Romans 1:28 (NKJV)

“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting”

We can retain or release God in our minds and spirits. When we choose to retain God, our lives become conformed to Him in knowledge. Our minds and His mind can become synchronized so that we do not do what we want to do but we do what is right based on His knowledge that resides in us. In all our getting, we need to pursue the retention of God in us, and to do this, we must quickly and continually identify and stop the leakages within and around us.

When we don’t stop our leakages, the knowledge of God accumulated in us will drain away, leaving us always empty of God. The debased mind is the mind that could not retain the glory and knowledge of God. Such a mind need not do anything evil because all that it produces will be evil. Verses 29-31 lists 23 fruits of the life without God, and the only thing that can checkmate the outflow of vileness is to retain God within. Our most desperate need is therefore not to fight off these evil actions, but to concentrate on retaining God.

“Lord, I see my failure and I see my need. I need You Lord, I need You desperately. I know I will only have victory over debasement by retaining You. Amen.”