With the right thoughts… You can live in Peace instead of Fear and Worry!
With the right thoughts… You can have Joy and not Depression and Despair!
With the right thoughts… You will make right choices and be an overcomer!
But… If you think the wrong thoughts… You will stay confused, depressed defeated, bitter and in bondage!
A life of Power and Victory… - Doesn’t depend on what happens TO you or what others DO TO you!
But… whether OR not - you “keep your thoughts on God”!
Having Godly thoughts… Will set your life free and move your life toward your destiny!
So… If you want confidence and stability in your life - Keep your thoughts on GOD!
Choose to think on the things God says to think on… That is the direction your life will go!
Let’s Watch this Video about a Prisoner… - to illustrate what happens if we don’t change our thinking…
VIDEO CLIP: “The Prisoner”
God has given us the freedom - What we put in our mind and where we put our mind!
The Freedom to choose our thoughts…
Some thoughts will keep you a Prisoner and… some thoughts will set you free!
The Word of God says… that our Mind… Our thoughts… and Our Thinking are constantly influenced by external forces (spiritual & natural)!
Matt Mark & Luke tell us…. that Satan tempted Jesus 3 times to think a certain way
The Gospel says… that Satan ENTERED the heart of Judas - to betray Jesus
JESUS told Peter in Matthew 16:23 (TPT) Get out of my way, you Satan! You are a hindrance to me, because your thoughts are only filled with man’s viewpoints and not with the ways of God.”
In 2 Corinthians 4:4 (NLT) Paul writes:
Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe.
They are unable to see (Comprehend or Understand) the glorious light of the Good News.
They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.
What sets us free from the “prison of corruption” in this world & the “sin nature” inside us that tells us to do destructive things is Choosing…
- To believe that God’s Word is Truth and then…. Keep our Mind on what it says!
- Keeping our thoughts on God and on His Word… Will Change the decisions we make and the way we feel about things!
The Writers of Scripture…. tell us, “we should and can think Godly Thoughts”!
In Psalm 19:14 (GW) the Psalmist David writes,
"May the words from my mouth (what’s really in my heart and mind) and the thoughts from my heart (what I’m thinking about)… be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my defender.
David is praying… that what he says out of his mouth - and what he thinks about would be in alignment with God’s thinking and God’s desires
In Philippians 2:5 (NKJV) Paul says…
Let this MIND be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…
Let this thinking… these kind of thoughts… this mindset… This attitude
Q: Was Jesus stressed out? Depressed? Defeated? — Was He Confused?
Q: Was Jesus Impatient? Was He Vengeful, or Hateful towards people?
Q: Was Jesus Offended and plagued by Bitterness and Unforgiveness?
• If we want to receive what the Bible promises us… then we have to think like Jesus!
— It starts by having HIS Mindset…. HIS way of thinking…. HIS ATTITUDE!
Q: And how do we get that attitude… and how do we begin to think more like Him?
Paul tells us here in this Verse…. LET this MIND be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…
WE choose… what our thoughts will be…. What Our Mind will focus on!
Is it the fear and worry of something not going right? Jesus said, “think on this”! The birds of the air.
WE choose… what thoughts will be allowed to roll around in our mind!
Is it a hurt or a disappointment or a crisis?
WE choose… what we pay attention to… what our mind attends too!
Is it a sinful, destructive pleasure or an addiction to something ungodly?
Thoughts can just stay in our mind - - unless we CHOOSE to cast them out!
Paul says, “YOU CHOOSE this…” - YOU are the Guardian of the Galaxy of your Mind!
— You are the Protector of this Repository… this Collection of thoughts and ideas -
— There is either Gold in there… or is there Garbage in there!
— Your mind is either a Gold Mine or a Garbage Dump!
Jesus told us… what is GOLD and what is GARBAGE? HE SAID, “My Words are Spirit and they are Life”
So YOU must ask yourself…
Q: Are you choosing to let the culture and the deception of the world’s philosophy… determine what you think about and… and what direction your life will go?
Q: Do your thoughts consist of what you hear from The News Media… or The endless sources of the Entertainment Industry?
Q: Do your thoughts come from secular education… from teachers or professors who have don’t acknowledge God or have no interest in knowing Him?
Q: Do your thoughts come from what you listen to from friends, family, co-workers or others on social media?
Paul tells us here in Phi 2:5…. YOU choose what Mind will be IN you…
-The Mind of Christ… or - The Mind of Natural Human reasoning!
You choose… to THINK powerful Godly thoughts - and what your Mind is focused on!
