I'm All In: It's An Issue Of The Head Series

Intro: In the middle of a wedding ceremony, a jewelry store manager exchanged rings with his soon-to-be spouse. As he slipped the ring onto his bride’s finger, he said, “With this ring—we guarantee a full refund if the customer is not completely satisfied.” His sales pitch was so deeply ingrained in his mind that the words came out automatically.

What’s ingrained in your mind? “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things” (Phil. 4:8).

(Kent Crockett, I Once Was Blind But Now I Squint, Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2004, 135)

We learned last week that all in begins as an issue of the heart. We will see this week that after it affects the heart it inhabits the head. Matthew 22:37 “He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”

Let me challenge you with this truth. If the gospel is not being ingrained in your mind it probably hasn’t been engraved on your heart.

Hebrews 10:16 “This is the covenant I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws on their hearts and write them on their minds,”

Romans 12:1-2 Tells us that Growth as a believer happens as our thinking is transformed.

1 Peter 2:2 Tells us how our thinking is transformed. “Like newborn infants, desire the pure spiritual milk, so that you may grow by it for your salvation.”

Misconceptions that mislead us in our growth and transformation of our minds.

1) The life based on feeling says, “How do I feel about worship today, How do I feel about my spouse today, How do I feel about my job today.” The life based on feeling ignores the transforming power of God because it ignores the renewing of the mind.

2) The life based on doing, “Don’t give me theology just tell me how to do it!” The life of doing will never know the transforming power of God if it ignores the renewing of the mind.

God is not against feeling and doing. He allows us to express our feelings and calls us to be doers of the word. The first questions are not “How do I feel? What do I do?” The first questions are what is true and what does God say about the matter.

It is meditating on God’s word absorbing it so the Spirit can bring it up in circumstances in my life. And thinking through how do I apply that to my daily routine that will transform us. God provides many opportunities for us to apply the truths He reveals through preaching, teaching, studying, meditating on His word. You may be going through the same situation over and over again because you have not applied the truth He taught you to the trial he brought you!

Genuine love of God transforms our lives and lifestyles.

DL Moody, “The Scriptures were not given for our information but our transformation.” It is interaction with and application of God’s word that transforms our thought life!

I. Loving God with your mind changes your perspective

Loving God with our minds comes from the radical alteration of our selfish or self-focused life or lifestyle. Most people look at life from the perspective of what they can get.

Dr. Mitchell Dillon made an appropriate statement, “They have a name in the world of human physiology for a member that demands without giving - - - cancer.”

If we are true Spirit filled believers with transformation taking place in our lives our perspective should be what we can give.

Ralph L. Woods: An ambitious farmer, unhappy about the yield of his crops, heard of a highly recommended new seed corn. He bought some and produced a crop that was so abundant his astonished neighbors asked him to sell them a portion of the new seed. But the farmer, afraid that he would lose a profitable competitive advantage, refused.

The second year the new seed did not produce as good a crop, and when the third-year crop was still worse it dawned upon the farmer that his prize corn was being pollinated by the inferior grade of corn from his neighbors' fields. C.R. Gibson, Wellsprings of Wisdom

Church to be all in we must have God’s perspective on all things, On relationships, on giving, marriage, children, retirement, jobs, school, taxes, government, and on and on.

A) If your mind is being transformed you see people different.

People are no longer categorized as those that help you or opposed to you but people. Every person you come in contact with has their own problems and pressures. The things they say are not taken personally you can see objectively beyond the hateful words.