Peace Through Mind Renewal
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 6 viewsNotes
Transcript
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. 9 The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
1) If we are to conquer worry and experience the secure mind, we must walk this scripture out. There are three:
right praying (Phil. 4:6–7),
right thinking (Phil. 4:8),
and right living (Phil. 4:9).
Prayer
Worry and prayer cannot coexist.[1]
The word prayer is the general word for making requests known to the Lord. It carries the idea of adoration, devotion, and worship. Whenever we find ourselves worrying, our first action ought to be to get alone with God and worship Him[1]
The second is supplication, an earnest sharing of our needs and problems[2]
After adoration and supplication comes appreciation, giving thanks to God. Certainly the Father enjoys hearing His children say, “Thank You!”
2)
4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, 6 and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.
Strongholds are huge walled cities or castles. Its a trusted hiding place and a safe shelter for the inhabitants of that place. In this context it speaks of our thought life.
That there are patterns of thinking that we find ourselves in that comes against the knowledge of Christ. They are fortified safe places that we allow to be built by the enemy of our souls the devil. Some of these stronghold areas become places we begin to put our faith in. We believe lies like
I’m not worthy for God to use me.
God is not concerned about my well being.
God is not care about the bills I have coming.
Everyone is against me. I’m unlovable.
I’m ugly and no one wants to be my friend.
I’m not worth anything so I’ll just end my life.
Fear of Death.
The list is endless.
These become places that we begin to put our trust in.
22 A wise man scales the city of the mighty And brings down the stronghold in which they trust.
It’s always a trust issue.
God is all about trust! Why because He is trustworthy. Its central to our relationship with Him.
Worry, fear, and anxiety is a trust issue.
Jesus didn’t care the rich young ruler had money or not. The issue was that this guy trusted in his riches. It wasn’t the amount of money that he had. Having lots of money isn’t a problem with God.
Or what do we turn to when we are in trouble is what we are trusting in. They begin to reach for:
Money
Drugs and Alcohol
Other people
The strength of the flesh
Choosing comfort or provision over faith in God.
One of the worst strongholds are those that we think are light but reality they are darkness. If the light that is in you is darkness how great is that darkness.. Apostle Paul was killing Christians before he was converted. He thought he was doing the right thing.
There is a difference between believing in God vs a lifestyle that says we are depending on God. There is a difference between acknowledging the truth vs relying on the truth. Anything that contradicts the word of God in our thought life is a stronghold were the enemy has a foothold.
3)
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
Conformation comes from the outside. Outward worldly distractions.
there's nothing as powerful
as a changed mind
you can change your hair your clothing your
spouse your residence but if you don't
change your mind the same experience will perpetuate
itself over and over again because
everything outwardly changed but nothing
inwardly change
4)
Right Thinking
8 Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.
Peace involves the heart and the mind.“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee” (Isa. 26:3).
Wrong thinking leads to wrong feeling, and before long the heart and mind are pulled apart and we are strangled by worry. We must realize that thoughts are real and powerful, even though they cannot be seen, weighed, or measured. We must bring “into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” 2 Cor. 10:5
1. Whatever is true. Dr. Walter Cavert reported a survey on worry that indicated that only 8 percent of the things people worried about were legitimate matters of concern! The other 92 percent were either imaginary, never happened, or involved matters over which the people had no control anyway. Satan is the liar (John 8:44), and he wants to corrupt our minds with his lies (2 Cor. 11:3). “Yea, hath God said?” is the way he approaches us, just as he approached Eve (Gen. 3:1ff).
The Holy Spirit controls our minds through truth (John 17:17
; 1 John 5:6), but the devil tries to control them through lies. Whenever we believe a lie, Satan takes over
2. Whatever is honest and just. This means “worthy of respect and right.” There are many things that are not respectable, and Christians should not think about these things. This does not mean we hide our heads in the sand and avoid what is unpleasant and displeasing, but it does mean we do not focus our attention on dishonorable things and permit them to control our thoughts
3.Whatever is pure, lovely, and of good report. “Pure” probably refers to moral purity, since the people then, as now, were constantly attacked by temptations to sexual impurity (Eph. 4:17–24
; 5:8–12
). “Lovely” means “beautiful, attractive.” “Of good report” means “worth talking about, appealing.” The believer must major on the high and noble thoughts, not the base thoughts of this corrupt world.[4]
4. Whatever is pure, lovely, and of good report. “Pure” probably refers to moral purity, since the people then, as now, were constantly attacked by temptations to sexual impurity (Eph. 4:17–24
; 5:8–12
). “Lovely” means “beautiful, attractive.” “Of good report” means “worth talking about, appealing.” The believer must major on the high and noble thoughts, not the base thoughts of this corrupt world.[5]
5. Whatever possesses virtue and praise. If it has virtue, it will motivate us to do better; and if it has praise, it is worth commending to others. No Christian can afford to waste “mind power” on thoughts that tear him down or that would tear others down if these thoughts were shared.
Right Living (Phil. 4:9)