Do You Mind? Week 1

Tim Rivers | May 5, 2024

Listen

Transcription

What's up everybody? You glad to be here? I'm glad you're here. You look great.

If you're a guest with us, we want to say welcome to Embassy City Church. If you watching online, thank you so much for joining us. We pray that you are blessed today. Whatever you need from the Lord, we pray that you receive that. Today we're kicking off a new series. We're calling. Do you mind? And this is going to be a lot of fun as you can tell. I just want to calibrate this really quick for what's going to happen over the next several weeks. We're going to slow things down a bit and we're going to go deep. Is that all right? I got this chair up here and there's no guarantee I'll stay in the chair, but I got it up here just in case, but we're going to go deeper before we get into it. A couple of things I want to remind you of. Number one tonight is prayer night. Prayer night. Hey, if you are on the prayer team, would you stand in this place? If you're on the prayer team, would you stand? There you go. Can we give all of these amazing people a big hand?

Thank you so much for all you do. You may be seated. I just wanted to highlight the prayer team because they play such an important role in the life of our church. Not only do they pray up here after services, but if you send in a prayer request or you have an emergency prayer meeting or you need emergency prayer, you can send it in and these are the folks that get it and they start praying for you. So thank you so much for all you who are on the prayer team. And listen, if you're not serving anywhere and you have gifts and talents, which you do have gifts and talents, sign up to serve somewhere so we can see your gifts at work. Amen. Second thing, next week is Mother's Day. All the moms make some noise. As I like to say, we wouldn't be here without you literally. And we want to acknowledge you next week. Bring your moms, invite friends, invite your family. We're going to have a little something special for you to celebrate you, but make sure that you're here next week. Alright, y'all ready to get in this word? Alright. A little bit of calibration that I want to give you for this series is we're going to go into the subject of the mind. And for some of you,

You're not going to like it and for others you're going to love it. But the Lord gave me this content last year. It just wasn't the time to do it. So this year we're going to dig into it and it's going to make some of us uncomfortable and that's going to be all right. And I believe if you lean into this series, the Lord is going to really give you the freedom that you need because some of us has been living for church and living in church for a long time, but we're not free yet.

But during this series, I believe that God is going to give you freedom, not just in your body, in your soul, but in your mind and somebody say amen. Grab your bibles. We're going to Romans the 12th chapter, the book of Romans chapter 12. As you're turning, there's something else that we're going to do that is different than we normally do, is after every message I'm going to give you an opportunity to respond to what you've heard through worship. The worship team's going to come up here and oftentimes we can hear the word of God and because we're trying to beat people out of the parking lot, as soon as the worship team comes up, we out the door. And the problem with that is sometimes if you rush too quickly, you won't have time to ingest what you've heard. And so at the end of my message, the worship team's going to come up and they're going to give you an opportunity.

They're going to sing over you and you can respond in any way that you want. You can sit, you can stand, you can come to the altar, whatever it takes, but I want you to take those few minutes to ingest what you've heard. Is that all right? Alright, so Romans chapter 12, verse number one and two, here's what the Bible says. I appeal to you, therefore brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. I want to read verse number two again. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for your goodness and mercy. Thank you that we have this time to consider your word. I pray that you would change us from the inside out. I pray that you would calibrate us, give us ears to hear heart, to receive a mind, to understand what your word would say, and help us to lean into your word so that we may live in wholeness and in freedom, do what only you can do. We give your name, the praise, the glory, and the honor in Jesus name. And everybody say amen. Amen. One more time, put your hands together and give God some praise in this place. Isn't it interesting in church life that we tend to have a measurement to try to find out somebody's spirituality? We love to find out how spiritual somebody is or how discipled somebody is. And so we ask them particular questions that often are, do you questions? We'll say stuff like, do you pray or do you fast or do you give or do you serve or do you love your neighbor? Or do you read your Bible? And we tend to emphasize things like prayer, fasting, giving, loving your neighbor because we can measure it externally.

