Revival Of The Mind Series

You have an amazing machine inside your head we call the brain. You may not have a high IQ, maybe only average or even below average intelligence. But your brain is still something amazing. Did you know that inside the skull of your head is more information stored than in the library of congress and all 17 million volumes? That is pretty amazing for a little machine that only weighs about 3 pounds.

Psychologists tell us that each person has about ten thousand thoughts per day.

Did you realize that many thoughts go on inside your head each day? I find that an encouragement. You see that means you have at least a one in ten thousand chance of having a good thought every day.

Much of the whole thought process remains a mystery to scientists and psychologists. But one thing is not a mystery about the mind. How you think is going to affect your Christian life. How you think will make a profound difference in how you represent our Lord Jesus Christ.

You know in the hospital before a surgeon is about to do surgery he is going to scrub his hands over and over. Why? Because no one wants that surgery performed until the surgeon’s hands are clean. As Christians we have a ministry to perform. And just like the surgeon who needs clean hands for surgery we need to have clean minds.

In these verses Paul emphasizes the need for a good thought life. The Christian life is more than just the external. It is more than a list of rules, obeying the dos and refraining from the don’ts. The Christian life is is something internal and that is more challenging than obeying a set of rules.

Christianity is about the internal and about your thought life. We must transform our thought life. You may need a revival of the mind. The Bible speaks about this kind of transformation in your life. It will transform your Christian life if you can keep your thoughts on things that are pleasing to God.

When someone commits a sin it is most likely a manifestation of what has already taken place in their mind. Do you remember when that little shepherd boy, David took a smooth stone and put it in a sling and embedded it in the head of the giant Goliath? After that giant fell David became known throughout the land and people were singing a song and the refrain went, Saul has killed his thousands but, David his ten thousands.

Well Saul began to think about that and the jealousy brewed inside of his mind. Before long Saul was hurling a spear to kill David. Why? Because it began in the thought life.

Even king David himself had his famous sin with Bathsheba. Where did it begin? It began in the thought life. If we really want to transform the Christianity in the church then we need to transform our mind. There needs to be a revival of the mind.

The first thing Paul does in these verses is to tell us to put our mind on good things. Look at verse 8 He says, Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy –think about such things.

Paul gives us all these characteristics to put our mind on. The human mind is going to set itself on something. The question is on what? Paul says he that wants our minds to be on the things that are honoring and pleasing to God.

The Christian mind does not belong in the gutter. No, Paul says the Christian mind should be on thoughts that are worthy to be taken before the Lord our God. On thoughts that are praiseworthy and excellent. Paul calls the Christian to have thoughts that are high and lofty thoughts.

How the you think is so important. It is important because how you think forms your character. A sure way to experience renewal is to have your thoughts on things that are worthy of praise. That is how a revival of your mind begins.

Listen to what Romans 12:2 says; Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

How are you transformed, by the renewing of your mind? By the revival of your mind. That is how we transformed. We need not conform to the world. We must be transformed. Our thought life must be different. The best way is to keep the bad thoughts out of your mind is to concentrate on the good thoughts.

Paul does not simply say from now on I want you to no longer think of any bad thoughts. He instead goes the positive route. He says I want you to think on good thoughts. Try an experiment now. Just for a moment picture in your mind a rhinoceros on the plains of Africa. Picture this in your mind. Do you see that rhinoceros there?