Introduction

Source www.created4health.org

The Limits of Science - Science has lifted us from the ignorance of the Dark Ages into the understandings we hold today. It has increased our standards of living, lengthened our life spans, and enriched our lives in every way. Music, the arts, our governments, our social customs, our religious beliefs, our educational institutions, our recreations, our modes of travel, our means of communicating, our working, our eating, our sleeping-all aspects of our culture have been transformed by the touch of technology. It is little wonder, then, that we have become conditioned to look to science for the solutions of all our problems and for the answers to life’s questions.

But science, powerful as it is, is a false god. Awed by the spectacular material advancements science has brought us, we have come to expect more of science than it is capable of delivering. Many individuals, not recognizing the limitations of science, stand in expectation of results that will never come. Science does not have all the solutions. It does not have all the answers. It never has and it never will...

Science is not the only approach of inquiry into the nature of life. In fact, it is an approach that fails in most of life’s situations. While it has great capabilities, it can only do so much and no more. This [article] will assist you in obtaining a realistic expectation of science, because without a realistic expectation you will not be able to rely upon it when appropriate and you will be disappointed when it fails.

…Therefore, one of the principle features that distinguishes science from other approaches to life’s problems is the problems to which science limits itself. In other words, science is concerned only with “what, when, and how.” When we ask, “Why?”, and require an ultimate answer, we have left traditional science and have entered realms that are more properly relegated to philosophy, religion, intuition, and personal subjective judgment.

Consequently, the first limitation of science is that it does not deal with absolutes. It does not deal with “truth.” It deals with facts, as perceived, but not with absolute truth. Hence, the first hope we must give up for the scientific method is that it will lead us to absolute answers about life and the universe. It cannot…

Limitations of Science in Time

…One of the most severe restrictions of science is that of time. Tomorrow’s research cannot benefit you today. Further­more, we can never know what scientific principles that seem reasonable now will be disproven in the future. While some scientific conclusions are more enduring than others, in the end all scientific conclusions are tentative pending the discovery of additional data. Life, the universe, and their ramifications are infinite. Science can never get around to all of it. Published scientific studies are only progress reports. None are final. When it comes down to the problems of your own personal concerns now, scientific answers may or may not be there when you need them.

If you have cancer now, you cannot wait for science to find a cure. If you are raising your family now, you cannot wait for science to tell you how to deal with your children. You must act now, making dozens of decisions daily, with or without the help of science. Science is a good method for research, but it’s a lousy method for living...

The choices for topics for scientific research are largely motivated by potential for long-term, unlimited profit, not by the urgency of need and the magnitude of the benefits to the public. Many topics amenable to the scientific method, whose results could be of great benefit to humankind, are deliberately avoided when it appears that such research might lead to conclusions that contradict current paradigms and threaten the security of those currently entrenched in power. The scientific community is not immune to politics.

Therefore, science is limited by time in two ways: first, because there will never be enough time to get around to studying everything; and second because humans, by their prejudices, will choose not to study many issues for fear of the truth that may be revealed thereby. The American Cancer Society is an example of this. They are afraid to invest their monies in genuine research in natural cures for cancer since a variety of such remedies already exist and have already been proven to be effective anecdotally. They prefer to believe that such cures are impossible. A scientific verification of a real cancer cure could result in the dissolution and demise of their fund-raising society, its mandate having been fulfilled.

Drug companies have the same biases and fears. They invest no research into herbs and essential oils, which cannot be patented. They fear that natural remedies could actually result in wholesale recoveries from cancer among the millions of suffering people from whom they exact their lucrative monetary tributes—a steady income which flows to them for the lifetimes of the patients so long as they are never actually cured...

So What is the Answer?

It is clear from all of this that science cannot have all the answers and never will. Science alone cannot offer us adequate guidance through the various health crises, both big and small, that we experience from day to day throughout our lives. When we are in the midst of a crisis that is beyond the current models of science to address, we cannot wait for science to find answers for us when we need them now. What do we do, then, when we must make medical decisions regarding ourselves and our loved ones and science cannot help us?

First, let us develop the habit of always seeking direct advice from God, the master physician, master scientist, and provider of all that is healthy and good. But we must not wait until a crises to seek his guidance. We must develop a relationship with him by daily prayer and attunement, practicing his presence in all that we do.

