The Monster Of Rejection

I. Introduction

The Scare Factory illustrated in Monsters Inc. is still in full effect. However, rather than harvesting the screams of children to power the city of "Monstropolis", the monsters in this scare factory harvests our peace and our sanity.

Adam and Eve fall in the Garden and believe Satan's lies and in the process, according to Romans 5:12, pass down sin and also their now captured thought processes. So, in the garden not only did we lose relationship, dominion, authority . . . we lost our mind. Jesus shows up determined to restore everything we lost. You will remember that He declares we have a part to play in this path to deliverance and restoration when He says in . . .

Matthew 22:37 (NIV)

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

Most of us have allowed Jesus to save our heart/soul but we haven't allowed Him to renew or redeem our mind.

Paul knew this reality and declared in Romans 7:25 we serve the Lord with our mind. So, we understand we can have a new heart and a saved soul and have the same mind.

We wrestle against principalities (principles) and so instantly Adam and Eve begin to think differently than they have previously. My prayer is that since we have been combating these mind monsters you have been fighting week to week and day to day to get your mind submitted to Jesus. His desire is for us to have His mind so that we can live in peace! So, let's go back one more time and deal with a final mind monster that is still on the prowl today.

Genesis 4:1-9 (MEV)

Adam had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived, gave birth to Cain and said, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” Then she gave birth again to his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. In the course of time Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground. Abel also brought the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had respect for Abel and for his offering, but for Cain and for his offering, He did not have respect. And Cain was very angry and his countenance fell. The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your countenance fallen? If you do well, shall you not be accepted? But if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. It desires to dominate you, but you must rule over it.” Cain told Abel his brother. And it came about, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. The Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”

Before we dive in too deep let me point out that it is absolutely essential to deal with your mind monsters because here is the Biblical proof that if you don't, then you pass them down. Adam and Eve fail to combat their mind monsters and "surprise" their children are infected as well. We knew, I referenced this out of Romans 5:12, that our spiritual parents passed down their sins. But let's stop a moment and quit focusing on them and focus on us. It is imperative that we wrestle our mind monsters to the ground and kill them or we too pass things down! I don't know about you, but I want that stuff to stop with me! I refuse to let the mind monsters that have waged war on me to live one more minute because I don't want them to live one second in the minds of my boys and my grandchildren. Do I have any men and women in the house who have yet to have children who will rise up and go to war for the next generation? Do I have any parents and grandparents in the house who will rise up and not only slay their mind monsters but inform and assist the next generations to stop the scream cycle?

I want you to notice something out of the account. Cain responds to his failed sacrifice with anger and offense. It would seem that this would be the mind monster we need to address. Some of you are running around mad at the world. It has been said that this generation is the most offended generation that has ever walked the planet. Someone is always mad at something. Someone is always protesting something. However, we need to remember that anger is a secondary emotion. It isn't a primary emotion. It is the result of a trigger. Something else causes the anger. I believe Cain's story pulls the cover back on a deadly mind monster that too many of us are battling and while it is destroying us, we think we have an anger issue and can't seem to figure out why. Here it is . . .