THIS Word…. MIND here is: f?????…
It’s an Action Word and Means - To think… to have a mindset… have your mind set to be minded or mindful (full) of something!
The activity represented by this word involves our will, emotions, and conscience.
This is what makes up our soul (mind… will… and emotions)
In many places in Scripture - - it is referred to as “The Heart” and what’s in it!
Out of our HEART… (Jesus said) come certain things…. Based on what we have put into it!
• The mind (soul) is NOT our Spirit…
Our Soul… Is not saved when we receive Jesus! Our Spirit is - but not our Mind!
The SOUL needs to be transformed…. Renewed…. Changed…. And Replaced!
The Old Man (soul) - needs to be put to death… crucified… and eradicated!
It needs to be Completely…. eliminated and exterminated,
It needs to be Totally…. annihilated, obliterated, and liquidated,
It needs to be Thoroughly…. decimated, wiped out, abolished, and extinguished…
It needs to be Absolutely…. erased, expunged,
It needs to be Irreversibly…. blotted out, and destroyed
Q: Have I made the point? - The OLD Soul (The Flesh) is an ENEMY of God!
Paul says, Let “THIS mind” be in you… THIS meaning… The one that Jesus had!
We must CHOOSE… the thinking and the attitudes that were in Jesus… and deliberately - Let them be the focus of our thinking!
Q: When you are treated unfairly or face injustice… - what does your MIND think?
Q: When you hear an evil / negative report… - what does your MIND think?
Q: When you hear slander about someone…. - what does your MIND think?
Q: When you don’t get what you want… - what does your MIND think?
To have “the thinking and attitudes” that were in Jesus… Requires…
— The elimination (eradication) of thoughts from the flesh, emotions & worldly thinking!
Paul shares this “Think ON God” Principle with the believers in Ephesus…
In Ephesians 4:17-24 (TPT) he writes…
17 So with the wisdom given to me from the Lord I say:
Q: What is wisdom here?
A: It is the thoughts and mind and ideas that God gives Paul!
Paul says, “With this wisdom from the Lord I say…. You should not live like the unbelievers around you who walk in their empty delusions."
NKJV says, “in the futility of their mind”
• Pastor Tom’s Amputated Version (PTAV) says… “Don’t get your thoughts from people who don’t know God… - Because They’re just making stuff up, they don’t have a clue what life is all about”!
Paul continues… Ephesians 4:18 (TPT)
18 Their corrupted logic (this is where we get the phrase “stinkin’ thinkin’) ...has been clouded (NKJV: having their understanding darkened) -
WHY? - because their hearts are so far from God
— their blinded understanding and deep-seated moral darkness keeps them from thevtrue knowledge of God.
Thinking like the world… Paul says, “will blind your understanding and it’s moral darkness will keep you from the true knowledge of God”
Or…. What is really true about God and the meaning of life!
Without Keeping your Mind on God - You are destined for Moral Darkness!
Wherever and whenever God is eliminated from people’s thinking… You will find corrupted logic…
Eliminate God from From Education… From Government… From Science… From Business… From Family…. From Society…
- You will experience Moral Darkness in those areas of the Culture!
•• Without a desire or pursuit to know God - Human beings think they know best…
They will justify their sinful desires & then blame others for the destruction that follows
Paul explains… the danger of rejecting the thoughts of God or thinking about Him in his letter to the Romans.
Paul writes… Professing to be wise - they become fools!
There is a… progression of regression — in refusing to Think the Thoughts of God!
- Eventually…. People will justify (even deny) their ungodly corrupt and evil actions -
- They will call evil - good and call good - evil!
It’s like The Law of Entropy or Decay… Just as in the physical world…
There’s the 2nd law of thermodynamics - where things break down into disorder!
If the Mind is not “renewed” by God’s Word or thinking the thoughts of God, it decays into spiritual blindness and moral darkness…
Paul continues… Ephesians 4:19 (TPT) Note: (this is where our culture is headed ignoring God)
19 Because of spiritual apathy, (because they have no feelings or desire for God) they surrender their lives to lewdness - (offensive and crude sexual behavior), to impurity (things that are mixed with perversion) …and to sexual obsession.
Q: Can you even watch or participate in secular culture today without being assaulted with sexual obsession?
Paul…. is very clear about how NOT thinking like God or wrong thinking about God, leads to corruption and twisted thinking and perverse sexual behavior…
WHEN Paul talks about this.. - We must understand, he is not rejecting the people who are corrupting themselves…. And we mustn’t either!
But… he warns us of the results of choosing to eliminate thinking like or about God.
