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James wrote, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, That giveth to all men
liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing
wavering" (James 1: 5, 6).
When Paul prayed for the Ephesians, he desired that they might have the spirit of
wisdom and revelation, so that the eyes of their understanding might be enlightened. So
let us close by joining with Paul in his prayer:
"That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the
spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him: the eyes of your understanding
being enlightened (`having been enlightened'--see Charles Welch's In Heavenly Places,
p.156); that you may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the
glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power to
usward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought
in Christ when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the
heavenly places" (Eph. 1: 17-20).
No.3.
Be renewed in the spirit of your mind.
pp. 31 - 33
"be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Rom. 12: 2).
When Paul wrote to the Colossians, he said "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly
in all wisdom" (Col. 3: 16). This is excellent advice, for if our minds are concentrated
on heavenly things, and if we commune with our heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ, surely this must affect our daily life. Our thoughts are like seeds which produce
actions. Our Lord explained that a good man, out of the good treasure of his heart brings
forth good things. The evil man, out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil
things (Luke 6: 45). In both Colossians and Ephesians we have references to what we
were by nature, and what we are now by the grace of God:
"And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works,
yet now hath He reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to represent you holy
and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight" (Col. 1: 21, 22).
In chapter 2: of Ephesians, Paul writes that in time past we walked according to the
course of this world. He refers to the children of disobedience and describes the old
manner of life, the desires of the flesh and of the mind; but through the rich mercy of
God and His great love for us, we were quickened with Christ, raised up with Him and
made to sit together with Him in the heavenly places.
In Ephesians there are several occurrences of the Greek word dianoia, which is
translated "understanding", although it is more often translated "mind":
"... walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding
darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them,
because of the blindness of their heart" (Eph. 4: 17, 18).