What Movie Is Playing In Your Mind?
Rev. Rodney Johnson and Rev. Barry Johnson
NOTE: New Light Faith Ministries and Barry Johnson Ministries, founded by Rodney V. Johnson and Barry O. Johnson, respectively, are partnering to offer Bible studies for Christians who are seeking to grow in their relationship with Jesus. This is a Bible study lesson, not a sermon. The Bible studies teach foundational truth that are designed to challenge, encourage and, most importantly, flame the fire of hunger in the Christian who wants to learn more about who they have become in Christ Jesus. The Bible studies you find on this site contains the written version of the lesson. However, these lessons also include a video and an audio file of the study, a PDF version of the lesson and a sheet for note taking. If you would like any of the additional resources for these studies, please email us at newlightfaithministries@gmail.com or bjteachingltr@gmail.com for more information or contact us at the email provided on both of our Sermon Central pages. Please visit our YouTube Channel (Barry Johnson Ministries; New Light Faith Ministries, Inc.) to watch or listen to these lessons as well as other available sermons. Be blessed.
Introduction
Hello everyone and welcome to this month’s Bible study lesson. We hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with families and friends that was laughter-filled, stomach-stuffing, and sleep-producing. We also hope you are looking forward to celebrating the most important and recognized day of all days – the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on Christmas Day.
Our schedules were filled more so with ministry responsibilities in November that we didn’t have an opportunity to prepare a lesson. I hope you will forgive us because we view these lessons as opportunities to share God’s heart with you on the topics that we cover. This month, we have titled the lesson, “What movie is playing in your mind next?” We are going to examine the role our thoughts play in our faith walk, especially the actions we take as a result of our thoughts.
An article in an issue of USA Today reported that in an online survey of 1000 adults, that “three-quarters of Americans believe the country was better off in the 1980s than it is right now.” And, to us, what’s notable about the poll is that some of those who responded in the affirmative were not even alive during the 1980s. So, how can someone believe that their parents were better off 40 years ago than they themselves are today? We believe the answer is simple: their parents, grandparents, relatives and other adults shared stories with them about their lives in the 1980s that created vivid and long-lasting positive images in their minds.
That is why we often have a variety of emotional responses when watching certain types of movies. Let me give you two examples. I remember watching old black and white movies as a pre-teen about Dracula and recoiling and catching my breath just as the camera zoomed in on his eyes as he opened his mouth and leaned in to bite his victim. I also remember watching the Wizard of Oz after Daddy had bought the family’s first color television set. I watched with wide-eyed amazement when Dorothy slowly opened the door of the black and white room of the farmhouse to see the vibrant and colorful town square of Munchkin Land. Rodney, what about you? What movies do you remember this way?
One of the first movies I remember seeing at the movies is “Jack the Giant Killer.” As I watched that movie, I remembered placing myself in the role of Jack and how he was able to defeat the giant. But the one movie that I saw on the big screen that changed me actually came out four years before I was born. That movie was “The Ten Commandments.” As a child that movie opened my eyes (and my wondering mind) up to what the Israelites faced while they were in Egypt and what Moses experienced bringing them out. As a pre-teen that movie left an impression on me to this day and I have it in my collection of favorite movies. But let me get to the point of this lesson.
Barry, some of our listeners may not realize this, but Jesus also talked about the “movies” or thoughts in our minds in Matthew chapter five. We’re going to read verses 27 and 28. "(27) You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.’ (28) But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:27-28) Jesus says, “whoever looks at a woman” – who has unchaste imaginations, desires, and intentions for her – commits adultery with her in his heart.” Do you see the movie that Jesus says is playing in the man’s mind? The man sees a beautiful woman and instead of acknowledging her beauty and moving on, he begins to imagine himself with the woman.
Now we want you to see something very important. Jesus is contrasting what is not acceptable under the Law versus what is not acceptable in the kingdom of God. Under the law, adultery became a sin once the act was committed. A person could think about committing the act but was not guilty until he did it. However, Jesus says this does not apply to the person who is born again with His life and nature. There is a higher moral standard of behavior for the person who is a Christian than there is for the person who is not a Christian.
Jesus did not teach the Law. Turn to Matthew chapter four and look at verse 23. “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.” (Matthew 4:23) Everything Jesus taught in the four gospels was prophetic about how a person would live in the kingdom of God.
