SANCTIFICATION MEANS BEING SPIRITUALLY MINDED
I agree with what Joyce Meyers wrote, “I am of the opinion that as long as we are cooperating with the Holy Spirit to the best of our ability and sincerely want to change (as we walk in the light and God points out something in our life that needs change) God counts us as perfect in Christ while we make our journey (here on earth.)
Here is a story that I believe show how our journey is made better simply by a change in words. A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign, which said: "I am blind, please help." There were only a few coins in the hat. A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words. Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, "Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?" The man said, "I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way." I wrote, "Today is a beautiful day but I cannot see it." Both signs told people that the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people that they were so lucky that they were not blind. Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective? Moral of the Story: Be thankful for what you have. Be creative. Be innovative. Think differently and positively. When life gives you a 100 reasons to cry, show life that you have 1000 reasons to smile. Face your past without regret.
Let us read Romans 8:6-8 in four versions to help us understand it
For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then, they that are in the flesh cannot please God. KJV
If your sinful nature controls your mind, there is death. But if the Holy Spirit controls your mind, there is life and peace. For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God's laws, and it never will. That's why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God. NLV
Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn't pleased at being ignored. The Message
The corrupt nature's attitude leads to death. But the spiritual nature's attitude leads to life and peace. This is so because the corrupt nature has a hostile attitude toward God. It refuses to place itself under the authority of God's standards because it can't. Those who are under the control of the corrupt nature can't please God. God’s Word
Sin is Not a Necessity as we see in many Scriptures
Awake to righteousness, and sin not 1 Cor. 15:34
Little children, sin not 1 John 2:1
Shall we continue in sin? Romans 6:1, 2
Go, sin no more John 5:14; 1 John 8:11 Stand in awe, sin not
Ps. 4:4 He that commits sin is of the Devil 1 John 3:8
Whosoever is born of God does not sin 1 John 5:18; 3:9
Jesus came to save from sin Matt. 1:21
Sanctification preserves the spirit, soul, and body 1 Thes. 5:23
Let not sin reign in your bodies Romans 6:12
Sin shall not reign Romans 6:14 The flesh cannot please God/ You are not in the flesh Romans 8:8, 9
Blessed are the pure in heart Matt. 5:8
A pure heart, a clean life Matt. 15:8
Pure heart, pure thoughts Mark 7:21, 22
Cleanse hands, purify hearts James 4:8
Cleanse filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness 2 Cor. 7:1
There is cleansing in the blood from all sin 1 John 1:7
The blood of Christ purges Heb. 9:14
Put off the old man Eph. 4:20-24
Crucify the old man Romans 6:6
I am crucified with Christ Gal. 2:20
A fountain for sin and uncleanness Zech. 13:1
Fruit-bearing branches already in the vine yet need cleansing John 15:2
I. To be spiritually minded is to be directed by spiritual enthusiasm.
A. What do you love most? A professor at a college asked his students to rate the 10 commandments in the order of their importance. The one that came in last was “You shall have no other gods before me.” This tells me that man has things mixed up from what God wants. For this is the first commandment given. Jesus in summing up what is the greatest commandment said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all might, strength and mind. This is the greatest commandment of all.” You show how much you love God in the following ways as I look at our spiritual lives. 1. The time we send with God each day in reading His Word and in prayer. 2. The time we spend in public worship with others such as Sunday school, Worship service, Bible study. 3. The money we give because we love Him and His work. We recently gave $100 to a cause and in less than a week’s time God paid us back 300%. How would you fare in your giving if God was to look at your checkbook? 4. The way we work in our jobs. Do those we work with know that we serve God? Story of a boy who went to a camp. Parents were afraid he might be made fun of as a Christian. He came home to say everything was OK for he did not tell anyone he was Christian. 5. The way we treat other people. Jesus said, “You are to love your neighbor as love yourself.”
B. What do you enjoy doing? Do you enjoy coming to church? What do you do that lets others know you enjoy being a child of God? Do you enjoy praising Him? Do you enjoy singing about Him?
