You Are What You Think

THE MIND OF CHRIST

" For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ." 1 Corinthians 1: 16

Born-again believers have the mind of Christ! I've been taught this for years but never could figure out exactly what it meant. My mind certainly doesn't always think God things—far from it. So how can it be I have the mind of Christ when all these thoughts of anger, especially road rage, jealousy, envy, countless others I'm sure you are familiar with because we are all human. Human thoughts are not generated from the mind of Christ. They come from us and what we have downloaded into them over the years. Our mind is kind of like a computer, holding all sorts of thoughts, memories, motives, attitudes, and intentions. What we do with them is another lesson.

How do we think with the mind of Christ? Well, this is as old as time! An example is Elijah. In 1 Kings 18, he has just defeated all the false prophets of Baal, called down fire from heaven and proved God to be the One true living God. Now in Chapter 19 he's in a cave hiding, fearful for his life. He was in a cave on Mt Horeb. (Horeb means desolate, parched or dry). He came to a dry place. In a cave. Isolated, separated, alone with God. And God asked him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" It goes on to say that "a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the Lord but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind an earthquake but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake a fire but the Lord was not in the fire and after the fire a still, small voice." Elijah, a man of God, couldn't hear God through all the noise. It wasn't until he waited for the noise to calm down that he was able to hear God.

"What are you doing here, Elijah?" After Elijah finished his answer, God told him to go and anoint the next king of Israel and Elisha, the prophet who would take Elijah's place after he was gone.

When was it that he heard God? When it was quiet. You cannot hear God in the everyday rumblings that continuously play through our mind. We hear the devil more easily because we have an evil nature from birth. I am not saying that all our thoughts are from the devil. It's too easy to blame him for our wrong thinking and mistakes and leave off taking responsibility for ourselves.

When we become born again, we are given God's Spirit. Part of that contains His mind; the mind of Christ. So how do we make the connection? Joyce Myers explained this so clearly this morning. We are a tri-part being: we have a spirit and a soul that lives in a physical body. The born-again Spirit within us has a mind, also. If we feed our inner being with the Word of God, it gets into our spirit and the Holy Spirit calls it back to us in our memory if we just get quiet and listen. Too many Christians don't know this. They think too much on their own and often come up with what they think should be a God thought, but only find disappointment and often consequences when they find they were wrong. It wasn't God.

To change your thinking you have to change the source of in-flow. If you feed your mind medical information, you can use that to avoid sickness. If you feed it crime novels and movies, you'll most likely think negatively and in anger. If you feed it the Word of God, eventually, when you need an answer concerning a real-life issue, you can learn to turn off your thinking and learn to listen for God's Spirit within you. We have been given the mind of Christ. Most of us don't learn to use it!

In Deuteronomy God lays out the rules for blessing and cursing. "If you do it My way, you'll be blessed; if you choose to do it your way, you'll be cursed." That's simply put enough for me. But we are given a choice. If we choose to do things God's way, we can't go wrong. But how do we know what's right if we don't read His Word and make time for Him in our life everyday. It's not a one-time thing like "ok, I've read the Bible, I'm set". Far from it. It takes determination, discipline, and devotion. Remember God said, "If you do this…" always allowing for choice and initiative. Sometimes we wait on God when we should be approaching God!

"Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves. Do not merely look out for your own personal interest but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus…" (Philippians 2: 3-5)

Someone once said, "You become what you eat." This is so true in the spiritual realm also. If you feed on the Word of God, you'll soon start hearing God speak to you. The mind of Christ will be able to work in you and through you more easily. It doesn't happen instantly like we would like. Like I said it takes determination, discipline and devotion.