Having The Mind Of Christ
Having The Mind Of Christ by Mark Lutcher
Sunday Sermon Recap - July 7, 2024
Why is it so hard to walk in peace every day? One of the reasons that we are struggling with anxiety is because of an ignorance of, and an absence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We simply lack the knowledge of the Holy Spirit. So many churches refuse to acknowledge the Holy Spirit, so many Christians just don’t know about Him. Jesus left the Holy Spirit behind to walk with us daily, yet many of us don’t even acknowledge His presence in our daily lives. God warns us of this lack all throughout the bible, but the one I want to focus on this week comes from Romans chapter 8.
“The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Holy Spirit is life and peace.” – Romans 8:6
Anxiety may be in our faces, but it does not have to rule over us. We can change the way we face it. I am not preaching out of ignorance but from experience. Anxiety has been one of the biggest struggles in my life since I was a child. I know what it’s like to think negative thoughts non-stop, only seeing the negative in myself, in others, and in my situations. But I chose to fight this problem of anxiety and chose to RENEW MY MIND.
"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
- Pslam 139:13-16
These amazing words in this passage are often twisted by the deceit of satan in our minds:
When we make vows and judgments against ourselves, we end up living them out. We live out the negative scenarios we create in our minds and end up creating our own version of ‘truth’ in our minds, instead of living out the will of God that was spoken over us at our creation. If we are recreating or reimagining ourselves in our own minds because we don’t trust or like the way and the plan that God has set out for us, that is called discontentment. Discontentment means being dissatisfied with your life or current situation.
The Bible says so much about being content:
“… I have learned to be content WHATEVER the circumstances. I have learned the secret of being content in ANY AND EVERY situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” - Philippians 4 : 11 – 12
“Better to have little, with fear for the LORD, than to have great treasure and INNER TURMOIL.” -Proverbs 15 : 16
“Yet true godliness with contentment is itself GREAT WEALTH.” - 1 Timothy 6 : 6
“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have,…”
- Hebrews 13 : 5
If restless anxiety is a peace stealer, contentment is a powerful fertilizer for growing peace. Contentment is a peaceful ease of mind, while discontentment breeds strife, anger, double-mindedness, self-doubt, and doubts about God. This is why it is so important to know and to walk with the Holy Spirit daily.
“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” - Galatians 5:22-23
The Holy Spirit produces these things in you and out of you! You are going to need it when you face those negative thoughts that are replaying in your mind. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you these characteristics, and ask Him to help you to choose love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control when facing everyday anxieties, and thoughts about yourself and others. Ask Him to give you the mind of Christ as you pursue peace.
Remember, like us today, Jesus and the disciples were surrounded by human pain, ugliness of sin, the brutality of disease, real demonic manifestations, and even death. Though Jesus was surrounded by all those bad things happening around him, His mind was filled with good thoughts and feelings about God. He was not threatened by evil. He did not worry about His future. He never got even with his enemies, and he never slandered those He disagreed with. Instead, he simply thought of those real issues through the lenses of beauty, goodness, and the authority, power, and greatness of God.
This is the promise that God gives to those who are in Christ:
“for who has known or understood the mind of the Lord so as to guide and instruct Him and give Him knowledge? But we have the mind of Christ and do hold the thoughts of His heart.” – 1 Corinthians 2:16
Today I encourage you to hold the thoughts of HIS HEART in your mind and choose to respond to anxiousness with the help of the Holy Spirit and see how your life changes.
There are two questions that you need to ask the Holy Spirit today:
1. “Holy Spirit, what do I need to start doing to have the mind of Christ?"
Pay attention to what he says. You may want to sit down and write it down if you're not going to remember. Because if you don't write it down and come up with a plan, it's not going to happen. Maybe you need to go to someone and say the Holy Spirit told me that I need to spend an hour in His Word every day. Will you hold me accountable? And maybe they'll do it with you. And you'll bring somebody along with you, which is what the Bible wants us to do.
2. "Holy Spirit, what do you want me to stop doing to have the mind of Christ?"
What did the Holy Spirit show you? Now come up with a plan and do something about it.
Pray with us: Father, we just come before you and we thank you, Lord that you are always a God of the impossible. And that even when we let the world tell us lies, and we believe things that are untrue about ourselves and even about you, that you are faithful God. Lord, I pray against the spirit of deception that the enemy puts on us when we're struggling, when we're not quite there, when we're working as hard as we possibly can and we still can't seem to get it right. Lord, I break the spirit of shame that the enemy puts on people. Because the hard thing for us to understand is when we allow shame and guilt to keep us from seeking the help and the support that we need, it's really pride. And so, God, I ask you to break pride in us, Lord. Draw us closer to you. Remind us as the God of the impossible, that all things are possible and that if we just focus our eyes on you and the future you have written for us, the things behind us don't matter. And even in the struggle, even in the battle, you promised us that you were going to see us through. So let us stand on those promises today, Lord. Clear our minds, Clear our hearts. Make us clay. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Sunday Sermon Recap - July 7, 2024
Why is it so hard to walk in peace every day? One of the reasons that we are struggling with anxiety is because of an ignorance of, and an absence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We simply lack the knowledge of the Holy Spirit. So many churches refuse to acknowledge the Holy Spirit, so many Christians just don’t know about Him. Jesus left the Holy Spirit behind to walk with us daily, yet many of us don’t even acknowledge His presence in our daily lives. God warns us of this lack all throughout the bible, but the one I want to focus on this week comes from Romans chapter 8.
