Understanding the Mind of Man

Copyright © 2012 Sylvester Onyemalechi

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Scripture quotations are from the KJV, NIV and

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ISBN: 978-1-4497-6799-0 (e)

WestBow Press rev. date: 9/26/2012

Contents

Introduction

1. The Make-Up Of Man

2. The Nature Of The Mind

3. The Reprobate Mind

4. The Mind In Immorality

5. The Mind In Anger

6. The Mind In Maintaining Peace

7. The Mind In Overcoming Problems

8. The Mind In Walking In The Spirit

9. How To Renew Your Mind

10. God Responds To Your Thoughts

11. The Helmet Of Salvation

12. Guard Your Mind

13. Think On These Things

14. God Consciousness

15. The Winning Attitude

About the Author

Acknowledgement

I am indebted to several people who at various stages contributed towards making this book a reality.

My special thanks go to the Holy Spirit who taught me the truth contained in this book. I thank Mrs. Adebanke O. Kentebe who edited this work. I thank Mr. Sunny Osibheme and Deacon Arosso for their criticism. I appreciate the encouragement of Pastor Uche Osagie Obiechie and his contributions. I want to specially acknowledge Mrs Anne Osoka who did the final editing of this book. Special thanks to my wife and staff for their support in making this book a reality.

Dedication

I dedicate this book to the Holy Spirit who gave me the revelation on the Human Mind, and to my darling wife for standing by me. I also dedicate this book to my darling daughter Miss Perfect Ebubechukwu who came after almost seven years of marriage.

Introduction

The scripture teaches us that the thoughts of a man influences and controls his actions. Action is a product of a man’s thought. Words are also products of a man’s thoughts. The mind of man is a powerful force and faculty in man. It is so powerful that the scripture says in Proverbs 23:7

For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.

A man is what his thoughts are. The will, emotions and actions of man are influenced and controlled by the thoughts of the mind of man.

Those who live according to the sinful nature do so because they set their minds on the things that the sinful nature desires. Those who live in the spirit do so because, they set their minds on the things that the Holy Spirit desires.

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.(Romans. 8:5).

What you set your mind on will determine what you will manifest. What dominates your thoughts will be seen in your life. You are what you think. You are your thoughts.

According to Proverbs 27:19, your life is a reflection of your thoughts. Sinfulness or holiness depends on what you set your mind on. Thoughts are magnetic – they magnet or draw to you what dominates your mind.

Thoughts are things – living things. Your thoughts are like current, moving through the air. These thoughts are capable of drawing people to you or driving them away from you. Fear, defeat, worry, anxiety, boredom, sadness, laziness, dullness, depression and rejection are all states of the mind or rather manifestations of the thoughts of the mind, so also excitement, faith, boldness, confidence, positiveness and a winning attitude.

Success and failure are functions of the mind. The mind is the principal factor in the school of success. Success comes to those who are success conscious. Enthusiasm, which is the lubricant of the engine of success, is a product of the mind. Happiness begins in the mind. Excitement is a mental state.

The right usage of the mind is what makes men to mind you. The healthier your mind, the higher you fly in life. The purer your thoughts, the purer your life will become. The state of your mind determines your ultimate status in life.

The mind is the center of creativity. All inventions or businesses originated from the mind. All that man has done came from the creative faculty of man, and all that he will ever do will also come from the same faculty. Your life can become better by the creative use of your mind.

The life of a man is built around his thoughts. Your thoughts determine your experiences in life. You can’t live above your thoughts. Your thoughts determine your self–image, self–worth and status in life. Inferiority complex, superiority complex, pride, arrogance and timidity are all products of self-analysis. What you think of yourself determines how you carry yourself.

Success in every area of life is determined by the use of your mind, hence, this book. The purpose of this book is not to teach how to be led by the mind. This book reveals much about the nature of the mind, the domineering and controlling power of the thoughts that go through our minds, and how to renew and bring it under control.

I believe that an understanding of the human mind will help us to walk in the Spirit and manifest the nature of God. What you do not understand, you cannot use effectively to produce the desired result. A detailed understanding of the workings of the mind puts one in an advantaged position towards living a fulfilled life. Ignorance has made a failure of many Christians and aborted many visions and purposes. A man who can control his thoughts can effectively walk and live in the Spirit. I therefore, encourage you to read this book with an open heart. Read it with one objective in mind - to learn about your mind and how you can use it to your own advantage and success in life.

You won’t remain the same as you read. Happy reading!

Chapter One

The Make-Up Of Man

Genesis 1:26 makes us to understand that man is made in the image and likeness of God. God is a Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and is Spirit, Soul and Body. Man is a spirit like his creator, has a soul and lives in a body. Man’s body is physical while God’s body is spiritual. Man’s body is made from the dust of the earth and must return to the dust when the spirit enveloped by the soul leaves the body to return to God and account for the life lived in the flesh.

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (I Thes.5:23 NIV)

So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. (Gen. 3:23 NIV)

…For dust you are and to dust you will return. (Gen. 3:19 NIV)

The spirit of man enveloped by the soul is immortal, while His body is mortal.

The spirit of man is the real person or the real man. He is also referred to as the hidden man of the heart (I Peter 3:4), The inner man (Eph. 3:16), and the Heart of man (Deut. 11:13). Sometimes in the bible, the terms soul and spirit are used interchangeably, but the passages are actually talking about the spirit of man.

