What Was I Thinking

[00:00:00] I welcome each of you this morning. I trust that you have a desire to hear from God this morning and that you prayed about that specifically that God would speak to our hearts. I've entitled this message this morning, What Was I Thinking? I don't know how often it happens to you, but it happens far too often to me that all of a sudden I realize I did something that I wasn't intending to do, [00:00:42] or I didn't do something that I intended to do, something like that. And I, oh, what was I thinking? And you kind of review your thoughts and you know, yeah, I was thinking about, I was concentrating on this and I forgot what I had in mind to do. It's easy for us to get into this whole thing of what our thoughts are doing in our mind. [00:01:13] And I want us to think about how this relates to fulfilling God's purpose for my life. Let's think about some questions. What's behind every action that I do? What's behind it? A thought or a series of thoughts. There's a thought process that happens behind actions in our lives. [00:02:04] There's involuntary actions that automatically happen. Our brain controls those. But all of our voluntary actions are controlled by thoughts. How do people get into bad situations? Usually through a series of thought processes, right? Now, there's accidents and things like that, but I'm thinking about things where we have some control over. Why do so many people seem to repeat life processes and situations over and over and over again? [00:02:45] I think of a woman that marries a very abusive man. And maybe she gets a divorce, maybe he dies, whatever, but you watch that woman and she ends up with that same kind of man again. And you see some of these women that go through that process over and over and over and over, and you wonder, what's going on? What's happening? There's thought processes that are involved in all of that. And we don't realize, we don't often stop and think, and by the way, the definition of foolish is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. [00:03:26] Results. That's just foolish. We do the same thing over and over, we get the same results. That's just what happens. Now, do I recognize my own thought patterns? How many of you here think that you have any negative thoughts through the day? How many of you think you have a lot of negative thoughts through the day? Okay, some of you, some of you have analyzed and thought already about this. It's good for us to stop and think about our thought patterns. What's going on in our mind? Does it really matter what I think about? Absolutely it matters. [00:04:06] You know, we're thinking about somebody that was really mean to us and we come home and our wife meets us at the door and we speak unkindly to her. Why? Because of what we were thinking about, right? How we were thinking. How do I develop good thought patterns? Is our thought just something that's just random? They just bombard us. We have no control over them. They're just something that just goes on and on in our mind and that's the way it is. No, I see you shaking your head no. How do we develop good thought patterns? [00:04:51] Have you ever thought of your mind as a battlefield? I mean, do we take our thoughts that seriously that we look at the whole situation as war? And have you ever gotten into battle mode with your... Now, just a minute here. I'm not talking in battle mode against somebody else with your thoughts. I'm talking about, have you ever gotten into battle mode in dealing with your thoughts? [00:05:27] We're going to see from the scripture that this is a scriptural method of dealing with our thought patterns. So we want to think about this. Now I've got a lot of stuff here, and I'm not going to near cover it all, I want you to just look at this, get your notes out and write these things down. And I'd like for you to take these scriptures and look at the context here. In Mark chapter 5 verse 15 it talks about a man with a right mind. [00:06:02] This was a man who had gone crazy. The demons had taken over his life. And he ran through the graveyard, cutting himself, and just, they couldn't do anything with him. He was just out of control. And Jesus came and cast those demons out of this man's life, and it says that he was clothed, they came and they found him, talking to Jesus, he was sitting and clothed and in his right mind. [00:06:34] What happened? His thought processes were totally changed. Why was he cutting himself? Why was he running through the tombs and sleeping in the graveyard and living there? Because his thought processes were in control of evil spirits. When God worked in his life, his thought patterns became right. Now, I'm not going to take a lot of time in these, but I want you to just look at them. In Acts 17.11, the Bereans, oops, I missed one, Luke 12.29, he talks about being of a doubtful mind. [00:07:12] This is a worried or an anxious mind, and he said that's the kind of mind Gentiles have. Remember we talked about a few weeks back about what's worldly, things that the Gentiles do? This is one of the things Gentiles do, worry. And this is from the mouth of Jesus. Don't be of a doubtful mind. Acts 1711, the Bereans were of a ready mind. They wanted to receive the truth and they searched the scriptures. In Romans chapter 1 verse 80 talks about people that have a reprobate mind and it's interesting if you look at the context there what all is involved in this. [00:07:51] These people wanted God removed from their knowledge. Whoa, does that sound familiar or what? People that don't even want to think about God. A carnal mind, Roman 8, 6, and a spiritual mind. A carnal mind is against God. The spiritual mind is life and peace. Romans 12, 1 and 2, Tony talked about this a little bit Wednesday evening. A renewed mind or a transformed mind, working out the