What Is Your Mind Set?

What Is Your Mind Set?

Needless to say, there is a war raging inside of the Christian for control of the mind. That is why the Bible says to have the mind in you that is in Christ Jesus. It is why Christians are to seek things above and to crucify the flesh with its passions and lust. The reason is because a battle is going on for mind control. The master counterfeiter, Satan, wants to be the head of the body not Christ. In the Christian life your mind is like the rudder of a ship. Whether the flesh or the Spirit controls the rudder determines the course your life will take. Therefore, it is essential for the Christian to be anchored and rooted in faith. A believer’s roots must go deep into Christ and not simply play lip service to Him. To do otherwise, makes you easy prey for the Devil’s schemes.

The enemy does not play fair. He will deceive, accuse and condemn. He will fill your Christian heart with fear and inadequacies if your mind is not guarded by God’s truth. He wants your life to make void the grace of God that is available to every believer. He wants you to live a fruitless life lacking in God’s peace and abundance. He wants your remaining days to be a desert waste land for the things of Christ. Satan will attempt every strategy and use every weapon in His arsenal to keep you impotent and warming the bench for God.

Brothers and sisters don’t let this happen. The battle for mind control is critical and of the utmost importance to you and the Kingdom of God. A mind for Christ is a terrible thing to waste and I plead with you not to let this happen for God has made ample provision for you. Remember the words of Isaiah 26:3: “The steadfast of mind Thou wilt keep in perfect peace. Because he trusts in Thee.” What joy it will bring your heart to one day hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant enter into your rest.”

The Apostle Paul points out four truths about Christians who set their minds on the things of the flesh in Romans 8:5-8: “For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7. Because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so. 8. And those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

First, THE MIND SET ON THE THINGS OF THE FLESH, WILL LIVE A LIFE ACCORDING TO THE FLESH. Listen to Romans 8:5: “For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.” This is a biblical principle that can work for you (walking according to the Spirit) or against you (walking according to the flesh). It is much like the principle of sowing or reaping. The Bible says, “All things are yours, and ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.” (1 Cor. 3:23) Pastor Rey Stedman makes it clear in his writings that this includes all things needed for living – your family, your home, your workplace, your church, etc. But depending on where your mind is set, you will view all things needed for living differently. For example, is your job just a job? Or is your job a place you seek and find ministry and witnessing opportunities? If you view your job as simply a job, you are setting your mind on the things of the flesh. You are falling into the trap of separating the secular from the sacred. However, if you view your job as a ministry – as a place where you can honor Christ in word and deed and build relationships that might grant opportunities to witness or encourage coworkers then your mind is set on the things of the Spirit. It is the same workplace but approached from a different mind set. The workplace is the same but you view it from a different perspective – a Christ-like perspective – one that does not separate the secular and sacred. Separating the secular from the sacred is one of the enemy’s commonly used weapons to get your mind set on the things of the flesh. For example, Satan has manipulated the commonly used expression, “separation of church and state” until many people even Christians think that “separation of church and state” is the freedom from religion rather than freedom of religion. It may sound reasonable but it is a lie from The Father of Lies – there should be no separation of the secular and sacred in the Christian’s life.