ARE YOU CARNALLY MINDED?/ DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT CARNALITY MEANS?
GREETINGS. Romans 8:6: For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Someone recently asked me what does the word carnal mean: [1]Carnal: Pertaining to or characterized by missions and appetites of the flesh or body: sensual.[2] Not spiritual, temporal: Random House Webster College dictionary. Mr. Webster used the word: ''temporal.'' What does the Bible said the carnal mind is? DEATH! Romans 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. It is not just enough to be able quote the above verse, it has to be made real to our spirit if we ever get a new Spirit. If I observed steam rising from a pot of boiling water it soon vanishes away: its temporal. 2 Corinthians 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. Thus, if I read a verse or even a word in the Bible my natural [The one I was born with] understanding shows me what anybody that can read understands; this understanding is temporal. ''for the things which are seen are temporal''. Thus, my natural understanding which is useless in Spiritual understanding and this understanding must pass away. 1 Corinthians 2:14: 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. This is where real Biblical faith must come in, you are trying to see something Spiritual which is hidden and the you will never discern anything Spiritually. The you in us or the fleshly mind can never produce [born] anything Spiritual from the only Spiritual book that exist. John 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirt. What we all discern at first is something the flatters us and the carnal-mind has deceived us. Yet this first natural way seeing of God's word is the normal: everybody goes through this process of beholding our own vain thought's way of reading the scriptures.Psalm 119:37 Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way. The carnal mind we are all born with is unless in the interpretation of Spiritual things or words. 1 Corinthians 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. Physical babies need milk to grow by, Christian need nothing but some unsaved Preacher to tell them they are the righteousness of God. 1 Peter 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby. Billions of modern-day so-called Christians never find time to read the Bible and you can listen to the whole Bible in about sixty minutes: they have no faith. Watching so-called Christian television is no substitute for not seeking God's truth hidden in the Bible. Yet when things start go wrong in their physical lives they wonder were God is: does He not hear our cry? Proverbs 1:26 I also will laugh at your calamity; and mock when your fear cometh. When we trust our own wisdom of the carnal mind, we are dead to God and we are our own god. Mark 12:27 He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err. Once God reveals this great error to the carnal-minded individuals sometime the heart becomes harden in sin, and they refuses to except that they have been only worshipping themselves. King David saw the error of his way or thoughts and cried out to God for help. Psalm 25:11 O my God. I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me. David asked God: ''Let me not be ashamed,'' yet we refused to be ashamed of our own lack of any spiritual knowledge and are in spiritual deep sleep. 1 Corinthians 15: 34 Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for smoke have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame. I thought it very strange reading the Bible years ago with a verse that started out with the word: Help! Psalm 109: 26 Help me, O Lord my God: O save me according to thy mercy. Yes, we also cry out to God: ''O lord my servant, give me a better job and bathtub with golden faucets''. The error is we are not allowing God to show us the hidden truth. Psalm 51:6Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know[GOD’S] wisdom. That’s why we have over 30,000 Protestant Denominations based on man’s wisdom. 1 Corinthians 1:21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world [ Our own worldly wisdom can never discern God's word] by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. And sometime the more educated we become, the bigger fools we all become. Romans 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. Proverbs 26:12 Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him. The next time we read the Bible, our prayer should be that God lighten our eyes to see Spiritually or we become fools. Psalm 13:3Consider and hear, O Lord my God: lighten mine eyes. Because you are hoping to see: ''but the things which are not seen are eternal''. When God starts to show you the eternal, you are being enlighten and the carnal temporal thinking starts to vanish away in time. Psalm 18:28 For thou wilt light my candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness. Eternal life is hidden in the scriptures but those who thinks they are saved just because can quote verses and perform physical acts are lost. John 5:39Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. John 5:40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. My prayer is that God would show us what hidden; If we come with an heart ready for Spiritually circumcision for him to perform. Philippians 3:3 For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. When God starts to reveal the hidden meaning of the scriptures we are in the Spirit, and no longer trust our fleshly interpretation. Faith has been taught in many Churches as hoping for a new house or car these things are temporal and you can see them physically. Seeing something physical is not faith it's not even hope. Romans 8:24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? Romans 8:25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. Now as we are waiting, God will start to reveal Himself in His word. Lamentations 3:26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD. But if a stubborn man or woman refuse to wait for God to reveal His salvation then we will die in our sin and return to the dust. Jeremiah 18:12 And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.The goal of: ''Shibboleth Ministries'' is teach us not to walk after our own wisdom about the Bible, that way we are not walking spiritually lame. As I pen these these words God just revealed the meaning of a new scripture[only new to my spiritually understanding] to me:2 Corinthians 5:7 {For we walk by faith,not by sight:}. Michael Hodges 11/15/2016 /2/4/2021/ amended 5/24/2021/ amended 10/23/2021/ amended 2/1/2022