How to Change the Mind
Psalm 19:14
October 30th 2011 AM
Pastor Craig Ledbetter
I.
Introduction (Psalm 19:14;
Philp 4:6-8; 2Cor 10:5)
A.
What a
command! “bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”
B.
Do you ever
think about what you think?
1.
Have you
ever given much thought to how your thought life affects your fellowship and
ultimately your walk with God?
2.
The Bible
has many references to the believer's thinking. Some of the references are
to bad thinking and some references to good thinking.
C.
In the book
of Proverbs, Solomon is teaching his son a timeless principle of God.
D.
Proverbs
23:7, for as he thinketh in his heart, so is he...
1.
The writer
makes this statement in the middle of speaking about moral, ethical, and
spiritual precepts.
2.
He tells his
son this and then notice what he says in verses 12, 15, and 23, Apply thine
heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge. My son, if
thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine, Buy the truth, and
sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
3.
All of this
deals with thinking.
E.
The battle
ground for the Christian is the mind because the devil works upon the mind.
He knows if he controls the mind of the person, he controls that person.
1.
Each
Christian has to realize that once we are saved we are in a spiritual
battle.
2.
Really, for
you and me life’s battles revolve around how or what we think.
3.
Men today
battle not on foreign fields, or in war trenches, but in their minds!
Pornography, adultery, young people lusting and living in fornication
4.
Women
wrestle giants of depression and anger and envy
F.
What is
correct thinking? If I do not think correctly then how am I to think
correctly? What kind of thinking does God want me to have?
G.
Is such a
thing even possible today? YES!
II.
Message
A.
Folks, We are what we think!
1.
What we are
thinking today will be what we are tomorrow!
2.
Our thoughts
truly show what our character is. We may try to hide, disguise, ignore or
justify this kind of thinking, but we are fooling ourselves if we think we
may indulge in wicked thinking without it affecting our walk with God.
3.
Galatians
6:7-8, Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that
shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of his flesh reap
corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life
everlasting.
4.
Folks, the
kind of thinking I just described, is selfish, lustful, and ungodly
thinking.
5.
And, MOST of
the thinking today is carnal, worldly, ungodly, and uncontrolled.
6.
That’s why
our society is this way!
B.
It’s a Problem from Childhood
(Gen 8:21; Pr 22:6)!
1.
Part of the
training up of a child in Proverbs 22:6 has to do with teaching him or her
how to have a godly thought life.
2.
Most if not
all of us missed this training!
3.
Many lives
and homes are destroyed because of the ungodly thought life of the parents,
especially the father.
C.
An Ungodly Thought-Life
1.
Most
Christians have had their lives destroyed because of an ungodly thought
life.
a.
Christians
think no one else knows, but God does!
b.
They are out
of fellowship with God and do not understand why things are not spiritually
happening in their lives. They go to church, read their bible, and pray but
have an uncontrolled thought life. Everything is done mechanically with no
spiritual power.
c.
Romans
13:14, But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the
flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.
d.
2Corinthians
10:5 tells us, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of
Christ.
2.
Fantasies
are no game!
a.
Men, the
Lord Jesus said in Matthew 5:28, But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh
on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his
heart.
1)
With wicked
thoughts people fantasize about sin that we want never to be caught doing in
real life.
2)
Really,
fantasy thinking is a type of secret, virtual reality that someday will
become visible reality for all to see.
3)
Many times
people will fantasize about women or men in an impure fashion and secretly
wish their life was like that. However, it is an escape mechanism to a
lustful life.
4)
The
Christian may not think it is harmful, but it grieves the Holy Spirit and
makes them powerless in their walk with God.
5)
Galatians
5:16-17, This I say then, Walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfill the
lusts of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit
against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other so that ye
cannot do the things that ye would.
6)
Would you be
devastated or humiliated if those closest to you knew everything you were
thinking? (Think about it!)
7)
If that kind
of wicked thinking came out it would crush your family members.
8)
The question
comes to mind here, whom are we actually sinning against when we refuse to
bring out thoughts into captivity? God!
