Breakthrough In The Mind Pt 2 Series

Sermon 2: Breakthrough in the mind!

Thesis: We are in a war and for the most part that war is within – in our minds – it’s also in our thoughts and what we set our minds on becomes our reality – our minds dictate how we respond to life, situations and people. We need to have a renewed mind to win the war against the enemy of our spirit, soul and body and have a mind like Jesus.

Here are some main Scriptures making the battlefield of the mind clear:

Philippians 2:1-5: 1If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like–minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

Romans 12:1-2: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Ephesians 6:12: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

2 Corinthians 10:3-5: “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

Introduction:

The mind is basically a communication and control system between the spirit, soul and body of a person. The mind filters the environment around the individual. This mind is composed of mental image pictures which are recordings of past experiences, present situations and even perceptions of events. The individual uses his or her mind to solve problems related to survival and to direct his or her efforts according to these solutions.

According to Scientists: The mind is made up of two parts—the analytical mind and the reactive mind. The analytical mind is the rational, conscious, aware mind which thinks, observes data, remembers it and resolves problems. The reactive mind is the portion of a person’s mind which works on a totally stimulus-response basis. It is not under volitional control, and exerts force and the power of command over awareness, purposes, thoughts, body and actions.

Words float through my mind all day – some are good words, some negative words, some self-centered, some other centered, some dialogue goes in in my mind to is that a good idea, and that was a dumb thing I just said. Words go through my mind to describe my perceptions throughout the day. Things others said or did not say.

My mind is a place for intellect, reasoning and it does direct my behavior, and my actions in any given day. My mind can bring me spiritual transformation with the help of the Lord. Or it could be yielded over to messy thinking and faulty reasoning (worldly clutter) which could be evil, lustful, self-centered, angry, ego driven, racist, or fleshly. This is why the enemy tries to mess up and distort our minds focus – the dragon wants you mind self-centered, evil focused but not God-focused.

What does your mind dwell on – what does your mindset believe about God? How cluttered is your mind with worldly-fleshly stuff?

Quote from https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/renewing-the-mind-vince-miller-sermon-on-renewing-your-mind-234150?ref=SermonSerps

“So a few years back, two professors from Baylor University, wrote a book on how America viewed God himself. And essentially they did surveys of American's and American Christians and how they viewed God. They came up with 4 different variations on how people viewed God. They either viewed him as - number 1, "An Authoritative God." Meaning that God's very judgmental, and very engaged in the world at the same time. Number 2, he's "A Benevolent God." A God who is thoroughly involved in everyday lives - yet is loving and not stern. 3, "A Critical God." A God who is removed from daily events, but renders a strong judgment in the afterlife. And number 4, "A Distant God." A God who set the world in motion, and then disengaged. These people tend to call themselves spiritual, but not religious. So there you have it. An authoritative God, a benevolent God, a critical God and a distant God. This is how Americans view God himself. And I've got to tell you, how we view God matters. How we view God in our mind, absolutely matters.”