Series Renewal
Romans 8:6 ESV
Romans 8:6-8 MSG
When I was in junior high school I had a long period of time when I questioned everything.
I secretly think that annoyed some of my teachers…well, except my math teachers. I did not question anything about mathematics. I didn’t know enough about math to understand what I didn’t understand. It wasn’t until much later in life that I realized that math isn’t necessarily always cut and dried.
In junior high school I was all about science and English/Speech. Then when I went to high school and I had to make choices about my focus areas, I chose English and Speech and I only took enough math and science to satisfy the requirement for graduation.
I set my mind on how to communicate the written and spoken word.
That became my passion in life.
Academically it was where I set my mind.
I was very interested in how to give a good speech.
My da taught me that the opening line was the most important part of the speech. He would help me come up with a great first line. He told me I had 5 seconds to convince the audience they really wanted to listen.
In the beginning he helped me to learn how to come up with a killer opening line that would make the audience want to sit up and pay attention.
In college I had (erroneously) assumed majoring in Speech Communication would be a given. I thought I would just choose my major and declare it. When I was in college that wasn’t the case at Mizzou for that area of study. There was a criteria and they only accepted a specified number of students in the department. I started wondering and planning what I would major in if I couldn’t get into the Communication Department. I had set my mind on focusing on my Communication skills in high school and I didn’t know what I would do it I couldn’t do speech.
As it turned out, I did get accepted but many of my friends had to find another major.
Through the whole process of learning and development I had focused on Speech Communication so I was really glad I could major in Speech Communication.
At that time I had no idea that later in life (when I was 54 years old) God would tap me on the shoulder and tell me to go to Graduate School (Seminary). Once again, I found myself studying public speaking in preaching class. I set my mind on communicating the message of the Gospel.
I found the stakes were much higher at this level that I could have ever imagined.
Now instead of clear communication and drawing the audience into the “point”, I was faced with learning how to defend the message. Apologetics requires utilizing reasoning to formulate an argument that will convince and justify sound doctrine.
In essence we were learning and defending the written Word. Part of that process included learning the ancient language of the Word.
I set my mind on the Word…the original Word. I wanted to take both Hebrew and Koine Greek, but because Seminary is a very long process (144 Graduate level hours), I ended up taking Hebrew and learning Greek on my own time.
Through my entire journey I learned whatever I set my mind on (and seriously “go after it”) that is what I will walk away with. My academic journey became “part” of me. For me, it was a lifetime journey (which I’m not convinced is complete).
Whatever we set our mind on, that is what we will walk away with.
Romans 8:6 tells us, “to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.”
To break that down, the word ‘mind’ in the Greek is phronēma and it can mean our thoughts, our purpose or our aspirations.
I’ve learned that the ancient languages add depth and breadth to the English words. In Roman’s 8:6 the English simply implies the ‘mind’ means a place where we house all our thoughts, our hopes, and our dreams. It doesn’t state that with unction and force we focus our thoughts on something (in this case on the flesh.) In other words, when we read the Koine Greek text we understand the verse to mean, ‘to vehemently set (with complete focus) all your thoughts, all your hopes, and all your dreams on your earthly body which is made up of flesh and blood is eternal death.’
And then for the second half of the verse in the initial language we would understand: ‘to vehemently set (with complete focus) all your thoughts, all your hopes, and all your dreams on the Spirit of the Living Eternal God will bring you eternal life and eternal peace.’
The Message Version of Romans 8:6-8 says, “Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God’s action in them find that God’s Spirit is in them—living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn’t pleased at being ignored.”
Isn’t that wonderful!?! When we trust God we have the Spirit of God IN us which leads us to an all out in the open free life filled with ‘expanse’ which is wide open and free life through all eternity.
AND since God loves us, God wants us to choose to set our mind not on earthly things which are temporary. That means when we are going through a rough patch we can turn to God and ask God to remind us what Romans 8:6-8 tells us…we do not have to do it on our own! God is right there with us and we can give God the whole ‘mess’ in a wad and ask God to remind us the Spirit is IN us and gives us free life! See…once we accept God IN us, eternal life really begins from that point moving forward.
Your journey will not look the same as my journey. Without even knowing it I was directed to Communication from junior high school through graduate school for the purpose of serving God.
Where is or has God directed you?
Spiritual Practice: Set Your Mind
Today set your thoughts, hopes, and dreams on what God has for you!
In God, Deborah
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