Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Thanks for tuning in to the Met Church podcast. Here at the Met, we are all about connecting people to God and one another. If you have any questions or want more information about what's happening here at the church, then head to our website@metchurch.com we would love to stay connected with you throughout the week through social media, so be sure to connect with us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter now. Enjoy the message.
[00:00:24] Well, good morning everyone. We're in a brand new series called Healthy and we're going to be talking throughout the springtime about what whereby you and I can be healthy as we go into this brand new year. The first part of the series will deal with healthy hearts. The second part will deal with healthy homes. And then we'll conclude the series as we get closer to Easter talking about healthy habits. I think in this you'll find a really good way to get a grip on a handle on how to have a wonderful and a beneficial and a growing new year. We said last weekend that healthy things grow, healthy kids grow, healthy businesses grow, healthy churches grow. So if you're interested in the growth of your company, if you're interested in the growth of your career, the growth of your family, or just personal growth, then the emphasis ought to be on your health because as you get healthy, you naturally will grow. And so we talked a little bit about what a healthy heart is. It's more than the muscle right beating in our chest. So that's important and I hope that's healthy. But the heart, when the Bible speaks of. The heart speaks of three essential areas. It speaks of our mind, it speaks of our will, it speaks of our emotion. And last week we talked about healthy emotions and how important it is to have healthy emotions, to be healthy emotionally. God is emotional. He created us in his image as emotional beings. And emotions are good. But it's important that we learn how to be healthy. One of our fellow staff members who served really from almost from day one here on staff, Jessie Beebe. Her husband's our cfo. Jesse has written a beautiful book called Absolute Resolve and it talks about how to develop healthy emotions. And if you're interested in going a little deeper in understanding that, you could find her book on Amazon. I highly recommend it called Absolute Resolve by Jesse Beebe. She was our first children's pastor here at the church. She now has a ministry called Stand. But God has given her a unique ability to speak to having healthy emotions. And so I highly recommend that. So this morning I wanna take the next step. We talked about healthy emotions. I Wanna talk now about having a healthy mind, to being able to control how we think, to be able to monitor and measure the way that we think. It's important because I believe, and I've said this before, but I believe the mind is the singular most important thing God has ever given us. Our mind, how we think. In fact, when you think about it, we are here this morning because we, first of all thought about coming here. You're wearing what you're wearing this morning because you, first of all thought about wearing what you're wearing this morning. Now, I know when you go to the beach, you wonder if some people think about what they're wearing. Have you ever seen anybody on the beach? I know it sounds mean, but have you ever seen anybody on the beach and your first thought is, poor thing, they don't have a mirror or a friend.
[00:03:22] But the point is what we wear, where we go, what we do, everything in our world revolves around and begins with the way we think. I read where our minds have over a million sensory receptors that help us to determine, you know, our five senses of taste, touch, smell, you know, all of those things are controlled by over a million sensory receptors in our minds. Are you aware that I've been told also that our minds had over 10 billion sensors that affect our imagination.
[00:03:56] A composer, for example, a composer will hear his composition in his mind before he ever reduces it to writing. An author will envision a storyline before they ever put the pen to paper.
[00:04:13] Before you ever do anything, you first of all imagine that thing because it all happens within your mind. I'm just suggesting you this morning that our minds are so powerful and the Bible says that we have an enemy. In fact, in John 10:10, the Bible says that our enemy seeks to kill, steal and destroy. And so if we have an enemy, and we know that we do, wouldn't the enemy seek to subdue us in the strongest part of our being, which is our mind? I mean, if you were attacked by a dog, the first thing you'd want to do is subdue the dog at the strongest point of that dog's attack, which is its teeth. If you walk up on a snake, the thing that you want to do is subdue the snake at the strongest point of its attack, which is its fangs. And so God has given within nature animals and things that have points of strength that help them defend themselves, that to help them be able to survive. And if you're going to subdue an animal or if you're gonna subdue anything, you subdue it at the point of its strength. So again, what I'm saying to you, our enemy, if he's going to attack us and subdue us, he is going to attack us at the point of our strength. And the strongest thing you and I have going for us is our mind is our mind. It is the way that we think. And so it's important that you and I think about what we think about. In fact, look in Ephesians chapter four for our text and listen to how Paul was challenging the Christ followers in the city of Ephesus concerning the way they think. He said in verse 17, I tell you this, and I insist on it in the Lord, that you no longer live as the Gentiles do. Now he's talking about people who don't know Christ. He said, you shouldn't live in this way. In the futility, in the emptiness of their.
