Speaker 1: 0:00

And so let's just start out in a prayer before I get into the word. Father, we just thank you, lord, for today. We thank you that this is the day you've made. We'll rejoice and be glad in it. And so we thank you, father, that our hearts are open, our hearts are tender towards your word. Father, we yield ourselves to you, lord. Our ears are open. Holy Spirit, teach us. I thank you, lord, that you didn't leave us as orphans, but you gave us the Holy Spirit. He's our comforter and our guide and our peace, and so we just thank you. We rely on the Holy Spirit for all things, and so we just pray over everybody tonight, watching Lord, I thank you that as we get to read the word together, father, that you'll illuminate and reveal yourself in a fresh and a mighty new way through your scripture and through your word In Jesus name, amen, amen. And so tonight, if you're taking notes, or you could just jot it down notes, or you could just jot it down, um I'll.

Speaker 1: 1:04

The title of my message is renewing your mind. Renewing your mind. Um, I've taught this before in the youth. I think I've taught this before, um, in the main sanctuary. Uh, but it's a uh vital um, you know, it's not just for teenagers, but it's for all people, young, middle-aged and old. And, um, you know, our, our lives are, um, will, equal what, what we've thought about, good or bad. And so to improve our lives, uh, have to improve our thoughts. You can't have a good life, a prosperous life, a wonderful life, and have crazy thoughts or bad thoughts, and so those go hand in hand. To improve our lives, we have to make sure that our thoughts, our thought life, lines up with the word of God. And so, god, god's given us his word, he's, he's given us ways that we can improve our thought lives by renewing our mind through the word of God. And so a renewed mind is a disciplined mind. And so discipline to take on the thoughts of God, not just random thoughts, but to actually take on the thoughts of God and his word and replace our old, stinking thinking with his word and his thoughts.

Speaker 1: 2:44

And so my first scripture for tonight is Romans 12, two. I'll read it in the New King James. It says and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is good and acceptable and the perfect will of God. And so I also wanted to read in my Bible. There's a kingdom dynamics, little note, and I wanted to share that with you.

Speaker 1: 3:14

To renew is to renovate, implying a restoration to freshness or to an original state. It imitates the potential of redemption's power to reinstate features of God's original intention for humanity and a recovery of many potentialities of the human mind and soul as designed before the fall. The mind constitutes the intellect or understanding, but also includes all that is described in the word mindset, that is, the feelings and the will being transformed by the renewal of the mind indicates a literal change in the form or formulas of thought or being. This describes redemption's provision of power to instill godliness in us, a power that transforms, number one, our thoughts, which leads to formulating. Number two, our purposes, which proceed to dictate our actions. Number two, our purposes, which proceed to dictate our actions. And thus, number three, our actions become character, determining habits, shaping the life and setting the course for the future.

Speaker 1: 4:36

The path to godly living is not complicated. Let me read that again. The path to godly living is not complicated, nor is it energized by the flesh, but it does call the believer to willing submission to the father's provision and ways. And so it's godly. Living is not complicated. You know, a lot of times we like to complicate things. The word's very clear. It's black and white, it's clear.

Speaker 1: 5:13

And so when we renew our mind with the word of God, this verse says that it'll transform our lives, that we'll have a transformed life. So those who are renewing their minds with the word of God will live transformed lives, totally different lives. And so you know we're, you guys know we're a three part being right, where we're a spirit, and then we have a soul, which is made up of our mind, our will, our intellect, and we live in a body. And so, at the time we were born again, god did something with our spirit. He took the old spirit, nature of death, and he gave us a new spirit that has the life of God in it, has the life of God in it. But we still how many of y'all know, we still have the same body and mind that we did before we were born again. And so the word says that we have to do something with it. The word says that we have to do something with our mind and our body. So I just want to touch on the body. What do you do with your body.

Speaker 1: 6:24

If you, I read Romans 12. But if you go to Romans 12, sorry, 12, 2, but if you go to 12 1, it says 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. And I wanted to read that scripture to you. In the Amplified Classic says I appeal to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you, in view of all the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies, presenting all your members and faculties, faculties, faculties, as a living sacrifice Holy, devoted, consecrated and well-pleasing to God, which is your reasonable, rational, intelligent service and spiritual worship. So I like that. The Amplified says you know it's spiritual worship. So I like that. The Amplified says you know it's spiritual worship.

