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Cultivating God’s Garden, April 10
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.
Romans 12:2
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Man, fallen man, may be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so
that he can “prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of
God.” How does he prove this? By the Holy Spirit taking possession of
his mind, spirit, heart, and character.
The rubbish of questionable principles and practices is to be swept
away. The Lord desires the mind to be renovated, and the heart filled with
the treasures of truth.
Truth has a power to elevate the receiver. It has a sanctifying influence
upon mind and character.... Only by a continual improvement of the
intellectual as well as the moral powers can we hope to answer the purpose
of our Creator....
A Christian should possess more intelligence and keener discernment
than the worldling. The study of God’s Word is continually expanding the
mind and strengthening the intellect. There is nothing that will so refine
and elevate the character, and give vigor to every faculty, as the continual
exercise of the mind to grasp and comprehend weighty and important
truths.
The human mind becomes dwarfed and enfeebled when dealing with
commonplace matters only, never rising above the level of time and sense
to grasp the mysteries of the unseen. The understanding is gradually
brought to the level of the things with which it is constantly familiar....
Man need not cease to grow intellectually and spiritually during his life-
time.
We are to cultivate the talents given us by God. They are His gifts,
and are to be used in their right relation to each other, so as to make a
perfect whole. God gives the talents, the powers of the mind; man makes
the character. The mind is the Lord’s garden, and man must cultivate it
earnestly in order to form a character after the divine similitude.
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