will of God in our lives. [00:08:29] Ephesians, 2 Corinthians 8, 12, a willing mind, ready to commit to God's work and God's will. Ephesians 4, 17, a vain mind, that's like a mind full of hot air. It's like a hot air balloon. The other morning I saw about 20 hot air balloons over Battle Creek. Float Friday morning. Beautiful. But he's saying a vain mind is like if our heads are just full of hot air. There's nothing there. [00:09:05] Philippians chapter 2. A lowly mind. Humility. Considering others better than ourselves. Philippians 2 verse 5, the mind of Christ, it's humility, Philippians 3 verse 19, mind earthly things, God is their belly, we live by our senses And a lot of people in our world live that way, what do you go by in your life? [00:09:37] Is it go by what I feel? All of a sudden I'm hungry, so it's time to eat. All of a sudden I feel like I want this, so I've got to have this. That's living by our senses. Colossians 2, verse 18, a fleshly mind, a mind that's controlled, again, by the flesh and its desires. Titus 1.15, a defiled mind He says that kind of a mind, there's nothing pure That kind of a mind, as soon as anything is mentioned [00:10:09] Automatically is thought of in an evil, a vile, a filthy context 1 Peter 1.13, having a prepared mind Thinking properly, thinking wisely 1 Peter 3.8, having one mind, a caring mind for each other 1 Peter 4.1, an armed mind. He's talking about suffering and he says, we need to have a mind that's armed so that we're ready to suffer. [00:10:42] What kind of thought processes do you think go on in a mind like that? Peter talks in 1 Peter, he's writing a lot about suffering, writing to the suffering church. Now, I want us to think about the right kind of mind out of Philippians 4. I want us to notice some things here. I want to read this. But I want us to notice some things. In chapter 3, the end of chapter 3, he's talking about reaching the goal. He says, I'm pressing toward the mark. I am looking toward the goal. That's what I'm thinking about. [00:11:18] And so, you begin to start to think, wait a minute, Paul was a man that was beaten, that was shipwrecked, gave his life, gave his body, sacrificed his body for the cause of Christ. And you start to say, oh, he must have been thinking something. He says, what I'm thinking about is I'm thinking about the goal. I'm not going to be deterred from reaching that goal. [00:11:51] And then in chapter 4 verse 1 we have that famous word, therefore, and we look and see what it's there for. It's referring to him reaching the goal. And he goes on and he talks about a lot of different things there in relation to that. He says, therefore, and think about these terms in the first part. Let's just read chapter 4, verse 1 through 8. Therefore, my brethren, dearly beloved and longed for, and by the way, look at the words in here that relate to thinking, to thoughts. [00:12:32] My joy and crown so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. I beseech Jodius and beseech Syntyche that they be of the same mind in the Lord. I entreat thee also, true yoke fellow, help those women which labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also and with other my fellow labors whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice. Christ, let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. [00:13:11] And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus, your emotions, your feelings, and your thoughts. And then he says, finally brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are good report, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things. [00:13:45] Now, I don't know if you noticed, but I picked out some words as I went down through there that related to thought processes. Stand fast. That's related to a thought process. Be of the same mind. Rejoice. And he says, again I say rejoice. He really focuses on that. Moderation. That's related to thought process. Don't worry, that's your thoughts. [00:14:20] Prayer, thanksgiving, the peace of God, keep your mind. All of those are related to thought processes. He uses all of these things and he tells us then that there's some things that we need to focus on. Things that are true. True. And that word true has the meaning of open, of reality, of truth. Not something virtual. Now if I put up here on the screen a picture of me, is that really me? Not really, no. [00:15:07] It's a picture of me. It's a virtual me. And we live in a virtual world where truth is becoming virtual. What people are thinking on is so virtual that people have kind of adopted the idea that there is nothing real anymore. If it's not virtual, it's not real. That's about where our world is at. And so people, you know, you have all kinds of virtual stuff going on in our world. [00:15:39] Paul says, look, don't focus on the virtual, focus on reality. What's true? What happens in people's minds when they focus on unrealistic things? If a girl reads all kinds of novels, romance novels, that depict romantic life as something just flowery and, you know, everyday's heaven and all that kind of thing, what's going to happen when she gets married? [00:16:15] She's going to get a rude awakening, isn't she? Because life isn't that way. It doesn't work that way. It doesn't stay that way. Life is real, and real things happen, and we better be prepared to face reality. Paul says, look, we've got to think about things that are true, not spend our time thinking. I notice there's a lot of people that call Dave Ramsey about financial situations that might happen, that could happen. [00:16:50] And Dave always tells them, look, what's happening right now? Let's deal with what's happening. Let's deal with reality. We get ourselves into a lot of trouble because we spend a lot of our thoughts on what might happen, what could happen. Paul says, look, our thoughts have