Do you pray? Well, how long do you pray? Oh, they pray an hour a day, they spiritual or do you give? Well, you can measure it with how much you give. Do you fast? Well, how long do you fast? And the thing is we love to in the church, look at all these factors and lemme tell you they're all biblical and they will strengthen you. But when was the last time somebody came up to you and just asked you how your mind was doing? When was the last time somebody in the process of asking, do you pray? Do you fast? How many have had somebody come up and say, do you mind? How is your mind? Here's the thing, the mind is mentioned in the Bible, 148 times, 83 times in the New Testament. How is this mentioned so often in the Bible and yet we don't talk about it? Here's what I can tell you. You can have a great fasting regimen, but if you have a wart mind, all you're doing is starving yourself. You can pray until you're blue in the face, but if your thoughts ain't right, you're just having a monologue.

You can give every penny that you have. But if your thinking is not straight, you're just giving to charity. So I want to address this topic. I want to lean into it because I think the mind is the topic that the church has glossed over oftentimes. And we like to church. We like to church things up, we like to christianese things. And when someone has an issue, we like to say stuff like, well just pray about it. Well, I'm here to say, don't just pray about it. You got to do something else with it. So I want to talk about it, I want to lean into it. I want to get deep into it. I want to shine some light on the importance that your mind plays in your Christian walk because for some of us, we've been around the church for years, but our mindset is still not right. And during the process of this series, we're going to get into specifics. We're going to talk about anxiety, depression, spiritual PTSD. We're going to talk about various topics that affect our mental state. And I'm going to share my testimony with you. And here's the thing, my testimony is not the quintessential God delivered me from drugs and a party lifestyle.

I grew up in church. I grew up sleeping under the pew. From all intents and purposes I was spiritual before I knew what spirituality was. You know what I'm saying? I was born knowing how to speak in tongues like, okay, but my mind needed to be recalibrated and my mind wasn't warped from the world. We're going to get into it. So I want to get into Romans chapter 12. And here's the thing. Just because I'm seated don't mean that you can't help me preach.

I want y'all to say amen. I want y'all to lean in because I'm going to preach and I'm trying to stay on this seat, but if it gets real good, I may have to get up. Y'all just bear with me, y'all All right? Alright. So we're going to go to Romans chapter 12 verse one, but I want to give you some context for Romans chapter 12 so that we know where Paul is coming from. So in Romans chapters one through 11, Paul is spending his time talking about the depravity of humanity. He talks about the grace of God. He talks about the gospel, he talks about the war between the flesh and the spirit. And he's talking about how we are saved, not by works, but we are saved by grace through faith. So he spends the first 11 chapters talking about how it's the grace of God that leads us to repentance. It's the grace of God in our lives that is causing us to experience salvation. So he does that from chapters one through 11, and then in chapters 12, he begins with the word. Therefore he says, I appeal to you therefore, now remember, anytime you see the word, therefore go back and see what it's therefore, therefore.

So chapter 12, verse number one, Paul is saying, because you've encountered the grace of God and because you've encountered the gospel and because you know that it's by grace through faith and because you know that depravity of humanity and the war between the flesh and the spirit because you are brought to that knowledge. Now, I want to tell you what to do with that. And he says in verse number two or verse number one of chapter 12, I appeal to you, therefore brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. So the call of all believers, according to Paul, he says, the call of all believers is to live our lives in such a way that we are living in total worship to God. The word bodies means the whole act of life, meaning that when you are called to be a Christian, your active life is lived, that you show forth the worth of God in everything that you do. We like to think about worship in terms of everything external, what we just did a few minutes ago. We jump, we shout, we clap our hands, we run the aisles depending on what church you grew up in, but we think of worship as this external act. But we got to figure out how do you worship when you're at your job and you're putting in data?

How do you worship when you're at home sitting on the couch watching tv? How do you worship when you're signing off on a big deal? Is your life lived in total worship and everything that you do? Because Paul says the call of every Christian, it's to live in such a way that are bodies are active, lives are lived in total surrender and worship to God in everything that we do. But he doesn't tell us that this is simply changing our behavior. Often we think of worship as a display that something that you can see. But Paul gives us the recipe in verse number two. Look at Romans chapter 12 verse number two. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

So for the next few moments I want to teach and my subject for today is reset your mindset. Reset your mindset. And I want to use this passage and I want to teach you how to reset your mindset. The first, and we're going to do it with three questions. The first question is, what does it mean to reset your mindset? Paul says, we ought to be transformed and not conformed. Paul uses two words that appear similar, but they're different. He used the word conform and transform. The word conform literally means to be or become behaviorally or socially similar to conceived of as being or becoming shaped or molded by a certain pattern. Conformity is simply behavior modification. Conformity is just you molding to the pattern or shape that is the strongest at the time. And for many of us, we've come into the church and we've been conformed but not transformed. All right, y'all need an example. So here in my hand, I got some Play-Doh. All of us come into the world like this, like Plato, we have the ability to be shaped and formed. And what heads up happening for a lot of us is we come into the church and we're pliable, we're moldable, and somebody says, Hey, this is what Christianity looks like.

