And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. —ROMANS 12:2
Let us return to the account of the four men and their paralytic friend in Mark 2. At this point, things have gotten desperate for all of them. The situation was intensifying. The house was crowded and they could not get through the mob of people thronging to see Jesus. The place was so jam-packed that “a crowd gathered, jamming the entrance so no one could get in or out” (Mark 2:2 MSG). No one.
This is where we arrive at a crossroads. It is the following turn of events and choice of action on behalf of the four friends that birthed this entire book. Their response to the crowded house actually has life-changing implications for how we live our Christian lives today. It shows us one of the most important keys to exhibiting and sustaining breakthrough faith: renewing our minds.
Dallas Willard, one of my favorite Christian authors and a true prophetic voice to a generation, was not exaggerating about the importance of this subject when he wrote, “The prospering of God’s cause on earth depends upon His people thinking well.”74 If we do not think well, primarily in regard to maintaining an accurate picture of the limitless God, the advancement of His Kingdom will be restrained. The breakthrough that these four men experienced for their friend had everything to do with them elevating their thinking and redefining the impossibility that was set before them.
If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth (Colossians 3:1-2).
What does it mean to experience a “renewed mind” (see Rom. 12:2) and set your “mind on things above”? It means that we see everything from God’s point of view and live accordingly. The four men in Mark 2 made a choice to see their situation from God’s perspective rather than a natural, limited mentality and experienced the miraculous as a result. The way we think determines what we see.
Some might respond, “I see where you are going with this, Larry. But what about Isaiah 55:8-9?” The familiar Scripture reads, “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.’” This is absolutely true! God’s thoughts and God’s ways are infinitely higher and superior to ours. However, do these two verses in Isaiah 55 mean that the perspective and thought processes of God are inaccessible to everyday believers?
In Isaiah’s day, yes, the thoughts of God were off-limits to everyday men and women. Things have shifted, though. In our day, the thoughts of God are accessible by normal believers. The wisdom of God is only an “ask” away (see James 1:5). This may sound absolutely wild to us, but think about it for a moment: the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation, the Holy Spirit, now lives inside of each one of us (see Eph. 1:17). The blood of Jesus opened us up to a new way of living and, yes, a new way of thinking that was not accessible in the era of Isaiah under the Old Covenant.
God’s thoughts are beyond ours—there is no question about it. But consider how Paul addresses this in First Corinthians 2. He reminds us that “eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him” (vs. 9). Some folks camp out on this verse without making the vital connection to the following passage: “But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God” (vs. 10).
The way we think determines what we see.
Yes, what God has prepared for us is far beyond human ability to grasp, fathom, or imagine (see Eph. 3:20). However, the God who came up with the plans, and the same God who brings these supernatural plans to pass, now lives inside of us. This means we have access to His plans and we have access to His thoughts. Scripture tells us that we even have access to the deep things of God. The One who searches the depths of God lives within us. His name is Holy Spirit, and He is just as much God as the Father and the Son. The transition from verse 9 to 10 is designed to blow our minds. I think it does the job quite nicely.
With all of this in mind, it should be spiritually illegal for believers to place limitations on God in their thinking. If we place a ceiling upon God in how we think about Him, every roadblock and every hindrance we experience will be reason for us to make greater agreement with the deceptions we have entertained about God—namely, that He is unable to offer breakthrough in whatever situation we go through. He is not limited. To believe that God’s ability and willingness are limited is entertaining an incorrect perspective about who God is.
Israel did this. Psalm 78:41 tells us that they “limited the Holy One of Israel.” Remember, Israel’s perspective did not change God at all; that is impossible. There is nothing we can do to change anything about God. Rather, they adjusted how they thought about God. They thought of Him as One with limitations, and, in turn, this perspective limited their experience of Him. They limited Him and responded to Him as though He was limited. If we place limitations on God in our thinking, it does nothing to Him; it also does nothing for us. If we are convinced that God can’t, we won’t. We won’t believe. We won’t press through. We won’t persevere. We will not push for the impossible because we believe it is off-limits to Him; therefore, it will be off-limits to us.
If the four men thought of God as limited, they would have responded to the crowded house by turning around and going home, convinced that healing was not Jesus’ will for their paralyzed friend. I would totally buy into the whole “God picks and chooses whom He wants to do a miracle for” type of system if the guys ended up breaking through the roof, and then Jesus said something like, “Didn’t you take the hint? Didn’t the crowded house deliver the message, loud and clear, that it was not My will to heal your friend?” Jesus did not say this however; He revealed the exact opposite. It is how Jesus responded in this account (and dozens more) that should change the way we think about God and take every single limitation off of Him.
