The Mind Series

“Transformers”

Pt. 1 – The Mind

I. Introduction

We are told that once we meet Jesus everything will change. We have heard it and perhaps quoted it ourselves, “Behold old things have passed away and all things are new” and “if any man is in Christ he is a new creature.”

But my question is what should change? What should be transformed when we come into a relationship with Christ?

The reason I ask that question is because the truth is I don’t see that much change in people who claim to have met Christ. They still act the same, behave the same, react the same, attitudes remain the same, desire remain the same, goals remain the same. So what is supposed to change?

Now before we get too far in this let me acknowledge that I realize that it is human nature to fight change! We do not like it. We avoid it. We do our best to keep everything the same.

Mark Twain said it like this, “The only person who likes change is a wet baby.”

But the truth is that whether we like it or not we are changing and we must change. One of my favorite quotes of all time is by Max Depree. He said, "In the end, it is important to remember that we cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are."

When we talk about change one of the golden passages of Scripture that is always quoted and referenced is Isaiah 43:18 – 19. This portion of Scripture is powerful, but just as important is that it also reveals the position that God takes toward transformation or change.

This passage says, “18Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. 19Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.”

He desires and wants to bring a new thing into our lives. But in order to do a new think He must bring change into our lives to get rid of the old things.

How many of you would agree that we need change? How many would be honest enough to say I need change? The challenge with that admission is that until we become dissatisfied with where we are we will never willingly change. We must hate where we are to get to where we need to be. It has to be more than lip service and become desperation for something different. So let me ask you again how many would be honest enough to say I need change?

The good news is that God desires to bring transformation into our lives, so He will help us. So for the next three weeks we are going to deal with three key areas that I believe that we need to see change. These are three areas that when we claim to have met Jesus we should see significant change in.

II. Mind

The first area that we should see and must see transformation in is our mind.

You know the standard texts:

Romans 12:2

2And be not fashioned according to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, and ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

2Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

I believe that if we are to be transformed that transformation must begin in our mind. We must think differently than we thought before we met Jesus! That is why Paul tells us in Ephesians 4 to be renewed in our minds so that we won’t act like we acted before we met Jesus. That is why Jesus himself said that we are to love God with all of our mind! Our mind, our thoughts are crucial to our transformation.

“Whatever you hold in your mind will tend to occur in your life. If you continue to believe as you have always believed, you will continue to act as you have always acted. If you continue to act as you have always acted, you will continue to get what you have always gotten. If you want different results in your life or your work, all you have to do is change your mind.”

God desires to transform our mind in four areas:

A. What we think about. (Thought life.)

Let me share a scary thought with you. According to Matt. 9:4 Jesus knew the thoughts of the Pharisees. We think our thought life is off limits to God. However, He constantly walks through our mind and our thoughts!