A great saint once said, “If you don’t make God your summertime friend, he won’t come in the winter of your life.” It isn’t exactly that he won’t come, but what you must do is to develop your lines of communication with God during times of calmness and learn to hear his still quiet voice during the peacetime of daily practice. Otherwise, you may not be able to hear him during the battle din of a real emergency.

Second, let us look to nature as our teacher. Nature is permeated with God’s intelligence, humbly and patiently waiting for us to seek his advice and wisdom as he speaks to us through what he has made. (Job 12:8; Romans 1:20) Let us assume that nature knows best. Learn her ways, and harmonize with her in a conscious, intelligent way always praying to God for his perfect guidance.

Thirdly, let us also follow science appropriately when good data are available and let us apply the scientific method wherever possible to test the relative merits of alternatives in health care. But let us realize that science cannot lead us to the right answers unless we lead science to the right topics for research. When presented with a firm fact that contradicts current theory, let us be willing to accept the fact and give up the theory.

Fourthly, let us also understand and recognize where the efficacy of science ceases and rely on other means to base our judgments. Don’t be intimidated when what appears to be science contradicts your own true feelings in a crisis situation. Learn to trust yourself as the best judge in personal or family situations. Let us openly restore and practice our faith in our God-guided feelings and our common sense. Let us learn how to refine and develop the gift of divine intuition by practice, experience, reinforcement, and association with others that use it.

Let us also recognize and respect the natural nurturing and healing gifts that God manifests through women and the nurturing sides of men. Let us honor mothers appointed by God as natural healers for their families.

There is an intelligence and an order in our universe that already has all of the answers and to which we can directly appeal for solutions to all of life’s problems—now and whenever we are in need. There is a consciousness in creation that transcends science and the senses—a source of wisdom and knowledge to which we can apply for help at any time. Its name is God. Its language is prayer. Its condition for receiving is humility. Its channel is love.

It can never be through science, as we know it today, that the optimization of health care practice will be realized in the world. Science is a powerful ally, a gift from God that can be used for good or abused for ill. God leaves that choice to us, his children…

The point is this. Until scientists learn to pray and commune with God, in humility, they will lack the necessary awareness to perceive a more complete vision of the true nature of reality. Until scientists develop their spiritual gifts along with their intellectual gifts, the methods of science will remain limited and incapable of discovering the true nature of this world in which we dwell. The day must come when students of mathematics and the sciences will be educated in institutions that offer a balance between cerebral education and spiritual discipline. Then, and only then, will a true science come into being, the fruit of which is the truth of God.

Excerpted from the book: The Chemistry of Essential Oils Made Simple: God’s Love Manifest in Molecules - pages 618 – 654

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The Spiritual Life

Source www.created4health.org

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. - 2 Corinthians 5:17

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Jesus, from John chapter 3

In the first foundational article of Created4Health.org we see that the physical creation is wearing out. The physical world is decaying and passing away, heading towards a day of final destruction when God will create a new earth. We touched on the fact that while our bodies are decaying, that our spirits can be “re-created” or regenerated. This article will cover the foundation of this regeneration and “rebirth”, which is essential to experiencing true health.

God created man in His own image, and the physical bodies He created were created out of the elements of the earth, the physical world. Into these physical bodies He put a living spirit. “Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7).

…We have a non-physical part to our existence, which is foolish to ignore. Western culture today, probably more than any other period of human history, completely exalts the physical world and ignores or even denies the spiritual realm. The culture is built upon the foundation of Darwinian evolution, and the worship of science as the embodiment of all truth. “Truth” is considered only that which is physical and can be observed by scientific methods.

The Bible clearly teaches that there is a spiritual world in addition to the physical creation. There are also other spirit beings in this world such as angels and demons. The record of the life of Jesus shows a constant intersecting of the physical world with the spiritual world, recording instances where Jesus defied the physical laws of nature by doing things such as walking on top of water, changing water into wine, or healing diseases, for example, and even raising physically dead bodies back to life.

Those who worship the scientific method as the only valid means of determining truth will reject anything that cannot be proven in the physical realm. Most people intuitively know that the spiritual realm exists, because they have experienced it in some way or form. Experience can be just as valid for determining truth as any other means of discovery, “scientific” or not.

One of my favorite stories in the gospels is in John chapter nine. Jesus and his disciples encounter a man who was born blind. Jesus’ Jewish disciples did not have a western view of life built upon a foundation of evolution that saw all truth as being part of the physical world, so as they debated what the cause of this man’s blindness was, they didn’t even think about things such as neural pathways, cataracts, damaged corneas, etc. They saw his condition as a spiritual condition and began to debate whose sin had caused it to happen. Jesus responded: “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” He then proceeded to heal the man of his blindness, displaying the truth that the spiritual kingdom of “light” that He was operating in had power over the physical world.