It should be spiritually illegal for believers to place limitations on God in their thinking.
The next verse in Psalm 78 offers some profound explanations on how the people of the time limited God: “They did not remember His power” (vs. 42). The psalm then goes on to list different supernatural exploits that God performed for them. We covered the need for testimony in three whole chapters because the topic is that important to releasing breakthrough faith. Remembering what God has done and keeping a record of His supernatural acts reminds us that there is truly no ceiling on the God of all power.
Going back to the four men and their paralyzed friend now: they demonstrated a perspective that took the limits off of God, quite the opposite of what we witness in Psalm 78. Sadly, too many of us today would simply embrace the crowded house as God’s sovereign will and not press in for what God had really destined for us. When the house is crowded, we do not even consider going through the roof. That’s just too far out there. That’s wild thinking. That’s fanatical. That’s crazy. That’s for “those faith people.” If we are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, however, we are one of those faith people.
We need to stop agreeing with our circumstances. Let it be said of our generation that we broke through the roof of how we thought about God. He is without limits and this is how we should see Him. Rather than bringing Him down to our level of thinking, we have actually been invited to adopt His thoughts and perspectives about our situations. That is what it means to have a renewed mind. And this is what Paul was talking about when he invited us to “set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col. 3:2).
We are called to think like Christ. In fact, Paul also tells us that “the same mind” that was in Christ Jesus should be in us (see Phil. 2:5)! In First Corinthians 2:16 Paul presents a question, but then follows it up quickly with a bold answer: “For ‘who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.” You have the mind of Christ! This reality is not only possible, but it is completely accessible because of the Holy Spirit who lives inside of us. He is the Spirit of Christ (see Rom. 8:9)!
Two key verses that confirm this are Romans 8:5: “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit,” and Ephesians 4:23, where Paul urges us to “be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” It is no coincidence that the man who had this revelation of the renewed mind was the same man who stepped into the dimension of extraordinary miracles (see Acts 19:11-12). Paul was able to walk in a breakthrough faith lifestyle because of his unlimited perspective of God. Paul did not have some mental picture of a God who was restrained and chained by natural impossibilities. He did not place limitations on the Almighty. His aim was to experience a continuous renewal of the mind so that moment by moment his thinking would come into greater agreement and alignment with who God truly was.
When we embrace Paul’s perspective, miracles stop being the exception; they become the new normal. I am desperate to see a culture of believers rise up (and am currently seeing this in places across the earth), where miracles are standard practice for the Christian life. People in certain theological circles get bent out of shape because they think we are talking about miracles and the supernatural too much. You know why the subject is being overemphasized in certain places? It’s because a foundational, normative element of Christianity—the continuous flow of God’s supernatural Presence and power through everyday, Spirit-filled believers—has been marginalized for so long.
In the season of its resurgence, of course there is great emphasis. Yes, I agree that at times things can get slightly imbalanced. But understand that this emphasis is taking place because something that was basic to how Christianity was originally expressed is now being rediscovered. It is being unlocked by a people who recognize their inheritance of breakthrough faith. Breakthrough faith is the key that unlocks the supernatural lifestyle, and to operate in breakthrough faith our minds must be renewed to see God as He is.
Paul was able to walk in a breakthrough faith lifestyle because of his unlimited perspective of God.
This is how the four friends saw Jesus that day. They looked at their friend’s paralyzed condition and then looked back through the masses of people, surely to catch a glimpse of the One who could miraculously raise this man up. All it takes is a true glimpse of Jesus to awaken breakthrough faith and remove the ceiling on our limitations, obstacles, and impossibilities. The chasm between what was the circumstance and what was possible was not okay for them. They did not want to live in that place, as so many do today. Their paralyzed friend was lying before them while the solution to his affliction was just on the other side of the crowded sea of people.
Dallas Willard writes, “I realize that I will either allow my view of evil to determine my view of God and will cut Him down accordingly, or I will allow my view of God to determine my view of the evil and will elevate Him accordingly, accepting that nothing is beyond His power for good.”75 The four men did not redefine Jesus based on their circumstances, like many do today. They did not allow the evil circumstance that their friend was dealing with to ultimately shape their view of who Jesus was. This is poor thinking that produces lazy, destructive theology.
