Taking Control of Our Thoughts– Dr. Charles Stanley

The Bible is full of truth about the importance of controlling our minds. In this sermon, Dr. Stanley shares biblical truth found in Colossians 3 about how our tendencies to think as unbelievers change when we become believers. Christ gives us renewed thoughts, and the Bible to guide us towards thinking like Christ—with godly and positive thoughts. For more messages from Charles Stanley, including this week’s broadcast, go to www.intouch.org/watch

we should be thanking God’s thoughts

what does he think

how does he want us to think how does he

want us to live and in the process of

doing so remember this when you’re

thinking his thoughts you’re thinking

the most powerful thoughts there are

when you’re thinking his thoughts you’re

thinking and beginning to see what he’s

thinking about you next on InTouch

taking control of your thoughts our mind

is the control tower of our life

whatever happens in our life starts

right here all of our decisions of air

and the truth is whatever we are today

is the result of what we’ve been

thinking about all those years the Bible

says as a man thinketh in his heart so

is he

so if you don’t like what’s going on

around you maybe you should ask yourself

the question what am I thinking about

what do I think about myself what I

think about other people because what we

think about is really what controls us

for example a relationship to God a

relationship to each other a sense of

direction in life whatever we accomplish

have failures in life all of that is a

result of the way we think and

oftentimes we forget that that this is a

control tower that everything else is a

result of how we think that we can’t

control everybody else in control of all

of our circumstances but we are going to

respond to circumstances in one way or

the other and so when I think about how

this affects us I think about the fact

that many people of where they are

because of the wrong thinking and so

they don’t like where they are other

folks are where they are because of

right thinking because they’ve been

thinking the right way what you have to

ask is this what is it that determines

what I think is it the Word of God or is

it something else I’ll read something

else that I watch and I’ll think about

how many people sit down and open their

mind to our television program what did

the news or what

it might be not realizing they are

sitting there being a programmed in

their mind to think a certain way you

say well does that include preaching too

yes and I want you to listen carefully

because I want you to be programmed to

think the way God thinks program to

understand the Word of God programmed in

such a way that you will live and the

fashion that’s pleasing and honorable to

God and that the very best that God has

for your life you’ll be able to

experience that yes but on the other

hand you’re watching some program it’s

full of sensuality or just crime and all

of these movies and so forth that you

see and programs that I don’t watch them

I can’t name them but I can tell you a

lot of is just pure junk that you do not

need in your mind in your thought life

and certainly it’s a part of your life

so what I want to talk about in this

message is controlling our thoughts

because this controls everything and

that’s where our thoughts are from so if

you turn in your Bible to Colossians

chapter 3 and I want us to read these

first eight verses and look at this

they’re not want to answer the question

how do we control our thoughts which

determines our life and Paul begins in

this particular chapter and he says for

example therefore that it’s based on

what he’s been talking about if you have

been raised up with Christ keep seeking

the things above where Christ is seated

at the right hand of God set your mind

on the things above not on the things

that are on earth

for you have died and your life is

hidden with Christ in God when Christ

who is our life is revealed that is when

he comes then you also will be revealed

come with him in glory therefore watch

this consider the members of your

earthly body as dead to immorality

impurity passion evil desire and

which amounts to idolatry but it’s

because of these things that the wrath

of God will come upon the sons of

disobedience and in them you also once

walked when you were living in them but

now you also put them all aside anger

wrath malice slander abusive speech

from your mouth and so on he goes so I

want to sum look at this passage for a

moment I’m gonna come back to it till

the end of the message but notice what

he says therefore if you’ve been raised

up what in the world does that mean when

you were saved it’s as if the Bible says

you die to your old way of life and you

rose to walk in newness of life

that’s what baptism pictures you died

the old way of life you’re buried in

Christ Jesus risen to walk in newness of

life and these says therefore keep

seeking since this is a new life keep

seeking the things above spiritual

things that doesn’t mean that you forget

everything that’s in this life we have

responsibilities and joys and whatever

it may be but keep seeking those things

above where Christ is seated at the

right hand of God so you understand that

quality of those things set your mind on

the things above not on the things that

are on earth which is an awesome

statement set your mind you’re gonna set

it on something set it on things above

things that are holy and righteous and