to be focused on the true, on reality. Secondly, our thoughts need to be focused on what's honest or honorable or noble. [00:17:21] In other words, what brings glory to God? The thoughts that I'm thinking, that you're thinking today, would you like to have them plastered up here on the screen so we can all read them? Why not? Aren't they true? Aren't they honorable thoughts? What kind of thoughts are those that God wants us to have in our minds? [00:17:52] He's telling us, look, these are the kind of things we need to think on in our lives. We need to think on things that are just, things that are equitable. This kind of goes along with getting even. What happens in getting even? If you're thinking about getting even with someone, are you thinking about being equitable? No. Sorry, you're not. You're thinking about getting ahead, right? I mean, if somebody dumps a glass of water on you, your thought isn't glass of water, your thought is pitcher of water, right? [00:18:31] That's not equitable. Not at all. And I'm not saying that's wrong. I'm just telling how our thought processes work. We don't often think equitably. Somebody said something unkind about us, maybe it was unintentional. And so we think of how many different people we can talk to and inform of how poorly this person has done in some area of their life. Is that equitable? No. We're spending our time thinking on things that are unjust. [00:19:05] and so it's important for us things that are pure, chaste, clean, innocent, perfect do you like pure water? or do you like to have some water that's mixed with some other stuff? I'm not talking about Mountain Dew and all those kind of things I'm talking about just a little mud in it or out of the creek or something like that got some stuff mixed with it, no? and our thoughts are often mixed with a lot of things that shouldn't be in there. [00:19:41] Things that are lovely, things that are acceptable to God. That's what he says we should think on. Things that are of good report, reputable, having a good witness or testimony. And in a way that comes up to this, you know, would we like our thoughts to be displayed? Things that are of virtue, excellence If there's any virtue, if there's any praise [00:20:12] Think on these things, he tells us These are all important for us This is just a basic list that Paul gives to us here of thought patterns for our lives Now, our thoughts are kind of like a computer. What happens with a computer? It only puts out what's put in, right? [00:20:44] Garbage in, garbage out. A computer will not put out something that's not put into it. Our minds are the same way. We put things into our mind, our mind processes them, dissects them, analyzes them, uses them, and things come out. And if we're not thinking on these things, then we can only expect things that come out of our lives, actions, Jesus said it this way, [00:21:20] Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. It's connected. There's something going on inside here that makes this little thing here flop and say the things that it says, right? Right? And so if we're thinking on these kind of thoughts all day long, is all kinds of filth and vile speech going to come flying out of our mouth? No. Because our heart is full of good things. Our mind has been turning on good things and those things begin to come out. [00:22:03] Now, right thinking is necessary for us in order to accomplish a number of different things. If you and I are going to be victorious, we have got to think right. Think about this in the context of a war. If the soldiers involved in that war are not even thinking about the battle, You know, they're thinking all kinds of thoughts about all kinds of things. They're thinking bad thoughts about their commanders. [00:22:36] They're thinking bad thoughts about, you know, they're just going off on all these bad thoughts. What kind of battle are they going to have? They're going to have a losing battle, aren't they? If they're focused on the battle and they've got their plan in mind, they've got everything down pat, they're quite likely to have victory. And it's the same way in our minds. Right thinking is necessary for us to have victory. Victory doesn't just happen because we come to an altar on a Sunday morning. [00:23:11] Victory doesn't just happen because I say I'm sorry for what I did. Victory happens in our lives as we think right. Secondly, right thinking is necessary in our lives for holiness or usefulness. In order for God to be able to use us, we have got to be thinking properly. You know, again, the war thing relates. [00:23:43] You know, you're not going to promote someone to a general who all the time has this history of not following orders and not, you know, he's just not thinking right. And so you go and promote him to a general. No. No, God says, or God is telling us, in order for us to be useful to Him, we have to be able to think properly. In order to understand spiritual things, we have to think properly. [00:24:14] Paul talks about this. He says, in order for people to understand God's Word and spiritual things, they have to be spiritually minded. They have to think right in order to understand spiritual things. If you're not thinking on the things in Philippians 4.8, don't expect to be able to understand God's will. Don't expect to understand His truth. Because your thought processes are twisted. [00:24:49] They're mixed up. They're on a wrong plane. In order to have proper relationships, we have to think right. Why are there so many marriage problems and relationship issues going on in our world? It's because people are not thinking properly. A lot of people are thinking only about themselves, what they want, and all those kind of things. [00:25:19] People are immature. Our thought processes are supposed to mature along with our bodies, and that often