Insight from God comes in all ways and at all times. You recognize it as an insight from God as you grow in "knowing" Him through knowing His Word (Jesus).
In the beginning, the rote-ness of the Word, memorizing scriptures, writing in a journal, studying to show yourself a workman, able to discern good from evil... all are part of renewing your mind.
This is the beginning, and this continues on and on as you grow more and more mature in God, in His Love, in His Will for your life, in His joy unspeakable and full of glory, in His peace that passes, always, and in all ways, all of our understanding; peace that guards our hearts and keeps our minds protected.
Yes, this is the beginning.
You learn to apply whatever scriptures you need for your life and for others. You learn and grow in prayer, from Daddy please, to help, to help others, to specific petitions and supplications for others, to intercession. I am sure one of the key scriptures for spiritual growth, for maturing in Christ is 2 Cor. 10:5b “…bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” Yes the battle we fight the most in within our own minds, and it is the subtlest of battles, one we don't easily recognize, nor do we want to.
We would like to blame everything on "him" the enemy of our soul, and while "he" is involved, the real enemy is our own mind, our own habits, our own wounds, and our own pain. And in new life in Jesus Christ, the struggle is mighty, as we try to "live" our new life in Christ. Daily we learn to live, move and have our being in Him, daily we struggle with what we see with our eyes, what we feel with our sense of touch or our emotions, what we understand or judge to be with our mind. You see we are the treasures in earthen vessels. We struggle with our un-renewed mind and unhealed soul.
It takes time to learn to rest in Him...
... and to allow Him to show us the reality of sin in our members. We want so much to be "sinless" and in Him, as a spirit child of God we are, however we are still in these earthen bodies, and we still have to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. If you were to research what this salvation is you would find that it points to our souls (intellect/mind, emotions/feelings, will/choice) that needs to be saved.
For our struggle even in these bodies, is not really against flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers, and rulers of darkness and spiritual wickedness in high places. Things you cannot see, at least you don't necessarily recognize what or who they are when you see them. In fact, based on your family traditions, and genetic inheritance, you may recognize these enemies in a particular fashion - usually superstitious. These superstitions are deceptions of our heart. We can blame "them" unknowingly and in complete ignorance of who or what "them" really are.
Don't be discouraged. Jesus has provided for all of our needs abundantly above what we could ask or pray for, especially dealing with the deceptions of our hearts. Keys here are asking and praying beyond what tradition has taught us or kept us in.
The scripture says, the heart is wicked above all things. (Jeremiah 17:9)
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Well we know who knows our heart and who has created new life for us, and a new heart - God our heavenly Father. The heart became wicked, not created that way, but in what sin worked through based on the original Adam/male-female's choice to do what God said not to do.
You see a heart without the life of God in it, is wicked above all things. This heart is the basis for all wickedness, all self-absorption, self-delusion. Sin is not "performed", sin IS:
- Alive, as in a body - as in the body of sin
- A law - the law of sin and death.
When you choose to do sin, death is birthed in you in some fashion, usually unperceived or mis-perceived by a person. Oh, we've seen the fruits down through the ages, and scripture again says you will "know a tree by its fruit." Hatreds, killings, wars, lusts, total repulsive actions and activities; over and over and over again, down through mankind's history worldwide.
We somehow like to think of these things as "their" problems - pointing to others and denying and ignoring the very presence of sin's fruits within ourselves. I believe that is why God left the new life in the earthen vessels. An in-house training source that would be with us all until we go onto the next life or the Lord returns and the new heaven and new earth begin. By in-house training source, I am speaking to the very teacher we have within our flesh (earthen vessel), and that is sin. Sin a teacher? What? Well read on.
