Whats on your mind?

Intro:

Our scripture is coming from Paul's letter to the church in Rome. We come into this letter from Paul as he is writing his longest letter to the church that was located in the midst of the Roman empire. During the time of the letter, Rome was already huge and was thriving with modern advancements with grand architectural buildings that were dedicated to their roman gods. They had indoor water and theatres and the Roman culture was prevalent. So much so that several times the roman leaders expelled Jews, Christians and other cultures so that the roman culture would remain intact. It was a great place to be…if you were a roman citizen. Imagine being at home and then someone coming to tell you that you don't belong in their country. So the desire to become more Roman was great. Whats the phrase? When in Rome?

For a Christian, its not living out in the desert in a tent but not really living large with indoor plumbing because they were not Roman. Now we are getting back to that transitional place...

We talked last time about the dust bunnies and how God puts us in a transitional place so he could help us clean up. But where do you think that place of transition really is? It’s in our mind. That leads us to our scripture for today:

Scripture:

Romans 12:2 (NKJV)

2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Title, Prayer: Whats on your mind?

I wanted to continue that conversation so that you fully understand where that cleaning is to occur. Matt 23:25-26 ““Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.” Well, our dust bunnies are all in our mind. You can dress up the outside all you want, but you can’t Gucci your way to cleanliness. You can’t drive a Mercedes to the gates of heaven and expect to get preferential treatment. (They don't ask if you believe with your heart and confess with your mouth that Christ died for your parking space then come on in!) You can spray on all the Grey Flannel and White Diamonds you want but if the inside stinks… That’s the part that needs cleaning. Stinkin thinkin

Definitions

Conform: behave according to socially acceptable conventions or standards; made the same.

Transform: make a thorough or dramatic change in the form, appearance, or character of:

Mind: the element of a person that enables them to be aware of the world and their experiences, to think, and to feel; the faculty of consciousness and thought.

Prove: demonstrate the truth or existence of (something) by evidence or argument:

Aware: Inanimate objects are not aware, they have no awareness of their surroundings. They dont think about how their presence impacts other things in their environment. The evolution of computers and the code that drives them.

Application:

See wee have the devil on one side and an angel on the other and our mind is in the middle.

One Side:

Do not conform...The devil wants to disrupt our thoughts by making us feel more. He wants us to feel more circumstance. He tries to put us thru so many things that we get overwhelmed.

He knows that our feelings disrupt our thought process. It we feel too much, we get overloaded and then we shut down. Then, emotionally, we are reduced to transactions. (going thru the motions)

So let me explain, the devil wants us to navigate life through the flesh. He wants us to be lead by the flesh. Gal 5:19 sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these.

How are we a new creature when we still have our old ways. We all got it. We all experience it. We may not be sexually immoral, but we cant get past idol worship. We may not be jealous but we cant get past drunkenness. We may not have wild parties, but you better not make a Christian mad cause you have not seen an outburst of anger until you have seen a Christian explode!

How is it we get tripped up knowing that Jesus defeated death but we cant seem to get past being a Capricorn!? Why do you think the word tells us that we cant put new wine into old wineskins? The world wants to label us and we cant think our way out of it. Whats on your mind!?

The Other Side:

But be transformed...God is trying to tell us to be still! Be still and know that I am God. He wants us to think before we react. Then once we begin to know his voice, we hear better. and thinking about things comes a bit easier. Thats where maturity comes into play. Thats when we become disciples.

When we know the things God has for us and can begin to teach them. That doesn't mean we don't still have the devil on the other shoulder, it just means we have begun to tune him out. Y’all parents know.

But God has called into a different way of doing things. He wants us to do them His way. He wants us to be lead by the Spirit. Gal 5:22 love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

The Middle:

By the renewing of your mind...We have the devil on one shoulder and an Angel on the other. The Spirit and the flesh will always be at war. The devil on one side tries to get us to think like him and the Angel on the other side is doing the same. They are “reasoning” with us. Just like there is our old self warring with our new self.

We have to know whats between the two…the mind. That’s why the word tells us to renew our minds. (Romans 12:2) If the mind is not right…So all day, we are constantly working thru, how we used to handle stuff and how Christ wants us to handle stuff.

How we used to do stuff is not the way God wants me to do stuff. I used to want to cuss folks out. I used to want to get the last word. I used to want to always find the shortcut.

We are so conflicted. Lord I want to have faith but I am scared that it might not go right. We don't want to be truthful about some things cause we know from experience how people would look at us. But look at how the world looked at Christ! If they looked at Him like that, why do we think we cant bear them looking at us like that!?

Exegesis:

The Result:

Prove the will of God - Deut 4:5-6 “5 See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it. 6 Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.””

Are we the proof? God is asking us to prove what a husband should be by whats on your mind. Prove what a wife should be, what a son or daughter should be, Coworker, Pastor

Christ proved it when He got up! He carried His cross and we have to carry ours. He proved it again to Thomas