Barry, Jesus is talking to you. He’s talking to me. He’s talking to everyone who calls themselves a Christian. According to the Law, you had to commit the act before you were guilty. But this is not what Jesus taught. Here’s the kingdom principle we want you to see and understand: Jesus says, “Where I come from, and once you’re born again, it’s the same place you come from, you are guilty of committing adultery when a movie of you committing the act plays over and over in your head.”
So, again, why do we use the word movies to describe what Jesus is saying here in Matthew 5:27-28? How many of you have driven near a bakery and the aroma of freshly baked bread distracted you so much that you almost forgot where you were going? The aroma was so captivating that your mind created a movie in your head, and you could taste it. You see the baker taking the freshly hot bread from the oven. Your face lights up when you see it. Oh, it’s so golden brown! You walk towards the table and the baker looks at you and smiles. He knows what you want to do, so he leans in, winks and says, “Go ahead.” You take the knife and you, ever so gently, slice off an end piece. Oh, the smell! As you bite into the slightly crunchy treat, the sweetness explodes in your mouth and your taste buds go crazy! The next thing you know you’re opening your eyes and wiping saliva from your lips, and you look around and shake your head because you haven’t even gotten out of the car! Ladies and gentlemen, according to Jesus, Christians commit adultery when they mentally play out the act in their minds (hearts) even before they remove a single stitch of clothing. This is why pornographic movies are in such demand, even among Christians. The movies create movies in the minds of the watchers.
Now, let’s look at where movies are produced. Let’s look at the power of the imagination. In the first book of the Bible, God shows us just how powerful our imaginations, how powerful mental movies can be in affecting how we behave. In Genesis 3, Satan created a movie of the tree of knowledge of good and evil in Eve’s mind that was so real and so vivid that she rejected the commandment that God had given to Adam concerning the tree in Genesis chapter two. Let’s read verses fifteen through seventeen. “(15) Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. (16) And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; (17) but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." (Genesis 2:15-17)
Barry let’s read Eve’s response to the serpent’s lies about God’s command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in Genesis 3:1-6. “(1) Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’ (2) And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; (3) but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.' (4) Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. (5) For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ (6) So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.” (Genesis 3:1-6)
We want to draw your attention to the words Eve used that showed her response to the movie that Satan created for her. The word “saw.” The word “pleasant.” And the word “desired.” All three are emotion or senses based words and originate in the same place as our imaginations – the mind. Satan has not changed his tactics. As Satan talked with Eve, she began to see and create a movie in her mind based on what he was saying to her. As the movie was still in the process of being created, she saw herself fulfilling (doing) what was being played out in her mind. It has not changed! First we create the movie and then we act it out. It is almost like writing the movie script in our minds and then acting it out because it transitioned to our hearts.
Now in Genesis chapter six, God described the source of the movie of depravity and evilness that reigned unchecked in humanity before the flood. Let’s read verse five. “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Genesis 6:5) The King James Version renders “every intent of the thoughts of his heart” as “and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
The word “imagination” means “to frame, to purpose” and is appropriately rendered “intent” by the New King James Version. The imaginations/intents of the people were creating movies on a continuous loop that were being carried out with horrific and devastating results as we see in verses 11 through 13. “(11) The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. (12) So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. (13) And God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” (Genesis 6:11-13)
After destroying the world with the flood, God says in Genesis 8:21-22, “(21) And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, "I will never again curse the ground for man's sake, although the imagination of man's heart (the movies that will continue to play in his mind) is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. (22) While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease."
(Genesis 8:21-22)
Rodney, in these passages, we see that how we think – the movies that we allow to purposefully play in our minds – will impact our relationship with God and everything He desires for us. The New Testament confirms this truth. Second Corinthians 10:5 records the following: “Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” God tells us to take every imagination – every thought that we have, every mental image that we see, every movie that plays in our minds – that opposes Him and cast it down, put it into prison and throw away the key.