good and godly and helpful for you’ve

died and your life is hidden with Christ

in God that is you died your old way of

life when you said I’m trusting Jesus as

my savior you didn’t just say well I

just want to add Jesus to my present

life and I’ll keep going now this is

what people do when they living in areas

of idolatry and they have all kinds of

idols in their house and unless they

fully understand what they do when you

explain Jesus to them they said oh yes

and they’ve got a god to this they’ve

got an idol to this god this God this

God that they want to know what kind of

a lay put up here Jesus add to their

religion know when you trust the Jesus

you died to your old way of life and

when Christ who is our life is revealed

when he comes then you also will be

revealed come with an ink Lord now watch

this next verse

therefore consider the members of your

earthly body as dead to illicit sex to

moral impurity of all sorts passion that

is that drive within you that causes you

to do things that are not right and he

says evil desires greed which amounts to

adultery and in those days in what

you’ll find in the scripture oftentimes

when the Bible talks about immorality he

also talks about greed because he puts

them together and in the days in which

Paul was writing to the Colossians and

to the Romans and so forth that Roman

society adultery and sensuality were all

sort of mixed up together their gods and

their prostitutes in the other temples

and so forth and so it was all a mixture

so he says it’s because of these things

that the wrath of God will come upon the

sons of disobedience and in them watch

this in them you also once walked at

that’s past when you were living in them

that is that was your lifestyle then he

says but now you also put them all aside

that is anger wrath malice slander and

abusive speech that is you change so

it’s time to put away the things that

don’t fit your new life in Christ Jesus

now I’m going to come back to that and

show you something about that passage in

a few moments but I want to see I’m

gonna give you three ideas three points

to this message and I want to end up

with the last one being how do I control

this control tower of my life how to

control my thoughts is it possible to do

so but the first point is simply this

the pathway that controlling our

thoughts begins with an understanding of

our relationship to Jesus Christ you

don’t understand that you’ll never

understand this idea of controlling your

thoughts that’s where it all begins

because he says here we were raised them

with Christ Jesus

referring through our salvation there

was a change that

place when you were saved and as a

result of that God intended for our

thinking to change our mind to change

because this this mind of us controls

everything else in your life you say

well what about all the other parts of

my life we respond to the way we think

and so if we think right we’re gonna

have one response we think wrongly we’re

gonna have another very important that

we understand how that works so this

requires me to understand how to control

my thoughts if I want to think right if

I want to thank God Lee if I want to

thank holy if I want to think

righteously right here’s where it starts

and many people lose it right here

they don’t think right they don’t think

godly they don’t think like they’re

worth anything and they say well you

know I just never had the opportunity or

I just never will be that or I’m just

this and I’m not that this is why people

who are very beautiful can think they’re

ugly and people who are very skinny can

think they’re fat and they refuse to eat

because they think they look in the

mirror and they don’t see what’s reality

and so your mind controls every aspect

of your life in fact what you think

determines how you live what you think

determines how your relationship to God

as we said relationship to others your

relationship to yourself and many people

start out in life defeated because of

the influence of their parents their

grandparents that tell them they’ll

never amount to anything oh this is

wrong with them well that’s wrong with

them and as a result they go through

life what having heard written in their

minds impressed in their thinking if my

mama said it my daddy said it and my

grandmother said it it must be true

therefore and oftentimes people are

ruined

as a result of what they have been

taught of what they have been what

they’ve heard from someone that they

value very highly so with that in mind I

want to come to the second point which

is the challenge to controlling our

thoughts because once you’re saved as I

say your environments the same it could

even get worse

but we’re to live godly in an ungodly

society in an ungodly environment and

some people’s environments worse than

others I’ll think about people who grow

up in families they get saved nobody

else in the family is a Christian that

family uses foul language they never

read the Bible they drank the corrals

may be unfaithful to each other all

kinds of things

and here’s this Godman life that now is

surrounded by very ungodly circumstances

and I think about some situations and

people that I’ve met and they tell me

where they’ve come from and how God has

worked in their life and how they live

where they live in the circumstances

they live in it is very difficult for

them especially unless they’re trained

less they’re taught and I think