“The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Holy Spirit is life and peace.” – Romans 8:6
Anxiety may be in our faces, but it does not have to rule over us. We can change the way we face it. I am not preaching out of ignorance but from experience. Anxiety has been one of the biggest struggles in my life since I was a child. I know what it’s like to think negative thoughts non-stop, only seeing the negative in myself, in others, and in my situations. But I chose to fight this problem of anxiety and chose to RENEW MY MIND.
"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
- Pslam 139:13-16
These amazing words in this passage are often twisted by the deceit of satan in our minds:
- “You created my inmost being.” becomes: ‘I must create my own version of myself.’
- “You knit me together in my mother’s womb.” becomes: 'I feel fractured, like I'm falling apart.'
- “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” becomes: ‘I'd better hurry and make something of myself.'
- “I was made in the secret place.” becomes: ‘I am no one unless I make it to such-in-such place.'
- “Your eyes saw my unformed body.” becomes: 'no one sees me or values me'
- “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” becomes: ‘I'd better cram a bunch of stuff in my calender so I look busy, important, and worthy of respect.'
When we make vows and judgments against ourselves, we end up living them out. We live out the negative scenarios we create in our minds and end up creating our own version of ‘truth’ in our minds, instead of living out the will of God that was spoken over us at our creation. If we are recreating or reimagining ourselves in our own minds because we don’t trust or like the way and the plan that God has set out for us, that is called discontentment. Discontentment means being dissatisfied with your life or current situation.
The Bible says so much about being content:
“… I have learned to be content WHATEVER the circumstances. I have learned the secret of being content in ANY AND EVERY situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” - Philippians 4 : 11 – 12
“Better to have little, with fear for the LORD, than to have great treasure and INNER TURMOIL.” -Proverbs 15 : 16
“Yet true godliness with contentment is itself GREAT WEALTH.” - 1 Timothy 6 : 6
“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have,…”
- Hebrews 13 : 5
If restless anxiety is a peace stealer, contentment is a powerful fertilizer for growing peace. Contentment is a peaceful ease of mind, while discontentment breeds strife, anger, double-mindedness, self-doubt, and doubts about God. This is why it is so important to know and to walk with the Holy Spirit daily.
“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” - Galatians 5:22-23
The Holy Spirit produces these things in you and out of you! You are going to need it when you face those negative thoughts that are replaying in your mind. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you these characteristics, and ask Him to help you to choose love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control when facing everyday anxieties, and thoughts about yourself and others. Ask Him to give you the mind of Christ as you pursue peace.
Remember, like us today, Jesus and the disciples were surrounded by human pain, ugliness of sin, the brutality of disease, real demonic manifestations, and even death. Though Jesus was surrounded by all those bad things happening around him, His mind was filled with good thoughts and feelings about God. He was not threatened by evil. He did not worry about His future. He never got even with his enemies, and he never slandered those He disagreed with. Instead, he simply thought of those real issues through the lenses of beauty, goodness, and the authority, power, and greatness of God.
This is the promise that God gives to those who are in Christ:
“for who has known or understood the mind of the Lord so as to guide and instruct Him and give Him knowledge? But we have the mind of Christ and do hold the thoughts of His heart.” – 1 Corinthians 2:16
Today I encourage you to hold the thoughts of HIS HEART in your mind and choose to respond to anxiousness with the help of the Holy Spirit and see how your life changes.
There are two questions that you need to ask the Holy Spirit today:
1. “Holy Spirit, what do I need to start doing to have the mind of Christ?"
Pay attention to what he says. You may want to sit down and write it down if you're not going to remember. Because if you don't write it down and come up with a plan, it's not going to happen. Maybe you need to go to someone and say the Holy Spirit told me that I need to spend an hour in His Word every day. Will you hold me accountable? And maybe they'll do it with you. And you'll bring somebody along with you, which is what the Bible wants us to do.
2. "Holy Spirit, what do you want me to stop doing to have the mind of Christ?"
What did the Holy Spirit show you? Now come up with a plan and do something about it.
Pray with us: Father, we just come before you and we thank you, Lord that you are always a God of the impossible. And that even when we let the world tell us lies, and we believe things that are untrue about ourselves and even about you, that you are faithful God. Lord, I pray against the spirit of deception that the enemy puts on us when we're struggling, when we're not quite there, when we're working as hard as we possibly can and we still can't seem to get it right. Lord, I break the spirit of shame that the enemy puts on people. Because the hard thing for us to understand is when we allow shame and guilt to keep us from seeking the help and the support that we need, it's really pride. And so, God, I ask you to break pride in us, Lord. Draw us closer to you. Remind us as the God of the impossible, that all things are possible and that if we just focus our eyes on you and the future you have written for us, the things behind us don't matter. And even in the struggle, even in the battle, you promised us that you were going to see us through. So let us stand on those promises today, Lord. Clear our minds, Clear our hearts. Make us clay. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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