What are We Thinking?

[Sue J Love]

What are our minds set on? If we had to be perfectly honest, what consumes most of our thinking? What permanent or established way of thinking is what drives us, motivates us, and inspires us to do what we do?

I know we have jobs we have to do, people to take care of, chores, laundry, cooking, cleaning, shopping, and the list goes on of all the things that occupy our everyday lives. And, so our minds, by necessity, must be focused on these tasks, when required.

But, what about the rest of the time? Or, even while we are doing these things, and our minds are not otherwise occupied, what are we thinking about, planning, stewing over, contemplating or taking pleasure in?

The Lord Jesus led me to read Colossians 3 (Select vv. ESV).

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Vv. 1-4​

If we are followers of Jesus Christ, by God’s grace, through faith in him, our minds should be set (fixed) on Jesus Christ, on his Word, and on his eternal kingdom. All else should flow from that.

Our minds (thinking, believing, attitudes) should always be available to the Lord, willing to hear our Lord speak to us at any moment of the day, and for us to respond to him in obedience. I believe this is what it means to pray without ceasing, i.e. to have a continuous connection with the Lord to where we can talk with him, hear from him, and respond to him throughout the day, every day.

For, as we think, so we often do. Sin, for instance, is first birthed in the mind, and then the actions often follow. A belief that we are worthless will often result in behavior and attitudes which reflect that belief. And, from an attitude of superiority will often flow lack of compassion for those who are hurting or for those trapped by sin’s deceitfulness (Ex: The Pharisees).

So, if our minds are fixed on the things of this world, and not on Christ, our attitudes and behaviors will also follow suit. Our lifestyles will reflect where our mind is focused. If on Christ, we will be living godly lives, holy and pleasing to him. If on this world, we will be living worldly lives, living to please ourselves and living to satisfy our sinful cravings and desires.

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. Vv. 5-11​

So, in order to have our minds fixed on Jesus Christ and on his eternal kingdom, we need to put to death what is earthly in us. We do this by the Spirit who lives within us. And, this begins in the mind. So, first of all we must look at the kinds of things we are taking into our minds on a daily basis, because what we feed into our minds will affect what we think and what we believe, and what we think will affect our attitudes and behaviors.

You have probably heard the saying, “Garbage in, garbage out.” That is absolutely the truth! If what we are feeding our minds via TV shows, commercials, movies, TV news, Facebook, Twitter, the internet in general, video games, music, etc. is earthly (worldly), then we are going to think worldly and sinful thoughts which will be reflected in our attitudes and behaviors. For, we will take on the world’s way of thinking and believing, and we will end up adopting many of their attitudes, values, philosophies and morals, etc., too, and they will become ours.

So, we need to clean out our inputs to make certain that our inputs are what is pure, lovely, true, of good report, honorable, decent, etc. But, that does not immediately remove all the past garbage from our minds, so we have to daily put those thoughts to death and fill our minds with what is holy and decent and honorable, instead, which includes time in prayer and in the study of God’s Word, meditating on what he teaches us, and then obeying what his Word says. Then, our behaviors should follow suit.

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Vv. 12-15​

Are you trapped in sinful addiction? Do you want healing and deliverance? Then, you must yield your life to Jesus Christ, as a living sacrifice on his altar, holy and pleasing to him. No longer should you be conformed to the ways of this sinful world, but you must be transformed in the renewing of your mind so that, by testing, you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect (Rom. 12:1-2).

In yielding to the Lord, you put off what is unholy and you put on what is holy. You put off lying, and you tell the truth. You put off stealing, and you work with your hands, and then you give to the poor. You put off meanness, and put on kindness; put off frustration, and put on patience; put off pride, and put on humility; put off bitterness, and put on forgiveness; and you put off hatred and contempt, and you put on God-like love, one for the other.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Vv. 16-17​

It goes without saying that to live godly and holy lives, pleasing to God, with our minds fixed on Jesus and on his eternal kingdom, that we have to be bathing our minds in the Word of God. But, this is not for intellectual exercise or theological debate that we do this. This is about changing the way we think and believe, and it is about changing our attitudes and behaviors, to bring them into conformity to Christ and to his kingdom.

But, not only must we be taking in the Word of God, but we must also be giving it out. And, not just to be preachy or to get into an argument with other people. We must share what God is teaching us through his Word, in spoken word or in song or in our praise to God for all he has done for us. And, we must do this for the salvation of the lost, and for the instruction, encouragement, edification, and building up of the body of Christ, so that we might all walk in holiness and reach maturity in our faith in Christ Jesus.