oftentimes people go to church year

after year after year and nobody tells

them or explains to them or helps them

understand this is the way you think and

you can only think this way if certain

things are true and so this morning my

goal is simply this to say there

challenges to thinking godly but

thinking godly is absolutely essential

to our success in life learning to live

with ourselves and learning today live

with others and accomplishing whatever

God has in mind for us and when I think

about that I think about two verses of

Scripture for example turn to a 2nd

Corinthians for a moment and look in

this look in this fourth chapter of 2nd

Corinthians and the fourth verse he says

in this fourth verse he says speaking of

the gospel and so forth he says in verse

3 even if our gospel is veiled it is

veiled to those who are perishing in

whose case the god of this world has

blinded the minds of the unbeliever so

that they may not see the light of the

gospel of the glory of Christ who is the

image of God watch this Satan blinds the

mind of the unbeliever so that they

can’t don’t want to have no desire to

see the truth if you turn to the 11th

chapter of 2nd Corinthians and look if

you will in the 3rd verse now he blinds

the minds of the unbelieving but listen

to what he says in the 3rd verse but I’m

afraid that as the serpent

deceived Eve by his craftiness your

minds will be led astray from the

simplicity and purity of devotion to

Christ he blinds the minds of of the

unbeliever and he deceives believers

this is why people who profess to be

Christians oftentimes live a life that

we know is absolutely not biblical

because they’re deceived well so-and-so

says it’s ok Oh so-and-so says it’s all

right

they’re deceived by what they hear by

what they see about what they feel so

Satan works he doesn’t work on your toe

your leg or somewhere else

he works in your mind it’s the

battlefield in every person’s life

whatever goes on right here is going to

affect every single aspect of your life

and so this is why it’s so important and

why Paul is talking about it here and so

what happens is Satan working in your

mind will enable you to recall things

that happened years and years and years

ago maybe things that were bad something

somebody did you somebody molested you

somebody mistreated you whatever it

might be and it’s still there you can

keep recalling it and when you recall it

it’s a bad feeling and so we have the

power to recall but if that mind is

filled with things that are unpleasant

ungodly or ziba says here we’ve been

blinded and so forth then we suffer the

results and so the mind is very

important and can be easily deceived by

the devil unless you fill it with the

truth of the word of God and I’m not

talking about just reading the Bible

once in a while which will – we’ll see

in just a few moments so when I think

about this and I think about what is a

reprobate mind a reprobate mind is one

watch this carefully that has looked at

life looked at particular sin in their

life and decided that’s what I want

that’s what I’m gonna do and I’m giving

myself to that no matter what somebody

else says I want anybody else likes they

can say anything that wasn’t say that’s

what I want to do and that’s what I’m

going to do and it is something that the

scripture teaches there is specifically

it’s an act of disobedience to God when

you give yourself over to a particular

sin and you say that’s what I’m gonna do

that’s where I’m gonna live then what

you have is a reprobate mind it starts

right here only you can decide that

about yourself a reprobate mind I

remember one of my friends who had been

ahead of the Baptist’s in a particular

state where I was and he and I were good

friends and I remember one day we were

eating lunch and he said I remember he

was down a little bit that day and I

asked him what was going on he said you

know he was in the service and he was in

another country and he was there over

there for a pretty good while he said

you know I don’t want to tell you what

but he said in those few years I think

he was there about three years he said I

did a lot of things I saw a lot of

things I experienced a lot of things he

said I just sort of did what I wanted to

do and he said now these years have

passed by and I’m in the ministry and

I’m still suffering the results of my

sins because somehow I can’t get them

out of my mind he said because I was so

indulged to myself and those three years

of doing what I wanted to do what I

thought I wanted to do he said it has

happened me ever since

so I’ll just say this to you it makes a

difference what you think and you may

think of today and think well it’s not

going to ever happen or it’s not going

to hinder me in the future what you that

watch this what you think is imprinted

on your mind well how long does it take

you to forget it it may not take you but

two weeks to forget but remember this it

is still in your mind this is why things

crop up in your thinking that you hadn’t

thought about in years and years and

years and years then on the other hand

something happens this morning you can’t

remember it so the mind is a strange

thing but one thing about it whatever

you put in there is there to stay until

Jesus delivers you from it so the mind

is a powerful part of your body and the

truth is your life is an expression of

what you think if you don’t like what

you’re thinking you can change your

thinking you say well now I don’t know

