The Pneumatic Mind - Part 2

by Pastor Gary C. Price

In the last issue, we discussed how our minds are spiritual entities. Our minds are air-driven or pneumatic; the word for spirit is pneuma or air. Just like the blood is the life of the flesh, the Spirit is our ‘blood’ for the soul and mind. We can then take inventory of our lives by examining what spirits are influencing us in life.

Now remember, there are different spirits down here. Just because a mind is open to inputs from the spirit does not mean it is driven by God’s Holy Spirit. The question is “What spirit are you of?” The answer to this question will determine the thinking processes and perceptions you employ on a daily basis. This not only impacts what you will or won’t do, but is even reflected in something as simple as the conversations you partake in. If something interests you, have you ever thought about why it interests you? If you are flipping the television and something catches your eye, what makes you turn back? What spirit is guiding you throughout the day and determining how you interact with the world?

"Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ."
I Corinthians 2:12-16

According to I Corinthians 2:12, the world is giving off a spirit or breath that can actually be received and propigated by men. You can see the impact of these mystical, airlike creatures everywhere. The devil is the prince of the power of the air. He rules the atmosphere and his spirit beings move through it looking for doors of entry into the human personality. Spirits are breaths and that is what you are! That is the real you.

People are so used to the tangible (what we can see, touch, taste, and feel) that many are afraid of anything spiritual. Why would you be scared of the spirit world when you are a spirit? The reason this fear exists is due to the various images we are bombarded with about the spirit world: Dracula, The Exosist, The Omen , Wolfman, etc. All of this was designed by the devil to keep us carnal so that we would back away from becoming spiritual.

There is a doorway into the spirit world via our minds. The only way to cross over is to have your mind renewed. Someone must press in until the spirit world is penetrated, and it happens in the mind. This process is commonly known as a breakthrough. There is a spiritual barrier around us that is charged with blocking our access to God. Daniel found this out himself after 21 days of fasting and prayer. The angel said that he was dispatched from the first day Daniel prayed, but that he had to contend with spiritual barriers to get through.

Those who think that being a Christian is about going to church every Sunday and Wednesday are truly far off of the mark. They might as well stay home and make Jello with the kids. In fact, when it comes down to it, religious church rituals are stupid! We must really get in touch with God and be filled with his Spirit. At that point, we can press through via the Spirit until we penetrate these demonic barriers and get spiritual awareness. We must have eyes to see and ears to hear in order to commune with God and know what He would have us to do.

If you study the books of Acts very carefully, one theme is continually clear. They were told exactly what to do by God! Furthermore, they did exactly that, and it produced results. What I am talking about is like lifting weights or training as an Olympic athelete. There is a heavy price that comes with the power of God; more heavy than any Olympic athelete would ever pay. You have to condition the soul to stay in submission to the Spirit and stay in the Spirit to overcome the devil.

You and I both know that there are more spirits out there than just righteous spirits. That is why many are scared of the spirit world. If you want to become spiritual, you will have to deal with all kinds of spirits. The devil is a spirit being and he is also in the spirit world. The Bible plainly says that God is also a spirit and that those who worship Him must do so in spirit and in truth. On the other hand, people worship the devil in spirit and in lies.

No matter how many times Christians say “The devil is under my feet,” he will never actually be under our feet until we move out of the wordly realm he rules into the realm where God is. We do this by having our minds transformed to become spiritual. The church must keep its affections or minds “above” where God is; only then are we above Satan and oppressing him, bringing war down upon him. Outside of that, there is no success, only an unpeaceful coexistence with the devil. I for one refuse to live that way! God has promised us victory and it is available to all who wish to forsake the lusts of this world and cling to Christ.

“And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”
Hebrews 2:15

In order to be free, we must be deprogrammed from the fear of death. Scripture says that it is this fear which makes us subject to bondage. Everything in this world is designed so that you will seek to sustain your life. People don’t want to hear about going through hard times or heartaches, only what can make me more comfortable, or happier. Yet everything God does is designed to kill off these fleshly impulses so that we desire nothing down here. He knows this is the only way we will depend solely on Him, allowing Him to accomplish His will in and through us. This is why we have to monitor ourselves to know and understand what is affecting us and causing us to feel, think, and act the way that we do.