Near the Cross
Fanny J. Crosby / William H. Doane

Jesus, keep me near the cross;
There a precious fountain,
Free to all, a healing stream,
Flows from Calvary's mountain.

Near the cross, a trembling soul,
Love and mercy found me;
There the bright and morning star
Sheds its beams around me.

Near the cross! O Lamb of God,
Bring its scenes before me;
Help me walk from day to day
With its shadow o'er me.

Near the cross I'll watch and wait,
Hoping, trusting ever,
Till I reach the golden strand
Just beyond the river.

In the cross, in the cross,
Be my glory ever,
Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the river.

Sunday, December 24, 2017, 4:36 a.m. – Thank you, Jesus, for this teaching from your Word. May we take these words to heart and put them into practice in our daily lives. Amen!

 

[Br. Bear]

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace,
whose mind is stayed on Thee:
because he trusteth in Thee.
Isaiah 26:3

 

[Lanolin]

I like that picture Sue of bathing our minds in the word of God.

But also, it points to a bigger picture, bathing our feet. For this is what Jesus did. Arent our feet the smelliest part of the body? And not only that, bathing or baptism by being fully immersed, which you need to take a deep breath and breathe out cos all of you is under water!

Has anyone been water baptised? (Im not going to assume everyone here has) What was your experience of it?

All I know was I went under the water, I got soaking wet, and all the dirt sticking to me got washed away. Then when I came out, I was clean. Now some people, they ok with just a rinse, they not really too dirty. But some of us need something stronger, to scrub away the dirt. Well the best thing I found to really get the dirt out is salty scrub! (Isnt salt so useful?!)

Ok what do you do when you get out of the water do you just put your old clothes back on again? Well I dont know about you but I remember being baptised just as i was in my old clothes and they got sopping wet so I put on fresh clean clothes afterward. Isnt this a picture of what happens spiritually? I think so, we get clothed in Christ. Hes not going to leave us dirty, smelly and in rags.

Now who here has a bath everyday?

 

[Sue J Love]

@Lanolin - what you said reminded me of this writing which God gave me 10 years ago. You might enjoy it.

Foot Washing
By Sue Love
Saturday, October 13, 2007

I spent the day today in VA/WV. My husband Rick’s employer, Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated, sponsors regular mission trips to Bradshaw, WV. This was their big annual mission trip and it was my first mission trip ever, I think. So, I had no expectations. I just wanted to serve the Lord.

We arrived last night and enjoyed dinner and fellowship with a group of about 50 volunteers who came here just because they love Jesus. The Lord worked it out that we invited a married couple from NC to ride to dinner with us – a couple we had not met previously, and we ended up eating dinner with them and fellowshipping with them and with a man from Ohio. Their excitement for the Lord was very apparent.

We all met for devotions this morning before traveling to the mission site. The options for ministry were listed. There was one that was planned evangelism - where I would have the opportunity to share the gospel with people one on one. There was only one catch – I had to wash people’s feet. It just so happened that this is the ministry group that this couple was a part of.

Now, I am not a foot person. I don’t generally touch people with my feet, I don’t like to have anyone touch my feet, and I don’t touch other people’s feet, except for maybe my grandchildren’s. So, this was going to stretch me, but I figured I could use the dose of humility – can’t we all?

This ministry group who was washing people’s feet was also supplying them with new socks and shoes, so the first thing we did was to unbox the shoes, remove papers from inside them, etc. so they were ready to be placed on people’s feet. They asked for the first four volunteers to wash people’s feet, but since I had never done anything like that before, I wanted to watch first. So, I went and observed. I listened to see what kinds of things they said, how they approached the gospel, and just in general how they did the service of foot washing.

The man in charge walked in and asked me if I was ready to begin washing feet yet but I told him I would just serve as prayer support for right now. I just wasn’t ready to get my feet wet. Then, I talked with the Lord about it. I said, “Lord, you talk with me all the time. Let me know what you want me to do.”

The Lord immediately gave me this verse:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Co. 5:17-18).​

Immediately the Lord plugged into my mind that washing people’s feet and giving them new shoes to wear symbolized the truth of this passage of scripture. Then, I knew I was ready.

