Two Minds

            When I had an eye exam, the doctor gave me a prescription for bifocals, but he told me I could keep wearing the glasses I had if I was comfortable looking out from under them to see up close.  I opted to forego the bifocals and keep doing what I had been doing.  (I was actually opting to forego the task of getting used to something new.)  I was completely comfortable having help with part of my vision, but doing the rest on my own.

            Are we willing to look at things God’s way and turn over all the control to Him, or do we feel a need to hold on to part of it?  If we think we can hold partial control and still advance in our spiritual growth, we are wrong.  Looking at our circumstances through His viewpoint part of the time and our own the rest of the time will bring confusion.  It’s like having two minds that see things differently.  When you opt to turn it all over to Him, you will find your vision is much clearer, and confusion goes away.  There will be peace in your heart.

            James 1:8 tells us, “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”  The phrase “double minded” means “two souled”.   Our soul is made up of our mind (the seat of our ability to reason things out and understand), our will (our desires and determinations), and our emotions (our feelings).  Human reasoning, a strong, stubborn will and emotions that lead the way are components for disaster in a life.  We fluctuate when we depend on our emotions because they are ever changing.  They will take us for a long destructive ride.  A stubborn will keeps us from agreeing with God’s will.  Our reasoning is very limited because it is based on a shallow knowledge of the past and present, and no knowledge of the future.

God says when we are pulled in two directions – our way and His way – we will be unstable in the whole course of our life.  Being unstable is just the opposite of having your life set in order.  An unstable person is disorderly and unsettled.  They are trying to go in more than one direction, and it causes confusion, not only for them, but for all those around them.  We have all known people who can bring confusion to the simplest situation.  Then, there are those who can bring peace and simplicity to the most difficult, confusing situation.  Why is that?   It is because it is either the fruit of an unstable mind or a settled, orderly mind with its focus in Christ and His Word.

            If we are experiencing confusion in our minds, the course of our lives will reflect that, because our actions, decisions and words are products of our mind.  When that happens, we need to stop and reconnect with God.  “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.”  (1 Corinthians 14:33)  The word “confusion” here means to be in a state of disorder, disturbance, and instability.  That is the condition of the double minded man, but not the condition of one who is consistently connected with the Lord.  God is the author of peace, or a bringing into one – not two, not three, but one!  Remember how Jesus prayed that we would be one with Him as He was one with the Father?  He wants us to be in harmony with God in our thoughts, our motives, our purpose, our actions, and our conversation.  When we come into that kind of relationship with Christ, we will experience a peace that exceeds our human understanding.  It is a peace that will hold us steady even in the midst of storms.

            If we want to understand further the Spirit of God with Whom we are to become one, we can look at 2 Timothy 1:7.  “For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”  He is NOT the author of confusion (disorder) or fear (cowardice, timidity).  He IS the author of power, love and a sound mind.  God is all-powerful and He gives His children power by the Holy Spirit within us.  This power inside us is a power that is capable of transforming us and then reproducing through us.  We can have His love (His compassion and benevolence) revealed through us.  We can have a sound mind.  If our mind is sound, it is disciplined, it has been made whole.  It is made up of one piece, not broken up in many pieces scattered here and there.  We have become one with God.  We don’t allow ourselves to become entangled with the mindset of the world.  Our thought process is different because we are born into a new spiritual dimension and our thoughts are now filtered through the Spirit and the Word of God.  We see things differently because we have become one with the Word.

            How can we develop this whole, complete mind?  God will keep our minds if we follow what He says in Isaiah 26:3.  “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace (oneness, wholeness – not pieces), whose mind is stayed on thee (leaning on Jesus, not our own understanding – yielding to God and not the flesh): because he trusteth in thee (runs for refuge and is confident and sure in God).”  (Parentheses added)  We have to make Jesus the reason we live, the reason we worship, the reason we reach out to others, the reason we choose the right way.  If we do the right things with the wrong motive, we are not single-minded.  Our mind must be in harmony with the Lord.  Whatever He says, we need to do.  If He tells us to change something in our lives, we need to be quick to obey.  We obey because we love Him and are one heart with Him.

            If we are to be in harmony with Him, we must be close to Him.  We must pull ourselves aside in His presence and listen to what He has to say.  When we read His Word, we should realize that is His Word to us.  The Spirit of God will never tell you to do something that is against the Word of God.  That would be double minded, and God certainly is not double minded.  We must take the initiative to draw close to Him if we want to have a sound, whole mind.  He has promised to draw close to us when we do.

            “So be subject to God.  Resist the devil [stand firm against him], and he will flee from you.  Come close to God and He will come close to you.  [Recognize that you are] sinners, get your soiled hands clean; [realize that you have been disloyal] wavering individuals with divided interests, and purify your hearts [of your spiritual adultery].”  The King James Version says, “and purify your hearts, ye double minded.”  We cannot have two minds and please God.  Adultery is when you have another interest besides the one you are married to.  If you are to be one with God, you cannot have divided interests.  That is spiritual adultery.  You cannot be a true Christian if you are only faithful to God and His Word on a part time basis, just like you cannot have a true marriage if you are only faithful to your mate on a part time basis.  If you have interests that displease God, you are not one with Him.  If reading His Word and praying is a chore to you, you are not one with God.  When you become one with Him, your desires change and your aspirations change.  There is a revolutionary transformation in the heart of a person who has been born again.  That change of heart produces a change of behavior and conversation.  It produces a coming together of that mind with the mind of God.

            When we realize our sin and forsake it, we are on our way to being one with God.  When it is our heart’s desire to spend time in His Word and His presence, we are on our way to becoming one with Him; because we are filling our minds with the things of God and leaving no room for the things of the world.

            Romans 12:2 sheds more light on having our minds casting off the baggage of the world and becoming one with Christ.  “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.”  If we are conformed to this world, we fall into the mold they take on in our reasoning, thoughts and actions.  We can be transformed if we choose to be.  We can change into another form by renewing our minds.  Rather than having double vision, we can have single vision – a clear, simple understanding with a depth that transcends the natural.  The renewing of our mind comes when we allow the power of God to enlighten us, or “turn on the light” in our darkened mind.  This process will change, not only what we do and say, but who we are. 

            Make the decision to surrender yourself completely to Jesus Christ.  Allow Him to bring your mind into one with Him and the Father.  How blessed it is to have confusion fall away, and to have peace of heart and mind to reign in its place!