I CAN'T CONTROL MY MIND
This would
be a
common complaint of many people today and it can be very distressing to
find
yourself in a "mind
Episodes
can be for a
few minutes or continue for days.
We'll look
at a
remedy that God suggests in His word about what to do about it.
God
doesn't want your
mind to be out of control but very much in His control.
After
reading this
brochure, you'll need to make a decision as to whether you want to run
your
mind your way or do it God's way.
******************
"I beseech
you
therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies
a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God... And be not conformed to
this
world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that
ye may
prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."
(Romans
12:1-2)
"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..."
(Ephesians 4:22,23)
*****************
The two
verses on the
front of the paper state that we are to be transformed in the renewing
of our
mind and also to be renewed in the spirit of our mind.
"...but be
ye
transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is
that good,
and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." (Romans 12:2)
"That ye
put off
concerning the former conversation (behaviours) the old man, which is
corrupt
according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your
mind..." (Ephesians 4:22-23)
EPHESIANS
4:24-32
THEN TELLS US HOW TO
DO IT AND
WE SEE THAT
THERE IS A PRESCRIPTION TO FOLLOW:
v24 "And
that ye
put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and
true holiness.
v25
Wherefore putting
away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are
members one of
another.
v26 Be ye
angry, and
sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
v27
Neither give
place to the devil.
v28 Let
him that
stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands
the
thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
v29 Let no
corrupt
communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the
use of
edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
v30 And
grieve not
the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of
redemption.
v31 Let
all
bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be
put away
from you, with all malice:
v32 And be
ye kind
one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for
Christ's
sake hath forgiven you."
***************************
LET'S
START AT Verse 24: "And
that
ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and
true
holiness."
Comment: You can
only put on
the new man if you are born again. Only those who are saved
ETERNAL
LIFE IS A
FREE GIFT! YOU CAN'T EARN IT,
WORK FOR IT OR BUY IT!
The Bible
says,
"...the GIFT of God is eternal life THROUGH JESUS CHRIST
OUR
LORD."
(Rom
6:23).The Bible
says "...Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners..."
(1
Timothy 1:15) and it also says, "For whosoever shall call upon the
name
of the Lord SHALL BE SAVED." (Romans 10:13)
Eternity
is forever
and hell is real, but if you want to be saved, trust alone in Jesus and
pray
from your heart:
"DEAR GOD,
I'm a
sinner & deserve Your everlasting wrath in hell. I believe Jesus
died for
my sins and His shed blood was payment. I completely trust Him alone to
save
me. Thank you for forgiving, me. AMEN"
Stop
trusting in your
"self-righteousness" & put your trust in Jesus Christ alone and
"His righteousness".
If you don't get saved, the only way you can control your mind is to do a new age course in thought control or enroll in Transcendental Meditation course. These courses open the mind to the demonic realm.
v25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
Comment: Want control of your mind? Stop lying. Now some people don't think that little "white lies" are lies but they are. Some people may not tell the whole truth and think that they're not lying - but they are. Some people manage to embellish the truth or over exaggerate their stories so that others will be impressed. This is lying.
v26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
Comment: There is
this
stereotype that Christians should be 'door-mats' but the Bible says the
Christian is to get angry some times. (Titus1:13; Matt 23:15; 2Co 13:2 ), but
he is not to sin when he gets angry for the "wrath of man worketh not
the
righteousness of God" and "anger resteth in the bosom of fools"
(Ecc7:9).Jesus was angry at nothing but sin and
v27
Neither give
place to the devil.
Comment: If you
keep on
nursing a grudge Satan can use this to move in (2Cor 2:10-11). The
devil can magnify
the situation (1King 21:1-5) until it is out of proportion and it can
terminate
in murder (2 Sam chapters 18,19) or something just as bad (Genesis 37).
v28 Let
him that
stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands
the
thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
Comment: Do honest
tax
returns! Stop 'ripping' people off! When people are working and
productive
they're not idle and don't have a lot of time on their hands to worry
about
things. This has further benefits in that work can give a tiredness
that can
help the person to sleep. The Christian goes beyond this and earns
money so
that he/she can give to others and support the work of the gospel.
