Divine Thinking Changes Everything
Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.
I The Key to the Christian Life
1. The root of a victorious Christian life is the way you think.
2. The key to the Christian life is taking this mind and renewing it by the power of God to line up with the Word He has given us.
1 Corinthians 2:16 For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
Isaiah 55:8 For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord.
vs. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.
1. His thoughts and His ways are so much higher than ours.
a. Does this mean we can’t think like the Lord? No, because through the Word of God we have the mind of Christ.
2. The Word elevates our thinking up to God’s level of where we see things and think like God does.
II Turn Your Thinking Around
James 3:4 Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires.
1. The tongue is like the rudder on a ship
2. Your will, which comes from your thinking, is like the pilot
a. Your tongue speaks what you think
b. Your actions depict what you think
The Christian life is not like a very small boat or a sea-doo which can stop suddenly or turn quickly and head in the opposite direction. It is more like a huge barge that needs time to turn around. As your mind is renewed every day the process of turning your words and actions begin to conform to the ways of God.
3. Renewing of your mind is a never-ending process
4. God wants us to shape our thinking to be like His
a. Divine thinking = God’s way of thinking
b. Human thinking = The world’s way of thinking
III Don’t Be Conformed, Be Transformed
Romans 12:1 I Beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
vs. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
1. Reasonable service refers to spiritual worship
a. When we present our bodies daily to God, it is our spiritual act of worship.
b. When we praise, we thank God for what He’s given. When we worship, we return something back
2. “Do not be conformed” – do not be molded by outward pressure but be changed by inward pressure.
a. Outward pressure – pressure of the world
1. Temptations
2. Lusts
3. Reasonings
b. Inward pressure – the Holy Spirit
1. The promises of God
2. Supernatural ability of the Holy Spirit within us
3. Our thoughts centered around God
God changes us each and every day from the inside to where the world can press all it wants to and it will not affect us. Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.
IV Worldliness
Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…
1. Worldliness starts with how you think
a. There are certain behaviors that indicate your thoughts are worldly, and God wants us to avoid those behaviors
2. Thoughts are what cause you to be worldly
3. Thoughts are what cause you to be godly
Philippians 4:8 Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things.
4. God wants us to wrap our thought life around the things of God
a. This produces a godly lifestyle
5. When you conquer the thought life, the natural life takes care of itself
a. Worldly thinking is “What am I wearing?”, ”How do I look?”, “How am I acting?”
b. When our mind is focused on the things of God these things take care of themselves
V God is After Our Thought Life
Matthew 13:5 Some (seed) fell on stony places where they did not have much earth, and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth.
vs. 8 But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
vs. 9 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
1 Listening to the Word of God is a decision
2. The key to this parable about the sower and the seed is "he that has ears to hear, let him hear."
a. Hard ground is worldly ground
3. Jesus said Satan comes immediately to steal the seed sown on hard ground
a. Hard ground represents the mind focused some place other than the Word. When the Word is sown, Satan can take it immediately.
b. Good ground produces a godly lifestyle.
4. You have to make the decision – “I have spiritual ears, I can hear, and I’m going to open my ears, open my eyes, and open my heart to receive.
5. When you choose to receive the Word, it goes into your heart and it can begin to produce thirty, sixty, and a hundred-fold
This is God's desire: That the Word you receive changes your thinking and perspective toward life so you can become a success in the midst of a world that is falling apart.
James 4:4 Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with (is the enemy of) God?
1. A child of God who is friends with the world have made themselves an enemy of God
a. You cannot be a friend with God and with the world
b. You will love one and hate the other
2. God wants us to be His friend by not having our thoughts turned toward the things of the world
VI The Key to Godliness
Colossians 3:1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God.
1. Born again, children of God are seated with Jesus Christ in heavenly places – need to think like it! Seek those things which are above
vs. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
2. This is a command, not a request
a. Every day you have a choice to think on things above
1. Heavenly things
2. Things that are powerful
3. Things of the Spirit
4. The promises of God
5. Success and not failure
6. The power in you to overcome Satan, demons and the forces of this earth
7. The confidence you will come out a victor on the other side because God has promised it
VII The Joy of the Lord
Philippians 2:2 Fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
1. Joy is a decision
2. Happiness is a decision
a. Happiness and joy are maintained in our life as we focus our attention on the Lord
b. The more you focus on the Lord, the more the joy of the Lord becomes your strength
3. Storms are always a temporary condition
a. We do not grieve like the world which has no hope
b. Weeping only endures for a night, but joy comes in the morning
c. By keeping our mind on the Lord and His Word it brings joy into our life.
VIII The Peace of God
Isaiah 26:3 You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You because he trusts You.
1. Peace is a decision
a. It is our decision to keep our mind stayed or focused on God
2. God will keep him in perfect peace
3. Peace comes when we meditate and think on the promises of God
4. Peace becomes a guard over our hearts and over our lives
5. When we have that kind of thought life, then we can cast the whole of our care off on Him because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7)
IX God Wants to Bring Stability
2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
1. “Sound” means stable or stabilized mind
a. Stability means we do not fall apart easily when the storms of life hit them
b. We remain stable because our lives are not directed by outward pressure
c. The world’s report tries to shake our minds.
d. God keeps us stable when our heart is fixed on the things of the Lord
X Have a Willing Mind
2 Corinthians 8:12 For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have.
1. How you think determines the effectiveness of your giving
a. God wants each of us to have an attitude of willingness behind our giving
b. A willing mind is ready to give
2 Corinthians 9:7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
2. Giving is a decision
a. “Purposes” – You make the decision to be a willing giver
b. “Grudgingly” – You give by outside pressure or guilt if you don’t give
3. God is looking for a way to bless in return for your willingness to give
XI Love is a Decision
Matthew 22:37 Jesus said unto him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and with all your mind.
1. Love is a decision
2. Love is not a feeling
a. If you decide to love someone even if you don’t feel it, the Holy Spirit comes to support your decision
b. Love begins when you choose to love the Lord, to worship Him
1 Corinthians 13:5 Love does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, and thinks no evil…
1. Love is not only what you feel toward a person. It is also what you don’t feel toward people. This is also a decision
a. No jealousy
b. No bitterness
c. No anger
2. When you have been wronged by someone, choosing to love them will help you to pray that God will get through to them
3. You can love them with the same measure that God loves you
4. Love thinks no evil
The Word of God teaches us that our thought process should guide our lives every day to bring us joy, peace, stability, love, godliness. All the different things mentioned because it affects so many areas of our life.