God contrasts walking by the flesh with walking by the spirit as we see in verses three and four: “(3) For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. (4) For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds.” (Second Corinthians 10:3-4)
According to what we have read so far, the Bible says we will allow one of two movie genres to play in our minds: Movies that are based on what we see, hear, taste, touch and smell, or movies that are based on what God has said in His Word. And we must say this at this point: if you are not reading and studying God’s Word for yourself, you lose the ability to create movies based on what God has said in His Word. Going to Church on Sundays and hearing a sermon might create a short story in your mind, but it will be forgotten before you get home if you did not take notes. And, if you did take notes, you did not capture everything that was stated in the sermon unless you also recorded it when many Christians will not take the time to do.
Folks, we need to have “faith-producing” movies playing in our minds on a continuous loop if we want our lives to resemble the life of Jesus. We have seen what happens when flesh or senses-based movies play in our minds. Now we’re going to see a person who came to Jesus with a “faith-based” movie playing in her heart (mind).
In Mark 5, Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, comes to Jesus and pleads with Him to come with him and lay hands on his dying daughter. On the way to Jairus’ house, we are introduced to a woman with an issue of blood. Let’s read her story beginning with verse 25.
“(25) Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, (26) and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. (27) When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. (28) For she said, "If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well." (29) Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction. (30) And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, "Who touched My clothes?" (31) But His disciples said to Him, "You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, Who touched Me?' " (32) And He looked around to see her who had done this thing. (33) But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. (34) And He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction." (Mark 5:25-34)
Rodney, my heart weeps for this woman. As her body deteriorates, so does everything else in her life. I’m sure that at one time she was wealthy. But year after year of what we would describe today as inconclusive, invasive tests and unsuccessful operations had left her nearly penniless.
Barry, to make matters worse, according to the law, the issue of blood made this woman unclean. She was forbidden any human contact whatsoever and we see this in Leviticus 15:19-20. “(19) If a woman has a discharge, and the discharge from her body is blood, she shall be set apart seven days; and whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening. (20) Everything that she lies on during her impurity shall be unclean; also everything that she sits on shall be unclean.” (Leviticus 15:19-20)
And here’s the worst part. Every single incident involving the issue of blood made her unclean for seven days. Now remember, she had been in this condition for 12 years and the law declared her unclean the entire time! We read this in verse 25. “If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, other than at the time of her customary impurity, or if it runs beyond her usual time of impurity, all the days of her unclean discharge shall be as the days of her customary impurity. She shall be unclean.” (Leviticus 15:25)
Sadly, it gets even worse. Seven days after her uncleanness, which would be the eighth day, the woman was supposed to bring an offering to the priest at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. She was not permitted to enter the tabernacle of the congregation until the priest had made an atonement for her before the Lord, which would have ceremonially removed her uncleanness. Now let’s read verses 28-30. “(28) But if she is cleansed of her discharge, then she shall count for herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean. (29) And on the eighth day she shall take for herself two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and bring them to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting. (30) Then the priest shall offer the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, and the priest shall make atonement for her before the Lord for the discharge of her uncleanness.” (Leviticus 15:28-30)
Rodney, this woman had had no human contact for 12 years or 4,344 days! She had run out of options. But then she hears about this man named Jesus and we learn how in Mark 5. Let’s read the record beginning with verse one.
“(1) Then they (Jesus and the disciples) came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes. (2) And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, (3) who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, (4) because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him. (5) And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones. (6) When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him. (7) And he cried out with a loud voice and said, "What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God that You do not torment me." (8) For He said to him, "Come out of the man, unclean spirit!" (9) Then He asked him, "What is your name?" And he answered, saying, "My name is Legion; for we are many." (10) Also he begged Him earnestly that He would not send them out of the country. Rodney, why don’t you pick up the record with verse 12.
(11) Now a large herd of swine was feeding there near the mountains. (12) So all the demons begged Him, saying, "Send us to the swine, that we may enter them." (13) And at once Jesus gave them permission. Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine (there were about two thousand); and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and drowned in the sea. (14) So those who fed the swine fled, and they told it in the city and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that had happened. (15) Then they came to Jesus, and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. (16) And those who saw it told them how it happened to him who had been demon-possessed, and about the swine. (17) Then they began to plead with Him to depart from their region. (18) And when He got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged Him that he might be with Him. (19) However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, "Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you." (20) And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled.” (Mark 5:1-20)
The word “Decapolis” in verse 20 refers to a region of 10 cities that were inhabited primarily by Greeks (foreigners) and not by Jews. This explains why we read about the demon’s request to be cast into the swine. Because of this, word had spread throughout this region of 10 cities that Jesus had delivered the crazy man who lived in the tombs.