And he cried to the LORD, ‘O LORD my God, hast thou brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son? ’ Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried to the LORD, ‘O LORD my God, let this child’s soul come into him again.’ And the Lord hearkened to the voice of Elijah; and the SOUL of the child came into him again, and he revived. And Elijah took the child, and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother; and Elijah said, ‘see your son lives’. (1 kg. 17:20 – 23 RSV)

While he was still speaking, a man from the ruler’s house came and said, ‘Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the teacher any more.’ But Jesus on hearing this answered him,’ do not fear; only believe, and she shall be well.’ And when he came to the house, he permitted no one to enter with him, except Peter and John and James, and the father and mother of the child. And all were weeping and bewailing her; but he said, ‘Do not weep; for she is not dead but sleeping.’ And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. But taking her by the hand he called, saying, Child, arise. And her SPIRIT returned, and she got up at once; and he directed that something should be given her to eat. And her parents were amazed; but he charged them to tell no one what had happened. (Luke 8:49 – 56 RSV)

In these two stories of raising the dead, the soul and the spirit are used to describe the same life of man. In Elijah’s story, it was written that the soul of the child returned to her. This proves that the soul was used in place of the spirit.

In Hebrew 12:23 we read

… And to the assembly of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to a judge who is God of all, to the SPIRIT of just men made perfect.

And in Rev. 6:9 we read –

When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the SOULS of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne.

These two passages are talking about the spirits of the faithful that have departed. The term’s soul and spirit are used interchangeably; but the passages are talking about the spirit of man. That they are used interchangeably does not mean that the soul and the spirit are the same, for we understand from I Thess. 5:23 that they are different.

May the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit, soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

James tells us that,

The body apart from the spirit is dead. (James 2:26)

And proverbs 4:23 tells us to

Keep your heart with all vigilance for from it flows the springs of life.

This shows that the spirit of man (heart) is the life of man, and not his soul. I state this to prove that the soul is not the spirit of man.

Jesus in John chapter 3 tells us that the Born-again experience is a spiritual birth. We understand from that scripture and other passages that it is our spirit man that is born-again, and not our soul. It is our spirit man that has received the nature of God, and is united with the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Our spirit man has the characteristics and qualities of God. All the virtues of God are in him. Our spirit man has the mind of Christ, which manifests as our natural minds are renewed.

The duty of every Christian is to renew his mind and discipline himself to conform to the life of Christ received.

THE SOUL OF MAN

The soul and the spirit of man are knit together perfectly, and cannot be seen with the physical eyes or microscope. This is the real man – the breath of God in man. Though we can separate them for purpose of understanding the make-up of man, yet we see that they are knit together and they function as one. At death, the spirit enveloped by the soul leaves his physical body behind and continues to live.

In Luke 16:19-31, Jesus told the story of the rich man and Lazarus the poor beggar. After they both died, we see the rich man looking up and remembering Lazarus. For him to remember Lazarus and what happened between himself and Lazarus on earth shows that the spirit of man does not leave the body alone, but in unity with the soul. It also shows that the memory of man, which is in the mind of man (a faculty of the soul), is not wiped out. So we are all (after death) going to remember our lives on earth and the people that we knew on earth.

The soul of man, which is the self-conscious part of man, is made up of three faculties. These are the Mind, the Will and Emotions.

The WILL is the ability to make decisions and choices.

God created man a free moral agent. He never forces man to follow and obey Him; He wants all that man does to be of his own free will born out of love and not of a cold sense of duty. God loves a willing person (heart) – willingness in service, giving, carrying out responsibilities, getting along well with people, living with your spouse, obeying His commandments, leading His people etc. Read Ex 35:5; Ex 35:20-22;Ex 35:26-29; Ex 36:2; Judg 5:9; 1 Chron 28:9; 1 Chron 28:21; 1 Chron 29:5; 1 Chron 29:9; Ps 51:12; Ps 119:108; Isa 1:19-20; Ezek 3:7; Rom 12:16; 1 Cor 7:12-13; 1 Tim 6:18; 1 Peter 5:2

The will is a product or function of the thoughts of man. Willingness or unwillingness depends on how a man thinks – reasons and decides. Every man reasons, speaks and acts based on his beliefs. And beliefs are based on the knowledge that is available unto him at the particular time. Renewing of the mind of the believer with the truth of God’s word enables a man to reason in accordance with the word of God, this in turn causes the believer to willingly surrender and submit himself to God’s will and desire as revealed to him.

The EMOTIONS is the faculty that helps us to express our feelings and attitudes like anger, fear, sorrow, joy or pain and so on. It is the faculty that gives feelings to our thoughts.

The way a man thinks determines how he feels and how he feels determines how he decides, and his decisions can make him or mar him.

God never called or instructed us to live by our emotions, but by our spirit. The challenge we have is that we allow our emotions to determine how we decide, respond and react to situations and happenings around us. And most of the time our emotions are not positive, and based on the truth of God’s word. The spirit man guided by the truth of God’s word is to lead for he is the real man.

because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. (Rom 8:14 NIV)

THE MIND OF MAN

The mind of man is a faculty of the soul of man. It is the center of activity of man. It can also be referred to as the invisible computer in man. The brain and the mind of man are linked together. The brain is the physical part, while the mind is the spiritual or self-conscious part. The brain is the place where all of the senses and perceptions dwell. The brain is also the place where information both pictorial and audio, as well as signals from the nerves are recorded, collated, analyzed and disseminated to the different parts of the body. The physical brain does not know what is wrong or right. It is the soul’s part of it called the mind that knows what is evil and what is good. It is this same part that knows when someone hurts him or blesses him, and expresses it through the emotions of the man.

At death, the brain dies, and will later decay with the rest of the body. But the mind lives on with the spirit of man. The story