Speaker 1: 7:27

A lot of times we think we can put worship in a box. You know, worship is Sunday morning at 10 am, here on stage. Those are worshipers playing a guitar. Worship looks like raising our hands to the Lord. And, yes, those, those are um, a form of worship. But here, in Romans 12, one, what we do with our bodies, um, we're living sacrifice, sacrifice holy, acceptable. When you present your body, um to God, you know that glorifies him, it's, it's, it's worship, it's worship.

Speaker 1: 8:09

First, corinthians 927 says but I discipline my body and bring it unto subjection, lest when I have preached to others I myself should become disqualified. So Paul kept his body under. He knew he, he uh, went through all kinds of things, was in jail, shipwrecked, all the things Um and so his body wanted to do wrong and so, but he didn't let his body rule him, he brought it under subjection. He let his spirit rule him, not his body. Uh, and then I want to turn over to Romans eight, uh, verse 13. Actually I might want to read we'll start with verse 13.

Speaker 1: 9:04

And then I might want to read a couple of verses around that Romans 8, 13 says For if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if, by the spirit, you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. And then the amplified it says For if you live according to the dictates of the flesh, you will surely die. According to the dictates of the flesh, you will surely die. But if, through the power of the Holy Spirit, you are habitually putting to death, making extinct, deadening the evil deeds prompted by the body, you shall really and genuinely live forever. And so here he's saying, hey, like we need to live. We don't live according to the flesh, but through the power of the holy spirit that's habitually. Hey, it's working in us when we pray, much in the holy ghost. When we pray, when we get into the word, we are squishing our flesh, we are putting our flesh under, and so the evil deeds of the body. And so I wanted to read to you let's just haul off and read, not the entire chapter, but I did want to start with verse one and read some of these to you.

Speaker 1: 10:16

So Romans 8, 1,. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit, for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death, for what the law could not do, in that it was weak, through the flesh, god did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin. He condemned sin in the flesh Verse four that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit, 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, the things of the spirit. 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 of God, nor indeed can be. So, then, who are in the flesh cannot, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if indeed the spirit of God dwells in you. Now, if anyone does not have the spirit of Christ, he is not his. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness. Isn't that good? But if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you. So sin nature is dead, it's gone. And so verse, and then verse 12, therefore, brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh, but we live according to live according to the flesh for you. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if, uh, by the spirit put to death the deeds of the body we just read, you will live for as many as are led by the spirit of God. These are the sons of God.

Speaker 1: 12:34

Okay, so I was reading Romans 8. We are talking about renewing your mind, renewing our mind, and how important it is to keep our body under and to renew our mind. And so we read Romans eight, uh, through verse 16, but I was focused on Romans eight, 13. If you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if, by the spirit, you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. So we have to put to death the deeds of the body, right, and so, just like I said, we're threepart, being our spirit, god say but we have to do something with our body and we have to do something with our mind. And so maybe in 2024 you aren't very disciplined to do something with your mind and your body. But hey, you know what it's a new day, it's a new year, a new you.

Speaker 1: 13:26

And so here the word says to do something with our mind, with our body, to put it under, and so we have to make sure our spirit man is built up, charged and strengthened, and that only comes. Uh, so it can dominate the flesh, and that's the only way it's going to dominate. Dominate the flesh. When our spirit man is big, when we've been reading the word of God, when we take time in prayer, when we pray much in the Holy Ghost, we have a new way of thinking. Our old thoughts, you know, maybe thoughts come, and so we have to replace them with the word of God. But but when you've been spending time in the word of God, when you, when you know the word of God, when you're praying much in the Holy Ghost, we replace those bad thoughts, those stinking thinking, right.

Speaker 1: 14:24

And so we have to make sure that we we renew our mind with the word of God, and so we're taking God's thoughts and making them our own. What God says, and it's in his word and it's in his, you know the word of God. So we just have to make sure to read the word and study the word and to replace those old thoughts with new thoughts. So we have to replace. So I wrote down the unrenewed carnal mind will always reason against, argue and struggle against the word. But the renewed mind will agree with God's word, and so we have to make sure that we're not arguing with the word of God, that we're agreeing with the word of God. And you know what Just because you read the word doesn't mean your mindset is totally how do I word that?

