It’s been a few weeks so just for a quick review: last time we discussed the renewal of our mind as we read in Romans 12:2. (AMPC)

We covered some of what we are to “put off” in terms of the old man and that which characterized our previous manner of life, then began moving into what we needed to put on and ran out of time.

It’s important that when we give things over to the Lord, or He removes the old man as it were, that it is being replaced with the new nature. We can remove the old but if we are not putting on the new nature, seeking a life of true righteousness and holiness, and remembering that our new nature is created in God’s image, we will be open for the enemy to swoop in and throw us off course. Our review allows our hearts to be open for the Spirit to do His work, that continual, line upon line work in our hearts. We want a permanent renewal, not temporary. This is to become a lifestyle for us, and that does not happen overnight. We need to pursue Him daily for these things, intentionally submitting the old and actively applying the new. This is how we have our lives transformed.

The Greek verb for “put on” is “enduo” and it means “to invest with clothing.” It comes from two words, “en” and “duno” which gives the sense of sinking into the garment. Enduo moves us from the simple act of dressing the body, to the profound reality of God clothing His people with righteousness, power and immortality. In Ephesians 4 the child of God is called to put on the new self. Why? We are created to reflect the Lord in true righteousness and holiness.

It’s been a few weeks due to the Gathering, but as we concluded our last message, I encouraged you to consider what it means to sink into a garment created for us by our Creator. I felt it was important to really process how it would feel. He has a new, refined nature available for us that turns us from the old man, into the new. This is a deep work moving from the spirit-man outward creating a vessel which reflects Him in ways unimaginable to most today. We do not realize how much our struggles come due to our constant wrestling matches with God. I came to the Lord very young, then went down a rebellious path. My mom calls this the “School of the Spirit.” This is where God allows this journey to refine us and burn off the love for the world, the hidden anger, pain, rebellion, and so on. We may not think we have a love for the world, but Matthew 6:24 is clear about this issue.

Matthew 6:24 AMPC

We either love and serve the world or we love and serve the Lord. We cannot walk the fence on this issue, and the day is coming when the fence is coming down and we will be forced to pick a side. Based on what we are witnessing out there today, it seems we are closer than we think.

When we love the Lord, the ways of the world become a stench unto our nostrils.

When I came back to the Lord, I had to lay it all down, I had to work through the anger and unforgiveness I had toward my father, and then, I had to submit to the will and ways of my heavenly Father over my own. I can tell you, we had a few wrestling matches along the way. He was pursuing my heart—all of it—and I was trying to guard it because of the pain I experienced along the way. Much of which was due to the decisions I made in the midst of my pain. The Lord did not give up and when I finally laid my heart bare before Him, I became a willing vessel. I gave His Spirit permission to do a deep, deep work from my spirit-man outward. He guided me through the process of discovery and in doing so, He exposed every bit of anger and unforgiveness I had, every microcosm of hidden rebellion tucked away is exposed when we do this and then, He replaces it with His Word and His love. Out of this process there has come a deep hunger to walk in His will and His ways along with a fervent passion to draw closer to Him and help others do the same. In addition, I have an unquenchable thirst to see His will accomplished in the earth and I believe this is an outpouring of the work He’s done.

The Lord wants to bring us to the place where we live and breathe His Word and His ways. A place where we burn for the Kingdom of Heaven. There is a fire available to us that burns so hot, few can walk in it. It’s fueled by our sin as we lay it at the altar upon salvation. Over time, this fire burns away the vestiges of the old man, and an external demonstration of our internal conversion comes forth.

God is raising up trailblazers for His Kingdom, those who will lead our youth out of the chaos and into hope for the future and a passion and fire for His Kingdom.

To be a trailblazer, we must be willing to put on the nature and character of God which I touched on last time. This sounds easy when we speak it out, but reflecting on it, that is when we see the potential obstacles we face.

