Complete in Thee: Mindsets

Monday, November 10, 2008

Mindsets

"For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwells in you" (Romans 8:5-9a)

I love this whole chapter. As our pastor says, it begins with "no condemnation" and ends with "no separation". In the verses recorded above, we are challenged as to our focus. Verse 5 has also been worded, "For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit." "Setting our minds"-- we all set our minds on something. We all devote much energy and time dwelling on one thing or another. In this passage, we are challenged as to what the content of our thoughts is. It could be our upcoming schedules, the interesting week we just had, our schoolwork, our jobs, a certain person, a new movie we just watched... But wait! What does this say? "They that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are af

ter the Spirit the things of the Spirit." If we are living fleshly, unChristlike lives, it will be fleshly, unChristlike things that fill our minds. But if we are filling the resovoirs of our hearts with Christ, and if we are living a life to please Him, our thoughts, too, will be filled with Christ. If your thoughts are like the former, beware! The "carnal mind" (a mind set on the flesh) is enmity with (hostile to) God! To not be Christlike is to be fleshly; not to be heavenly minded is to be earthly minded. Fleshly-mindedness (if that is a word :-) ) is directly opposed to all that Christ would have us to be like.

In Colossians 3, He calls us to "set your affection on (STRONGS gives the idea of "exercising" the mind" or "entertaining thoughts") things above, not on things of the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." We are to die to the things of the world, and live our lives through Christ. If we are doing this, Christ will fill our hearts and minds.

I am not saying we cannot turn our thoughts to any earthly things. Moms need to think about planning meals; kids need to diligently apply themselves to their schoolwork; I as an author will need to devote time to my books and articles. But through all this, there out to be an ever-present awareness of the Saviour, and we should often come back to Him in our thoughts and hearts and commune with Him.

Allow me to give an example of this in an outward sense. My good friend Leahna and I have delightful conversations on all sorts of subjects. But I've noticed that nearly all the time the conversation somehow ends up back on the things of the Lord: what He's been teaching us, what His Word says about this or that, and so on. It is the same with several other of my girl- and lady-friends. These friendships are so encouraging because they point me towards the Lord. Now, let's apply that to our very thought life. All we think should somehow still come back to the Lord of glory and

His Word and ways.

I find myself so guilty, though. Driving two hours to church both ways each Sunday, my mind is often filled with daydreaming and thinking about entertainments and other things like that, when I ought to be meditating on Christ's character, reciting Scripture, and reminding myself of His ways and word. This is an area where I really desire to change. I want to "put off" a worldly mind and "put on" a heavenly mind.

Now you evaluate: What is consuming your thoughts and your time? If you have time of doing nothing, which leaves you just to think, what do your thoughts revolve around? What do you think? Imagine, if we filled our minds with that, how much farther along we would be in our spiritual lives! Let us fill our minds with Christ today!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...: I just read an article last week that was along the same lines; it talked about being "sober-minded", and how the condition of our minds will affect everything else in our lives. It is so easy to let my mind wander, and it is so hard to apply it, sometimes. Thank you for that reminder!; November 10, 2008 at 3:24 PM
Pure Little Ladies Ministry said...: Hey Melanie!!

Oh, I just wanted to let you know: here's a great site (Another one. ^_^) www.aponderingheart.blogspot.com and Miss Jocelyn is holding a contest to win $25 off of a really nice clothing store! I entered, and if I tell someone and then THEY enter and say "Miss Toria told me to enter" then I get extra entries. ^_^ lol So if you enter, don't forget to mention my name. =P lol Aside from the contest though, it's a really great site, very clean and thought-provoking.