Speaker 1: 15:26

Just because you know the word, just because you memorize scripture, doesn't mean your mind's renewed, because there's our characteristics and the why of what we, why we do those things. You know it can be, you know you can know the word, but still be off. And so we have to make sure that our foundation is pure and that we guard against anything from the outer, anything from the world, any ideas that come in, any opinions that may come in and like, oh well, is that God? Is that the world? Is that the devil? Is that God? Is that just me? Is that what? What is that? And so, again, you can know the word, but still make bad decisions. Why is that just me? Is that what? What is that? And so, again, you can know the word, but still make bad decisions why is that? And still have bad thoughts and still, uh, proceed to um, you know, uh, go forward with that. And so, no, we have to make sure that that every day, that that every day that we're renewing our mind in the word of God, through the word of God, and so, you know, the mind can be renewed to think, faith thoughts, and so we have to make sure that we're renewing our mind, that you know, that we're having a correct knowledge of the word of God, so it can, so it can, you know, safeguard you from wrong thinking and wrong believing and and wrong speaking right.

Speaker 1: 17:17

I can't talk about renewing the mind without what we say. Just like Mark Hankins how many of y'all were here on Sunday? In Mark 11, he taught on faith and and having what we say. That verse says that hey, you got to speak to that mountain. What we say say three and believe one. And so what we say is so vital, it's so important, and so we have to make sure to keep the door closed to the enemy by renewing our mind and watching what we say.

Speaker 1: 17:50

And so there's a standard that God has called us to live by. It's in his word, it's clear, it's simple, it's not muddy we don't have to read between the lines. It's not complicated, it's not like insurance or policy, and sometimes you're like what I overheard Jay talking in the office today. I don't know what he was talking about, but he was very passionate about not understanding some kind of something with insurance or I don't know what it was. The Bible is not like that.

Speaker 1: 18:19

These scriptures that I have read are not like that. They're simple. They're clear about renewing, about, you know, renewing our mind with the word of God and replacing those thoughts with God's thoughts. Right, and so the word of God is our standard. It's clear, it's simple. We don't have to read between the lines. God is our creator and he has standards to live by, so we don't operate or go by somebody else's standards or make up our own.

Speaker 1: 18:50

Well, I think this should happen. No, go to the word. What does the word say about that situation? What does the word say? And so the word of God is our standard. And so we have choices. You know we have a choice of what we will follow. Thoughts come, but you have a choice. Are you going to believe that thought or, you know, are you going to go to the word of God? Right, cause you can get up on your high horse, and you can. You know your right to an opinion doesn't make your opinion right, and so we have to make sure no, where's that thought? You know well that thought and that action justifies me saying that and justifies me. I have a right. No, you don't. No, we don't Right.

Speaker 1: 19:40

Pride comes before a fall, and so we have to make sure to stay humble, to be teachable. Um love jesus with all of our heart, to want to please jesus, and so we have to make sure that, um, to protect, you know, to protect uh, our mind and our thoughts, and what what comes our way, we, we can uh protect against it and guard it. And so I just have two points tonight. Number one, regarding our renewing our mind, our thoughts and our words. Does it glorify God?

Speaker 1: 20:17

Philippians 4, 8 and 9 in the New Living Translation says and now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing Fix your thoughts on what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me, everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you. And so you have to make sure, hey, we want that peace, we want a peaceful life, right, but we have to make sure that our thoughts are, that we're fixing our thoughts on what's true, on what's honorable, what's pure or what's lovely, right and admirable pure or what's lovely, right and admirable, and there's a excellent and worthy of praise. And then he's saying, hey, keep putting into practice these things. It's not just like a once upon a time. Okay, I'm going to fix my thoughts on that, but no, we have to every day fix our thoughts on what's true, on what's honorable, what's right, right, you know, and so, and thoughts come our way.

Speaker 1: 21:33

The enemy sends thoughts our way. Uh, people, um, you know, uh, just by social media and our devices, and who you can. You can be in contact with the world wide web. You can know anybody and everybody and every stranger, and so you have to make sure to protect against that. You have to make sure that you are just not a free for all and anybody can get a hold of me and I can just talk to anybody and whomever I want online, or cousin, or aunt or uncle, or hey. Well, is that a godly relationship? Is that going to help you in your walk with God? No, does it glorify? Will this relationship glorify God? Will this, by me doing this, is it going to glorify God? Simple, little question, but I don't know if many people ask that question Is this going to glorify God?