that I can change my thing

yes you can for example if you’re angry

you don’t you can lay it down if you

feel that you are nobody full of

unworthiness you can lay it down if you

are jealous of somebody you lay it down

and we can just go through a whole list

of pride and and criticism rejection

fear and greed all of these things that

people feel they can lay it down if they

choose to now if you don’t think you can

and you just convinced you can’t you say

well I’ve felt this for years and years

and years remember this one thing and

you listening say Amen you have the Holy

Spirit living in you as a believer when

you trusted Christ as your Savior the

Holy Spirit came to live in your life

and remember what Jesus called him he

said I’m gonna send the helper and when

he comes he’ll be in you with you and

upon you you and I who are believers

trusted Christ as their Savior we have

the Holy Spirit living within us and one

of his responsibilities is to as a

helper is to enable us that is in our

thinking to bring that back to our minds

what we think and how we think and to

help us to remember Scripture and so

forth but he’s there to be a helper and

to help us to think right about God

about Jesus about our life about others

about ourselves he is her helper so you

can walk away you do not have to keep

remembering things that you say well do

you just sit it’ll be there it doesn’t

mean you have to remember it doesn’t

mean you have to bring it back when

somebody says to me well I can’t help

myself yes you can yes you can’t help

yourself and I’ll live long enough to

know the times when I thought I couldn’t

help myself finally God got through to

me say yes you can you are responsible

but what you think and how you think it

because as a believer you have the

Spirit of God living within you to

enable you to think right but it’s

important we understand what God says

how he says it so I want you to think

about this and this will be on the

screen so you can jot it down if you’ll

do it quickly and simply this we saw a

thought and reap in action we’re going

to respond we saw in action reap a habit

because

we keep sewing the same action we saw a

habit and Reaper character because

habits in their life determined our

character we saw a character we become

something we read we reap a destiny this

is who we are and this is our future and

then remember this idea unseen thoughts

produce visible consequences unseen

thoughts produce visible consequences in

their life that was whatever we think

nobody else in the world knows exactly

what you think but the way you think is

going to be visible at some point of the

other and if you feel unworthy you feel

like nobody cares and what it loves you

it’s gonna be visible upon your face

you’re not gonna have any peace at joy

your happiness you think nobody really

cares for you it’s gonna show it’s gonna

be a part of your life but it came from

your thinking don’t think less of

yourself than God thinks and he died for

you no matter what somebody else says

about you you are a child of God once

you’ve trusted Christ as your Savior so

we’re the ones who determine what we

gonna be and so forth because it’s the

way we think and this is why people can

come from nowhere the worst kind of

situation circumstances you’d think

they’d never met anything in their life

and they excel excel excelled the young

even their imagination what they started

thinking rightly about themselves and

about the Lord and about his place and

position in their life so unseen

thoughts produce visible consequences in

their life

now I said all that they can render

saying this how do we control their

thoughts how do we control them well

when the thought comes to your mind

one of several things you’re gonna do

you’re going to accept that thought and

you’re gonna express it in some fashion

or you may just wrestle with it for a

while or you may deny it and this is the

way a signal defeats you if you’re

thinking something and you deny it it

just gets deeper and deeper and deeper

so you can accept it

and express it you can wrestle with it

denied or you can control it because you

have the Holy Spirit working within you

you can control what you think and

that’s if I’m going to control my

thinking I have to understand that you

have within you the power of the Spirit

of God to enable you to think rightly if

you find for example yourself somebody

on your job you don’t like them you

don’t want to be around them you can

change your thinking about them you say

how can I change my thinking about a

mind I think that well you can say Frank

first of all you know God created them

he loves them and I can talk you out of

being bad to them right now in other

words if you just think about you think

about people the way you choose to think

and we are the products of our choices

and how we handle these things in our

life now one of the ways you overcome

whatever that sin is in your life or

whatever’s going on one of the ways you

overcome this thinkI is by asking

yourself some very impacting questions

not just questions but questions that’ll

make a difference in your life and I

would just encourage you to write these

down you ask yourself these questions

about whatever you’re thinking and the

first question you ask is this where

will these thoughts lead me where will

these thoughts lead me if I keep

thinking the same thing

well the littleit it’s gonna lead you

somewhere very important question if I