The story that follows is very interesting, because the leaders of that culture did not accept the man’s explanation as to how he gained his sight. When told that Jesus had given him his sight, they ridiculed him. The formerly blind man knew from experience the truth: He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”

But they would simply not accept it because his explanation did not fit in with their view of truth – specifically that Jesus had the power to perform an act such as this.

But the formerly born-blind man was not constrained to their views of the truth, because his experience over-rode their preconceived ideas. His experience was a valid method of discovering the truth, even though others did not accept his reasoning. “One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see” (John 9:25).

When things like this happen today, they are equally rejected as false by the popular culture, but for different reasons. While the Jews of Jesus’ day believed in the spiritual realm, they did not accept Jesus as the ruler of the spiritual realm. Their views of the coming Jewish Messiah were one of a king who would overthrow the oppressive Roman government and setup a physical kingdom, not a spiritual one. In addition, Jesus threatened their power base and challenged their influence in the culture.

Today, experiences like this are rejected because of a denial that the spiritual realm can interfere with the physical world (or that it even exists at all.) The superiority of the spiritual realm of Jesus also threatens the establishment and power base of western culture: medicine and science.

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This is also written in the first chapter of John, where Jesus is referred to as the “Word”: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.  In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Rebirth and Entering the Kingdom of Light

Source www.created4health.org

In John chapter three we have the story of Nicodemus, a member of the religious ruling class who was not antagonistic towards Jesus. He realized that Jesus had a special relationship with God, because of the miracles Jesus was performing in overcoming the physical realm with spiritual power, mainly through healing diseases.

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:1-8)

Even though Nicodemus was educated in the Old Testament and a teacher of Israel, he had a hard time understanding the spiritual rebirth Jesus was talking about. The way they had interpreted the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah (the king of the Jews who was to come from the line of David), they were expecting a king who would come and restore the physical kingdom of Israel to the glory years they had enjoyed under David and Solomon – someone who would overthrow the tyranny of the Roman government. Jesus just didn’t fit their preconceived ideas about the Messiah.

Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” (John 3:9-21)

…This discourse between Jesus and Nicodemus contains some of the most quoted verses in the Bible, because they so clearly explain the essence of the “good news” or “gospel” message. Nicodemus, while still fearful of his fellow ruling class Pharisees apparently, at least came to Jesus in honesty and without trying to promote his own agenda. He was confused, and Jesus took time to explain things to him as clearly as possible. What a blessing that this discourse was recorded for us to read! The main points are:

1. God loved the people of the world in their sinful state, and instead of judging them and giving them what they deserve, instead sent Jesus into the world to save them from the natural outcome of their sinful state.

2. This kingdom that Jesus established on earth, which is an extension of what exists in heaven, is spiritual in nature (at this present time), and one has to be born again spiritually to enter into this kingdom.

3. This kingdom is the kingdom of light, and those who choose to remain in the kingdom of darkness will hate the light, because the light clearly shows what they are like. Those who accept Jesus as the Messiah/savior of this kingdom will be saved from the natural outcome of sin, which is death and judgment, and will be able to enter this kingdom simply by their belief in and acceptance of Jesus, which will result in their re-birth spiritually…

As we mentioned above, there are only two kingdoms in the world today. Everyone walking on the earth is in one of these two kingdoms. Everyone is either walking in the darkness, or walking in the light. The kingdom we are physically born into by default is the kingdom of darkness. To enter the kingdom of light takes a rebirth spiritually.

So this is where true health begins! It begins by being re-created through the rebirth experience in the spiritual realm, and beginning to walk in the light, rather than the darkness. It requires that we change our thinking about ourselves (Jesus can’t help anyone who doesn’t think they need to be helped) and our position before God, realizing that if we continue on the path we are on in the kingdom of darkness, that we will experience God’s judgment.

It begins by believing that Jesus is the King and ruler of the kingdom of light, and has the power to rescue you from your helpless condition, and then asking him to take control of your life.   He is the one person you can depend upon, because he has the power and the authority to completely change your life by recreating your spirit. I know this from first-hand experience.

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:13-14)…

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of God’s anger, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:1-9)

Believing in and fully trusting that Jesus is the only solution to our spiritual sickness is the way to spiritual rebirth, and becoming a new person so filled with God’s love, that nothing is ever the same again. It is definitely the first step in renewing your spiritual life and gaining health.