Speaker 1: 22:37

So we have to make sure to guard against many things that the enemy throws our way and just flesh, just flesh, or curiosity, or or you know, just a little nosy little got to know what everybody's doing. No, you ain't got to know what everybody's doing, right, we don't. We don't have to know what everybody's doing, and we don't have to. We have to. We have a purpose. You were called, you have a purpose, god. God has called you for such a time as this. There's a purpose, there's a plan of God for your life, and the enemy wants to distract you and bring all kinds of other things and people and problems and issues that don't belong in your life, and so sometimes we just, oh well, I got to, I got to listen to that person and I got to. You know, and I know, make sure it's God that will it glorify God? What are you listening to? That conversation? Is it going to glorify God? Are your thoughts listening to that conversation? Is it gonna glorify God? Are your thoughts then after that conversation going to be lovely and pure and true? And so we have to make sure to ask ourselves these questions does it glorify God?

Speaker 1: 23:41

Psalm 101, 2, 3 in the Amplified Classic says I will behave myself wisely and give heed to the blameless way. Oh, when, when will you come to me? I will walk within my house and integrity, and with a blameless heart, I will set no base or wicked thing before my eyes. I hate the work of them who turn aside from the right path. It shall not grasp a hold of me. It shall not grasp a hold of me. That's a good prayer. Hey, I'm not going to turn. There's a pathway that God has set before me. There's a mission, there is, there's a race that is set before me, and so we have to make sure that we're not veering off to the right or left.

Speaker 1: 24:32

We have to make sure that we're asking ourselves hey, is this going to glorify God? Is this thought going to glorify God? Is this action going to glorify God? Is the way I'm raising my kids going to glorify God? Is what I'm thinking about my boss going to glorify God? Is what's coming out of my mouth going to glorify God? And so we all have to be skillful on how we control our tongue. We um, it's very important, I'm not making it up, it's in the Bible. We have to make sure in the Holy spirit, can help us. He helps us if we're willing and obedient and we give them something to work with.

Speaker 1: 25:05

And then number two uh, will it edify my brother or sister or cause them to stumble, sister, or cause them to stumble? Cause them to stumble. You know Jesus cares about um, his kids, and if you cause another to stumble and if you are um, cause division and strife and um, and if you know you're causing division and strive and you're still here, a part of this church, or you know, and you know you're causing division and strive and you're still here, a part of this church, or you know, and you know you're causing division and strive, god's not pleased with that. God is not pleased with that. Romans 14, 12 and 13,.

Speaker 1: 25:42

The new living says yes, each of us will give a personal account to God. So let's stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall, and that was in Romans 14. So we have to give a personal account to God. We can't be condemning each other. We have to live in a way that we're not causing others to stumble by the words that we say. Right, causing others to stumble by the words that we say.

Speaker 1: 26:14

Right, the thought, because what's out of the, you know, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks, and so it's in our heart, it's in there. We may not have meant to say it, but it's in there. And so by you saying something and not watching what we say, it caught and somebody hears it, you know it grieves the Holy spirit. You don't want to, you don't want to grieve Like you might be grieving you, but then to hear it to, then to vomit all over everybody else. And then now, and then now we got that, now we got to deal with all that. And so we just want to make sure that what we're saying, that we watch carefully, the words coming out of our mouth, and if it's causing our family to stumble, if it's causing, you know, our coworkers to stumble, we have to be mindful of what we say.

Speaker 1: 27:10

Proverbs 13, three says, and the Amplified Classic says he who guards his mouth keeps his life, but he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin. And so here, our mouth is connected to good life or health. Right, so the way we speak is the way our health will go. Our tongue is connected to the direction our life takes. Our tongue is connected to the direction our life takes. And I put here. We run it through a filter. I have this water bottle here. Y'all can't see it. Lee probably tried to hide it. I put it right here. He probably tried to get it out of the shot.

