Digging For Truth

                r e n e w    t h e    M I N D                   (  4  RELATED  PHRASES )                      

   Here is declared the same truth that Jesus had revealed to Nicodemus when He said, “Except a man be born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3, margin. Not by seeking a holy mountain or a sacred temple are men brought into communion with heaven. Religion is not to be confined to external forms and ceremonies. The religion that comes from God is the only religion that will lead to God. In order to serve Him aright, we must be born of the divine Spirit. This will purify the heart and renew the mind, giving us a new capacity for knowing and loving God. It will give us a willing obedience to all His requirements. This is true worship. It is the fruit of the working of the Holy Spirit. By the Spirit every sincere prayer is indited, and such prayer is acceptable to God. Wherever a soul reaches out after God, there the Spirit’s  working is manifest, and God will reveal Himself to that soul. For such worshipers He is seeking. He waits to receive them, and to make them His sons and daughters. { DA 189.2} 

  Higher education is an experimental knowledge of the plan of salvation, and this knowledge is secured by earnest and diligent study of the Scriptures. Such an education will renew the mind and transform the character, restoring the image of God in the soul. It will fortify the mind against the deceptive whisperings of the adversary, and enable us to understand the voice of God. It will teach the learner to become a co-worker with Jesus Christ, to dispel the moral darkness about him, and bring light and knowledge to men. It is the simplicity of true godliness — our passport from the preparatory school of earth to the higher school above. { CT 11.1} 

  The power of Christ alone can work the transformation in heart and mind that all must experience who would partake with Him of the new life in the kingdom of God.... In order to serve Him aright, we must be born of the divine Spirit. This will lead to watchfulness. It will purify the heart and renew the mind, and give us a new capacity for knowing and loving God. It will give us willing obedience to all His requirements. This is true worship. { BLJ 304.2} 

   The power of Christ alone can work the transformation in heart and mind that all must experience who would partake with Him of the new life in the kingdom of heaven. “Except a man be born again,” the Saviour has said, “he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3. The religion that comes from God is the only religion that can lead to God. In order to serve Him aright, we must be born of the divine Spirit. This will lead to watchfulness. It will purify the heart and renew the mind and give us a new capacity for knowing and loving God. It will give us willing obedience to all His requirements. This is true worship. { CH 129.2 }  and  { TSDF 195.1 } 

  Every room in the soul temple has become more or less defiled, and needs cleansing. The cobwebbed closet of conscience is to be entered. The windows of the soul are to be closed earthward and thrown wide open heavenward that the bright beams of the Sun of righteousness may have free access. The memory is to be refreshed by Bible principles. The mind is to be kept clear and pure that it may distinguish between good and evil. As you repeat the prayer Christ taught His disciples, and then strive to answer it in the daily life, the Holy Spirit will renew the mind and heart and will give you strength to carry out high and holy purposes.— Manuscript 24, 1901. { 1MCP 327.4 } 

   Every man and woman has strong tendencies towards evil, and peculiar traits of character that make him susceptible to temptation. Each one has to battle with his own passions. Each one may see his own perverse habits reproduced in others, and reacting upon his own character. Individually we have a work to do in the strength and grace of Christ. We are to strive most earnestly against our hereditary and cultivated traits of character. If our evil characteristics are not overcome, they will through exercise become stronger and stronger, and pollute mind and character. Unless overcomers, we shall not be fitted for a home with the saints in light. But let no one be discouraged. There is a refuge for every tempted soul. We may avail ourselves of the great privileges and blessings brought to us through the grace of Christ. But there are those whose names are on the church roll who do not know what it is to be resigned to the divine will. They do not realize that they may have perfect trust and repose in God. They have never gone through the struggle of submitting meekly and humbly to the will of God. It is true that it is hard for self to come to this point, for self ever seeks the supremacy. But the Lord says, “A new heart also will I give you” [Ezekiel 36:26]. He has promised to renew the mind and to make us new creatures in Christ Jesus. { 2MR 268.2 } 

  It is the absence of the grace of Christ in the heart that causes men to make wrong decisions. It leads those who have had light and rejected it to regard light as darkness. They call error truth and truth error, because they walk in the sparks of their own kindling. God declares that such shall lie down in sorrow. The reception of the Word of God in sincerity and simplicity will renew the mind and awaken it to understand clearly the Word of God. The blindness passes away, the darkness is removed, and the true light shines forth. — Manuscript 23, 1899, 3-6 (March 9, 1899). { 12MR 256.2 } 

  Not by seeking a holy mountain or a sacred temple are we brought into communion with heaven. In order to serve God rightly, we must be born of the divine Spirit. This will purify the heart and renew the mind, making us willingly obedient to all His requirements. This is true worship. It is the fruit of the Holy Spirit’s working. Wherever someone reaches out after God,  there we may see the Spirit’s working, and God will reveal Himself to that person. { Humble Hero, 79.4 } 

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