So I have been talking to God over the last few days about the concept of small talk, kind of an interesting thing to talk to God about I thought but I couldn’t shake it. What He was telling me was to avoid small talk with Him, not that talking to God is bad by any means. Matthew 6:7 warns to avoid, “the same words again and again, as the Gentiles do: for they have the idea that God will give attention to them because of the number of their words.” All that to say that I started spending time with God and talking to Him just to hear Him, and attempt to get something from the conversation other than saying that I had done it. When I did that I came across Psalms 100:4, “Come into his doors with joy, and into his house with praise; give him honour, blessing his name.” I started doing that in an attempt to really get close to Him and hear what He had to say to me. It was really cool, I spent the time with Father to…spend time with Father and He planted the thought of my mind. Matthew 22:37 says, “And he said to him, Have love for the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” As I started to follow that and ask Papa about it, I was reminded of the song “We Prepare the Way.” The version I heard starts with “Oh Lord, give us new hearts and new minds for Your glory.” I started thinking about having a “new mind.” Romans 8:6 says, “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” On that same note Romans 12:2 says, ” And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, in order to prove by you what is that good and pleasing and perfect will of God.” I think that to be knowledgable about what God has for me and what His will for my life is I have to constantly renew my mind, Ephesians 4:22-23 says, “For you ought to put off the old man (according to your way of living before) who is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” If I’m reading that right, Galatians 2:20 isn’t talking about only killing your flesh, but also, if not primarily, the killing of your old mind in order to think in the way of Father which can only be done through a new mind, one that is spiritually minded like Romans 8:6 says. Ephesians 4:24 goes on to say, “And you should put on the new man, who according to God was created in righteousness and true holiness.” That means that when I walk out Galatians 2:20, I’m not an improved version of myself but I am a new man! A man created in righteousness and true holiness! I’m no longer a man of the world; as Romans 12:2 says, a man not conformed, but transformed. I no longer live in the flesh. It’s crazy to me to think that I have known this for years without actually knowing it, or I’ve known this to a lesser degree. I’m amazed at what God shows me when I just want to spend time with Him. I hope this hasn’t been confusing, I sometimes jump around in a way that only makes sense to me but I hope that you guys can see how hard this hit me tonight.