doesn't happen. In order for us to have proper actions, we need to think properly. Now, I want us to turn over to 2 Corinthians 10, verse 5. And I want us to notice here how God tells us to deal with our thoughts. [00:25:58] And I want you to notice as we read these verses here, I want you to notice the warfare terms. Chapter 10, verse 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. So he starts right out here, already putting us in the context of war. [00:26:32] We're walking in the flesh, but we're not warring after the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal or earthly or fleshly, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds, casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ, [00:27:03] and having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. Now I want us to just go through these verses here and I want us to notice some things. The first thing that he starts out talking about here is weapons and warfare. And he's talking about our mind, our thoughts. He says the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. Now, we're dealing with a battle. We're dealing with something that's bigger than we are. And so, we have to have bigger weapons. You know, you don't go out to fight a war with BB guns. You'd say that'd be stupid. [00:27:53] What kind of war would you win with that? Well, maybe cowboys and Indians or something like that. But, you know, we have to have weapons that are fitted to the warfare that we're fighting. You know, if our enemies have fighter jets, we can't go out with horses and win. We have to have weapons that will win the warfare for us. So he's telling us, look, with our mind it's the same way. [00:28:25] We've got to have the right kind of weapons if we're going to win in the battle of our mind. Secondly, he talks about pulling down. It was interesting, if you go back into the history of the children of Israel, you notice that their battles started out with a lot of destruction. Why was that? Why did they have to destroy some things before they could possess the land that God gave them? [00:29:04] There were some things already built there, right? They were already established. People had been there and these things were in place. And so they had to pull some things down. that pulling down has the idea of demolition demolish what did God tell him to do when he when he sent Saul in there with the Amalekites what did he say demolish them don't save anything demolish them what happened when they went into Jericho [00:29:38] they told the the harlot there they said you've got to be ready to get out because this city The city is going to be demolished. It's going to be destroyed. And the walls fell down and the children of Israel marched across the city. It was demolished. The pulling down of strongholds has the idea of forts and castles. Remember? The city of Jericho was a walled city. It had great and high walls. Thick walls. Walls they could have chariot races on. [00:30:11] And there's a lot of thought patterns in our minds that have been developed to the point where they become strongholds. They're big, they're high, they're thick, they're strong. Those have to be demolished. We have to have weapons that will demolish them. Then there's the idea of casting down. John, I don't know if the battery went dead here or what, that's not going ahead. [00:30:44] There's the idea then of casting down. What's happening? And when you look at that, it has the idea of violence, of destroying something, destroying imaginations. There's our thoughts, there's our reasonings, there's all those things that are going on in our mind. They have to be demolished, they have to be thrown down. Destroyed. It's a violent action. It's not just something where you say, well, I couldn't do anything about it. It just came to my mind and that's the way it was. No. [00:31:19] He's saying, look, there's something going on in our mind. It's a battle. A few years ago, the guys went through a book here, Every Man's Battle. There's a battle going on in our minds. A daily battle. There's some things that have to be destroyed. He talks about high things. Every high thing that exalts itself against the name of Christ. It's like something lofty. It's interesting that high thing that exalts itself against the name of Christ, [00:31:55] that's the same word as Jesus being lifted up before them into heaven. So he's talking about something big. You're not just talking about some little sand pile. He's talking about something that's huge, that exalts itself, lifts itself up against the name of Christ, against the knowledge of God. The truth that God has revealed is against the knowledge of God. [00:32:25] Now, back up. What is the knowledge of God in relation to our thoughts? Philippians 4.8 Think on things that are true, just, honest, pure, lovely, you know. Okay? Now, what about all these things that come along in our mind and lift themselves up that don't fit that? They're against what God has revealed. And they have to be destroyed. Now, what does he tell us to do? [00:32:57] He says, bring those into captivity. Bring them into captivity to the obedience of Christ. What happens when you have captives in a war? They get chained, they get shackled, they get bound up some way, tied with ropes, whatever the context of history is. And they're gathered together and they are forced to go wherever you choose to make them go, right? [00:33:30] You don't say, well, the captives wouldn't come. No, captives come. They do come. He says we bring our thoughts into captivity to the obedience of Christ. So we're not talking about something that we can't deal with. That's a lie from Satan. Satan has convinced us that we do not have the ability to control our thoughts and our mind. [00:34:02] God says we do. He says you have control over your mind. You can choose