keep thinking this when’s it gonna lead

me another question is what will these

thoughts get me where I want to go then

you have to decide where do I want to go

where do I want to go in life well what

I’m thinking get me where I want to go

and if you say I’m just not important

I’m a nobody I don’t have any gifts and

talents and skills in life and give

yourself a lot of excuses you won’t get

anywhere so you have to ask yourself the

question if I keep thinking this where

will this get me in life then ask

yourself the question are these thoughts

scripturally acceptable in other words

let’s say for example you sitting in

front of the TV and something comes

along you know it’s not

and the world is full of pornography and

pornography is the world’s photography

they have diluted the truth and they put

all kind of stuff out there for people

to watch and you ask yourself the

question are these thoughts scripturally

acceptable and here’s somebody

committing some sexual acts on

television you know or whatever you may

watch mistake septa will scripture no

they’re not then you shut it down cut it

off you you know once you don’t watch

you do not have to watch what you know

it’s not right you shut it down

somebody says but I’m so weak you’re

weak because you’re talking about being

weak you don’t have to be weak you have

the Spirit of God within you who will

enable you to do whatever is necessary

tell overcome whatever’s there so what

you do yeah what we’re doing is giving

these questions and say let’s look at

reality what’s reality reality is where

will these thoughts lead me I have to

answer that question

well these thoughts get me where I want

to go I need to answer that question are

these thoughts scriptures accepted like

an answer that will these thoughts build

me up or tear me down and they’re gonna

do one of the two they’re not neutral

our thoughts are gonna build us up a

tears down when you sit through this

message these thoughts are to build you

up not tear you down when you look and

listen to stuff that you know is not

right ungodly unscriptural sensual

whatever it might be you know the real

truth is they’re gonna tear you down

spiritually so you have to decide

whether you gonna watch look a listen

listen to your friends or whatever

they’re saying because they’re gonna

have some impact in your life and then

could I share these thoughts with

someone else whatever you’re thinking

could you share with somebody else

always said that one of those thoughts

that no you couldn’t well I’m not saying

you should tell everybody everything you

know in life about yourself or whatever

it might be but on a daily basis what

I’m thinking could I share with somebody

else and they’ll tell you where you are

in your thinking and then where did

these thoughts originate

and some thoughts did not not originate

with the Word of God they did not

originate in heaven they did not

originate in godly living they did not

originate in anything that’s holy and

they did not originate in anything that

is good for you so when you analyze the

thoughts where did this come from why am

I thinking this what’s what’s the source

of this what is this gonna do in my life

watch this all of those questions you

have the right and the power to answer

for your life nobody else can answer

them for your life you have the power to

answer them for your life and we’re just

talking about how you think about

yourself and the power of your thoughts

and you just think just these questions

alone and then the question is do I feel

guilty thinking these thoughts what do

you know the answer to those things you

know for example if you thought about

taking something that didn’t belong to

you how would you think about it

you should feel guilty if you don’t feel

guilty you have a major problem then you

need to think a little deeper if I have

been saved what’s going on in my life so

we said your thought life is in your

mind this is the control tower of your

life and because it is we make the

decisions and we suffer the consequences

or we glean the blessing of making right

decisions in life whether it’s about

money or whether it’s about marriage or

whether it’s about six our friendship

relationships here’s where all starts

and this is this it this is going to

control your life and the truth is all

of us up to this point in their life

where we are as a result of how we’ve

been thinking all these years so have

you been thinking about yourself all

these years have you been thinking about

God have you been thinking about the

Lord have you been thinking about your

friends your relationships about our

nation there was how do you what are you

thinking about all that and you see you

can’t take your mind out and put

somebody else’s in there except Jesus

when he says we have the

of Christ that it watched this when you

trusted Jesus as your personal Savior he

gave us the power to think the way he

thinks that doesn’t mean we’ll be as

wise as he is all that we’ll have all

the knowledge that he has but he gives

us the right and the power to think

godly as his creations so we have the

power to think right we have the gift of

Almighty God and someone to protect us

in the process then you might ask

yourself this question watch this

do these thoughts that who I am as a

follower of Jesus these thoughts did who

I am as a follower of Jesus if not a

follower of Jesus anything goes but once

that trust Christ is my Savior that some

