How Veiled Is Your Mind?
Blog Post: How veiled is your mind?
Written by Cynthia Chausse'
2 Corinthians 3:18 says: “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (NIV)
The footnote for this Scripture in my Life Application Bible (Tyndale, 1991) says: “By gazing at the nature of God with unveiled minds, (italics mine) we can be more like him.” When I read the phrase, unveiled minds, I immediately felt the Holy Spirit asking me: “Child, what has veiled your mind lately?” And the conversation that followed included the following:
Me: “Oh, LOTS of things, my Lord-too many to even think of on a specific basis!”
Holy Spirit: “Try Me. Go ahead and name some things, I’ve got time. 😊”
Me: “Ug, I really don’t want to get into this, can we talk about more pleasant stuff, like how proud You are of me for not yelling at the guy who cut me off yesterday? Yet Lord, I have been asking You to help me grow in You. Here You are, showing up, granting my request. Let me ask YOU, what has veiled my mind, thus preventing me to be transformed into Your likeness?”
Boy! Did He answer that question! The main answer… my flesh. My fleshly, selfish needs veil my mind. But to dig deeper into this thing about veils, lets ask (and answer some questions):
1. What does a veiled mind look like?
With a veiled mind, my thoughts and emotions are muddled. Even when I read Scripture with or without a devotional. I seem to be like a ship tossed to and fro with the waves, not anchored. (Ephesians 4:14, James 1:6)
My behaviors are not in alignment with what I want to do (Romans 7:15).
My whole self seems to either be sitting on the fence or having one foot in the world and one foot standing with Jesus (and I eventually loose my balance and fall-hard).
It seems like God is far off. And it seems like my prayers are not being answered.
I am spiritually and emotionally tired.
2. What are the symptoms of a veiled mind?
A. Easily distracted away from reading Scripture and from prayer. Sometimes, I find myself physically getting up out of the chair, placing my Bible down and doing a load of laundry. I am no longer a multi-tasker, but even when I was, having anything but a singularly focused mind on God and His Word added another veil over my mind.
B. Always doing the talking, not taking the time to be quiet in the presence of God.
C. Continually asking God: “Are You there? Why aren’t you answering my prayers?”
3. What are the consequences of a veiled mind?
A. The main consequence is that I cannot see Him, I cannot feel close to Him, and I cannot be in that intimate relationship with Him with a veil clouding my mind. Scripture says that we New Testament believers no longer have a veil to separate us from God because Jesus tore that veil with His blood (2 Corinthians 3:14, Matthew 27:51). Yet we can choose to put veils between us and God and that is not what God intends for us, otherwise Jesus died in vain.
4. What can we do to unveil our mind?
A. Be aware. The main goal of Satan is to completely cover our minds, our hearts, our spirit, and our bodies so that we will be torn away from God. Even for believers, Satan wants us as far away from God as we can be. If you would like to learn more about Satan’s strategies for veiling our minds, please read an excellent book by Savannah Micheals: Satan’s Strategies to Steal Your Identity. This book is essential for us in today’s atmosphere. I will talk more in future blogs about this book and Satan’s strategies versus God’s blessings, but if you are like me, reading stuff about Satan used to be, well, a little creepy. Savannah’s book is not creepy at all, quite easy to read, filled with Scripture, and provokes a desire to know more about the strategies used to take us farther away from God, and steal our identity.
B. Be in prayer. Ask God to unveil your mind. Ask Him to show you your veils and ask Him to remove them.
C. Be in the Word. Ask God to show you, in His Word, how to be wise to the strategies used to add veils and thus take us farther from that special love relationship with God and others. Write down Scriptures that speak to you. Start a prayer journal with those verses and your thoughts and especially what you hear the Holy Spirit say to you about those Scriptures.
D. Be with other believers. I have been blessed to have prayer partners. These are women who have heard my pleas, have held me accountable (in a Christ-like manner), who have celebrated with me through joys and I have been there to do the same for them. I have been blessed with my Church to have fellowship with a whole community of believers, who like me are broken, sinful, yet loving, embracing, and striving to grow in the likeness of God.
5. What are the blessings to an unveiled mind?
The major blessing is that without the veils, we have a clear, open, fully intimate love relationship with God. Then, we can have this type of relationship with others and with ourselves. We will automatically be able to respond to this love relationship by telling others (through our words and deeds) about the love of God, Christ our Savior and the Holy Spirit.
My Prayer for You, for Me, For Us:
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank You for loving us, for always loving us - no matter what. Thank You that You refuse to let us stay where we are-covered with our chosen veils. Thank You that You reveal to us what these veils are and You provide a way to remove them so that we can experience that sweet intimate loving relationship with you that will also help us to experience a Christ like transformation. Father I pray for those reading this post, that they will come to You seeking wisdom, seeking You in prayer, reading Your Word, and experience life in a community of believers through a prayer partner and a Church. Father, our world desperately needs Your people to live life unveiled, please help us to do so. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
