Tuesday, January 8, 2019

Sound mind (II) steadfastness: God … given spirit…. of power, of love and a sound mind part (VII)

Last day we talked about a sound mind been a renewed mind, this morning I want to talk about a sound mind being a steadfast mind. In Isaiah 26:3 we read “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.” So then faith is a necessary ingredient in having a steadfast mind. Indeed, when we give into doubt, we are unstable in all our ways, and we should not expect to receive anything from the Lord (James 1:7, 8). In particular we should not expect to receive the gift of the spirit of a sound mind.

As we have been saying over these last few days, a gift does not become effective until it is received. And we need to understand that the enemy of our souls will do everything he can to prevent us from receiving this gift of a mind that is steadfast. He knows that if he can capture our thought life, all the rest will fall like dominoes. In particular he seeks to build strongholds in our minds. “Philip’s translation" of Ephesians 6:12 reads “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but we do wrestle.” It is a battle, you may have noticed, and the battle is won or lost in the mind.

Peter tells us that through the knowledge of Him, all things necessary for life and godliness have already been given (2 Peter 1:3). So then a steadfast mind is an informed mind, a mind that knows and understands that “all things” includes weapons of warfare. These weapons are “mighty to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought captive into the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4, 5). A steadfast mind then is captive mind, captive to the Lord not the Devil. Make no mistake about it, if our minds are not captive to Christ, they are captive to the Devil.

I want to thank you this morning Father, that having a steadfast mind is not all up to us. Yes we do have a part to play, and a big part of our part it is faith. And faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). Thank You father that when we do our part the lion’s share of the transformation comes from You, and that You keep not only our minds steadfast, but our hearts too! And I praise and thank You again this morning Lord, in Jesus Name Amen

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