Colossians 3:12-14 provides us with even further understanding of this:

Remember, the Greek verb for “put on” is “enduo” and it means “to invest with clothing.” It gives the sense of sinking into the garment. Enduo moves us from the simple act of dressing the body, to the profound reality of God clothing His people with righteousness, power and immortality and here in Colossians 3:14, love.

To be honest, at times we may have to embrace the comfort and the discomfort of the pursuit He’s offering us. Are we willing? Let’s read it again like this thinking about each attribute asking ourselves, “are we willing?”

Colossians 3:12-14:

Elect, are you willing to put on the bowels of mercies? Are you willing to put on kindness? Are you willing to put on humbleness of mind? Are you willing to put on meekness? Are you willing to put on longsuffering? Are you willing to forebear one another? Are you willing to forgive one another, as Christ forgave you? Are you willing to put on love?

Everything listed here is an attribute worn by those who pursue of the Mind of Christ. The imagery here is that virtue is not self-generated, it’s received and consciously worn. When we sink into a garment prepared for us by the Lord Himself, we cannot start picking off the buttons of humility and ripping off the sleeve of longsuffering because we don’t like how they make us feel, we don’t wear only a portion of the garment, we sink into the fulness of garment like a bride into her bridal gown or a soldier into his tailor-made uniform.

What does it mean to put on Christ? Remember, this is as one sinking into a garment created for us as individuals.

To put on Christ involves an intentional embracing and reflection of Christ, His will, and His ways. We don’t put on Christ like a hidden undergarment. We sink into a garment tailored for our life, our calling, our parenthood, our ministry, our relationship with God. Everything that comes in and out is filtered through Him first. That is why, if we don’t have love, mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, and so on, we cannot sink into the garment of righteousness, power and immortality.

We cannot receive this garment if there is no inner work occurring in our lives. Why? A garment such as this, worn by someone who has not submitted to the inner working of Christ, would be incredibly painful. It will agitate us and cause friction in areas we have not allowed God to prepare for this uniquely made garment. On the other hand, if we have allowed Him to prepare us, that garment will be like tailored military garb forming perfectly to our bodies, hiding us in Him day and night. We don’t realize the safety this will bring, I’m talking Psalms 91 and Ephesians 6 type of safety. Many want to walk in the power of God, they want to function in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, they want to prophesy, they want the gift of healing and so on, but we can look around us and see that those who pursue the gifts without pursuing the Giver of those gifts and the attributes He is calling us to sink in to, ultimately fall to the sin of the flesh.

If more in the body of Christ could understand what putting on or “enduo” true righteousness provides as we navigate this life, our family, our ministry and so on, the Church would be a powerhouse for the Kingdom of God. It starts individually and rolls out from there. To be clear, this is not about a works-oriented walk with God, this is about intentionally laying down the old that He might encompass us in the new. He clothes us with His righteousness. His grace covers us, enabling us to sink into His righteousness. This is the result of intentional submission to His internal work and comes out of a willing heart longing to pursue Him with all they have.

To pursue the Mind of Christ is to want His will in every aspect of our lives and ministry. We must want to see things through His eyes, to think His thoughts, to pursuit His will completely, and this takes time to develop. Today, I can say I personally don’t want to fight His will; I want to submit to the Father’s will as His Son did. However, I was not always that way, I fought the will of the Lord many times in my life. Yet, in His mercy, He did not give up on me. He searched the recesses of my heart to heal, to restore, and to draw me back to His path for my life and bring me to a place where I can sink into the garment created for me. I am not implying that it does not itch from time to time, however, I no longer have the desire to walk out my will over His. My mom always says I was just a sweet obedient child. However, that was because I loved her so much, I just wanted to please her. Deep in the recesses of my heart was a strong-willed teenager waiting to burst on the scenes. Wounds and trauma brought that person front and center. The prophetic calling must be strong not passive, at the same time, we must love the Lord so much, all we want to do is please Him. This is part of my journey, and while each person is different, our final goal is the same.

Those willing to pursue this path today must know, we are trailblazers for those who will follow. Blazing a trail few have travelled is difficult, but it is well worth the journey for us and them.