[00:05:58] They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God. And here's why. Because the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts, meaning that they have willfully rejected me and it's affected the way that they think. And so he's saying to Christians, you should not think the way people who do not know me think. I said, there's two types of mindsets you can get into. There is a mindset that is spiritual, and we're gonna flesh this out in a minute in a mindset that is secular. Secular. A secular mindset just doesn't include God in his thinking. A secular way of thinking is, I can do this on my own. I don't need God. That's secularism. And so he's saying, concerning the Gentiles, don't fall into the trap. Or concerning the Christ followers, don't fall into the trap of the Gentiles. Don't be guilty of secularism, understand? Notice it now. You have this ability that. That they don't have. Look at verse 19. They've lost all sensitivity. They've given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity. They're full of greed. That, however, is not the way of life you've learned. Paul said, you've got a power within you greater than that. You don't have to succumb and be subdued by your own desires. You now have a power within you that is greater than that. He goes on to say, verse 20, however, is not the way of life you've learned. 21. When you heard about Christ and were taught in him accordance to the truth that is in Jesus, you were taught with regard to your former way of life to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires, and be made new. Notice how to be made new in the attitude of your minds. He's saying you have the power within you to put off who you used to be, how you used to handle things. Your old self, your old nature, and you now have a power to rise above that. And he said it happens in the attitude of your mind. Then the last verse is verse 24. And to put on your new self, which is created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Now, there's three things I want you to think about when we talk about our minds. The first thing I want you to think about is the fact that we were born with what I'm calling a conflicted mind. A conflicted mind. A mind that does not think spiritual thoughts. Our default motive is our default setting, rather, in our mind, is to think secular thoughts, thoughts that do not include God. We were born with a negative and imperfect mind. In fact, in Colossians 1:21, the Bible says, once you were alienated from God and were enemies. Listen to this in your minds. So the mind then becomes the battlefield. The mind then becomes the most significant battle you and I face every day that we get up and we begin our week. It's the battle of our mind. That's why when Paul was talking about elements in Ephesians 6 that we are to wear the armor that we are to wear, he said, in Ephesians 6, Put on the very first piece of the armor is put on the helmet of salvation. What was he saying about the helmet of salvation? He's saying, protect your head.
[00:09:03] The enemy wants to give you a headshot, he's gonna take you out. And the way he's gonna take you out is with your mind. Proverbs 23, verse 7 says this. As a person thinks in their heart, as a person thinks in their heart, so will they be. The late, great Vance Havner used to say, you're not what you think you are, but what you think you are. So it's important that we think about what we think about, because we all were born with a default setting. A carnal mind, a secular mind, a mind alienated from God. In Ephesians 4:22, the verse I've just read to you deals with the descendant order, our old order, our mindset. And it's seen in the words old self. I have an old nature because my parents had an old nature. They have that because Their parents had an old nature. It's a descendant nature. Apples produce apples, oranges produce oranges. We're born with a sinful nature. We're sinners by birth, and then we become sinners by choice. David said, in sin, my mother conceived me. Then James says in James one that we are soon led away by our own lust. So we have an old nature that was passed down to us and that will continue to replicate and that will continue to be in our world until something happens to interrupt that genetic order. That's why the Bible uses this word to describe salvation. In Titus chapter three, he says, you have been rewritten. Regenerated. Think about that word, regenerated. It literally means regened. Regened. You've got now an interruption in that descendant order, meaning that we no longer have to pass on this characteristic to our children and to their children and the children that follow. We now can share with them the value of knowing Jesus, who then can interrupt the genetic disorder and insert into the old nature a new nature. So now the apple tree has the power to be different than that genetic order. We have been regenerated. We have been regened. And that's necessary because you and I were born with this sinful nature. So it's important, once you receive Jesus as your savior, you have the old nature. Yeah, that's never done away with. You always have that old nature. But now you have the new nature, the old self. The new self. And it's important that we nurture the right nature because our minds will always be conflicted. You'll never get to a point in your spiritual life where you don't struggle in this area. I wish I could tell you this morning, man, it's one and done. You give your heart to Jesus and you'll never have thoughts you shouldn't have had. You'll never say words you shouldn't have spoken. And by the way, the words come right out of our heart. Matthew 12:34, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. I've told you many times, what's in the well comes up in the bucket. And if you wanna know what somebody is really thinking about, listen to what they talk about, because they're gonna tell you what's in their heart. Somebody said, oh, you don't know my heart. You can't see my heart? No, I can't. But I can hear your words. And the preponderance of your words tell me a whole lot about your heart. And we can all have a bad day. We can all say things that Aren't sanctified. We can all say things that we don't really believe. Have you ever said something you didn't really believe?