what you think about. And you have the obligation to bring your thoughts into captivity. to the obedience of Christ. Every thought to the obedience of Christ. Into submission. Into subjection. What happens to the captives? [00:34:33] They're in submission. They might not, in their mind they might not be, but they have to submit. If you tell them they can't eat, they can't eat. If you tell them they have to run, they have to run. If you tell them they have to crawl, they have to crawl. Whatever you tell those captives to do, they have to do. They have to come into obedience. That's what he's saying. We have to bring our thoughts to the obedience of Christ, the Messiah. Then he says we have in a readiness. Our mindset is that we are ready to revenge, to deal with any thought that tries to make a break. [00:35:14] What happens if one of those captives decides he's not going to be a captive anymore and away he goes? He's dealt with, right? You don't just say, well, there's nothing I can do. I mean, the guy left. No, that's not how it works. We have the responsibility to revenge all disobedience. Whatever within us is not in subjection to Jesus Christ. Whatever thoughts come to our mind that aren't in agreement with God, we have a responsibility to deal with. [00:35:50] And Paul says, look, that's where we come to in our Christian life and experience. We're wanting to deal with that disobedience when our obedience is fulfilled, is complete, is accomplished, is verified. Now, I want to tell you something. This is important and it's very useful. Pray this verse. My wife and I started doing this not that long ago. Started praying verse 5. [00:36:27] God help us today to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. And you know what? I was amazed. I didn't realize how many negative thoughts I was thinking in a day. And as we began to pray that prayer, the Lord said, oh, what about this thought? What about this? I mean, you've been thinking about this for the last 20 miles. What are you going to do with that? [00:37:01] What are you going to do about that guy that just pulled out in front of you? You know, thoughts. Things that are thinking. And it's amazing when you begin to pray and say, God, I want to bring my thoughts into captivity to the obedience of Christ. Work in my mind, Lord. Show me by Your Spirit. Help me to see what kind of thoughts I'm thinking. God will do that. This is what He's telling us. [00:37:35] It's not something that somebody came up with and said, oh wow, this is good psychology, or maybe this will work. No, this is God saying, look, this is how you deal with your mind. Consider it a battle. Recognize it as a battle. Recognize that there are things there that are huge. They've been there maybe for generations. Maybe your great-grandfather thought that same way and passed it down. and you have to deal with it. [00:38:07] Whatever it is. It doesn't matter how big or how old or how strong or how tough it is to deal with. God says, look, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. They're mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. And so we've got to come and we've got to approach it with that desperation. the desperation and the determination of war I am determined by the grace of God [00:38:43] that Satan's strongholds in my mind will be destroyed you know what? every one of us here have lies that Satan has told us that we believe How many feel useless? You know why? Because Satan has told you you're useless. Has God told you that? No. How many feel ugly? [00:39:17] Why? Because Satan has told you a lie. And you've believed it. And we could go on and on and on. God is wanting us to deal with these lies that Satan has convinced us of and that we're living under. As long as we're living under those big castles of lies, we're not going to accomplish what God wants us to accomplish. We're not going to be fruitful. We're not going to be useful. [00:39:49] Our relationships are not going to prosper and grow. And so it's important for us to recognize that we are in a battle, a warfare that's not just some little cowboys and Indians game, it's the battle for our mind. And it's the battle that Satan has against us to destroy our usefulness and effectiveness for God. [00:40:25] Remember, it's not what you think you are, but what you think you are. Let's stand together for prayer. I'm just going to ask you today if God spoke to you specifically and you've recognized in your own life some castles, some high towers that are there that you need to deal with. [00:41:08] And you want prayer to deal with those, just raise your hand. Okay, God, we thank you today for your word. It's quick, it's living, it's powerful, it's mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. And God, we thank you for what you've shown us today in your word. Lord, we recognize, I recognize that so many of my thoughts are not fitting to Philippians 4.8. [00:41:42] I recognize that so many of my thoughts are not in obedience to Christ. And I thank you, Lord, for what you're doing in my life and working in my life to purify my thoughts, To bring my thoughts into a place of obedience to Christ And Lord, quite a number of people here this morning have raised their hand and said that they want prayer Because they've recognized in their own life a need You've shown them, you've spoken to them this morning, Lord [00:42:14] And I pray, God, that you give each one the recognition of the weapons that you've made available The opportunities that we have to destroy, to demolish those strongholds that Satan has put in our lives And Lord, to find victory, to be able to live in this world like you would have us to live To bring glory to you, to cause you to receive honor, Lord [00:42:48] We just pray that you guide us and lead us in that We pray it in your precious name. Amen.