Be Prepared: The Mind, Part 3

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee."

Isaiah 26:3

In preparing our minds to serve the Lord it is important that we learn to keep our minds stayed on the Him. One of the biggest hurdles in serving the Lord is avoiding worry. We worry when we look at our circumstances instead of our God.

I don't have a lot to say about this. When you worry, just quit it! My mom was the queen of worriers. Once when my husband was teaching a Bible study on this subject he said, "Do you realize that 90% of what you worry about, never happens?" My mom piped up and said, "See how good it works!"

It was funny, but she was wrong. It is not worry that protects us, it is the Lord.

Keep your mind stayed on God!

Be Prepared: The Mind, part 2

"For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not."
2 Corinthians 8:12

In order to prepare our minds to love the Lord and serve Him, we need to develop a willing mind.

Have you ever asked someone to do something and though that person agreed, she did it unwillingly? Doesn't that drive you crazy? My grandson is four. Almost always when I ask him to do something, he jumps up and does it right away. Every once in a while, he doesn't. Just last week, he decided to see what happens at bedtime if he takes very slow baby steps on his way to his room. He was not going willingly. (By the way, he did not like what happened.)

God delights in a willing servant. So how do we develop a willing mind?

To begin with, the verse says our willingness is based on what we have, not on what we don't have. To develop a willing mind, we should

• Asses our abilities.

What are we good at? What are we capable of? Now this is not necessarily what we like to do, but what we can do. For example, I really am a shy person. Very few people who have met me get that. I don't act shy. I don't act shy because I am capable of speaking to others. It's not something that I like naturally, but I am capable of it. I reached a point in my life where I needed to be willing to allow the Lord to use that ability.

On the other hand, I am not a musician. I can sing, but I cannot play an instrument. I even took piano lessons as an adult because I wanted to have that ability for God to use. It is just not one of my abilities. I suppose I could have continued lessons and devoted massive amounts of time to practice in order to become marginally competent, but I came to a point when I had to assess my time and decide what was good stewardship of my talents and abilities. Instrumental music is not one of them.

So assess your abilities, and then

• Thank God for your abilities.

If you realize that your abilities came from God, it is easy to be willing to use them for Him.

Finally,

• Look for ways to use your abilities.

There is so much to be done for the Lord that no ability, no matter how insignificant you think it is, will go unused if you are willing.

Be Prepared: The Mind, Part 1

“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.”

Mark 12:30

Last week we looked at preparing our hearts to serve the Lord. This week, I want to take a look at preparing our minds. When I began searching my Bible for what God says about our minds, I was actually surprised at how many things there were. Sometimes in Christianity there seems to be an attitude that “if your heart is in it” you’ve done all you could. That’s not always true. We have a responsibility to serve the Lord with all our minds.

So where do we start? According to the Bible, we should have a renewed mind. That would be a good place to start.

• A Renewed Mind

A renewed mind is a renovated mind. Let’s talk for a minute about renovations. There is a difference between remodeling and renovating. In this house, we remodeled our bedroom. We repainted and redecorated and repaired some things, but we kept the same basic structure of the room. A remodel is a makeover. To renovate literally means to make new. In our last house we renovated the kitchen. We stripped the room all the way down to the studs and the subfloor and started all over again with new floor, new walls, new fixtures — the whole enchilada. We made a new kitchen.

Too many times, we try to remodel our minds — keep the same basic thoughts but do a makeover. That’s not enough.

We need to start over and that begins at salvation. Before we are saved, when we are lost, our minds are blinded.

“But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”

2 Corinthians 4:3-4

“This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”

Ephesians 4:17-24

Once we have received salvation, we have to begin the daily job of building our minds up in Christ.

“Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Isaiah 55:7-9

Concentrate on the thoughts of God. This is why it is so very important to read the Bible every day. The Bible is God’s written record of His thoughts. In our frail humanity, we will never fully grasp His thoughts, but Scripture is the only place to begin.

So read the Bible every day.

In Sunday School we sing the little song:

Read your Bible
Pray every day
Pray every day
Pray every day
Read your Bible
Pray every day
And you'll grow, grow, grow!

Tomorrow, we will begin looking at the characteristics of a renewed mind — a mind prepared to serve the Lord.

The Good Ol' Gospel Train

I know I haven't mentioned it on here before, but my grandson lives for trains. He loves trains. He eats and breathes trains.

Some Sundays, when our church attendance is down, he is my only student in Primary Church. I found a song to teach him and had the opportunity today.

It goes like this:

I am traveling on the Hallelujah track
On the Good Ol' Gospel Train.
I am on the right track
And never will go back
To the station of sin again.

I need no fare
I'm traveling on a "pass"
Tis' the blood for sinners slain.
I am traveling on the Hallelujah track
On the Good Ol' Gospel Train.


Many, many times, when I am teaching my little ones, my heart is blessed beyond measure by the lesson. That was the case today. When we came to the line, "I need no fare, I'm traveling on a pass, tis' the blood for sinners slain," my heart welled within me once again in remembrance of the awesome gift of salvation.

Since I was a little girl myself, sitting in Children's church, singing Jesus Loves Me, it has never ceased to amaze me what Jesus did for me!

"Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:"

1 Peter 1:18-19

Every Day With Jesus

Every day with Jesus,
Is sweeter than the day before.
Every day with Jesus,
I love Him more and more.
Jesus saves and keeps me,
And He's the One I'm living for.
Every day with Jesus,
Is sweeter than the day before.

Walking with Jesus,
Walking every day,
Walking all the way.
Walking with Jesus,
Walking with Jesus alone.

Walking in the sunlight, walking in the shadow,
Walking everyday, walking all the way.
Walking in the sunlight, walking in the shadow,
walking with Jesus alone.

Be Prepared: The Heart, Conclusion

So how do we prepare our hearts?

• Meditate on your state.

"Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah."

Psalm 39:5

• Meditate on the awesome God!

"Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered."

Psalm 40:5

• Commit yourself to Him that judges righteously.

"Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:"

1 Peter 2:23

• Prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve Him only.

"And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines."

1 Samuel 7:3

Be Prepared: The Heart, Part 3

To prepare our hearts, we can't be critical of ourselves or God. The next thing?

Don’t be critical of others!

"Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge."

James 4:11

We are blessed beyond measure and yet we complain.

• Complaining about the price of Christian things.

I don't want to get off track here, but why do people often think that Christian things should be cheap? We pay full price for quality things of the world and then want Christian things to be a bargain. Shouldn't it be the other way around?

• Complaining about who does what and who doesn’t.

"And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;"

1 Thessalonians 4:11

I used to repeat over and over to my children, "You answer for you. Don't worry about them." Too any times we find ourselves cheering Martha on: "Yeah! Why isn't Mary working?! I'm busting my chops here and she's just taking it all in!" This isn't a lesson about Mary vs. Martha, but too often we identify ourselves with Martha in more ways than just the working.

You answer for you. Don't worry about them.

• Complaining about . . .

"Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;"

Philippians 2:14-15

If all you knew of the Christian life was the words that came from your own lips, would you want to be a Christian? Do you know that your own complaining can affect you? If you complain enough, your own heart will become discouraged.

Instead of complaining, suffer yourself to be defrauded! Esteem other better than yourself! Give up your way and live for others!!

"Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?"

1 Corinthians 6:7

"But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also."

Matthew 5:39

21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:
23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:
24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
25 For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

I Peter 2

Instead of complaining, commit yourself to Him that judgeth righteously. It's good for your heart.