Ephesians 4:20-24 But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

Does the word lust irritate you? Are you annoyed at being labeled lustful? It is the most easily identified attribute of a former life before Christ but it is unfair to label everyone as lustful. Some of us might not have lived a life full of sexual exploits. That is after all what you think of when you think lust, right? For this reason I would like to edit verse 22 “That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;”

Truth is the goal we seek, truth in Christ. The object activity is a renewed mind for the new man. In the middle of this is an effort which connects those two things. Clarity would help us if we can remove any insult or stigma associated with the effort.

I would begin with put off and redefine that as forget. Forget what? Former conversations. Who did you have these conversations with? The hint is in the word deceitful which means a lie. Who is the father of lies? Satan of course, but I don’t remember having any conversations with Satan. Do you?

This is where I find it important to replace lust with another word which is softer and covers a wider range of issues. Appetites. I can tie this thought back into Ephesians 4:24 (our ultimate goal) with this scripture.

Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

To be continued.

Psalm 43:3 O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.

Towards the end of yesterday’s devotional I mentioned a better truth. Today I would like to explore that idea. It stems from a unity of spirit, mind and condition of the heart. The mind changes as it sees the need. The heart changes as it yields to the will of God in conformance. The spirit does not change for it is of God.

Jeremiah 29:3 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

Seek and find are issues of the mind but the desire to search out God has to be a condition of the heart. In order for the spirit to lead us in truth, to God, there has to be a unity of the spirit, mind and heart. Without that unity, there is always going to be a pull or resistance from a heart that is not driving the effort of the mind.

Job 11:13-14 If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands toward him; If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles.

Christ dwells in the tabernacle of your heart. As your heart is cleansed by Him it seeks to agree with the spirit in revealing the truth to your mind. That heart change is not instant for Christ is gentle in His mercies not to destroy whatever unity has begun in us to yield the fruits of righteousness.

1 Corinthians 2:9b-10 Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.