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who walk not after the flesh., but after the Spirit of God, they
are the sons of God."
Yes, but we have OUR part
in
it, too. And it all
centers
~n
the MIND.
REPENTANCE of sin
means.~
literally., to change one's
mind in respect to sin. If we repent, and accept Jesus Christ
as-8aviour, the promise is we SHALL receive the gift of the
Holy Spirit • • •
11
and be renewed
1n
the Spi..ri t of ?\ourREmind
11
(Eph. 4:23) -- the presence of the Holy Spirit is t e
NEWING
of the mind.
How does sin actually happen? " • • • every man is
tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust (desire), and
enticed. Then when lust (the desire IN THE MIND) hath conceived,
it
bringeth forth sin: and sin., when it is f'inished., bringeth
forth death" (Jas.
1:14- 15) .
The TEMPTATION is
1n
the mind. When you think about
the thing that tempts you - - let your m.ind dwell on it -- turn
1t over "in -your mind -- whether it be a desire to GO some place,
to DO somethlng, or to HAVE something you lmow is wrong -- that
thl.nk"i~
about
~t
finally conceives -- leads to
act~on
- - and
breeds
IN.
You.finally DO the thing you kept thinking about.
wanting to do. If you keep thinking about it, after a while
you'll be UNABLE to resist 1t. That's why you've lost so many
of these struggles against sin -- you kept thinking about it,
desiring it., wanting it.
The way to prevent sin is to let God's Spi..rit fill
the m.1nd. "Set your ai'fection on things above, not on things
on the earth" (Col. 3:2) .
The way to put a thing OUT of the mind is to put an
o?posite thought IN the mind. So often I have noticed parents
o babies strive so hard to "shush" up the baby when it is
crying in church. There's something
in
the baby's mind that
is causing its crying or fretting. Just sayj.ng "shush!" or
commanding the baby to
stop.fuss~n&
doesn
1
t usually get very
good results. We have raised four children, and long ago I
learned the trick of quiet1ng the baby by ·fetting its mind
~
something else . Instead of commanding it o stop crying,
attract its attention with some new object --· get
it
interested
~n
playing with that object (I have often used my fountain pen
with excellent results) - - and before you know
~t
the child
w1ll .forget all about its crying.
Try using this same method on yourself. But ina tead
of material or worldly th1ngs, a mature person should use self–
discipline and set his mind on spiritual th1ngs. Open your
Bible. Put the study of some sliritual subject in your mind.
Next time you are tempted,
try
t.
Pray over 1 t. Ask God to
help you. See how rapidly you begin to
win
the victory over
temptation and sin, and how marvelous will be your spiritual
and CHARACTER growth.
LETTER ANSWERING DEPARTMENT