9)
Folks, the
Apostle Paul said, Every thought to the
obedience of Christ. It does not mean we can keep the secret,
impure thoughts to ourselves and serve God!
10)
Guys, do you
understand how this kind of impure thought life will eventually crush our
wives?
3.
Ladies, you
are no different – you just have different fantasies!
4.
Let me ask
you this? What secrets are hidden in your private life? What do you know
about yourself and what does God know about you-that no one else knows?
5.
Folks,
ungodly, uncontrolled thinking will be a tremendous hindrance to you
spiritually, your wife, husband, and your children.
D.
It is a Spiritual Issue
1.
In reality,
an uncontrolled thought life is a spiritual heart issue.
a.
Ephesians
2:3, Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts
of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were
by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
b.
The
Christian MUST have a real, intimate, personal, passionate relationship with
God to replace our old lusts.
c.
In Romans
12:1-3 the Apostle Paul deals with this: I beseech you therefore brethren,
by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy
acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed
to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye
may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God. For I
say, through the grace given unto me , to every man that is among you, not
to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think
soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
2.
If a man or
woman has a real relationship with God, they will have a mind that is being
transformed. Otherwise, they will think more highly of themselves than they
ought to think. It leads to uncontrolled selfish thinking.
3.
He or she
only ends up thinking of themselves, their needs and the ungodly desires of
their flesh and their mind!
E.
Most men
today will have to admit that they have been lusting after women since they
were boys (and thinking it was normal). While in College, young men lust
after women, and are convinced it is just normal). So even after getting
married they find themselves looking at pornography on a regular basis. In
the end, their lives, their marriages, and their children get destroyed. Yet
99% of all them men will say, I wanted to do right, but my thought life was
totally out of control and no one had ever taught me how to NOT have an
uncontrolled thought life.
III.
Application - How do You have a
Controlled Mind Bringing Every Thought Into Captivity?
A.
Have a Real Relationship With
God
1.
You must
have a real, intimate, personal, passionate relationship with God (2 Timothy
3:15)
2.
A walk with
God (Galatians 5:16-25)
3.
A love from
God that empowers your love FOR God
4.
Your
THOUGHTS will reveal just how real and how thick is your relationship with
God
B.
Make Time for that Relationship
(Genesis 24:63) – it doesn’t come “naturally”
1.
We make time
for a lot of things:
a.
We make time
for school, for studies, for education
b.
We make time
for sleep
c.
We make time
for dating, and relationships, and friends
d.
We make time
for relaxing, and TV, and entertainment
e.
People make
time for facebook – how many hours a day?!!!
f.
We take our
minds and thoughts for granted, until they overtake us, and ruin our lives
1)
See every
porn addict
2)
See every
angry person, unable to forgive
2.
God expects
us to make time to think things through, and to use our MINDS, not just our
senses, and feelings and emotions (Isaiah 1:18; Mt 18:12; 21:28; 22:42)
a.
In other
words, don’t just want to have fun
b.
Make time to
ponder and think about things in your life
3.
How to make
time
a.
By making a
time just for pondering – like walking, or quiet times, when you just think
and maybe write and dream
b.
By falling
in love with this book (Psalm 119:97)
c.
By making it
THE priority (Job 23:12) – the Bible cannot be something second to anything
else!
d.
By choosing
it over the world (Psalm 1:1,2)
C.
Use That Time to Think About
Right Things
1.
Learn about,
and ponder the God of heaven (Psalm 63:6; 77:12; 119:15,23,48,78)
a.
Remind
yourself of God’s goodness
b.
Make
yourself ignore, mortify the heavy, wrong things that weigh you down (Cf Job
21:6; 9:28)
2.
Take the
time to ponder all the GOOD stuff coming into your head, and all that is
happening around you (Luke 2:16-19; 2:51) – like Mary did. A lot of people
sit and “stew” about all the wrong things: Worries; Problems; Fears; The
past; Failures
3.