Paul’s writings… are not “Hate Speech” - They are a Warning of Love - Like any other warning!
God absolutely LOVES all people… - And because He does… He warns them about the danger of eliminating Him from their thinking!
Listen to what Paul writes this in Romans 1:26-32
26 For this reason…
Q: What reason?
The answer is in: Roman 1 Verse 21 (AMPC) Paul says, Because when they knew and recognized Him as God, they did not honor and glorify Him as God or give Him thanks.
In other words — they’re not honoring God by following His commands
— they’re not glorifying God by trying to be like Him
— And they’re not giving Him thanks (being thankful) for what He’s done
But instead…. (and here is what happens with you don’t do those three things) they became futile and godless in their thinking [with vain imaginings, foolish reasoning, and stupid speculations] and their senseless minds were darkened.
Back to Romans 1:26 (NKJV) For this reason… God gave them up (gave them over to their own thinking which was) to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.
NLT says, “That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other.
- You see… when you don’t think the thoughts of God - Or even think about God
- When you don’t embrace and seek the way God does things and how He created things
- Then… the way God created things to function in nature get corrupted…
Paul says, “women turned against the natural way to have sex (or God’s way) and instead indulged in sex with each other.
They ended up exchanging the way God created things for unnatural sinful desires!
Paul doesn’t leave the Men out - Romans 1:27
27 And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.
We read these verses to understand what happens when people refuse to think the thoughts of God or acknowledge God’s existence in their lives.
— When God is ignored and dishonored and forgotten… There is no check or restraint on ungodly sinful behavior -
-- The more our culture strays away from honoring God - the more darkness we will see - in every area of society!
SIN is like a “black hole” - it is never satisfied. It always wants more and more of our allegiance and our attention to follow its destructive path.
Someone said, “Sin has the devil for its father, shame for its companion, and death for its wages.”
Sin - is the absence of the thoughts of God and therefore the absence of God Himself.
Sin - is the presence of the worst form of deception - That is: Self deception!
And - a good definition of Self deception is… Thinking that your thoughts are better than God’s.
Paul continues Romans 1:28
28 And even as… they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, They did not want to think the thoughts of God… or even recognize He exists… God gave them over to a debased mind, to think their own thoughts…. to do those things which are not fitting;
Paul says, “If you do not retain God in your knowledge… If you don’t recognize God’s existence in your life….
- He will let you think whatever you want - and here’s what that looks like!
And it ain’t pretty! - Romans 1 Verse 29 (NLT)
29 Their lives became…. Here we go! full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip.
30 They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents
31 They refuse to understand (the things of God), they break their promises, they are heartless, and have no mercy.
32 They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.
• This is what Paul says happens to people who reject the thoughts of God!
• God will allow them to think whatever thoughts they want.
- He has given everyone that choice! To think on Him and like Him…. Or without Him!
• To avoid the corruption of worldly thinking and the destructive consequences of the actions that follow…
We must fill our mind with God’s thoughts… Letting the Mind of Jesus be in you!
Finally - Ephesians 4 - Pick it up in Verse 20 (TPT)
20 But this is not the way of life that Christ has unfolded to you. (That He taught you - Or, hat you have learned from Him)
21 If you have really experienced the Anointed One, and heard his truth, it will be seen in your life; for we know that the ultimate reality is embodied in Jesus!
— If you want to really want to know what REALITY is…. Think like Jesus!
Jesus taught us how to Think Like God thinks!
Q: And what is that?…. Ephesians 4:22
22 And He has taught you to let go of the lifestyle of the ancient man, (Before Christ) the old self-life, which was corrupted by sinful and deceitful desires that spring from delusions
Q: From where?
A: From Delusions: Wrong and Deceptive thinking!
23 Now it’s time to be made new (Renewed, transformed) by every revelation that’s been given to you. (By thinking the thoughts of Jesus)
24 And to be transformed as you embrace the glorious Christ-within as your new life… and live in union with him!
To Be Transformed - We must Keep our Mind on God
To Receive God’s Promises - We must Keep our Mind on God
To Fulfill our Purpose and Destiny - We must Keep our Mind on God
To have Freedom and get out of the Prison of our Past… We have the Mind of Christ
To leave behind our prison garments… our addictions, our pet rodents of the past life!
We can choose to Think Kingdom thoughts
We can choose to live by and speak the Words of Faith
We can choose to experience the Peace and Victory of having the Mind of Christ!
Link to this message: Keep Your Mind on God: https://youtu.be/tHHjGkk6jkU
