CONNECTING MY MIND WITH MY LIFE PART 3

CONNECTING MY MIND WITH MY LIFE

HEY, WHY ISN’T THIS THING WORKING?

Have you ever gone to turn something on only to find that it is not working for some reason? So, you look around and try to figure out the problem, and eventually you discover that what you were turning on was not plugged in. Duh!! Your appliance was disconnected from its source of power. It kind of makes you feel like a dummy.

So, what is the real problem that many Christians actually have? The problem is that their life is not connected to God. He is the power source for their life, but their mind simply is not plugged into how He thinks. When something is disconnected, it means that it cannot work and that it can no longer function. The principle is simple - if your Christian life is disconnected from God and His Word, then it cannot work.

The sad problem is that so many Christians think that it can. They have very little time for God’s Word. They seem to have no idea as how to actually implement the Word of God into their life, so when something difficult and stressful comes along in their life, they have no idea what to do. The direction that God’s Word gave to them was simple and clear, but they just were not willing to trust Him. All they know how to do is worry, and honestly that is not to going to help.

YOU SILLY BOY!

Have you ever heard someone say “You silly boy”? Sure you have. What they are saying is that someone is trying to do something that makes no sense at all. It is just their way of being nice about a very stupid idea – “You silly boy”. I have always said that you can try all that you want, but you simply cannot fix stupid.

I want you to do something for me today. When you go home after church, I want you to unplug the lamps in your living room, and then turn them on to see how well they work. If I understand how all of this works, then there will be no light. Maybe you can go and throw the breakers to your stove and then try to cook something for lunch. Let me know how that turns out. Maybe you think that I am being silly, even stupid, but I am not being silly. This is real – claiming to be a Christian, but for all practical purposes being totally disconnected from God and His Word. You read His Word and you know what it says, but it just never sinks in as to what it really means for you personally. It is like you have no real motivation to obey what it says. If that describes your life, then you are saying that you believe in God, but living as if He does not exist. You must figure out what it is that practically connects your life to God. If you are paying attention, it has something to do with His Word and your mind, with His thinking and your thinking.

People say all the time that their life is connected to God, but then when you look at their life, nothing seems to be working the way God says it should work. They find themselves in some stressful situation and begin their Christian make-believe performance. Here is how it works. They say a little prayer and maybe even quote a verse or two, but nothing happens. They are bewildered, confused. They say, “Why isn’t God answering my prayer?” Well, the answer is because they have disconnected their mind from God’s Word and from how God thinks. It is as if they remember seeing the “Rabbit in the Hat Trick”

where someone magically pulls a rabbit out of a hat. They think that saying a little make-believe prayer and quoting some Bible verse they memorized in Vacation Bible School is going to work all of these stressful circumstances out for them, but it never does. Why? It is because that is not how God thinks and that is not how God works.

For many Christians, it seems that virtually anything can stress them out, make them have a bad day, disappoint them, disturb them, and eventually defeat them. Everything seems like a trial, an ordeal, a hardship, and a burden. They become anxious and fretful about everything. It makes them irritable, fussy. They get agitated and begin complaining. So, back to where we were last week and the point of this discussion – “What did Jesus say?” In John 14:1 He said “Do not let your heart be troubled”. In essence, He said “do not let your troubles trouble you”. If you can figure out what Jesus is saying, then you can get connected to His life – BUT YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE HIM. These are not make- believe words. These are words that specifically give you life and peace. This is exactly how Jesus would think, and that is exactly how you should think.

So, what would you think about James 1:2 which says,

Jas 1:2 (NKJV) My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,

Honestly, a verse like that seems like an oxymoron to most Christians! “God, you mean that you want me to be joyful when unpleasant things happen to me?” “Yes sir, yes mam. That is exactly what I want.” You cannot read that any other way, and if you do, it simply reveals that you are not willing to think like God thinks. It is like you really do not trust God with that part of your life. He says in James 1:3 that these “various trials” are a “testing of your faith” that “produces patience (endurance, perseverance)”. In James 1:4 he says that you are to “let patience have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing”. We never think like this – to “count it all joy when you fall into various trials”, BUT GOD DOES. So, if you want to truly enjoy the life that God has designed for you, then you have to change what and how you think to be in alignment with how He thinks.