Speaker 1: 28:01

This is my water bottle. It has no filter in it but it does have filtered water, because our daughter, allison, bought this cool, expensive. Well, she said it was expensive, I don't know how much she paid for it but a kind of like a Brita. But it's not a Brita, it's something else and it filters the water like probably you know all the yucky stuff out of the water. It's and it's a pitcher and and, and so that's cool to know that you're drinking nice, clean, fresh, filtered water, right, and so the word of God is the filter in our life. It holds the debris back. Who would want to drink murky water? Right? Who would want to? I don't want to put that in my body. I don't, you know, last resort, I guess, if there was no other water. But no, so the word of God holds the debris back.

Speaker 1: 29:03

We run thoughts through the filter of the word of God. Well, that thought that I just. Is that the word of God? Or is that just? Is that just coming from hurt? Somebody hurt me, you know, and that's just the way it is. Or I'm thinking about what they're thinking about me, well, what does the word say about that? Or I'm thinking a bad thought about that person, and you know, no, like, we just have to make sure that our that we're holding the debris back and all the yuckiness that God doesn't want in our minds. God doesn't want that junk in our minds, because it's eventually going to come out in our words and again. So we have to make sure that we run our thoughts through the word of God, through the filter of the word of God, because it'll hold back any debris, it'll.

Speaker 1: 29:59

When you read the word, it'll be like oh yeah, ok, god, I thank you, lord, that Romans eight says that spirit, you know, spirit of life. Christ Jesus has made me free from law of sin and death, you know. And so that's that thought that I'm thinking. It's a death thought, it's a sin thought, it's not. I've been made free from that the I have, I am redeemed, I am victorious, I am a new creature in Christ. The old me is gone, and so that thought, right there is, from the enemy, we know where it comes from, and so we make sure that we filter it. So we filter it, we don't just let that thought dwell and we think about it and we meditate and we scheme, and then it turns into oh, I'm going to scheme something up, I'm going to do it, I'm just going to. Well, I've been hurt, and so you know, I'm going to do it my way. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Speaker 1: 30:55

We run thoughts through the word of God, right, and so we have to make sure that we run our thoughts through the word of God, because we, once we run our thoughts through the word of God, then you're not going to be talking trash right, a filtered mind, trash right, a filtered mind. Um, a person who is speaking right and doing right and and their words line up with the word of God, um, they're confessing, they're speaking the right thing, they're, they're thinking about right, their, their thoughts are being filtered through the word of God, because what you know, eventually you're thinking about, it's going to come out, and so we have to make sure you know, and maybe you have to relearn some things, maybe you've grown up a certain way and your parents talk a certain way. But that's the good thing about the Holy Spirit he can help us, he can help you relearn things and relearn how to talk. And so the word of God is our filter, and so we want to make sure, um, so, just to renew our mind, one and two um, does it glorify good questions to ask yourself, does it glorify God and will it edify my brother or sister? The thoughts that I'm thinking and the words that I'm speaking? Um, does it glorify God? Does? Do I please God? Um, or do I have a carnal mind? And so I just want to encourage you with that in your daily life, make sure that the thoughts that you're thinking, put them through the filter of the word of God. Every thought, every thought, every thought, every thought. You're like, oh, Selena, I can't know every thought, every thought, every thought. You're like, oh, selena, I can't know every thought, every thought that comes into your mind. You have to answer it, because it determines the course of your life, and we have to make sure that our mind is renewed in the word of God. It's our only safeguard against the enemy is our thought, life and what we're thinking about, and we want to make sure not to cause other people to stumble by what we say, what we text our actions, because not only what you say and what you think about does it affect you, but it affects generations to come, and so so I just want to encourage you with that generations to come, and so, um, so I just want to encourage you with that, um, we all can use a refresher on, uh, having our mind renewed with the word of God. You know this is the beginning of the year.

Speaker 1: 33:24

Lots of people talk about, um. You know new year's resolutions, but goals are good. You know new year's resolutions, but goals are good. Goals are goals are good to to bring your body, uh, under subjection. Bring your mind, um, to have some goals for the year, to have to get with your family, to just to get you between you and God and just to pray, um, and to see what you know, what God has for you in 2025. Because he wants you to. You know he doesn't want you to live hell on earth Heaven will be in heaven one day but he wants you to have heaven here on earth. You don't have to live a sad, a miserable, a defeated, a worried and anxious life. You don't have to live that way. Jesus came so we wouldn't have to live that way. Jesus came so we wouldn't have to live that way. And so I just want to encourage you with that Make sure let's renew our mind in the word of God.