There is a way out of the winepress. Like all matters of Truth, it’s quite simple: If we are to discover a way out, we must not concentrate on the problem. We must focus on the answer.

And that’s the difference between the world view (the natural approach) and the Kingdom view (the spiritual approach). Through a natural approach, we would seek answers by focusing on the problem—how to resolve issues by analyzing our concerns and dismantling them bit by bit. In the Kingdom of God, however, we solve problems by focusing on the answer. Specifically, we focus on the One who is the answer. 

Most of us sought to free ourselves from the winepress and failed. When we tried to make it happen, it didn’t. We were puzzled by the result of our efforts. And although we thought we were alone in our dilemma, we were not. Multitudes of people are ensnared by emotional bondage, a simple condition that appears extremely complicated. The broken thought processes resulting from emotional injury feel like a maze with twists and turns which lead to nowhere—as do most escape efforts. The inability to free oneself is often met with self-contempt and disgust, but the failure is not a personal one. We were simply going about it the wrong way. Because when people attempt to resolve their own brokenness, they go about it the only way they know how: though natural efforts. They focus on the problem.

But when you get your eyes off of you and onto the Lord, your perspectives will begin to change. Jesus is the answer. When you start to think as He thinks and see as He sees, the twisted path of the maze will become straight and clear. You won’t have to knock yourself out to make it happen, make it work, or try to fix anything. The undoing of a heart bondage will happen without your supervision or conscious participation. The key to success is getting your eyes off the problem and focusing on the answer—Jesus!

Training is usually necessary when doing new things. That’s certainly true when learning to think differently. First, we must recognize that there is another way to think—other than the way we’ve been thinking—and that’s the hardest part for some people. The Kingdom of God is upside-down to our natural mental habits. 

The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! — Matthew 6:22-23

This verse correlates natural eyesight to spiritual eyesight. As the natural eye is to the body, spiritual eyesight is to the inner man. Clear spiritual vision is essential to the believer.

This verse refers to a “healthy” eye. Like good natural vision, spiritual vision enlightens our path so we can keep moving ahead, recognizing any obstacles for what they are. Healthy spiritual eyesight gives us a much better chance of avoiding confusion and potential injury, not to mention the possibility of getting lost (or taking a side trip, a total waste of time). The condition of the eye affects the entire body. We can move in confidence when we are assured that we have great spiritual eyesight.  

Healthy spiritual vision banishes darkness from the heart. That darkness is nothing less than old-fashioned deception, of course—Satan’s number one, all-time most used weapon against humanity. It’s what the enemy consistently uses to confuse and confound the children of God.  

One of the worst things that can happen to any believer is to become spiritually disoriented. Yet, that is a present threat to every Christian alive today. Like Gideon, believers struggle with the pressure to conform to cultural and societal standards. It can be difficult to identify the voices that compete for influence. Keen spiritual eyesight can eliminate confusion and steer you through good times and bad, through temptation and uncertainty. It can banish the fog and keep you on the right path, even when you don’t know exactly where the path is leading. What now?

As we continue this journey to freedom, we must train ourselves to think differently. We must learn to see as God sees and think as He thinks. We must learn to focus on the answer.

And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. — 1 Corinthians 2:13-16

We have the mind of Christ. 

We are not dependent upon human wisdom but upon the wisdom taught by the Holy Spirit. Our natural understanding would lead us to believe that things are exactly as they appear. But keen spiritual eyesight enables us to look past the natural to the unseen realm of faith. As we focus on the answer, we have the promise that the Holy Spirit will interpret spiritual truths to those who seek Him.   

Fundamental to putting on the Full Armor of God is putting on the mind of Christ. Think as God thinks, see as God sees. Do as God does. Believe and accept what God says. If God likes it, you like it. If He walks a certain way, you walk that way. If He says it, you believe it. Find out how God does it and do it that way. As Joyce Meyer said, “Read the Bible and act like you believe it.”

The concept of attaining the mind of Christ is refreshing and promising. It is a transformation that takes practice and comes with spiritual and emotional growth. Conforming your will to divine will is a lifelong aspiration because you never stop growing. Don’t try to force it; just relax and enjoy the journey. Begin receiving the mind of Christ right now by accepting the Truth that change in your thought processes must come.  

Our perspective colors our world. Too many believers are waiting for that one touch from God. They’re driven by crisis, always in need of a miracle. But wouldn’t it be better to learn Kingdom standards and live so as not always to need a rescue? Wouldn’t it be wisdom to understand how God operates, to learn divine life management? If an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, then indeed we are on the right course because Kingdom principles are so much more than a mere ounce of prevention. This proactive approach is the beginning of a process that changes everything.

Focus on the answer, not the problem. Put on the mind of Christ.  Learn to see as God sees!  

Develop your spiritual eyesight.