The Battle Of The Mind

There are already some serious questions that keep coming up about cloning, such as:

• Could you clone Larry King, or would it have to be living tissue?

• If we clone our generation will there be enough of them working to support Social Security when I retire?

• If Larry King clones himself and interviews himself on his show, wouldn't that pretty much make nuclear war something we can all look forward to?

These are some of the problems that cloning presents.

BUT LET’S LOOK AT CLONING FROM A MORE SERIOUS APPROACH.

For example, if a person could be cloned, would they be an exact duplicate of the other person in every way?

You see, every man is A TRICHOTOMY; man is made up of body, soul and spirit.

WHY DID GOD CREATE US IN THIS FASHION?

Each part of our life is extremely important! For example:

• Without the body, we would have no contact with the world.

• Without the soul, we would have no ability to think or feel.

• Without the spirit, we would not have the ability to commune with God.

One of the serious SPIRITUAL QUESTIONS that is being asked about cloning is, “If they could clone a human being, WOULD THAT CLONE HAVE A SOUL?”

I think not; only God can put a soul in a man.

Illus: I remember reading an article that a preacher had written, and he said that science has discovered that in the human heart there is a compartment that he said doctors could not explain the purpose of. He said that this is where the soul of man dwells.

May I say with as much kindness as I can muster-up; “THAT IS RIDICULOUS!” The heart has been explored in all areas and they know the purpose of each of these compartments in the heart.

Evidently, a lot of folks must not know that most likely the soul of man is in the mind. It is the seat of . . .

• The intellect

• The will and the emotions

It is where we think, feel and decide. It is because the mind is so important to us, that Satan attacks our minds every day.

Prov. 23:7 says it this way, "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he..."

Satan knows that if he can get us to think wrong, we will soon do wrong! We have to do everything we can do to protect our minds.

I want to share four simple steps that teach us how to build a wall of protection around our minds.

We see we need to -

I. BUILD THE WALL OF PRAISE

Look at verse 4, we read, “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.”

Paul commands the believer to, "rejoice". This word means, "To be glad!”

Notice that the word “rejoice” is in the present tense, active voice and imperative mood. This means that the believer is commanded to, "go on being glad in the Lord."

One of the great secrets to the Christian life is to go through life REJOICING IN THE LORD!

HOW DID PAUL LIVE A LIFE OF PRAISE?

Don’t assume that Paul talked about living a life of praise because everything was going well for him? Actually, when he wrote this, things were NOT going well for him.

Illus: Someone said that you can tell when you have a bad day:

• You wake up face down on the pavement

• You call suicide prevention and they put you on hold

• Your birthday cake collapses from the weight of the candles

• You turn on the news and they are showing escape routes out of the city

• Your twin sister forgot your birthday

• Your income tax check bounces

When Paul wrote this, he was having a VERY BAD DAY from the world’s viewpoint! But you would never know that by the way Paul lived his life. HE WAS ALWAYS PRAISING THE LORD.

In fact, when he wrote this letter he was in a Roman prison.

Paul knew the secret to living the victorious life is to live a life of PRAISE during the GOOD TIMES and the BAD TIMES!

Regardless of the circumstances, we need to praise God.

WHY SHOULD WE PRAISE GOOD DURING THE BAD TIMES?

You see:

• People will change

• Circumstances will change

• Life constantly changes

But the Lord never changes!

God never changes. That is why we are told to, "Rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS!"

Illus: Suppose on a SUNNY DAY you go down to the car dealer and buy a brand new car.

You are thrilled with your new car. It is everything you wanted and much more and wherever you go you praise your new car!

It is dependable, it does not break down one day and run good the next! It does not change from day to day; it is dependable and reliable transportation.