And you get stuffed into a mold of what it looks like to be a Christian. And we get some trimming, we get some pressure, and then we come out and we look like a Christian and we're molded. This is a rabbit. It is gone through some stuff. As a Christian, you're going to go through some stuff. Now the thing is this has taken on the shape of the mold. It has been conformed to the shape of a rabbit that the problem is, even though it's the shape of a rabbit, it's not a rabbit. You know why? Because the insides haven't changed. It looks like a rabbit. It acts like a rabbit. It does all the right things. It looks like, right, but it isn't right. Yes. And how many of us are simply conformed Christians? We look like Christians. We act like Christians, we say the right things. We don't go to the wrong places, but inside we have never transformed. Here's what John Piper says, we are perfectly useless as Christians if all we do is conform to the world around us. Think about this. Paul doesn't even attach conformity to Christianity. Think about this passage here. Paul says, I beseech you, therefore, by the mercy of God to present your bodies a living c, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship, do not be conformed to this world. He doesn't even say Don't be conformed to the church.

He doesn't say Don't be conformed to Christianity. Why would he not say that? Because that would seem like the right thing to say is because it is impossible to simply conform to Christianity. Behavior modification doesn't make you a Christian behavior modification just because you don't get drunk no more. Just because you ain't sleeping around no more doesn't make you a Christian. It is impossible to be a Christian without transformation. You can't simply follow a new set of rules. Too many preach a gospel of conformity that if you would just follow exchange this list for this list, now you're a Christian. Paul says, that ain't going to work because at the end of the day, you're still Plato. And when you're Plato and you've just been conformed, all it takes is another mold that's stronger than the mold that you just had and now you're shaped into something else. That's why there's some people, they can't hold the shape of Christianity. Why? Because they're just being molded from one thing to the next. Whatever's strongest in their life is shaping them. So Paul tells us that conformity is not the way to present your bodies as a living sacrifice wholly and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

He says, you must be transformed. Now, notice that both the word conform and transform have the word form in them because both words allude to the idea of formation, meaning to take shape. Can I tell you, spoiler alert, you're going to be shaped. You're going to be formed. You have no choice in the matter. You as a human, you come into the world ready to be shaped. You will be formed. The question is, are you conformed or transformed?

The difference between the two is that conformity being conformed only happens on the outside and is not worried about what happens intrinsically. Transformation is worried about what's happening inside and it will manifest itself externally. Here's the thing, the word transform is used twice in the New Testament, only twice in the New Testament. Once in Romans chapter 12, which we just read, and then in another instance in Matthew Martin Luther synoptic gospel. It's a different word, but it has the exact same meaning and it's the word transfigure. So the word that Paul uses for transform is the word that Matthew, mark, and Luke used when Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James and John. Now this is very important. This is theologically sound. It means then that when Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James and John, he was transformed in front of them to show them externally what was true internally. When Jesus was transformed or transfigured before the disciples, he was showing the disciples who he truly was on the inside, which was divinely God. Some people couldn't handle it. The word transformed is the Greek word metamorpho, which is where we get the word metamorphosis. It means to be or become changed in outward appearance or expression as manifesting change in nature or essence. When Christ was transfigured before the disciples, it was a powerful expression of who he truly was.