The woman with the issue of blood thinks about the God-awful sounds the man had made day and night as he cut himself with stones. Why did he do that, she wondered, but no one seemed to have an answer. And this is when she begins to develop her “faith movie”!
She’s thinking, “This man Jesus delivered the man who screamed and cried all the time and who cut himself with stones. But now, he no longer roams the hillside naked and raving like a lunatic. People say he’s lucid and wearing clothes. People say he talks about this man Jesus and oftentimes he just stops wherever he is and starts to cry saying God had had mercy on him.” Then she thinks to herself, “Is it possible that Jesus would have mercy on me and heal me of this plague?” Do you see the faith movie starting to play in her mind?
Ladies and gentlemen, “faith movies” start with the idea that the impossible is possible. I can see the woman smile as she thinks about the possibility of being whole again – the possibility of being clean again. “Oh my,” she says as tears well up in her eyes. She hasn’t been in the synagogue for 12 years. Then she says, “If Jesus can do what He did for the man who was a lunatic, I believe He can stop me from bleeding and being unclean,” she says softly. The tears are flowing freely now.
“Oh, I will be able to have lunch with Lydia again,” she says softly as she whimpers. When she sees Lydia, they both smile, fold their arms across their chests and sway back and forth as if they are giving each other a great big hug. “Our husbands are gone, and we had each other. I miss her so much, but I believe Jesus can change that,” she says. Do you see the faith movie developing?
Every day she walks to the town square in the shadows hoping to see Jesus. In her mind, she sees herself walking up to him, falling at His feet and telling Him her story before begging Him to have mercy on her and heal her. The scene has played out in her mind on repeat for weeks. In her movie, she feels Jesus’ hand touch her head as she bows before Him and she feels the pain that has been caused by the bleeding vanishing. Do you see the faith movie developing?
The day finally arrives. She runs to the door when she hears all the noise and excitement. Something is happening. “Jesus,” she says softly. She rushes out into a crowd so large it will be impossible to get to Jesus without touching someone – making the person she touches unclean. But she couldn’t concern herself with this now. And remember this: because she was unclean and everyone she touched became unclean, she still had every intention of touching Jesus. She wasn’t concerned about making Him unclean because the movie in her head told her that if He could heal her then He would not be affected by her uncleanness. Can you see her friends telling her was crazy for venturing out and taking that chance? I mean, everyone knew who she was and still she did not care! Jesus is her only hope after 12 years of futility.
I’m going to read Hebrews 11:1 from the Amplified Bible. “Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things we hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].”
Conclusion and Prayer
As she works her way through the crowd, the people step aside and turn away from her. They know her. They know that they cannot let her touch them. She’s unclean. The woman realizes that she will not have a chance to talk to Jesus and tell Him her story. So, she adds another scene to her movie. “All I need to do is just touch His clothes and I will be made whole. I will be free.” She reaches behind Jesus and touches the hem of His clothes as He walks by. The moment her fingers touch the garment, the moment they touch just the hem, she feels the healing power flow through her. Jesus feels it too.
Did you see the movie as we described it? Jesus walks past the woman, she touches the fringes of His clothes and draws the healing power she needs from Him! She added a scene to the movie that had been playing in her mind for weeks. During the process of editing her movie, she went from begging Jesus to heal her to simply touching His clothes and receiving her healing.
Let’s read what Jesus says to her one more time. Verse 34 says, “…Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction." (Mark 5:34)
What faith movies are playing in your mind on a regular basis?
? Are they movies of you healing the blind?
? Are they movies of you feeding the 5,000?
? Are they movies of you casting devils out of the possessed?
? Are they movies of your shadow touching people and healing them?
? Are they movies of your prayers, each one of them, always being answered?
? Or are your movies those of defeat because of every negative thing that has happened in your life?
Jesus says in John 14:12, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.” Ladies and gentlemen, yes, these are the types of movies that must play in our minds if we are to do what Jesus says we are supposed to be doing! Can we get an Amen?!?
Let’s pray.