[00:12:14] I mean, you just have to get it out, right? And I'm not talking about those moments, and I'm not talking about those times, but I am saying when there is a preponderance of things that come out of a person, when there is a steady stream of things that come out of a person that's just negative or that is just bitter or that is just harsh or that is angry or that is just profane, everything that comes out of them, yes, you can tell their heart by their words. It is true. And so it's important as a Christ follower that we understand. I still have that old nature. You still have that old nature. It's a battle every day. It's not one and done. It is the nature that you nurture that will determine the outcome of our life. And we're going to deal with this conflicted mind from now on. Listen to how Paul described the struggle in Romans 7, verse 23. I see another law working in me. Listen to this waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work in me. Paul said, I've got this battle going on. I've got the thing. If you read that in context, he's saying, I know what to do. I know the good things that I should do, but the good things that I do, I don't always do them because I've got this negative way of thinking that is pulling me away from the good things. And I end up doing the bad things. I start doing things that I wished I wouldn't do. And he said, it's just a constant struggle within my life. And so I'm just suggesting you this morning that when we're talking about healthy minds, you gotta know, it's warfare. It is a battle. And if you don't engage, you're gonna lose. And so it's important that you understand that the biggest battle you'll fight is the battle within your own self. It's the battle within your own mind. Because things get so much worse in our mind. Have you noticed that? And things get worse at night. Have you noticed that? Seems like the whole world closes in on you at night. The psalmist said, weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. And I don't know why that is, man. Everything closes in on you. Everything seems to just be worse at night. But if you can just get through the night and the sun comes up and you get a new view on a brand new day. It seems to change so much. But the battle I'm suggesting to you that has to be fought every day is the battle that happens in our minds. It's because, number one, we have a conflicted mind. Here's number two. Second thought, I wanna give you that once you know Jesus, you now have a.
[00:14:36] I talked about the insertion of a new nature. And it's so important that you understand the power that you possess to overcome that old nature. Repentance. The word repentance simply is the Greek word metanoia. It means to change. It means to turn. Repentance is meaning, I'm walking this way and I'm going away from God. And now I've turned, and now I'm walking toward God.
[00:15:02] Theologians got into a big debate about, does repentance mean I turn to God from sin or I turn from sin to God?
[00:15:12] Potatoes. Potatoes. I don't know which it is. Some people honestly turn from sin to God. They say, I'm tired of the life I've been living. I'm tired of this, you know, I'm tired of feeling like I feel. And so they turn from sin to God. Other people say, you know, I just. I just appreciate the love of God. I just sense his presences in my life. So they turn to God, and consequently, they turn to him from their sin. So I don't know which it is for you. Some people change when they feel the heat. Some people change when they see the light.
[00:15:43] Whatever melts your butter. I'm just saying it's one of the same. But the point I'm driving home is repentance means change. It means a change of heart. Listen, it's. It means a change of mind. And literally, you know what you're saying when you repent, when you just say, lord Jesus, I'm giving you my heart, I'm receiving you a Savior. And then once you've received him a savior, when you're saying, First John 1:19, Lord, forgive me of my sin, I wanna restore fellowship with you. What you're saying when you say that is you're telling the enemy, I changed my mind.