The condition of our minds has a direct relationship with the level of understanding God is able to give us. This is why God does not give everybody the same thing. He will give you understanding as your mind is able to bare it, based on the extent to which your mind has been renewed and transformed. The things that are freely given to me by God I can possess, because God had ordained them for me. The natural man - who walks in his five canal senses - receives none of the things of God because they are “spiritually discerned.” If you look up “spiritually discerned” in a concordance you will see that it refers to those things which cannot be understood physically. You naturally believe God more as your mind is transformed because you are becoming a spiritual man. You must be brought over by God’s Spirit into another Kingdom to be given another life. The endtime church is a church that would have crossed over. It is not just a matter of just joining the endtime church because every member of this church would have crossed over already. You must be born again and perfected to a level of maturity in Christ. The mind of Christ is in the spirit of Christ.

Our mind is damaged from being influenced by the sin nature and from years of actively engaging in sin. He is now transferring His mind to ours in order to fix or renew it. Having knowledge of Christ transfers the mind of Christ to me so that we can think like God again or as Scripture says, I can “...prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Romans 12:2) In other words, I can be normal! We can finally be the way that God created man to be when He first made Adam and Eve. For too long, we have been thinking like the unclean spirits of the devil, but God wants us to think like Him so that He can interact with us and work through us.

We can become alienated from the life of God by simply following the ways of the world! Vanity can take over our mind as we dwell on these things at the expense of the things of God. How do we know that we are alienated from God? It is the condition of our minds. We are separated from the life of God when our minds are not in sync with His.

“And you, that were s)ometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled."
Colossians 1:21

If you can think the thoughts of God, you can do the works of God. This is the trigger that launches the endtime events. As individuals in the church press into God, God refreshes our minds and begins to flow through us allowing signs and wonders to take place. The one thing that the devil despises is the supernatural power of God on display. This exposes the devil as being weaker than God.

All that the devil can offer people is religion. That is why religious people hate God’s Spirit more than anyone else because they are unable to deny the things that God can do. You can debate doctrine and argue about theology, but when God’s power confirms what is said, all talking ceases. Jannes and Jambres were representative of the religious system in Egypt during the time of Moses. They were the magicians that served the devil and brought about mystical occurances. Everything God did, they tried to mimic until Pharaoh could no longer deny God’s sovereignty and power.

The only way you can really reach people in this world is to cross over to where God is and allow Him to work through you. If one vessel can cross over and get what I am talking about, they could draw thousands of people to Christ! It is Jesus who draws men unto Him and we need His anointing to be evident in our lives. In order to have this happen we must eliminate all of the distractions in life. We have to focus on God alone at the expense of everything else. Let all of your circumstances conform to God instead of seeking for God to conform to your circumstances.

"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace."
Romans 8:1-6

God’s breath is the Holy Spirit. This is what inspired Adam and made him a living soul. Therefore, I must be right on the tail of the Holy Spirit, following right after Him. In Him is housed everything that God has for me. He is the unnamed servent that Abraham sent to find a bride for His son Isaac. I must follow the unnamed spiritual servant because only He knows the way. He alone knows how to get back to the Father for He comes from the Father. When He goes back to where He came from, I want to be so full of Him that He can’t go without me.

A carnal mind is the definition of spiritual death. If you have a carnal mind then you are dead to God. Such a person is separated from God’s Spirit and their minds are alienated from God. One thing to keep in mind is that because our minds are pneumatic (or spirit-driven), those who have spiritual minds are able to know the thoughts of others. Since spirit beings communicate through the mind, one who is tuned in to the Spirit is also sensitive to these spiritual exchanges. You do not have to make a sound or even move your lips. In fact, God will predominately talk to you through this same type of telepathic power.

The idea of this is scary to most folks. To them I would say “You have been looking at too many movies and TV.” Look at the Scriptures. “And Jesus knowing their thoughts said...” Matthew 9:4 “But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them...” Matthew 12:15 “ But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them...” Luke 11:17 How was Jesus able to know the thoughts of these men? He was a mind reader because He was in tune with God’s Spirit and therefore able to discern spiritual things, including the spirit of their minds.

“Well, that is because Jesus was God” some might say. Yet what about Peter? How could he know that Ananias and Sapphira were lying about their donation to the church? The answer is in His response to them. “But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?” Acts 5:3 Peter was so in tune and filled with God’s Spirit, that it was no longer Peter they were speaking with but God’s Spirit. This is where we need to be as Christians. We need to decrease so that He can increase within us, until we too can say “It is no longer I who lives, but Christ lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20)