Transformation doesn't begin externally. It begins internally. The word metamorphosis. For most of us, we've been taught about metamorphosis. Using the example of a caterpillar, you see a little caterpillar and then it goes through metamorphosis and becomes a butterfly. Now here's the unique thing and interesting part about a caterpillar. Did you know that a caterpillar does not change form in your presence? You don't see a caterpillar become a butterfly. You know how a caterpillar goes through metamorphosis, goes through transformation. It does it in the safety of a cocoon, meaning that while you're not watching and it's none of your business, the caterpillar is taking shape. And once it has meta gone through metamorphosis, and once it's transformed in the secret place of the cocoon and it goes through the maturing process, that's when you get to see it externally become a butterfly. So many of us are trying to shape caterpillars into butterflies without putting them into a cocoon first. If you try to turn a caterpillar into a butterfly, all you're going to do is destroy it.

Paul is teaching us that living a life of total dedication to God comes from not from following a checklist. He's not saying, Hey, change your outward appearance. Do this, do that. No wonder so many of us go through the motions of Christianity, follow all the rules, go through all the motions, and not truly be changed. Be in church for 30 years. Go to church every Sunday, speak in tongues every day, but still mean spirited. Could it be that you've only been conformed and not transformed? Here's one of the hard parts about people who've been conformed. They look right till they reveal insides. So what does it mean to reset your mindset? You must be transformed and not conformed. Then the question becomes, well, how are you transformed and not conformed? This is the second part. You do it by the renewal of your mind. This is the second part of the sentence in Romans chapter 12 verse two, where Paul says, be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. Now, I want you to notice something Paul didn't tell us that transformation happens by replacing bad behaviors with good behaviors.

Paul doesn't say be transformed, not conformed. Now, here's a checklist of what you should be doing, but for many of us, we've been taught a gospel of external conformity

That worship is only an outward expression. But you have to remember Paul's audience. Paul is writing to Jews who understand very well that there are 613 commandments in the Jewish practice, and those are to be obeyed, to be more perfect. So the Pharisees for instance, they prided themselves on the fact that they understood all 613 laws and they followed it to the T. And so Paul is not talking to an audience that doesn't know how to conform. He's talking to an audience that are the experts at conformity. They look right, they act right, they understand religion really well. They practice religion. So Paul is not saying, Hey, exchange this religion for this religion. No, Paul says, the only way that you are going to have lasting change in your life is you must be transformed in your mind mind. Paul is not advocating for an exchange of one to-do list for another. He's not saying switch from immoral behavior to moral behaviors. Now here's the thing, when you become transformed, you will switch. But if you try to switch before you transformed, you're going to find sneaky ways to keep doing so now instead of going to that same spot openly, now you're wearing a mask

Because you're afraid of covid, but that's your sneaky way of trying to get to the same spots. Yeah. Some of y'all like, oh,

Paul says The way to be transformed is by experiencing a renewal of the mind. Here's what the mind means. The mind is a mental attitude. It's beliefs, feelings, values, dispositions to act in a certain way. Now, this leads me to another question. If Paul is teaching us that in order to be transformed and not conformed, it happens through the renewal of the mind, we have to ask the question, what is the problem with our mind? You mean after I've encountered the gospel? Because remember chapters one through 11, he's talking about the gospel. He's talking about grace. So he's talking to people that you know about grace. You know about the gospel. You know about your own human depravity. You've accepted the fact that is by grace through faith. He's already talked about all of that. You've already encountered the gospel. You've already encountered grace. You already know what it means to live in the tension between the flesh and the spirit. Even after that, Paul says, you still got to be transformed by the renewal of your mind. Can I tell you, you can come in church, you can be in church for a long time, but if your mind isn't transformed,

You'll keep repeating bad behaviors and wondering why you still do.

So what's up with our mind? What is the problem with our mind? Look at Ephesians chapter four, verse number 20. This is what Paul says, but that is not the way you learn Christ, assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him as the truth is in Jesus to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires. Look at verse number 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds and to put on the new self created after likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. This is very interesting because Paul here is delving into something that we hardly ever talk about. He says, you are to be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Now let's dig a little deeper. Verse number 23. That word spirit means inclination is the Greek word pneuma.