[00:16:14] I changed my mind. I was doing this, and I'm not doing that anymore. I changed my mind. I. I've repented. I've turned. I've changed my mind. And that's so important because God designed this thing in such a way that. I mean, think about it. We came into the world head first. And if you Go from one dimension into the next dimension. You'll go head first. You'll go with your thinking. You'll go to the next level in your career through your mind. You'll go to the next level in your relationship through your mind. You go from one experience into the next experience, head first. And so the battle is going to be there. But once you receive Jesus, the great news is you now have a changed mind. And so the Bible really sets up this contrast in First Corinthians 2:14, between the old self and the new self, between a natural mind and a spiritual mind. The natural mind is the mind we were born with, the mind that has not yet been changed, the mind that is alienated or separated from God. And that mind is conscious of God.
[00:17:16] Just because a person hasn't yet given their heart to Jesus, just because a person hasn't yet received him as Savior or repented and turned to him, doesn't mean they're not aware of him. In fact, the Bible says in Romans chapter 2, verse 15, that God has written his law. He's written his commands on the heart of people. John 1:9 says, Listen to this. He is the light that lights everyone that comes into the world. Now, that does not mean there's a spark of divinity within everyone. And if you'll fan the flame, you know, you kind of become a Christian by evolution. You kind of have an epiphany where you finally get evolved into being a Christian. That's not what he's talking about when he says there's a light that lights everyone that comes into the world means there's a consciousness of God. That means God has given man an awareness of his presence and awareness of himself. I believe that so strongly that I think if a person is true to the light God has given them, regardless of where they live on this planet, if they're true to the light God has given them, God will give them increased light to the point that he'll wreck a plane and drop a missionary right on top of them. The problem is that you turn from the light that you've received. Second Timothy, chapter four warns him. He said, when you are turned, and being turned, you will be turned. In other words, there's a process that a person can go to where they reject Jesus, reject him, reject him to the point that they turn from him and turn from him and turn from him. And their willful rejection of Jesus can lead to a judicial rejection by Jesus. When you study the Gospel of John, you'll see time and time again Jesus saying this they will not come to me that they might have life. They're aware that they need me. They know that I'm here. They know that I will save them, but they will not. Will not come to me that they might have life. And then when you get to about John 8, he says, they cannot come to me that they might have life. What is he saying there? He's saying their willful rejection has led them to a place of judicial rejection, meaning that a person can turn down God so many times that he no longer bothers them. In fact, in the book of Genesis, he says, my spirit will not always strive with a person, meaning it is possible to go beyond a point where the Holy Spirit of God will no longer bother you about your sin. He'll no longer convict you and try to convince you that you need Jesus. You finally turned him down to the point that he said, I'm just not gonna bother you anymore about it. And you step through that threshold.
[00:19:47] I was teaching that one weekend, and I had a guy tell me. He goes, bill, how do I know that I haven't stepped through that threshold? Man, I have felt like I needed to trust Christ, and I've turned him down. I haven't received him. And I've sat through many services, as you guys have done. And how do I know that I haven't already got to that point that even if I asked God to save me, he wouldn't save me? I said, you know how I know you're not there? He said, why? I said, cause it bothers you. The fact that that could bother you. The people I worry about are the people that have no conscience of that. It doesn't bother them at all. They could care less if God bothers them about that or not. The fact that you are still conscious of it and you are still aware of the possibility of it tells me you haven't crossed that threshold. But it is possible. I'm just suggesting that you get to a point where God will no longer bother you about your sin. You see a man like Esau, that is talked about. Even they talk about Esau in the New Testament, where Esau finally just rejects God. In fact, Hebrews 12:16 talks about it, and Esau rejected God and rejected him and rejected him. And finally, God just rejects Esau. And then the Bible has this expression that Esau sought God with many tears and God still rejected him. Somebody said, well, wow. I mean, Esau was repentant. No, the fact that God didn't receive him shows that he was still lying when he was crying that he wasn't sincere. There's a difference between being sorry that you've gotten caught and being sorry that you've. You've broken the heart of God. There's a difference between being sorry that you've broken someone's heart and being sorry that you did the thing that broke their heart. You see the difference? And when it comes to our salvation, God wants us to be sorry that our sins cost him his son's life on a cross, and we come to him in repentance of our sin. And so I'm just suggesting to you that a natural mindset doesn't have those sensibilities that I'm talking about. They have all