see if your experiences actually come into alignment and harmony with the truth of God's Word on that given subject.
Well, enough said... I will get busy on the subject of study, and present it as God "directs" by the power of the holy spirit that He has placed within me for your benefit and blessing and enlightenment. Learn more here of how God works within you... The Renewed Mind and The Love of God.
Another God-log by grace, Joe [Joe Christian's God-log] 8:41:27 PM.
Well, I was up most of the night improving, adding, revising, and editing the recently new article, The Renewed Mind and The Love of God. Hope you enjoy the further detail and information in the study!
And believe me, there are a few short articles somewhere onsite. I just like being thorough for your benefit.
Sometimes, I just sit down and thank God, thinking of all that God has given us as Christians - - the perception of even a portion of His giving to all of us is just overwhelming. There are simply not enough proper words in language to express what God really deserves in our praise and thanksgiving unto Him.
God even had to do something for us (something we could not do for ourselves) in respect to worshipping Him abundantly and perfectly enough - - He gave us Speaking in Tongues. According to I Corinthians 14:17, as we operate the manifestation of speaking in tongues, "...thou verily givest thanks well....""Verily" means "truly" or in truth; "thanks" is "to show one's self grateful, to give thanks;" and "well" means "beautifully, handsomely, becomingly, suitably, properly, excellently," Bullinger.
For when you speak in tongues, you truly show yourself thankful, grateful, giving thanks properly and beautifully or handsomely, excellently. WOW! God has spiritually given us the ability to give Him proper thanks, beautifully.
No wonder Acts 2:11b proclaims, "...we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God!" In Acts 10:46a, "For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God."
There is more to speaking in Biblical tongues than people have realized - - and also "scoffed" at and made fun of. They do not know what they are missing out on!
Speaking in tongues exercises the great dunamis of God's potential power latent within the gift of holy spirit - - becoming kinetic energy of God's might and power. It is powerfully explosive in the power of God for the believer, in intercession for other believers, and as sign and witness in the Church when followed by "the manifestation of interpretation of tongues." We have no idea how much power it actually releases, or rather unleashes when believers operate speaking in tongues in their private prayer lives.
Speaking in tongues is available to all believers. What God gives to one, He gives to all. The singular gift of holy spirit born within you has nine different abilities working as a whole to develop fruit of the spirit in your life and in bringing praise to the glorious God's glorious grace in Christ to man!
If you are "born again," then you have the God-given ability to operate, to exercise all nine abilities for profit, I Corinthians 12:7-11.
No, the power of God did not "die out" with the first century Church, only people copped-out on God.
For God's Word resounds throughout all ages - - "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever," Hebrews 13:8.
Another God-log by Joe [Joe Christian's God-log] 8:41:07 PM.
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lets try again.
8:31:50 PM.
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