A person's emotional dispositions considered collectively and understood by the seed of the emotional faculties, the soul, especially as positively or negatively disposed toward God. Now, Paul says that you have a spirit and inclination and you must be renewed in your inclination of your mind. The mind. We already explained what that is. It is to which it is that which is responsible for one's thoughts and feelings. So what Paul is saying is that your minds have a spirit or an influence, and this is what we call a mind set. Have you ever thought about the fact that your mind has a mindset that your mind has a influence, that your mind has a bent and has a viewpoint and has a perception that is intangible? Our mind is influenced and directed by a mindset. Most of our behaviors, our actions, our reactions are spontaneous. We don't really think about why we do the things that we do in the moment that we do them. In other words, somebody you're driving down the highway, someone cuts you off the way you react, conviction's all in the house right now on your way to church. The way you react in the moment

Is influenced by your mindset. Your mindset is responsible for your impulses, for your reactions. Our minds are controlled by influence that is not tangible. Our minds have a bent and has a viewpoint. In other words, can I say this? Your mind is not just the physical brain. If your mind was simply just a muscle that could be fixed by having brain surgery, the best thing we could do is hire a full-time brain surgeon and every time somebody gave their life to Christ, you going under the knife. We'll just repair some of those wires, disconnect some stuff, and next thing you know, you're thinking, right? Your brain, your mind is not just a physical muscle, but your mind is controlled by a mindset, and your mindset is influenced by nurture, by nature, by observation, by what you learned, by what you experienced. So the question is who's influencing your mind to do the things that you do? A mindset is a habitual or characteristic mental attitude that determines how you will interpret and respond to situations. This is why so many of us can be saved for years, but still react out of anger because we've never dealt with our mindset. And so what ends up happening is we keep reacting this way. We act out in anger, we act out in jealousy, we respond in pride, we do this, and then we end up going to the altar asking God, God, fix my anger issue, God, fix my pride issue, God fix my jealousy. And God is saying, listen, you are coming to me with fruits.

The root of the problem is you've never dealt with the mindset. You've never dealt with what's influencing you to think that way and respond that way. So you have patterns and ways of thinking that are influenced by your mindset, which was influenced by things, people, places, experiences. And because you will not confront the thing that's influencing your mindset, you can't get victory. You can't be truly transformed what or who is influencing your mind. Have you ever thought about that? Have you ever just stopped after you've responded a certain way and asked yourself, not what I did, but what influenced my thinking to respond this way? You're not just an angry person. What is influencing your reaction of anger? You're not just a lustful man. What is influencing your thought process to cause you lust? You don't just snap at the kids. What is influencing? What is the mindset that is influencing you to respond that way? Because most of your behavior is automatic. So when you see that certain person and you respond that way, have you ever thought not about the response, but what's influenced the response? Romans chapter one, verse number 28. Here's the thing about Paul. When Paul is talking about in chapters 12 about being transformed by the renewal of mind, he's already given us insight into the human mind. In chapters one verse 28, Paul opens up Romans chapter one by telling us the condition, the unregenerated condition of the mind is a base. It's hostile toward God and wants to spend more time thinking about itself and very little time thinking about God. Would anybody admit you could be in church for 20, 30 years and still struggle with your devotions?

We got about three honest people in this house. Have you ever wondered why it is that when the Lord asks us to respond in a certain way, we become indignant about it even though he's not forcing us to do it? When the word of God says, be holy for I'm holy. If your response is why no one's going to make you be holy. But have you ever thought about why you think and why you respond in indignation toward a request from the God who has saved you is because your mind naturally, the sinful unregenerated mind loves to think about yourself and not about God. That's why I think it's so hilarious about this whole attitude, this whole mindset of self love. Isn't it interesting that self-love is pointing attention to you thinking more about yourself? It's you thinking about yourself to think more about yourself. Can I just say this? You don't need help thinking about yourself more. You already think about yourself a lot. Now, listen, spoil yourself. Go take yourself to dinner. Go take yourself to the spa, get your nails done, get your hair done. Go ahead, do nice things for yourself. But here's the thing, how much are you thinking about God?

Because for many of us even here today, how many of us are here in the house of God watching online, but thinking about bills or thinking about what we got to get done this week? And lemme tell you something, when you come from a background and being conditioned to be in church, you know how to respond automatically without even having your mind present. That's right. You better preach. Say that. Ooh, that's a cool outfit. You better go. Let me tell you something. A lot of times we become professional performers where we can externally respond to things without internally being present. And this is why God says, give me your body. Yes, but you can't give me your body without give me your mind.