the characteristics that I've mentioned. An awareness of God without receiving him, a total rejection of God. That's the natural mindset. Now, he contrasts that with the spiritual mindset. There. In First Corinthians 2:14, the spiritual mind has been radically changed by the power of God. 2 Corinthians 5. If anyone is in Christ, they're a new creation. The old has passed away and the new has come. And so there's that radical transformation that happens within the heart of a person, within their mind, when they receive Jesus as Savior. So you have a conflicted mind, and you have a changed mind. Now, here's where the battle is, and this is where I wanted to spend the balance of our time together before we go home. And that is the third point, which is the controlled mind. The controlled mind. How do I keep myself under control? I understand I have an old nature that's conflicted. I understand I have a new nature. My mind has been changed through the power of the Holy Spirit. But how do I determine the outcome of my life? And how do I win the battle for my mind? How do I have a healthy. How do I have a healthy mind? Well, understand that we have three dominant spirits that are fighting for control. I talked to a friend of mine the other night about this, and he said he was talking to a guy about this very issue and brought these three spirits up. And you say, well, three spirits. Okay, well, the first spirit is a human spirit. We all have a spirit within us. Another word for that word would be attitude.
[00:23:10] The Bible says the spirit of a person will sustain their infirmity, meaning that your attitude toward what you're going through will affect your outcome. Pilots in the room will tell you the attitude of a plane will affect its altitude. Someone as well said it's your attitude, not your aptitude, that affects your altitude. And so attitude is very important. And you have a spirit. You have a spirit. You have within you. There is a human spirit. And it's powerful. It's powerful. We have medical doctors in our church, and they would tell you that the recovery of a patient, a lot of times the quickness with which they recover is tied to their attitude. Just having a can do spirit, a can do attitude, it drives you into a gym. It helps you discipline your life and business. It helps you to get up when you've been knocked down. So I'm just saying that there is a thing that is powerful about the human spirit. We all have that. God gave us that. Here's the second spirit. It is a hellish spirit. There is a Holy Spirit, There is a hellish spirit. There's an unholy spirit. And that unholy spirit is working on us and at us each and every day to the point that anytime God is at work building anything in your life, a hellish spirit will be at work trying to break that down. And I can give you the good news about the bad news, and that is people in places who are at the center of Holy Spirit activity will be people in places at the center of unholy spirit activity. The fact that you have so many problems is because you possess so much potential. The enemy would not be targeting you if you did not have potential. He goes at you because you have potential. He knows the potential you possess. That's why you face some of the opposition that you face. You're hitting these headwinds every day. Paul Harvey used to say, you know, you're on the road to success when it's uphill all the way. And that's true. I love what Paul said in Corinthians. He said, there's a great and effectual door open unto me, a great opportunity. But he said, there are many adversaries. Vance Havner said that the door of opportunity will swing on the hinges of adversity. And so there's a hellish spirit that you and I need to be aware of. It will try to affect and infect our thinking. Let me say this about that. I don't believe that a Christian, a Christ follower, can be possessed by an evil spirit. There are evil spirits in the world. I'm well aware of them, the demonic spirits in the world. But they cannot possess. They cannot possess a Christ follower. First Corinthians 11 says that when we are sealed with the Holy Spirit, light will have no agreement with darkness. That light and darkness cannot have an agreement. That if you have light There can be no darkness where there is light. And so sealed with the Holy Spirit means the Holy Spirit is living within you. And darkness cannot penetrate that light. Now, why I don't believe in obsession or possession. Rather by an evil spirit. I believe an evil spirit can obsess someone. In other words, an evil spirit can dominate and can help translate and maneuver how a person thinks by how they tempt them, the things that they bring up. And an unholy spirit is well aware of our weaknesses. Now, here's what I know about the devil. The devil is not omniscient. Omniscience is a quality that's given only to God. Omniscience means all knowing. God has that ability. The devil doesn't have that ability. Listen, the devil only knows about you and me, the things we let him in on. That's why there's some things you shouldn't say. There's some information you shouldn't give out. Have you ever noticed why you struggle with the same thing over and over and over all the time? That same temptation? It's because your enemy knows that's a weakness. And it's gonna continue to hit your life. It's gonna continue to be there until that weakness becomes a strength. And then what he'll do is he'll just probe for another weakness. He's relentless. He doesn't give in, he doesn't give out. He can't get in you, but he can be around you and. And he's trying to affect you every way he can. The strategy of the enemy on the life of a person is number one, keep him away from God.