Rather, here is what they did do: these four men of faith elevated their thinking. Lazy theology looks at what’s in front of us and assumes that some boundary or some obstacle is God’s will by default. In Jonah’s case, yes—the storm was God’s merciful plan. In the paralytic’s case, however, his infirmity was an ailment subject to the power of Jesus Christ. False theology would have reviewed the situation and concluded, “Well, I guess it’s not God’s will that our friend gets healed. After all, Jesus is there and we are here.” Their elevated thinking is what fueled them to persevere and ultimately uncover the roof over Jesus. When this approach to God’s will becomes common among believers, miracles will no longer be sporadic—they will become normative.
Willard also makes a profound statement concerning the ideas we entertain and the culture these ideas create in our lives: “One’s culture is seen most clearly in what one thinks of as ‘natural’ and as requiring no explanation or even thought.”76 This is how I want us to start considering the supernatural and the miraculous. The supernatural must become natural. It is natural and normal, in that miracles, breakthroughs, signs, wonders, healings, deliverance, and impossible situations being turned around become characteristic of how Christianity is expressed.
It is never common in the sense that we treat miracles as routine or boring. Every breakthrough, from a broken finger being mended to someone being raised from the dead, deserves celebration. Every miracle heralds Kingdom advancement. Every breakthrough signifies that God’s world is continuing to break into this one. As those who have inherited breakthrough faith, our definition of normal should be way different than what much of church culture is presently experiencing.
All it takes is a true glimpse of Jesus to awaken breakthrough faith and remove the ceiling on our limitations, obstacles, and impossibilities.
So what’s the roof that you need to break through in your life? I want to take the final section of this chapter to talk with you, heart to heart. I want to get you thinking. I pray that everything we have talked about in regard to elevating your thinking and thinking from God’s perspective helps you understand that when impossible situations present themselves to you, your initial response cannot be, “Well…that’s just God’s will.”
This idea of removing a ceiling to receive our breakthrough, or release breakthrough for someone else, should not seem out of the ordinary for us. Removing ceilings and busting through rooftops is not unusual for the renewed mind. Removing the ceiling is simply a way of agreeing with God’s will, no matter what is involved in the natural. Bill Johnson (who wrote a powerful guide on operating in the renewed mind, Supernatural Power of a Transformed Mind) explains, “We must go well beyond the Christian life we have known. We must redefine ‘normal’ Christianity so that it lines up with God’s idea of normal, not the definition we have accepted and grown accustomed to based on our experiences (or lack thereof).”77 This is where God wants to take us. This is where He is calling all believers. He is extending an invitation for us: “Come up here” (see Rev. 4:1). The process begins in our minds.
Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from His perspective (Colossians 3:2 MSG).
Consider the circumstances you are facing today. Maybe you are personally doing all right, but you can think of a friend, family member, co-worker, or someone in school who is struggling with an impossible situation. Someone surely comes to mind. Sickness. Torment. Depression. Bondage. Addiction. A family situation in turmoil. Financial hardship. Fear. Anxiety. The list of possible situations is endless. Impossibility is not always a “raised from the dead” scenario—it is simply the thing we cannot get past in our own strength and ability. It demands divine intervention. Breakthrough faith is for anyone who has come as far as they can in their own strength and cannot make it any further. I want to help you stay in the race and get to the finish line. I want to help you become the person in your generation who presses in to actually see the other side of perseverance: breakthrough!
Removing ceilings and busting through rooftops is not unusual for the renewed mind.
This chapter leads us right into the closing section of the book. Here, we will discuss some of the practical things you need to know about walking in breakthrough faith—namely, the art of perseverance. Not quitting and not giving up. We cannot just “will up” this perspective; it is the result of a renewed mind. Breakthrough faith is sustained by the individual who keeps his or her mind in agreement with the Word of God and the realities of Heaven (see Col. 3:1-2).
Breakthrough faith comes before the actual breakthrough. If you are in the middle of actually receiving a breakthrough, you do not need faith. But if you are currently believing something that is in agreement with God’s Word but it has not become a reality yet, you need faith.
To experience the miraculous life, where breakthrough faith is activated and released, we need to elevate our thinking to agree with God’s. No limits, no boundaries.
The Supernatural Power of a Transformed Mind by Bill Johnson
Renovation of the Heart by Dallas Willard