Setting Your Mind On The Spirit
But the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.
Setting our mind is about attention. The mind can focus. We can apply this capacity for attention to set our minds on a particular object or idea. Our minds can also shift. We can choose what we set our minds on. Our thoughts, feelings, and actions follow from our attention. Our consciousness and the course of our lives can be changed by changing our attention. Of all the abilities of the mind, focusing attention is fundamental and pivotal because it affects everything else.
Commonly, the mind is associated with intellect and thought. But the biblical sense of mind has more to do with attention and remembrance than with thinking. Please take a look at the following.
Christ admonished Peter for not setting his mind on the things of God. You are a stumbling block to Me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men.
Paul speaks of setting your mind on the things which are above, not on the things which are on the earth. Set your mind on the things which are above, not on the things which are on the earth. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.
The mind is more about attention than about thinking. While we cannot directly change our thinking, we can change our attention. Our mind has a key role in developing a consciousness of God. With our mind, we can turn our attention to the things of God by setting our mind upon the spirit. As our attention changes, what we sense and receive also changes. Setting our attention is like tuning in the receiver of the radio to a certain frequency.
With new inputs arising from a shift in attention, our feelings and thoughts also transform. As our feelings and thoughts evolve, so do our actions. We may not be able to change our minds or behavior directly, but we can certainly adjust our attention. This will ultimately alter our consciousness and interaction with the world around us. Attention is the lever most easily moved to change how we feel about our lives.
The simple ability to change or shift our focus can have a greater impact than the mind's more sophisticated capabilities. Attention determines the inputs the mind receives from our senses. By changing our attention, we can alter the inputs we receive, subsequently influencing our feelings and actions.
Focusing on the spirit brings life and peace to your consciousness. To cultivate God's presence, we first become aware of what we are paying attention to. Then, we turn inwardly, away from the train of thought, to just awareness, which is more like pure being. God is the ground of being, the Good Land in our consciousness where there is milk and honey (symbols of nourishment and delight). God, as the divine spirit, is sensed by the human spirit. God as I AM is found when our awareness is simply of our own I am-ness. God as Being makes home in the sanctuary of our being.
The act of remembrance fosters divine union. In this union, the life we experience is zoe—the holy, eternal, uncreated, and indestructible life. Every type of life has its consciousness. So also, the zoe-life comes with a corresponding divine consciousness. The union is about the presence of divine consciousness within human consciousness. The peace offered is the peace of God—My peace I give to you. That is the mind set on the spirit bringing life and peace.
On the other hand, the mind set on the flesh is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, for neither can it be. Without shifting our attention to God, there can be no meaningful interaction with God. Our attention steers our life experience and our life’s direction. Attention is the rudder that guides the ship.
Transformation involves a renewing of the mind. Be transformed by the renewing of the mind. Our mind is renewed by changing what holds our attention. Renewal and transformation of the mind result from a shift in the focus of our attention.
The scriptures also speak of the lowliness of mind in considering others, and having the same mind toward one another, even the mind of Christ. This is also about shifting our attention from ourselves to others. We regard others by giving them our attention. There cannot be love without attention. In love, our attention is captured by the object of our love.
Peter says - after my exodus, to bring these things to mind at all times. We need to bring our attention (our mind) to true things. Without a conscious bringing to mind all that is true (I AM), our mind gets carried away to a place without rest or peace.
Repentance is also a change of mind, a change of attention. The kingdom of heaven has drawn near and can be accessed by a shift of attention. Set your mind on the things above - the mind primarily has to do with setting our attention, with our thinking being secondary. Let this mind be in you, which also was in Christ - there is a singular, focused attention toward God with self-emptying. A steadfastly attentive mind can elevate our consciousness and produce a transformation over time.
Prayerful reading of scriptures is one way we can use our attention to become God-aware.
Lectio Divina (Wikipedia) is a traditional monastic practice of scriptural reading, meditation, and prayer to promote communion with God. Here is a snippet from the Wikipedia page.
Lectio Divina has been likened to "feasting on the Word": first, the taking of a bite (lectio); then chewing on it (meditatio); savoring its essence (oratio) and, finally, "digesting" it and making it a part of the body (contemplatio). In Christian teachings, this form of meditative prayer leads to an increased knowledge of Christ.
When we read the Scriptures, giving our attention to Him, the milk of the word can nourish our inner being. Lectio Divina leads with the attentive mind rather than the thinking mind. One can spend several minutes on a single verse, slowly reviewing the words and phrases, lingering, savoring, and allowing the words to be “transmitted”. Reading can be combined with short prayers. That engages our spirit and produces revelation and nourishment. The impact will be sensed in our consciousness. There will be a satisfaction and an energizing feeling similar to a good meal. That is how you know that your practice is on point.
Our attention is valuable to God. What can I do for God or give to God? My attention and remembrance are what God desires. Everything follows from that. We are to love the Lord with all our minds. To love with our mind is to give Him our attention. The struggle in the outer and inner worlds is around getting our attention. All things within and without are vying for mind share. It is not time or money, but the capacity for attention that is valuable. Guard it well and use it well.
Follow Me—that was Christ’s simplest instruction. To follow, we use our attention. That keeps us on the way and gets us to the destination.