Read the
change chapter of the Bible, Ephesians 4 over several times, and learn how
to make Biblical long term change in your life, Ephesians 4:22-24. You must
learn the put off and put on principles with a renewed mind.
4.
Why?
a.
Because it
Helps (Psalm 1:3; Joshua 1:8; Psalm 119:99)
b.
It Cleanses
You (John 15:3)
c.
It Builds Up
(Acts 20:32) – builds from the inside, out!
d.
It
Transforms You (Philp 2:4-9)
e.
It restrains
the flaws in your heart!
f.
Misunderstanding God Will Destroy and Damn You. Cain didn’t think about what
he was doing, except how to take revenge (Gen 4:3-8)
5.
This is
called fortifying and training and preparing your mind for spiritual battle
(1Peter 1:13)
6.
It is called
Walking in the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16-17, 25) A Spirit controlled
person is a Word controlled person (including their thought life).
7.
Right
thoughts result in praise, and thankfulness – not anger and revenge
8.
Our thinking
has to be transformed to God's thinking. When we spend time with God daily
in His Word, we need stop and think about what we are reading. We need to
meditate on what God is saying to us through His Word. We need to listen to
the Holy Spirit when He wants to show us some thing in God's Word.
D.
Fear God’s Judgment
1.
God Sees All
Our Thoughts (Psalm 5:1; 139:1,2; Mt 9:3,4)
2.
The
3.
God Will
Judge Our Thought-Life
4.
Why? Because
You ARE what you THINK about (Prov 23:7). The new agers know thins truth and
make it their “mantra”
5.
David knew
his THOUGHTS were just as wicked as his sinful actions (Psalm 51:10,17)
6.
Things in
his HEART that he thought about and held onto were hindering his fellowship
with God, and answers to prayer (Psalm 66:18)
E.
Get Forgiveness
1.
If we have
been thinking dirty, evil thoughts, we need to ask God to forgive us, and
then look at God's Word about what He says about that evil thought. Again,
our mind has to be transformed, (changed to God's thinking on the matter).
We need to forsake the thought (repent and turn from it). I John 1:9, Luke
13:3.
2.
When evil
thoughts come up I need to say, God, please forgive me for this wicked
thought, I want to turn this over to you. You may have to do this more than
once.
3.
It is at
such a high cost that it was obtained for you – so go ahead and accept it!
F.
Remove yourself from temptation,
stay away from it! Romans 13:14. Guard yourself from the television,
computer, and anything that would be a temptation to your thought life.
G.
Get Under Authority
1.
We need to
bring ourselves under accountability to someone who can keep us right – just
like it is usually someone who pulls us OFF course (Gal 3:1), we need
someone who can bring us back ON course!
2.
Under your
parents – they must be given authority over your phone, your computer, your
TV watching
3.
Under your
mate – wives, obey your husbands and submit to their rebuke
4.
Husbands,
obey your wives, and submit to their rebuke and concerns
5.
Under your
PASTOR (Heb 13:17)
H.
Remember,
that God is what you need for your life! Not a wife, or a husband, or a job
as much as you need GOD!
1.
HE is your
fortress and deliverer
2.
You are to
glorify Him in your life, including your thought life, I Corinthians
6:19-20. You must be content with His presence in your life and home and
discontent with your sin, Hebrews 13:4-5.
IV.
Conclusion
A.
Make it a
priority to teach your children and wife how to have a controlled thought
life. This will make the issue more sensitive to you each day when it is on
the forefront of your teaching in your home.
B.
Remember
folks, the one thing that can destroy your home, your relationship with your
wife, your husband, your children, and with God is what? Your uncontrolled
thought life! I am convinced that the lack of spiritual power we see today
goes back to this secret area of the Christian life.
C.
The battle
ground is the mind
1.
Each
Christian has to realize that once we are saved we are in a spiritual
battle.
2.
Really, for
you and me life’s battles revolve around how or what we think.
3.
Men today
battle not on foreign fields, or in war trenches, but in their minds!
4.
Women
wrestle giants of depression and anger and envy
D.
What is
correct thinking?
E.
Is it even
Possible?
F.
YES!