Our minds are not by nature, God worshiping minds. They are by nature self worshiping minds. Isn't this what happened with Adam and Eve? Think about the process. What led Eve to physically grab the apple? It started in the mind. This is why when Satan attacks or attempts eve, what does he do? He injects thoughts. Did God actually say, well, did God actually say and now she's processing in her mind? Well, the fruit does look good. It does desire to make one wise. It looks like it's good to eat because her mind wasn't transformed.

This is the way Satan gets us to trip up. He hits us with thoughts. First considerations. Think about that. So the only way to reset your mindset and the influences of the mind Paul says is to be renewed in the mind. Can I tell you that in order to renew your mindset, you must confront what has shaped your mindset.

Somebody said Yes. In order to renew or reset your mindset, you have to confront what has shaped your mindset. To renew means to be or become reestablished in a like new or often improved manner. Theology teaches us that we have to have a renewed mind. That's a fact. But sometimes you need help to identify what's causing your mindset in the beginning. This is where therapy can come in. Can I tell you something? I didn't do therapy for years, mostly because what I was taught about therapy. Now lemme tell you, there's some weirdos out there. Don't lay on no couch without doing some background check, right? But there came a point in my life where I was like, God, I'm showing up on Sunday. I'm going through the motions. I know I'm saved, but why do I keep doing some of these bad things or some of these misbehaviors? If all I had to do is pray about it, then why ain't this changing?

I had to go back and check what was influencing my mind to think the way I was thinking. And some of us in this place, we have been in church a long time, but the reason why we have not truly been set free from some of the mind things, the mindsets that we have is because we've not been willing to confront why we think the way that we think. Stop protecting the people that have influenced your mindset and caused you to walk with a spiritual and mental lip. I'm going to say it again. Stop protecting the people who have caused you to have a mindset that's causing you to walk with a spiritual and mental limp. You can be healed, but you got to confront what is affecting your mindset. Paul says, you must be renewed in your mind. Here, I want to give you three steps of how to renew your mind if you're taking notes. Number one is you have to identify your mindset. You have to learn how to capture your thoughts When you react a certain way or you get pulled into a toxic behavior, have you asked yourself the question not, oh man, I did this. Have you asked yourself the question? Why did I do that?

What has influenced my thought to make this an automatic reaction? If I'm going to be renewed in my mind, I have to confront the fact that I have a warped mindset. I'm going to talk about spiritual PTSD in a couple of weeks and I'm going to talk about how some of our mindsets are formed in a toxic church environment. So then when you get into a different environment and the preacher says certain things, you react a certain way and it's not because you're bad, it's because you were under leadership of a hiring who influenced your mindset so much so that you have certain responses to the word of God because somebody has influenced your mindset to think that's toxic. The last time I listened to that, that hurt me, and I apologize on behalf of anyone who has used the pulpit or the Bible to influence your mindset to go in the wrong direction. But I'm telling you, you got to confront it. I don't want to bring this honor to the man of God. Could it be that he wasn't a man of God? Well, I was there for 20 years and my life changed. That was God.

God changed your life.

God changed your life. Now, does God use men and women? Absolutely emphasis men and women. I'm not God. I'm fallible. I make mistakes. I say the wrong things. I'm in therapy and I'm okay with that because what I want to demonstrate to you is that I'm a pastor who loves God, who loves his people, who loves doing what I do. And I grew up for a portion of my life in a toxic church.

Did God do some amazing things in my life? Absolutely. But was the person, the pastor flawed? Absolutely. And I'm going to talk about it, but I want to bring this out in the open because I want you to know you got to identify your mindset because if you keep protecting and you keep covering, it's just affecting you. Theology tells us you got to be renewed in your mind, but sometimes you need some professional help to help you identify the patterns, to have someone ask you the right questions. Now, lemme tell you, therapy looks different. There are all types of different therapies. There's professional therapy and then there's just, Hey, finding somebody that walks with the Lord and having therapy with them. Don't let them diagnose you and give you prescriptions. But there are some people who are mature in their faith that know your history that can be like, oh man, I'm glad you said something, bro, your mom is crazy, doc. Hey, you think it's normal? That is not normal. Sometimes you just need to identify. Sometimes you need, next time you react in a toxic way, just find somebody that loves you and trusts you and be like, Hey, I know I react this way. I know it's bad behavior. I'm giving you permission. What do you think has influenced my thoughts to do that? They may be like, oh, I'm so glad you said that.