There is a principle that we will study later that is so simple. It says that “God is enough”. When you are not enough, when life seems to be overwhelming you with its troubles, God is more than enough for whatever you are going through in your life. I wonder if you really believe that. I love how Jesus was teaching His disciples to trust Him and not to worry and He said this to them in Luke 12:22-24,

Lk 12:22 (NKJV) Then He said to His disciples, "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. 23 Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds?

I know this may seem awkward, but Jesus said that when you start to worry about something in your life to just look at the birds and how God takes care of them. He says that you are of “much more value” than the birds. So, while you are going through your trial, you may not think that God is more than enough – but He is. So, what is His message to you? It is simple – “do not let your heart be troubled”. He would not have said that if that is not what He wanted you to do. He says to you in very simple

words “I’ve got this. I am enough.” That is what and how God wants you to think. That is how He thinks and that is how He wants you to think. When you finally learn how to live by faith, it will be because you actually believe that God has everything under His control. Here is the reality of what Jesus was saying – “No matter what happens, you can trust Me.” If God does what you want Him to do, keep trusting Him. If God does not do what you want Him to do, keep trusting Him. 1 He is always trustworthy. That is how God wants you to think no matter what is happening in your life. The enemy will greatly distort everything that is happening to you and blow it completely out of proportion, but once you see life from God’s perspective, then everything looks okay.

NAKED SOLDIERS

What would you think if you were watching the news one evening and they were showing you some soldiers fighting in a war? However, when you looked closely and actually saw the soldiers, you saw the craziest thing ever – they were all naked and none of them had any weapons. That would be insane!

Well, I think of some Christians as being “naked soldiers”. Why would you be shocked if you saw some soldiers in a war zone, but they were all naked? Simple. It is because soldiers wear really important clothes and armor and have really good weapons to help protect them in the battle. It is more often than not the difference between life and death for them.

However, as a Christian, you have all of the spiritual armor described in Ephesians 6 to fight any battle that you may be facing, but you may never put God’s armor on. How smart is that? Unfortunately, you may have no idea how to actually use the “shield of faith” which is able to “quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one”. When attacked by the lies of the devil, you may not have a clue how to use the “sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God” as a weapon against his attack. You have not spent any meaningful time in God’s Word, so you have not “girded your waist with truth”. The result is that in your stressful, difficult moment, you simply do not know how to think like God thinks. You may continue to live in some silly little sin which means that you have discarded the “breastplate of righteousness”. If that describes your life, then you are like a “naked soldier”. You have nothing to fight with and nothing to protect you.

I love the word “overcomes” in the New Testament. 1 John 5:4-5 says,

1Jn 5:4 (NKJV) For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

The word “overcomes” is the Greek word “nikao” and it literally means to conquer, to prevail, to get the victory, to subdue.2Your life has been designed by God so that you can be an overcomer, so that you can prevail against all of the “fiery darts of the wicked one”, so that you can conquer impure thoughts, and so that you can discard all of the lies of the devil that are constantly assaulting your life. God has designed your life so that you can live above all of the negative circumstances that may be in your life. That is how God wants you to see your life. That is how He wants you to think. Your divinely

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1 Groeschel, Atheist, 158.

2 Zodhiates, nikao, 1011.

given spiritual DNA is that you have been spiritually designed by God to be an overcomer. Your victory comes from your faith in God. When something in your life threatens you in some way, how you react or respond to those events life will have an enormous impact on both your mental and physical health.3 So, here is the principle that I want you to remember. You cannot control all of the negative and undesirable circumstances of your life, but you can control how you respond to those events. Just think about Joseph and how he responded to his brothers when they went to Egypt for food. He said two of the most sovereign truths that I have ever read. In Genesis 45:5 he said,

Ge 45:5 (NKJV) But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.

In Genesis 50:20-21 he said the following,

Ge 50:20 (NKJV) But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. 21 Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones." And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

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This principle is one of the most amazing truths that you can ever learn and it has the power to change your life forever. This is how God has made you. He has given you the power to choose the right way to respond to anything that happens to you, but you are going to have to trust Him. God is going to command you to live by faith. I want you to look at Deuteronomy 30:19-20(a). These are words spoken to Israel, but they apply to you today because they talk about making the right choice.

Dt 30:19 (NKJV) I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; 20 that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days… "

As we continue in this study, I will do my best to convince you from Scripture that God promises to give you peace, joy, and life in the midst of your difficult circumstances when you choose to think like He thinks.