Christ himself carried our sins in his body to the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness. It is by his wounds that you have been healed. (1 Peter 2:24)

Trying to obtain health and healing without this foundation is to limit yourself to options that only exist in the physical realm. You may obtain some benefit, but it is only temporary because the body is getting older, and is in the process of decay. Only the spirit can be renewed, and re-created.

So once we are reborn spiritually and begin walking in the kingdom of light, what benefits do we have? MANY!!! So many, that it will have to be the topic of other articles found on this website. But with this foundational article, along with my own personal testimony as to how this worked in my own life, you now have enough information to trust in Jesus and become born again spiritually, and begin your walk in the kingdom of light.

Principles for Benefiting from the Supernatural Power of Christ  

Source www.created4health.org

…For the reader of the Bible, one encounters the record of supernatural events all throughout the pages of scripture. Jesus constantly interacted with the natural realm supernaturally, defying so-called “laws of nature.” He walked on water, changed water into wine, created food supernaturally, instantaneously healed sick people, and even raised some people from the dead. The Acts of the Apostles and early followers of Jesus Christ in the Bible records that they too operated at times in the supernatural after Jesus left.

As the verses at the beginning of this article state, Christ taught that all things were possible with God, and that through him there were no limitations to the natural order.

So how does one move from the natural to the supernatural?

There is one supernatural event recorded in the Bible that I think is very instructive and can show us just how to act supernaturally through Christ. The event was recorded in the book of Matthew 14:24-33.

The very life-force and fabric of the universe is held in place by Jesus Christ. No power is higher than Him.

The accounts in Matthew chapter 14 has many lessons for those of us who are believers in Christ, so let’s look at some principles we can use to experience the supernatural power that Christ promises to his believers: I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. (John 14:12)

• The disciples’ worldview and belief system did not exclude the supernatural, or the spiritual realm.

If one’s belief system does not allow for the spiritual realm or the supernatural, it is not likely you will ever benefit from supernatural experiences. You may experience something supernaturally in a negative way that challenges your belief system, but your unbelief will prevent you from experiencing Christ’s supernatural power.

• All supernatural benefits and actions are the result of knowing Christ.

We need to spend time with Jesus, watching how he works in our lives and in the lives of others, cultivating our relationship with him. If you cannot benefit from Christ’s supernatural power to overcome simpler things in your life, such as controlling your anger, or loving someone who is not very loveable, then don’t expect an invitation from Christ to walk on water.

• Christ initiates the experience.

• When Christ speaks to us, we must act upon his word in faith.

When we ask something from Jesus and he responds, do we believe it? Peter did, so he got out of the boat and started walking on the water. All believers are unique and have a unique relationship with Jesus, and we all need to cultivate that relationship, learning how to hear the voice of Jesus. When Jesus walked the earth and spoke to the believers in the natural realm using his natural voice and body, he told his disciples that after he left the Holy Spirit would come and be their “counselor,” explaining everything to them:

All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. (John 14:25-26)

Today we have the written words of Christ contained in the scriptures which offer us much wisdom and benefit. But knowledge of his written word leads to only an intellectual knowledge about Christ, and not a personal knowledge in a relationship with Christ. We need both! The disciples on earth who were with Christ in the natural realm received direct teaching from him during a three year period. We now have much of that teaching recorded in the Bible. But just as intellectual knowledge about Christ was not enough for the original disciples, so too it is not enough for believes today. We must know Christ through the spiritual rebirth process, and be guided by the counsel of the Holy Spirit so that we have specific instructions from Jesus to act in faith when the storms come. Intellectual knowledge alone will not lead to supernatural power.

• When we fail, we must call out to Christ, because he is ready to act on our behalf.

Failure in acting in faith does not exclude us from further opportunities to experience the supernatural power of Christ. If you read about the life of Peter, he failed a lot! Even after this event, he would go on and deny Christ just before they killed him, acting once again out of fear. But Peter was considered one of the “pillars” of the faith, and one of the key leaders in the early church. One of most beautiful truths of operating in the supernatural is that not only do our weaknesses and failures not exclude us from living a supernatural life, they are actually required! It is a paradoxical principle that Paul explained:

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

Jesus gave the key principle for us to live successful lives in both the natural and supernatural realm:

Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:4-5)

The Bible contains wisdom, but only the Spirit of God can reveal it. Someone in the kingdom of darkness could memorize the entire Bible, for example, but it will not impart this kind of wisdom because it is only revealed by God’s Spirit. As a result, there are many bad interpretations of the Bible that have been made over human history that have caused great harm and suffering. This is not the fault of the Bible, but it is the fault of those who are lacking the true wisdom from God because they did not receive it through a relationship with the Spirit of God.