[00:27:16] If the enemy can keep you away from God, that's the best thing he could do. And he'll try to confuse you. He'll try to use other people to discourage you. And he'll do his best to run out the clock on you so your life ends. And you've never trusted Jesus as savior. And then Jesus said to that group in Matthew 7:23, Depart from me. You've worked deceit. I never knew you. Well, that's. Objective number one is to keep you away from Jesus. Objective number two is if he can't keep you away from Jesus, he'll try to keep you from doing anything for Jesus. He'll try to keep your life from mattering. He doesn't want you to be a witness. You know what a witness is? A witness is someone who expresses an experience. We're not called to be lawyers to argue a case. We're called to be witnesses to testify to our experience. That's why he said, in Acts, chapter 1 8, you shall be my witnesses. Here's what happens when you argue with somebody. When you get into an argument with someone over their soul or over Christianity, over heaven or hell or any other topic, you may win the argument, but you'll lose the person. We're not called on to argue, people. We're not called. Now, I love apologetics. I love apologetics, which is a defense of the faith. But you have to be careful with your apologetics that you don't end up, you know, winning the argument again and losing the person.
[00:28:36] The best way to argue is just simply let the word of God speak for itself. I think it was Dwight Moody that had a conversation with a guy one time, and he said, you know, if we're in a zoo, you could tell me that's not a lion in the cage. And I could tell you that is a lion in the cage. And you and I can argue till the cows come home about whether or not that is a lion in the cage. But he said, the best thing I could do to prove to you that is a lion in the cage is to open the cage and let the lion out, and the lion will prove himself. Well, the best proof is just simply God's word. My pastor who's in heaven today, Adrian Rogers, he used to tell of a NASA scientist whose wife attended his church when he pastored in Florida. And the wife was so concerned that her husband didn't know Jesus. And the husband was wondering, well, you can't find him in science. I'm sorry. I'm just not gonna buy this. I'm not a Christian. And finally, she just pressured him to go talk to the pastor about his soul. And so the man came in and said, pastor, I'm here, but I don't believe anything that you teach. All due respect, I'm a scientist, and if it can't be proven, I'm not gonna accept it. And so that's just where I am. I'm here just because my wife has been running me crazy to come in and talk to you. And Adrian very wisely said, well, I respect your position. I understand who you are. He said, but let me ask you a question. Do you believe you possess all of the knowledge there is to possess in the world? Do you think you know everything there is to know? And he kind of laughed, and he said, no, I don't think you could know everything there is to know in the world. How could anyone know everything there is to know in the world? He said, well, what percentage of that knowledge of the world would you think you've obtained? Would you say you've obtained 20%? 50%? Do you believe you know 50% of everything there is to know in the world? He goes, no, no. No one could know 50% of. He said, I would be very generous with myself If I said 15 to 20%. Maybe I know that much of everything there is to know in the world. Then Adrian looked at him and said, well, then, since that's the case, is it a possibility that God could exist in the 80% of that knowledge that you claim you don't have? He said, I hadn't thought about it that way. And so Adrian challenged him. He said, here's what I want you to do. I want you to go home and I want you to read the Gospel of John. Read a chapter a day, and before you read it, just stare up at the ceiling. I know this sounds silly, but stare up at the ceiling and say, God, if you're there and you are real, reveal yourself to me from your word. Would you do that? He says, I'd be happy to do that. And so he did. And Adrian said, after a month or so, the man came back to see him and said, I am absolutely convinced that God is who he said he is, and I've given my heart to him and he's changed my life. Open the door. The lion will speak for itself. But there is a hellish spirit that wants to keep people away from God. And if he can't, he wants to keep people from doing anything for God. Here's the third spirit, and you're already ahead of me, the Holy Spirit. And these three spirits are constantly working for the control of our minds. Have you ever noticed we even refer to it as a mindset? Mindset. Even the word denotes something hard to change. People have mindsets. My mind is set. I'm not gonna change. I just refuse to change. Listen to Colossians 3:2. In Colossians 3:2, it says, set your mind. Set your mind. What? On things above, not on things of the earth? He's saying, you do have the power to change your mind. You have the power to reset your default settings. You have the power to change your mind. That's for a Christ follower to say, I can't forgive them, I can't love them. I can never do. That's the wrong word. The more appropriate word is, I won't forgive them, I won't love them. Because there is now a power living within you that is greater than Anything you've ever possessed. It is the power to not only change your mind, but help control your mind. You absolutely have the power to forgive. You have the power to move on. You have the power to love. So it's which nature do you nurture? Listen to Romans 8. 6. The mind governed by the flesh. That's the old nature, is death.