Love,
Miss Toria; November 10, 2008 at 9:18 PM
Pure Little Ladies Ministry said...: Oooppps!! In my last comment, I gave you the wrong link. =S It's really www.aponderingheart.com/blog ....I forgot the /blog part, you can't get to it without that!! lol

Hugs and Love,
Miss Toria; November 10, 2008 at 9:24 PM
Victoria Nicol said...: I agree with you girls. It is hard trying to keep your mind from wandering and getting it focused on the eternal. But our life will be so much sweeter and fuller and have a greater meaning to it when we will be focused on spiritual things rather than on the things of the world. Alaina, do you have an email address that I could send an invitation to for my blog? And does any one know if Lily has one? I would be very much obliged if I could get those please. Thanks!; November 11, 2008 at 8:22 AM
Lilly said...: Tory- I do have email:) I'll have "Marie" send it to you or your sister has it.; November 11, 2008 at 2:46 PM
Leahna said...: Thank you Melanie for that post. Oh, how much it escapes us many times(at least it does me) that our mindsets are to be after the things of the Spirit. May Christ renew our minds to be more like His, so that we can be pleased in and pleasing to Him.; November 12, 2008 at 3:49 PM

PRAYER REQUESTS

"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints" (Ephesians 6:18)

PLEASE PRAY...

* That I would draw nearer to God every day and never allow my relationship to become stagnant ritual; particularly that I would grow in the area of submission, patience, 1 Corinthians 13 love, and wholehearted devotion

* That I might have wisdom as I edit "The Marquis' Daughter"; that the Lord would bless and work through it; and that I might find just the right publisher for it.

* That I would submit to the Lord's work in my life, whatever it may be; that I would take each opportunity He brings me (even the seemingly hard ones) to draw closer to Him and point others to Him

*That our Etsy shop might be successful and that it would be a means by which we can glorify God and share the Gospel

Ephesians 2:1-10

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

"The heart set to do the Father's will need never fear defeat. His promises of guidance may be fully counted upon. Does it make sense to believe that the Shepherd would care less about getting His sheep where He wants them to go than they care about getting there?"

"God is God. Because He is God, He is worthy of my trust and obedience. I will find rest nowhere but in His holy will, a will that is unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what He is up to."

"If God, like a father, denies us what we want now it is in order to give us some far better thing later on. The will of God, we can rest assured, is invariably a better thing."

"Obedience to God's will is the secret of spiritual knowledge and insight. It is not willingness to know, but willingness to DO (obey) God's will that brings certainty."

"Victory over all the circumstances of life comes not by might, nor by power, but by a practical confidence in God and by allowing His Spirit to dwell in our hearts and control our actions and emotions. Learn in the days of ease and comfort, to think in terms of the prayer that follows, so that when the days of hardship come you will be fully prepared and equipped to meet them."

"And shall I pray, Oh, change Thy will, my Father,
Until it be according unto mine?
Ah no, Lord, no, that never could be, rather
I pray Thee, Blend my human will with Thine."

"A crucified life cannot be self-assertive. It cannot protect itself. It cannot be startled into resentful words. The cup that is full of sweet water cannot spill bitter-tasting drops, however sharply it is knocked."

"And as we rest our hearts upon what we know (the certainty of the ultimate triumph of good), leaving what we do not know to the Love that has led us all our life long, the peace of God enters into us and abides. And then we see our light."

[A Practicing Christian]...it means that every single act and feeling, every experience, whether pleasant or unpleasant, must be referred to God. It means looking at everything as something that comes from Him, and always looking to Him and asking His will first, and saying, "How would he wish me to deal with this?"

Christ says: "Give me all. I don't want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work. I want you."

"I was not born to be free. I was born to adore and to obey."

"What is saving but taking us out of the dark into the light? There is no salvation but to know God and grow like Him."

"I will not try to convince you of anything about God. I cannot. You must know Him. I only tell you I believe in Him with all my heart. You must ask Him to explain Himself to you, and not take it for granted that He has done you a wrong because He has done what you do not like. Whether you seek Him or not, He will do you justice. But He cannot explain Himself unless you seek Him."

"Sometimes a thunderbolt will shoot from a clear sky; and sometimes into the life of a peaceful individual, without warning of gathered storm, something terrible will fall. And from that moment everything is changed. That life is no more what it was. Better it ought to be, worse it may be. The result depends on the life itself and it's response to the invading storm of trouble. Forever after, it's spiritual weather is altered. But for the one who believes in God, such rending and frightful catastrophies never come but where they are turned around for good in his own life and in other lives he touches."