If one is truly born again spiritually and has the Holy Spirit living within them, then the spiritual cleansing and detoxification process is one of submitting to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and allowing him to work in and through our lives, rather than giving in to the passions and lusts of our flesh:…

The first truth we must recognize and acknowledge is that Darwinian evolution is a lie, and that there is a Creator God who created you and has a specific plan and purpose for your life. The second foundational truth we must recognize and acknowledge is that we are sinners before God, and that our only hope for spiritual renewal and life is through the forgiveness that Jesus Christ offers us through his death and resurrection.

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Who is the Holy Ghost?

www.understandingprayerandfaith.com

Excerpts from The Spirit of Wisdom in Understanding Prayer and Faith

Excerpts from The Spirit of Wisdom in Understanding Prayer and Faith

The Bible’s Greek definition for regeneration is paliggenesia defined as, “hence renovation, the production of a new life.

The world consists of three spiritual conditions of man: cold, lukewarm, and hot; Divided into the once born and the reborn, the earthly and the spiritual, between the persons of the old Adam, and the persons of the new Adam, Christ, between the unregenerate and the regenerate. The basis of distinction is not color, race, nationality, gender, or wealth. Rather, the “hot” person is the anointed one, Christ-like, the “lukewarm” are those who have been called to that superior state but, as yet, have not totally embraced it; and the “cold” are the defiled, rebellious, and unknowing, or knowing and not believing.

The Bible is our road map and the Holy Spirit is our guide like a GPS (global positioning system). The scale of the map is so vast that we need the guide (Holy Spirit) for direction. The voice and promptings of the Holy Spirit are so softly spoken that we need both to confirm that we have chosen the right path. Without close attention to both sources of wisdom, we can easily be set off course and inevitably lost.

Regeneration in its most defined sense means to affect a com­plete moral reform in, to make over, especially in a better form or condition. In theology, its definition is to be born-again spiri­tually. Regeneration may be compared to the process of a meta­morphosis in which the complete change in character or nature of a thing is transformed, which is evident in Romans 12:2, “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.”

In conversion, the Holy Spirit redefines our nature, attitudes, actions, thoughts, motives, and virtues. The same Holy Spirit that was operative in the creation of mankind and Earth is also operating in the re-creating of our spiritual nature.

Without the Holy Spirit, there can be no rebirth, and without a rebirth, there can be no spiritual life. It is by this rebirth of a new nature, which was exemplified by Christ Jesus and by the sacrifice of Christ for our redemption, and through the gift of the Holy Spirit, that we are regenerated. Titus 3:4–5 makes this clear as stated, “But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.” Christ makes it clear in John 3:5 that, “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”

To equip you with power for performing miracles,

“Ye [you] shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you” (Acts 1:7-8).

Endows spiritual gifts,

“Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit. To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will” (1 Corinthians 12:4-11).

Regeneration,

“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration [the production of a new life consecrated to God, a radical change of mind for the better], and renewing of the Holy Ghost” (Titus 3:5).

“For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (Romans 8:5-7).

As we learn to set our mind on what God wants it set on, the power of the Holy Spirit is unleashed to gradually transform our character, behavior and thoughts.

Spiritual growth begins not with our behavior (what we do) or with our experiences (what we feel)--but with our minds (how we think). That's why Paul says in Romans 12:2 on this subject of transformation:

"Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you]."

Although, we think with our minds there is also a deeper belief system and believing that comes from the heart. God has given to man a spirit that has the possibility of enjoying a meaningful relationship with the Living God. Your relationship with God, how you see yourself, how you see God and how you think God sees you is determined not only from your mind, but more importantly it is determined from your heart [the inner man-the spirit of man].

“For with the heart a person believes…” (Romans 10:10).

According to Paul, the primary element in walking according to the Spirit is to, “Set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things), not on the things that are on the earth" (Colossians 3:2).

"Setting your mind on the things of the Spirit" is choosing to look at every area of your life in the light of God's grace. The more we learn about who Christ is, what Christ has given us and who we are in Christ, the more we consciously view every area of our lives from His perspective, the more God's Spirit will transform our lives.