[00:32:42] But the mind governed by the spirit, that's the new nature is life and is peace. You say, okay, Bill, how do I control. Let me give you just quick things and we'll go home. 2nd Corinthians 10:5. Take negative thoughts captive. 2nd Corinthians 10:5. Paul said, Gather up. I mean, send out the posse. When those thoughts have a jailbreak in your mind, regardless of what they are, if they're negative, if they're thoughts that are gonna be destructive to you or your family, don't entertain them. In other words, don't fantasize about them. Once your mind starts going down that road, that's called dress rehearsal. And if you allow your mind to continue to go, you're working out the dress, you're working out the details. And man, once those details get worked out in your head, all you're looking at that point, you're just looking for an opportunity. You've already rehearsed your lines. You know your mark, you know right where you're gonna be when the circumstance arises. And when the circumstance arises, you're gonna fall right into the trap. So Paul said, the moment your thoughts start going negative, the moment your thoughts start going in the wrong direction, bring those thoughts back into captivity. I mean, just simply name them and nail them. Just say, God, forgive those thoughts. Help me to control those thoughts. Forgive me for that. I wanna bring those in to subjection to your will. First Corinthians 2:16. Paul said, we have the mind of Christ. We have the power to overcome those negative thoughts. And in First Corinthians 2:16, he said, allow. Allow this mind that you have. Allow. Permit this mind. Permit this mind to dwell within you. A great thing I would give you is analyze. Analyze who you hang with. Analyze the people you run with, who you allow to influence you. Who are you allowing to speak into your life? Who are the influencers around you? There are people you need to understand. There are people that God puts in your path that you minister to, and there are people God will put in your path that will minister to you. And typically, those relationships when they're ministering to you are reciprocal. Are reciprocal. Another way of thinking about them, we've Talked about this before. Are, are replenishing versus draining relationships. And you're gonna have both, and you need both. Part of what you and I do as Christ followers are we help people, we do that. But if you are only giving and you're never receiving, eventually you're gonna run out of fuel, you're going to be depleted. You are a limited resource. And if every day you live your life, if all you're doing is putting into other people and you don't have anybody in your world that's putting back into you, you're gonna be running on empty, you're gonna burn out emotionally, you're gonna burn out physically, you're gonna melt down spiritually because you're not allowing yourself to be replenished. And you can find out who your draining friendships are pretty quick. Have you ever been around anyone and it just feels like the time is crawling when you're in their presence.
[00:35:41] Have you ever been around anyone and you just feel your life source going out of you like the wicked witch? You're melting, you're just going away. The whole time you're with them, you just feel like.