So, I sat down on the stool to wash the first person’s feet. It was a man. I imagined that this was going to be difficult for me, but the Lord just took over and it was amazing because when I was talking about Jesus to people and washing their feet, it really felt how I had imagined many times over in my mind that I was Mary washing Jesus’ feet with my tears and my hair. Now, I was his hands and his feet and his voice, too, to these people who came to get a new pair of shoes. And, I really did not even think twice about washing their feet. It was as though I had always done it, like the Lord just took over my hands.

I found this a wonderful opportunity to share the gospel with people. First off, I don’t do something just because everyone else is doing it or because it is the thing to do. So, I asked myself, “Why are we doing this? What is its purpose? What does it mean?” Since I wondered that myself, I figured other people might have the same question, so I began by asking them if they knew why we were doing this.

Some people knew it was an act of humility and servanthood and that Jesus had set an example for us when he washed the feet of his disciples. I knew that, too. Others didn’t know and still others saw it as a religious ritual that they did at communion but really didn’t know why they did it. But, the Lord gave me a picture, not only of servanthood and humility, but of the gospel message.

He helped me to see that just as people came in there with dirty feet and needed to have their feet cleansed, many of them also came in there with dirty hearts. We are all born with dirty hearts (born into sin) and we need to have our hearts cleansed just like we were washing their feet. Also, just as they removed their old shoes (or we removed them for them) and we put new shoes on them after we washed their feet, the Lord has provided the way that we can have our old dirty hearts removed and we can leave there not only with new shoes, but with new hearts.

I saw the symbolism of new shoes to be really interesting from another viewpoint, too, and that is that shoes are made for walking, so when the Lord cleanses our hearts and gives us new hearts, they are like new shoes – they are made for walking. In other words, He gives us a new walk. He doesn’t save us just so we can go to heaven one day, though that is certainly a wonderful promise, but he saves us to give us a new walk, i.e. a new direction in life; a new life period.

Also, another thing stood out to me. No one could have clean feet or new shoes just by standing there and believing that they had clean feet or new shoes. They had to humble themselves, sit down, remove their old shoes (or we removed them), put their feet in the water and allow us to put new shoes on their feet. So, this was faith in action. It showed them that faith is action, not just words or a state of mind, but we have to come to the Lord and we have to humble ourselves and bow before him and allow him to remove our old hearts, to cleanse us and to give us new hearts. That, to me, is awesome!! But, it all begins with the Father drawing them first. They also could not have clean feet and new shoes if we had not showed up and we had not invited them to come in and to receive this cleansing and these new shoes.

I could see in the looks of some of the people that the Holy Spirit was drawing them to himself, but at least three of the ones I spoke with have said they are not ready. One young lady said she knows God is calling her and is drawing her to himself and I could see it in her eyes, yet she still would not give her heart to Jesus. It broke my heart. Jesus is calling so many to himself, but they just aren’t ready, like I wasn’t ready to wash their feet until the Lord spoke to my heart and said “the old has gone and the new has come,” and then I knew I was ready. But, I still had to say “yes.” I pray that the people whose feet we washed today will say “yes” to Jesus because they got to see Jesus in action today through the lives of these ministers of HIS.

Sunday, October 14, 2007 – Rick and I were on our way home from WV/VA and we were listening to my Avalon CD when the song New Day played. Rick said, “That sounds like your foot washing,” and I agreed. Here is the chorus:

It's a new day
Oh, it's a new time
And there's a new way
I'm gonna live my life
All the old has, passed away
And the new has come
Thank God, It's a brand new day

The Lord gave me one more illustration from my foot washing experience which is based upon this statement that I made above:

They asked for the first four volunteers to wash people’s feet, but since I had never done anything like that before, I wanted to watch first. So, I went and observed. I listened to see what kinds of things they said, how they approached the gospel, and just in general how they did the service of foot washing.​

Just as I observed the washers to make sure they were the real thing, that they were presenting the real gospel of Jesus Christ, and that they weren’t just going through a religious ritual before I would join them, unbelievers are also watching our lives to see if we are the real thing or if we are just going through the motions before they will make that decision to say “yes” to Jesus. So, it is really important that they see that Jesus is everything to us (Everything to Me / Avalon):

We're living in uncertain times
And more and more I find that I'm aware
Of just how fragile life can be
I want to tell the world I found
A love that turned my life around
They need to know that they can taste and see
Now everyday I'm praying
Just to give my heart away
I want live for Jesus
So that someone else might see that he is...

Everything to me
He's more than a story
more than words on a page of history
He's the air that I breathe
The water I thirst for
And the ground beneath my feet
He's everything, everything to me