thoughts don’t fit you there’s some

thoughts that do not fit you once you

trust Christ as your Savior they don’t

fit you once you trust the Lord Jesus as

as the lord of your life they don’t fit

you any longer and so you and I make

choices they still watch this who we see

ourselves to be a follower of Jesus

Christ and therefore there’s some things

that don’t fit us there’s some places

that don’t fit you there’s some words

that don’t fit you there’s some thoughts

that don’t fit you there’s some clothes

that don’t fit you there’s some actions

and attitudes and habits that do not fit

us once we trust Christ as our Savior

this one the Bible says come out from

among them and be ye separate says the

Lord I’m to think differently and if I

think differently I’m going to act

differently and probably gonna look

differently if I’m following Jesus into

the world we’re in deeper trouble than

we realize because after you go to a

certain point and then you decide that

you want to you’re gonna you’re gonna

change how long do you think it would

take for us to change our views in this

country of sex how long do you think it

would take could you think he could ever

be possibly turned around that’s just

one aspect but honesty

and truthfulness where’s truth whereas

honestly where is purity

where’s godliness that things that made

us the nation we are we’ve decided and

I’m going to show you a little contrast

in a moment

we’ve decided between two choices and

the choices we are making a choices that

are destructive in their nature and

remember this you can’t change this we

reap what we sow more than we sow later

than we sow and it’s getting at very

late now what I want to do is I want us

to compare the difference between true

genuine love and lust and those thoughts

are they come from the control tower how

do we think and so I want you to jot

these down because oftentimes you hear

people say well I got in trouble because

he or she said they really love me and

if they love me that you’re to bed with

me and so now I’m pregnant and on and on

and on we go I want you to think about

how many precious little children are

born in America without a father it is a

tragedy of tragedies in this country

that sex is so important that nobody

seems to care about well the

consequences so I want us to I want to

give you a little example of the

difference between love and lust so I’m

gonna have a chart now I put up on the

board in just a moment and love is an

awesome blessing of God and lust is

something totally different but when

somebody says but feeling this way if

somebody wants something from you and

they say well look I love you well

here’s some things for you to think

about love is listen love is from God

lust is from the world now remember that

lust

listen lust is desire out of control

that’s what lust is it’s out of control

if you get stronger and strong and

strong and let you deal with it

so you have to decide is this love or

lust love can wait and lust has got to

have it now I think about people who get

themselves in a position this is why you

have to watch where you go watch what

you watch be careful who you in other

words you have to be careful about

choosing your friends well if you love

me you would do the sand so no if I

loved you I wouldn’t dare do it if I

loved you I would not touch you if I

loved you no I wouldn’t think that if I

loved you I want because lust is

destructive love is selfless not

thinking about itself but it’s listen

lust is selfish I want what I want

because that’s what I want it’s all

about me

lust is all about me not about love not

about the other person love for example

is giving now you hear people say well

in fact if you’ll recall probably almost

half a generation ago maybe generations

ago we heard a lot about free love so

once you’re listening carefully there is

no such thing as free love no such thing

let’s start with the gospel the gospel

of Jesus Christ is free but it costs

Jesus his life on the cross there’s

nothing free it’s free to us now by

faith but it cost Jesus his life and

true genuine love has a price tag it’s

not free if you love somebody you may

have to sacrifice you love somebody you

may have to give you love somebody you

met to be in other words it lots of

different ways that love can cost you

something so free love that’s what the

world talks about and usually if they’re

talking free love they’re talking drugs

and other things that go with that

because they’ve given themselves over to

a lie they have been deceived by the

devil and their thinking so love is

giving and lust is taking I want this

then love is purity and lust is sin

it’s just that clear disobedience love

develops and lust destroys destroys

relationships destroys families destroys

people you name it it’s a destroyer lust

is a destroyer because let says I’ve got

to have it I want it and this is why

people commit all kind of crimes they

want something and they wanted now and

then of course the difference is that

love is peaceful and lust is full of

anxiety lust creates anxiety and love is

peaceful lust is anxious I want it now

have to have it now and that’s their

attitude now we have to choose to obey

the commands of Christ that’s going to

take us back to our scripture we read a

few moments ago in these first few

verses because if I’m going to live a

godly life and I’m going to make my mind

the control tower that I want to be I

have to be obedient to God’s Word so