I kept thinking, God, open the door, bro. You keep hanging around pooky and Pooky ain't good for you. Well, I love Pooky. I grew up with Pooky. Yeah, but every time pookie's in trouble, they come to you and they get your mind thinking the wrong way. I'm telling you, there's so much that I can unpack. I'm always going to preach the word of God, and if you respond in a certain way, and it's not for me, it's from the word of God. You got to ask, why is your mindset like that? Why do you react this way toward just the simple words of God? When God says He wants your time, treasure, and talent, why do you respond with a reflex?

Am I in the word?

Giving is one of the biggest things that test mindset. See how quiet it's Scott, the Bible says to where your treasure is, dear shall your heart be. Also, isn't it interesting that in certain church environments you can just say that scripture and people get tense? Have you ever asked yourself, why

Could it be that you were in a church where you gave and there were scrupulous with the money or they abuse you in everything that is confronting you and you react a certain way that is negative? Ask yourself why. You must identify your mindset. That's number one. Number two is you must bring it into the light. This is where confession comes. Confession falls one to another that you may be healed. Some of us, there are areas in our life that are not healed because we have not confessed them. We've identified them, but we've not confessed them. For the longest time, I wouldn't say what I was dealing with when I was a teenager and I was dealing with pornography, I didn't want to say anything. I knew what was influenced in my mindset, but I didn't want to say anything because if I said something, they would sit me down worse, they may tell me I'm unqualified for ministry, so I was afraid to bring it to the light and it secretly was destroying me. But when you confess and you're bringing it to the light, your mind cannot be renewed in darkness. Your mind cannot be renewed in obscurity. You have to confess it. You have to tell somebody about it. And when you do that, it disarms the enemy because he will always think that he's got something in the secret. But when you come out with it, you say, listen, this is what I'm dealing with. This is what's affecting my mindset. Now you have accountability.

Now somebody can call you on it. Hey, remember what we talked about? You have accountability. Confession is number two, and here's number three. Get a God oriented mindset. How do you renew your mindset? How do you reset your mindset? You got to replace it with something because you're always going to think. You're always going to think. You're thinking your thoughts, your mind. It ain't going nowhere. Even when you die, you still have a mind. Have you ever thought about that? It's interesting, isn't it? I'm going to have to study that out now, but you have a mind. You're always going to think. The question is what are you thinking

And the way to have a God oriented mindset? Really two ways. The Bible, holy Spirit, listen. If you want to reset your mindset, it comes from new influences because remember, a mindset is based on influence. So you have to replace whatever toxic influence that you have with good influence. And if you're going to get from a flesh oriented me oriented mindset to a God oriented mindset, you got to figure out what he's saying. And one of the best ways that you can reorient your mind to have God oriented thoughts is through his word. Just read the Bible. Why? Because they are his words. See, if I want to know how to walk in the truth, I need to get in the truth. But it's not just about reading the scriptures, but engage the Holy Spirit. The Bible says that we come into salvation, that we're given the gift of the Holy Spirit. Why? Because the Holy Spirit influences us, and too often we can look at other influences when we have access to the influence of the Holy Spirit to lead us in our mindset toward God. What if you spent as much time being influenced by the Bible and scripture as you do social media?

I'm all in the Kool-Aid today. Some of us are looking at outfits of the day. What if you looked at the influence of the Holy Spirit for the day? What if you just replaced some of that time? I'm not saying you got to be a hermit and disappear and become a monk, but your life is to be lived in total worship to God. Everything you do is to show the worth of God. What are you thinking about? More importantly, what is influencing your thinking? I've got so many scriptures that I can tell you. Colossians three, two, set your minds on things that are above one Peter one 13. Therefore, prepare your mind for action. Philippians two, five, have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. Romans eight, six. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace. Can I tell you true transformation only comes from renewing your mind.