Romans 6:11 says,

Ro 6:11 (NKJV) Likewise you also, reckonyourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

What this verse says is that you simply do not have to live in sin. I hope that you could honestly say today “I am not living in any known sin. My life is fully submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.” I love the word “reckon” because it is a “mind” word. It is the Greek word “logizomai” and it means to put together in one’s mind, to occupy one’s mind with calculation, to reason, to think.4 In terms of what the title of this study is, you have to literally connect your mind with God’s truth. You have to take His

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3 Leaf, 20.

4 Zodhiates, logizomai, 922.

truth and literally put it into your mind. This is a great verse because it is clearly saying that you can figure out and accept what God has said about you as being true. You are “dead to sin, but alive to God”. Right now, you are alive to God. You can do what God wants you to do. When you do that, you will become spiritually compelled to live in the light of what you know to be true.5 This is something that you as a believer have to reason out, to think through, and to get clear in your mind. This reckoning is an activity that the Word of God calls on you to embrace and to implement into your life. There are truths that must be received into your heart and life, as well as truths that you are to become totally convinced of relative to their importance for your life. This is God compelling you to think like He thinks - and nothing less. This is your chance to become what God wants you to become.

You may know the truth of God’s word intellectually, but have yet to spiritually affirm and appropriate those truths into your life. Knowing what God says to do, but not doing it has no value for your life. Why would you ever think that? Unless the truth of God’s Word is appropriated by faith into your life, it simply remains dormant in its effect. It is asleep. It is not that God’s Word is ineffective or inactive, but rather that your response to it is ineffective and inactive. You must understand that God is not going to live the Christian life for you. He will help you, He will strengthen you, but you still have to choose to appropriate His truth into your life.

For instance, if God tells you to forgive someone who has hurt you, He is not going to do that for you. You have to do that. You have to believe that is exactly what God wants, and then you have to do it. You have to think. You have to “reckon” that what God said is exactly what He wants you to do in your life and then go do it. He does not give you another choice. He does not say to you “If you do not want to forgive that person, then that is perfectly okay with Me. No big deal!” It is a big deal. Every imperative command of God to you is a demand on your life. You have to take it seriously, or you will forever be complaining and whining about why life is so stressful to you. It is because you do not think like God thinks. He knows exactly what will bring you life and peace.

However, most Christians believe that they do think like God thinks, but in reality they do not. Their problem is that they are very familiar with the Scriptures, but familiarity has nothing to do with faith and obedience. With every great truth and principle of Scripture there is a corresponding responsibility for you as a believer. Truth creates responsibility. God’s truth always creates personal responsibility. That is an undeniable reality of Scripture. So, whatever God has declared in His Word must be taken and approached with the utmost gravity and seriousness. The staggering significance of truth should never be diminished by casual indifference or neglect – which is exactly what normally happens. The truth you read in God’s Word is never passive or inactive, so you cannot approach it passively. It does not give you that freedom. Hebrews 4:12 says that it is “living and powerful”. You have to let the truth deal with you. The truth makes demands and it creates tension in your life when it is not obeyed. God is not playing a game of spiritual make-believe. He is making very real demands on your life, and you have to recognize that spiritual reality. You have to connect your mind to His truth.

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5 MacDonald, 1702.

So what have we addressed today? What were the key points of this study today?

KEY PRINCIPLE 4: IF YOUR CHRISTIAN LIFE IS DISCONNECTED FROM GOD AND HIS WORD, THEN IT WILL NOT WORK.

Often times you say that you believe in God, but live as if He does not exist.

God is enough.

KEY PRINCIPLE 5: YOU CANNOT CONTROL ALL OF THE NEGATIVE AND UNDESIRABLE CIRCUMSTANCES OF YOUR LIFE, BUT YOU CAN CONTROL HOW YOU RESPOND TO THEM.

Knowing what God says to do, but not doing it has no value for your life.

Truth creates responsibility.

KEY PRINCIPLE 6: YOU HAVE TO LET THE TRUTH DEAL WITH YOU AND CREATE GODLY TENSION IN YOUR LIFE WHEN IT IS NOT OBEYED.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Groeschel, Craig. The Christian Atheist. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2010. Leaf, Dr. Caroline. Switch On Your Brain. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 2013.

MacDonald, William. Believer's Bible Commenary. Edited by Art Farstad. Nashville, Tennessee: Nelson Publishers, 1989.

Zodhiates, Spiros. The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament. Revised Edition, 1993. Chattanooga, Tennessee: AMG Publishers, 1992.