POST A SIGN AT THE GATE
Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the great Russian composer, put a sign on his gate: “Visiting hours Monday and Tuesday between 3 and 5 p.m. Other times please do not ring.” By posting that sign, Tchaikovsky was announcing to the world that he was a great composer, and as a great composer, his time was important. If he was going to achieve his purpose and bless the world with his music, he needed to single-minded devote himself to the task at hand. Tchaikovsky was not willing to compromise his work, or his calling, by wasting his time with trivial matters. He knew that in order to reach his goal, he needed to focus on his purpose; he needed to value his time, and he needed to teach others to do the same. As a result of his willingness to value and protect his daily schedule, Tchaikovsky became the foremost musical composer of the 19th Century. Had he allowed himself to be distracted by other things, the world would have been deprived of his beautiful music. And so it is with us. If we are going to achieve success in our self-care efforts, we too need to value our time, and we need to teach others to do the same as well. Part of valuing our time is realizing that it is a limited commodity—and a precious gift from God. Each day we have a choice: We can fritter our time away or we can practice prudent stewardship by focusing on the things that are important. For those of us who practice the spiritual discipline of self-care, practicing those things that contribute to our health, balance, and well-being on a regular basis needs to be our priority. Unless we value our time and use it prudently, we will find ourselves making excuses for why we could not do the things we know are important to our Master. If I had to isolate the one single thing that keeps folks from achieving success when it comes to loving self-care, it would be their inability to devote their time and attention to the task at hand. Over and over again, I hear the same thing: “I just don’t have time to exercise, or pray, or plan healthy meals. I don’t have time to exercise, or to get enough rest. I don’t have time to meet with a trusted spiritual advisor who can help me get back on track. I can’t remember the last time I was able to enjoy the little, seemingly insignificant things that allow me to feel God’s love and presence. Why, I don’t even have time to figure out what God wants me to do with my time!” Today I pray we will all be bold enough to post a sign at the gate that proclaims our time is important. Only then can we devote our time and energy to doing the things that are important to God—and to our personal health and well being. Just for today, that is our calling and purpose. Today I pray we will value the precious 24 hours God has given us for our enjoyment—and that we will use them wisely. Our days are like identical suitcases, All the same size, but some people can pack more into them than others.
C. What are likes and dislikes? We are getting into something that is personal. What we do and where we go tells a lot about how enthusiastic we are about being spiritually minded.
II. To be SPIRITUALLY MINDED is to be directed by God’s spiritual set of guidelines.
A. What do you consider the most important values in your life? The reason we have much trouble in the world we live today is because of a black box we find not just in one room of the house but many called TV. I read a book once in which was stated by the people who put in TV programs, “We only put on programs that show what real life is about.” We are a TV generation. I know that there have been some values that were not right that they blasted on a show that I was watching. When there was an outcry from the public they pulled back on what was shown, but then little by little they put it back on until we were not shocked by it anymore and our values were brought lower.
B. We also know that there are many forces that are trying to say there way is the best but are based on men’s ideas.
Do we base our life values on our social standing where we live and where we work, Wealth (Rich Young ruler went away sad, the widow gave all that she had) fame and honor?
Do we base our life values on doing good, openness, honesty, reliability, truthfulness, reputation, the blessings and approval of God?
III. TO BE SPIRITUALLY MINDED IS TO BE DIRECTED WITH A SPIRITUAL PURPOSE.
A. 1 COR 2:2 “For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified” is what Paul said.
B. Our goal is to know Christ better and better and model our lives after what we know. It is not enough to know about Christ, we need to put what we know as part of our living.
C. Our purpose as we model after Christ is help others come to him.
Life in Christ is satisfying, not disappointing. Life in Christ is increasing, not depressing. Life in Christ is enriching, not declining. Life in Christ is ennobling, not shameful. Life in Christ is everlasting, not temporal.