Here's the last point. Why is this important? Paul, you've told us what, which is we ought to be transformed and not conformed. You've told us how by the renewal of our mind, but why is to discern the will of God? Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. That word discern means to approve. It means to judge, to be right or commendable. It means to think well of, and the word will is inclination. So literally Paul is saying the reason why you need to have a transformation and a renewal of your mind is so that you can discern that you can approve, that you can think well of the inclination of the will of God. Isn't it amazing how many of us have spent so much time in church and still can't tell the will of God? We still can't discern what is the influence of God in every situation we're calling somebody else. Hey, can you ask God what his will is for my life? Could it be that the only reason why you can't discern the will of God in your life is because you haven't allowed God to get in your mindset and reorient your thinking to the point that you can rightly divide the word of truth and understand what the will of God is for your life. Paul says, if you want to know the will of God, get your mind right.

Reset your mindset. If your mindset is warped, you will never be able to tell what is the will of God. I'm going to start using that as a prescription.

Folks are like, Hey,

It's the fifth time you've come and asked me the will of God Should you marry this person? If you're coming for the fifth or sixth time being, I conform to this world by, but if you want to know the will of God, the inclination of God, what is God inclined to? What is the inclination of God for your life? If you want to easily be able to discern, to understand, to walk in the will of God, you have to have a reset of your mindset. A reset mind is necessary to discern the will of God. If you don't transform your mind, if you don't mind your mind, you will always struggle to know the will of God for your life, and this is why there are certain people that are in a perpetual cycle of, I don't know what God wants. For me, it's been 20 years. Could it be that your mindset just needs a reset? I'm always shocked or maybe I'm not. When there are individuals that have great gifts and great callings that God wants to use mightily and God has a inclination for them, but they can't discern it, and in almost every situation and scenario, now y'all think about people right now,

Their mindset is just off. Their mindset is off. Their mindset about the kingdom is work. Now, here's the interesting part. You can be saved and still need a transformation of your mind. Now, I do believe that there are certain things. There's certain times, however, in the sovereignty of God, he may instantly change certain things in your life. I, my dad, he didn't have, no one told him anything. There were certain addictions that he had that when he got saved, boom, changed instantly. God can do that, but there are some things that go into the process of sanctification where it takes time. Identify, bring to the light, replace, identify, bring to the light, replace, and in the process of sanctification, you can reset your mindset so that you grow ever closer to the will of God in your life. Proverbs chapter four, verse number 23 says, keep your heart, which is the same word for mind with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. Your thoughts shape your worldview. Your worldview determines your actions. Your actions reveal your character and your character as a result of your thoughts. Your thoughts shape your worldview. Your worldview determines your actions. Your actions reveal your character and your character as a result of your thoughts.

Your character is who you are when nobody's looking your character, the true definition of character is who you are in your thought life. There were times in my life when somebody would say, man, you're a man of integrity, and I felt embarrassed and ashamed because I thought if you knew my thoughts, you would know that not to be true. Now, I believe in the grace of God. I believe in the covering of the Lord, but you know what God doesn't do? He doesn't just let you get away. When you have the opportunity to fix it, reset your mindset. Who's in charge of your thinking? Who or what is influencing your thought life? How is your mind doing? I'm so proud of you for being here. I'm proud of you for watching. I really am. Don't stop doing that, but as you're sitting here, as you're watching, have you pondered the question, where is my mind? My body is here, but where's my mind? Do you still struggle with toxic thinking, trauma-informed decision making behaviors and patterns that are opposed to how you want to live? God can heal your body, but he can also heal your mind, and when the body fades,

The mind will still be there, and the question is, is your mind in good health? If you want a healthy body, got to eat right? Exercise, get checkups. But how many of us are intentional about the health of our mind? Does your mind have good nutrition? Is it being exercised? Right? Are you identifying? Have you pulled a panel? Have you done some blood work on your mind? Is there mental cholesterol blocking your mental processes because you've been feeding on toxic foods? How's your mind? Do you mind if you would close your eyes, bow your heads. I don't just want to rush through the sermon and then us go home, but I want to give you an opportunity to respond to the Lord to really consider to meditate on what you've heard. So we're going to have a time of Sila pause and reflect, and I encourage you to posture yourself in the best way that you can receive. Some of you may want to come up here to the altar. That's fine. You can do so right now if you'd like. Some of you may want to sit, some of you may want to stand,

But I encourage you to really take this moment for the next couple minutes and consider what the word of God is highlighting for you.