Going New Places in Your Mind

Pro 23:7 NKJV ...as he (a man) thinks in his heart, so is he...

New Year? As we approach 2022 perhaps we should consider the question, “Is this truly going to be a New Year, or are we going to simply experience more of the same?” I believe that God is preparing a people that He can invest with authority to usher in His Kingdom. He wants a people that will take new territory and bring Kingdom Advance. I believe He wants us to live the New Year in a new way! In order to do this, you and I will have to be prepared to go to new places in our minds. Our mind-set is incredibly important in determining our whole approach to life and where we will be prepared to go. The Scripture says ...as he (a man) thinks in his heart, so is he. (Pro 23:7 NKJV)

I see an order or a progression in this… We Think and then We Do Our thoughts determine our actions. They dictate what we do. It’s a case of “sow a thought and reap an act.” This can work both positively or negatively. If I have an inspired thought; if I get a revelation from God, an epiphany, it can lift me up to another plain and ultimately transform my behaviour and lifestyle. We are encouraged to think lofty thoughts, noble thoughts… Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. (Col 3:2) "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isa 55:8-9)

The opposite is unfortunately also true… The evil one can sow thoughts of evil, unbelief or fear into my mind. If I take the bait and go with the thought, then he’s got me. That’s why we are encouraged to...take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2Co 10:5). Sin has corrupted the thinking of man. Speaking of the un-regenerate and rebellious, Paul says ...their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools. (Rom 1:21-22)

If you are opening your heart and mind to the Word and downloading what Holy Spirit is saying, then ten to one your life is on an upward trajectory – you will be living victoriously and taking new territory. Conversely, if you are letting the Devil use your mind as a dumping ground for fear, failure, unbelief and sin, then ten to one you are travelling the broad road that leads to destruction. The Thief will be robbing and destroying and you will end up dying in the wilderness far from your destiny. We often use the word ‘repent’, but do we really know what it means? What Does Repentance Entail? After Jesus was baptised by John, filled with the Holy Spirit and tempted in the wilderness, he returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit and began to preach. What was His message? His message in a nutshell was: "The time has come, the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" (Mar 1:15). He was saying in effect, ‘Recognise that times are changing and things are shifting in the heavenlies – the Kingdom of God is near’. We need to recognise that, as Bob Dylan sang, “The times they are a changing.” What is the appropriate response to Jesus’ pronouncement of imminent change? It is to repent and believe the good news. Repentance is not about going into my past life and trying to straighten up what was wrong. I can’t fix my past – only God can do that! No! Repentance is not about fixing my past life. (Many of us have this idea because it has been widely taught). You see, the Greek for repentance is metanoia. Meta means new, and noia is derived from nous which means mind. Repentance speaks of new things, not old things. Repentance is about having a new way of thinking that sets me up for my future. It’s not about my sordid past – it’s about my splendid future. I have a new outlook, a new vision, a new hope that I take hold of by faith. I repent and believe the good news. Do you have new hope and new vision for the New Year? I’ve got good news for you; this entire planet is being placed under new and better management – God is taking over. You better believe that He has good plans and a glorious future in store for His children! Embrace a new way of thinking in order to take hold of the exciting things God has in store for you! Put another way, repentance involves having Holy Ghost quickened perception… Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. (Isa 43:18-19) ...it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"— but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. (1Co 2:9-10) There is going to be a way where there seemed to be no way. There is going to be provision where before there was only lack (water in the wasteland).

Let’s look at things from a metaphor Jesus used… New Wine Requires New Wineskins Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved. (Mat 9:17) Fermentation of crushed grapes by yeast produces alcohol and gas. This is why in Bible times, new wineskins were used for new wine as they were flexible and elastic and would stretch. Old skins were rigid and would rupture. Our minds are like wineskins; they can be pliable and stretch to accommodate new ideas or they can be hardened and rigid. Old ways of doing things, old habits and traditions can contribute to the rigidity. We have the saying, ‘Old habits die hard’. One of Jesus’ biggest challenges was the religious right wing – the Scribes and the Pharisees with their traditions and laws and their boxed-in way of thinking. We have to admit that none of us likes change. (We speak about it, pastors preach about it, we read books about it, some write books about it, prayer meetings pray for it, but seldom do we really change). Sometimes we fake it – we merely dress old things up in new garb and call them new although they are fundamentally old. But if we want to move forward, we must embrace change and change begins with a fundamental mind-shift. Jesus is warning that If you are going to embrace the explosive new things that God is about to do, you will need a new way of thinking; your mind will have to be renewed – you will have to go to new places in your mind. Perhaps you are thinking, “I’m getting too old to get excited about new things”. There’s still hope for you – I read about a technique that could be used to make old wineskins pliable again. They could be soaked in water and oil. (This speaks to me of being filled and renewed by the Holy Spirit). One of Holy Spirit’s primary ministries is to refresh and renew. He is the Living Water that bubbles up from within. The Lord is in the business of making things new. He says, "Behold, I make all things new." (Rev 21:5)

So here is my challenge: Don’t be ‘fuddy duddy’ in your thinking. Don’t be like a dried out old wineskin. Open your mind to fresh revelation from the Holy Spirit. (One of the best ways of preventing Alzheimer’s disease, I believe)! If we are going to take new territory, we first have to go there in our minds and in our language. We have to speak the language of Canaan – the language of inheritance and of destiny (not of fear and defeat).

What is This New Territory? When we speak of taking new territory, we instinctively think of geographic expansion and numerical growth, but it’s much more than this… New territory taking will require new strategies, methodologies and paradigms (It’s foolish to employ exactly the same methods and expect spectacular results). We need to tap into Godly wisdom and supernatural logic. (It won’t be just a case of working harder, but of working smarter). It will involve ‘Spiritual territory taking’. You first take new territory in the spirit by prayer and spiritual warfare. (You bind the strong man so that you can plunder his goods). It will result from new infilling and refreshing. (Not just giving out, but soaking in until there is an overflow). A new authority will manifest. We will leave assertive footprints wherever we go because God is already there.

Are You Ready?

Are you ready to forsake the familiar in order to take new territory?

"Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites…" (Jos 1:2)

Will you go to new places in your mind in 2022?