In the Mind

We can be challenged as believers to renew our minds and to think in accordance with God's truth.
1st Peter 1 says:
13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance;
15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
16 because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy."

Verse 13 speaks of the "loins of your mind."  God has designed our minds with amazing capabilities, and I believe ultimately, through our minds, we can experience Him and grow in our walk with Christ.  Correct thinking leads to a correct perception of Almighty God, and can lead us into the type of interaction with Him that He desires for us to experience.  If our minds are properly trained, we realize that we have the capacity for true holiness, in a truly right relationship with our Heavenly Father.

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God wants us to activate our minds to His truth, so that we might grow in the knowledge of Himself.
1st Corinthians 2 issues the challenge:
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
13 These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

And verse 16 says:
16 For "who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?" But we have the mind of Christ.

There is some new research out that shows that our brains could recognize the existence of God.

According to a recent Charisma News story citing National Geographic, which recently ran a special program called, Brain Games: The God Brain, fascinating new research has uncovered the possibility that believing in God may be hardwired in our brains.

Shaheen E. Lakhan, who holds several doctorate degrees, including an M.D., is quoted as saying: "Psychologists and anthropologists deemed that children left to their own devices would have some conception of God. Some attribute this to our innate sense of detecting patterns in the world (as to discern predators or prey in nature), while others propagate the notion of a 'supersense'—or a cognitive tendency to infer hidden forces in the world working for good or ill."

Those statements are consistent with those of Andrew Newberg, who actively researches "neurotheology."

Newberg conducted several brain studies, evaluating what happens when a person prays or meditates.

A piece at Philly.com quotes Newberg as saying:

...people turn to religion to help cope with difficult physical and mental illnesses. People frequently meditate or pray as a way of keeping themselves calm during procedures. We know for sure that meditation and prayer help reduce depression, anxiety, and blood pressure. They basically alter the physiology of the person and, in most cases, in positive ways. This happens certainly in the moment. But people have also found that a lot of these effects are persistent. We've found that if people did meditation for 12 minutes a day, they had improvements in their memory by 10 [percent] to 15 percent, and had changes in their brain not just when they were meditating, but when they were simply at rest.

The Charisma article begins this way: "Even if you were never taught to believe in God, your brain could still recognize His existence. Such is the premise of Romans 1..."

Romans 1:20 says: "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse..."

When you think about it, it only makes sense - our God, the Ruler and Creator of the Universe, has created humanity in His image, so you would think there is a divine connection to the Creator.  That is what this research seems to be pointing toward.  Now, it is up to believers who have discovered the one true way to God, through a relationship with Jesus Christ, to demonstrate to others who He is, so that they might find God the Father.  If there is a predisposition to know God, then through the illumination of that truth in a human heart, one can learn more about to walk with Him.

Also, we can think together about how God works in the human mind.  He has designed and structured our minds to operate in a certain way.  I would submit that the human brain testifies to His existence - with amazing functionality.  We have access to the mind of Christ, and our minds can be renewed as we deposit Biblical truth inside of them.  The mind is the gateway to the human spirit, and our hearts are revitalized as we meditate on this truth...so we have to watch what we place inside of our minds.  The wrong information or the incorrect processing of information can lead to devastating consequences.  But, we can walk in God's victory as we correctly train the minds that He has given to us.