[00:35:52] Or you get in the car and you can hardly start it. You're like, uh, ugh, right? And you're driving home, you feel like you need to pull over and just take a nap before you get home. Now they're probably feeling great about your visit, you're feeling drained because of your visit, because it was all going one direction. And conversely, have you been around those people? And all of a sudden, man, you look at the clock and it's 10:00, 11:00, you can't believe, oh my goodness, we gotta go home. You people need to go to bed. This is crazy. Why? What's the difference? One is draining, one is replenishing, and you need both. And so I'm just suggesting you that when you are evaluating how you think, think about, who are you allowing to influence you? Are they the people who are draining the most out of you or the people who are replenishing you? Think about it. And another thing, I would give you another discipline as I close, is be disciplined by reading God's word. The Bible says in Hebrews 4:12, the word of God is living powerful. It is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of your heart. David said you word God, have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against you? I would challenge you as you're a Christ follower and you wanna have a healthy mind. Start every day spending some Time in God's word. The best way to wash your brain is with the soap of God's Word. Allow His Word to penetrate your mind and your heart. Allow His Word to be a part of your daily discipline. Meditate on that. That's an interesting word if you understand cattle. There's ruminating. And it's the idea of ruminating. It means you're allowing this to process over and over and over in your life. Read a scripture someday and meditate, ruminate. Bring it up in your head. Have you ever read the Bible and you just didn't get a lot out of it the moment you were reading it? I know I shouldn't admit that as a pastor, but I've actually had that happen to me. I read it went, nah, okay, it's God's Word. I just didn't feel any cacophony of angels going, ha, ha, Bill, that was for you. You know, none of that. I didn't forget that, by the way. But anyway, just so you know. But the point is, I just didn't get much out of it. And then throughout the course of my day, all of a sudden, something that I read that was loud, something I've read kind of comes back to me and I'm going, wow. I read about that this morning. I read about. It's interesting how it's like the garbage in, garbage out in computer world, but good stuff in, good stuff out. So make sure you're filling your life with good people and your minds with God's Word, and it will have such a powerful effect on how you think. You look into the Scripture. When Ruth left Moab and met Boaz, she first of all changed her mind. When Elijah left the cave at Horeb and finally moved out of his depression, it's because he first of all changed his mind. When Moses left Midian and agreed to go and lead Israel out of the land of Egypt, it's because he first of all changed his mind. When David left the cave of Adullam and he was no longer afraid of Saul trying to take his life, it's because he changed his mind. When the prodigal left the pig pen and returned home to the Father, it's because he changed his mind. And none of the people that I've just mentioned, none of the people I've just mentioned had anything about their circumstances change. None of their circumstances changed. The only thing that changed was how they thought about it. And I can tell you this morning, nothing about your circumstance may change. We'll pray here in just a moment. And you may say, God, I just pray about this circumstance in my life. I pray about this situation in my life. And I can't promise you that it'll change. It might. God can do anything, but it might not. But the thing that can change is the one thing you have the power to change. And that's how you think about your circumstance. It's really not what you go through, but how you think about what you're going through that has the power to change your life. And I would submit to you, and I would suggest to you that the presence of God in your life gives you the ability to win the battle of your mind. Let's pray together.
[00:39:56] Father, thank you this morning that we could explore this topic of having and developing healthy minds. You said that we're to allow the mind of Christ to reign within us. So I pray for my friends here this morning who know you as Savior, who are struggling in their thinking.
[00:40:13] Some of them have almost been defeated by how they think. The battle that's being waged in their mind is a battle that they're losing. And, Father, encourage them this morning that the presence of your Holy Spirit ensures them that they can have a new way of viewing what they're going through.
[00:40:30] Father, I pray you'll allow us to live in victory. Help us to overcome the pull and the pressure of this world, to try to draw us down and drain us out. Father, I pray you'll renew with within us the right mind. And for my friends here, who may never have trusted you as savior, and they've been battling this thing uphill all the way, I pray that finally, Lord, they'll get to the point where they humble their heart and they say, lord Jesus, today I wanna settle that issue and invite you into my life. With everything I know about you, I now trust all that I know about me. Forgive me of my sin. I turn to you as my Savior today and give you thanks in Christ's name, Amen.
[00:41:17] Thank you so much for tuning in today. If you have any questions or prayer requests, please contact us by visiting metchurch.com so that we can follow up with you this week. We look forward to seeing you next week.
[00:41:35] Sa.