The moment we choose this path; the old man will need to be crucified. So yes, the pressing will begin. Will we allow the press to remove the old man and meld our lives with His to bring forth the nature and character of one who has the Mind of Christ?

It seems like an easy choice when we say it like that, but renewal is difficult. I remember when I bought my home 26 years ago. It was built in 1966 and was a rental for over 20 years. The owner just wanted out of it, it had not been loved, it was used and abused but I fell in love with the potential I saw.

The housing market had just tanked, the interest rates were low, and there were several incentives for first-time homebuyers. It was the perfect opportunity for me.

Over the years I’ve refurbished it bit by bit. In the process I’ve found termites more than once. I’ve sanded and painted cupboards and walls more times than you can imagine, I’ve had to replace single-pane windows, paper-thin doors, suffered a record-breaking heatwave with a broken air-conditioner, and even had my roof blown into my pool by a massive storm that hit the valley. It’s been a pain. Before I bought this home, I’d moved 31 times that I personally remember. I ached for stability with every fiber of my being. I prayed for opportunity. And as hard as it’s been to renew my home, every day it has a little more of me imprinted into it. I am so thankful that God made a way for me to have a home to raise my children and now my grandchildren in before the housing prices skyrocketed. It’s still a work in process. It’s seen sorrow and joy, life and tragedy, but it continues to reflect my heart a little more each day.

Renewing my home had to be intentional, I had to slowly root out the old and put in the new.

I think this is how the Lord sees me. But because I was willing to submit to His workings, and intentionally pursue His precepts, He had permission to thoroughly search my heart and root out every wicked thing in me, so I can one day sink wholeheartedly into the garment He prepared for me. With each passing day, I find my understanding of the Mind of Christ increases more and more. He is imprinting Himself on this old house, after 57 years, He’s able to leave His mark upon me. Like my home, I am a work in progress, but as long as each day can close with more of Him imprinted on me, my heart rejoices in the process.

I want to talk about the trailblazers either next week or the following. However, I want to close by saying something about those who are pursuing the Mind of Christ today.

This is not about our call, it’s not about our ministry, although it will impact them both, it is not about becoming better Christians, although, again, it will impact our character and how we treat those around us. This is about our personal relationship with Christ.

Several years ago, I started a deep study into the Book of Revelation. I was starting my journey with the intention of developing a timeline to compare Scripture with where we are today, but in the end, what I found was the Son of the living God, with eyes like flames of fire that burned straight through my soul, a voice like a trumpet to declare the Word through and through my soul, feet like brass reflecting my refined and Holy Judge, He was purified in the fire, and had hair white like wool walking in the wisdom of God. I found the One who walks in the seven Spirits of God, the Only One who holds the keys of not just life and death in the palm of His hands, but the keys to lock up the enemy of my soul for all of eternity and I fell on my face as dead. He took His two-edged sword and began to sever that which was not of Him and the fear of My Holy Lord pierced my mind, heart and soul. Day after day, week after week, month after month I lived through this experience, and it changed me forever. I saw the need to pursue the Mind of Christ like never before.

The more we actively pursue the Mind of Christ, the greater our fear of God will be. When we enter His presence, will we recognize that He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords? Will we see the Holy One, the Lamb of God, the Servant of all? Will we recognize THE ONLY ONE Who is worthy of breaking the seals to peer into its contents? Only He holds the Book of Life in the palm of His hands and that is because He paid the price to hold it. This should strike fear into the heart of every man, woman and child.

He cannot reveal Himself in this manner to just anyone, He will only pull back the veil and show the measure of Who He is to those who have pursued Him. When I came to see Him like this, it compelled a desire to please the One who laid down His life for me, not because of guilt, but because I loved Him more than life.

In addition, so many are talking about the return of Christ, but with what AI can do, coupled with a lack of understanding of the Word of God, do we realize that many will be deceived because they do not know Him? And, what is so unfortunate is the fact that they do not know Him because they have not pursued Him.

May we continue in our pursuit.

Blessings & love,

Ricci Wilson