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Sunday, January 10, 2010

What are You Thinking?

(Romans 12:1-2) "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies as 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." Have you heard the old adage, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste"? That's a very true statement. It's very important that we dedicate our reasoning faculties to the Lord. That's why it says in Romans 12:2 to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. There are a number of ways in which one can waste their mind. One way to waste one's mind is to allow it to be idle and that is an open-door invitation for the Devil to come in and control it. Another way to waste one's mind is to allow our minds to be fixated upon things which are evil, carnal, fleshly, not expedient, etc. The Bible informs us we are to "gird up the loins of our mind." The Devil is out to destroy us. One of the ways he intends to destroy man is by infiltrating man's mind. Of course that's easy to do in today's society when you consider all the devices there are to distract man. In today's society, there's much filth out there that can easily infiltrate the mind of man. There's all kinds of filth such as pornography, wicked entertainment, and the list continues. There's much evil in which the mind of man has the "opportunity" to feast upon. We have to watch what we allow ourselves to think.

A follow-up verse for what I just said is found in I Thessalonians 4:1-7. It says, "FURTHERMORE then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us, how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more. For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor; Not in the lust of concupiscence, given as the Gentiles which know not God: That no man should go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified. For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness." The word "concupiscence" means worldly, carnal things. We are not to allow the lusts of the flesh to dominate us. These verses tell us that we have a responsibility to abstain from fornication as well as we should possess our vessel in sanctification and honor. How do we do that? We must watch what we allowed our minds to feast upon. We've heard the old saying, "You are what you think." If you perceive yourself as a failure, then you will be a failure. If you spend all your time contemplating on carnal things, then you'll be carnal. We have a responsibility to discipline our minds and focus them on constructive and Heavenly things. We are not to allow our minds to think upon things that are evil, fleshly, and carnal.

How can we control what we allow our minds to think upon? We do so by what we allow to enter our minds. That means we need to be cautious what we allow our eyes to focus on. It's through the eyegate that what we see will enter our minds and if we ponder on what's in our mind, then it will go to the heart and then eventually if not dealt with it will affect our members. The next step will be committing the act. There are some things we shouldn't be gazing our eyes upon. Most of the entertainment that comes across the television screen today is evil and filthy. We don't need to be watching programs which can plant evil thoughts in our mind. We live in a generation that's accustomed to watching violence on television. Children today are not surprised by all the violence that takes place due to what they see with their eyes on television or the internet. You wonder why there are so many school shootings that take place. I would say much of it is due to what children view on television. Many studies have confirmed that. Many children act out what they see on television. I heard about a situation a few decades ago about a boy or girl trying to fly out of their window due to watching Superman on television years ago. Even though that show may be innocent compared to what's on television today, children back then were introduced to fictitious superheroes on television and they thought they would act out what they saw on their television screens. They would think the powers that these superheroes had were real but in actuality they're just actors acting out the part and the producers used props to make it appear to be real. We are mesmerized by what we see on television. There's so much ledwness that's shown on television and the internet through the guise of pornography and much of our music videos today. Many of the women that perform in these music videos wear low cut blouses and short skirts. There's much for the eyes to gaze upon which aren't healthy.

One of the tragedies of today's generations is that we are an entertainment-crazed generation. We love to be entertained. Not only that but there's all kinds of sensuality that's accessible for viewers to watch today. There aren't many people that will focus their minds to studying, thinking, musing, etc. Instead, we allow Hollywood and the news media to amuse and entertain us. We allow them to think for us. You don't find much geniune critical thinking anymore. There's all kinds of good, wholesome books people can read today. However, we would rather turn on the television or hook up to the internet to be entertained instead of using our mind for something constructive. I knew of a number of people that used to love to fill out challenging crossword puzzles in the past. It challenges the brain to think. Today, there aren't as many people that like to challenge their brains. People would rather be mesmerized by what they see in today's society instead of reading God's word to see what God has to say about all the filth in today's society.

There are a number of constructive things we can do when it comes to helping our minds. We must be willing to discipline our minds and allow it to be challenged by God's word as well as by good reading literature and the academics. There are a host of things Christians can do which will benefit the mind. There are various games and activities that we can participate in which will engage the mind. The most important thing of all is to read and memorize scripture. We need to immerse ourselves in the Word of God. We need to allow the Spirit of God to work in and through us. The word of God will place us on solid footing. It's through the Word of God that we can pull down the strongholds. It's through the word that we can have a sound mind. The Bible says to allow the mind of Christ to be in us. If we spend time memorizing and meditating upon scripture, it will help us to seize control of our carnal minds. It's imperative that we know the Bible. The Devil is out to seize the mind of man and destroy him. The word give us the opportunity to resist the Devil. We are to resist the Devil through scripture.

All Christians have to battle with their minds. I have to battle with my mind. It's a struggle every single day. We must watch what we allow ourselves to listen to as well as what we view with our eyes. However, it's through the Word of God we can have victory. I will close with a scripture in Philippians that we need to meditate upon. Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virture, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

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