v29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
Comment: What is corrupt communication? This includes the passing on of rumors, the inventing of slander, murmuring, complaining, the dirty joke, the off color joke, foul, filthy, rude or obscene language. In fact anything that doesn't glorify God and exhibit trust in His dealings in our lives. The Bible says that "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh" Matt12:34. Is it honest, true and tenderhearted?
v30 And
grieve not the holy Spirit of God,
whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Comment: The Holy
Spirit is
grieved with foolish talking, jesting, lying, indolence; laziness, sin,
uncleanness,
all unrighteousness, exaggerating, self-pity, lack of concern, lack of
gratitude, lack of fruit, worrying, grumbling, murmuring, stinginess,
jealousy,
false accusations, lack of faith, refusal to witness and testify to
people,
indifference to the Bible, half hearted Bible reading, luke warm prayer
life,
no prayer life, perversion of the truth or incorrect doctrine, failure
to
praise God, failure to trust God and be obedient to God.
v31 Let
all bitterness, and wrath, and anger,
and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice
Comment: In
guiding us to
renewing the spirit of our mind, Paul gives us six negative
admonitions:
1.
Bitterness which is a cause to wrath and
anger
2. Wrath
3. Anger 4. Clamour being one of the
works of the flesh (Eph 4:31)
5. Evil
speaking can cause bitterness 6. Malice
which is part of the old life.
v32 And be
ye kind one to another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake
hath
forgiven you.
Comment: There is
a tendency
to retaliate and hit back when hurt. This passage is not referring to
being
sweet to the critics of God's Word but is a personal reference to the
behavior
we need to exhibit to each other as Christians - and we can be very
unkind and
cruel to one another. Remembering always that Christ died for us while
we were
yet sinners.
SUMMARY:
There are
nineteen items mentioned in this
passage that we need to adhere to in order for us to have control of
our minds
and to be renewed in the spirit of our minds:
1. Put on
the new man
2. Put
away lying and
speak the truth
3. Be
angry and sin not
4. Don't
let the sun go down on your
wrath
5. Don't
give place to the devil
6. Steal
no more
7. Labour
to support
others in need
8. Get rid
of corrupt communication
9.
Minister grace unto other
hearers
10. Don't
grieve the Holy Spirit
11. Put
away bitterness
12. Put
away
wrath
13. Put
away anger
14. Put
away clamour
15. Put
away evil speaking
16.
Put away all malice
17. Be
kind
18. Be
tenderhearted
19.
Forgive one another
JUST PLAIN
OLD COMMON SENSE
In a
nutshell, God's word says that we should
"do right" and then we'll think right, Now God's not saying if we
feel like it, He's saying "DO IT!"
Now you
won't be able to fulfill all these
things in your own strength, that's why we need to go to Him helpless
and
petition Him to enable us to do these things. BUT YOU MUST MAKE THE
DECISION
THAT THIS IS HOW YOU WILL CONDUCT YOUR BEHAVIOUR FROM NOW ON!
"GIGO"
There is
also an old saying that says
"GIGO" - "garbage in garbage out". Dear friend, what
garbage are you putting into your mind?
SOME DON'TS: The
following will
send your mind out of control:
1.
Watching more than 1/2
hour TV a day - all the images create lust, greed, elevate the
glory of
man, promote foul language and offer solutions to problems according to
the
world.
2. Getting
the Daily Newspapers -
unless you buy them to pray over they'll just make you depressed.
3. Buying
the Women's Magazines - they
contain only lies, lust, gossip and rumor.
4. Gossip
sessions at work often serve
no more value than to "tale-tell" and slander.
Deliverance
from the "mind demons"
aren't the problem - Christians won't stop feeding the flesh of the
mind.
SOME DO'S:
5. Start
memorizing Scriptures from the King James Bible.
(The others are corrupt based on corrupt Greek texts.)
6. Ask God
to enable you to pray more.
7. Think
on the corrupt nature of man - and
dwell on the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.
8.
Start to distribute Christian tracts -
leave them in letter boxes or anywhere. Start witnessing.
By
Harley Hitchcock
www.
AustralianBibleMinistries
.com