when we talk about what he says in a few

moments we’re not talking about just a

little Bible reading here and there so

listen carefully and what I want to do

is I want to go through the scriptures

and give you a little insight into what

Paul says that’s not always there in

English but it’s there in the language

in which he wrote it and so when he says

for example let’s look at this first

verse therefore if you have been raised

up with Christ he says keep seeking now

he uses he uses a form of the verb that

says keep seeking continually seek and

habitually do it that is keep seeking is

to keep on doing it not just once but is

it’s a lifestyle you read the Word of

God you have bit early and you are

continually keeping the Word of God

before you it’s a part of your life

you feast on it’s a part of your diet

and he says speaking of seeking those

things above well what’s he talking

about he’s talking about for example he

says where Jesus is seated at the right

hand of the Father

seeking things above doesn’t mean that I

don’t have anymore relationships and

then I get holy and hole in I don’t

think about anything else no it means

that I’ve set my mind on things that are

pleasing to the Father keep seeking

those things above that is what did

Jesus teach so if I want to keep seeking

things above I’m going to find out what

he said and how he lived and how he said

I’m to live and I’m gonna keep he says

habitually do it and no matter who you

are the devil will see to it that you

don’t remember much if you don’t read

the scriptures continually I don’t mean

every single day all day I mean when he

says keep seeking those things above

that is well here’s what he’s saying

make up a most in your thinking make a

big part of your thinking what God

thinks keep thinking of those things

above where Christ has seed the Father’s

right hand and what kind of thinking is

that Jesus is always thinking concerning

us personally in your life he’s thinking

what’s best for you what’s the best for

you this morning what’s the best for you

in your job what’s the best for you with

your friends what’s the best for you how

you spend your money what’s the best

what’s the best what’s best for you he

says keep seeking those things above at

the throne of God and then he says not

only that set your mind and both of

these use a form of the verb which means

habitually and continually set your mind

on things above that is as believers

followers of Jesus we died the old way

of life and so we should be thanking

God’s thoughts what does he think

how does he want us to think how does he

want us to live and in the process of

doing so remember this when you’re

thinking his thoughts you’re thinking

the most powerful thoughts there are

when you’re thinking his thoughts you’re

thinking and beginning to see what he’s

thinking about you and when you focus on

what God thinks about you

that he loves you that he’s forgiving

you that he cares for you that he wants

the best for you things begin to happen

in your life and that’s why he says he

seek habitually continually and he says

seek and then he says set your mind then

he says you’ve died now watch this

here’s the difference when he says seek

and set your mind he says seek and say

my habitually when he says you died you

died in your old way that is you were

saved once and then habitually seeking

and setting your mind on Christ like

something that goes on continuous in

your life so why does he say that

because he wants us to think the way God

wants us to think and so we can see what

that’s all about when we read the Word

of God then he says consider the members

of your body dead to these thoughts now

he uses another term of form of the verb

here when he says put it to death notice

how he says it he says therefore

consider the members of your earthly

body as dead watch this

dead to immorality dead to impurity did

the passion strong insatiable desire

evil desires grief but put them to death

you say well what does that mean here’s

what it means let’s say for example that

you just have this you just got to have

more money and you draw maybe you’ve

maybe you’ve seen something you’ve just

got to have you’ve got to have you’ve

got to have it well what do you do you

wrestle with it you can just go ahead

and express it or you can you can put it

to death you can control it watch this

the Spirit of God within you will enable

you to lay it down you do not have to

fulfill temptation if you had to it

would be an absolute awesome gross

mistake on the part of God that he’s

asking me to do something he knows that

I absolutely can’t do it but we have the

Holy Spirit now if you if you don’t have

your mind on the things of God this is

why he says set your mind on the things

of God keep it listen keep them

habitually before you

so when Satan attacks you you’ve got

ammunition one of them is I don’t have

to do that thank you Jesus that you’ve

given me the strength to say no to sin

and to obey you now watch this if you

say well I got to think about it that

the Satan loves that because what

happens when you say I’ve just well I

got to think about it why are you

thinking right here and where Satan

working right here yeah this is a

battlefield you hand your feet nothing

else a battlefield the battlefields

right here and so you decide your

victory or defeat in your mind and your

feet and your hands travel where your

mind has already gone you set your mind

on somebody or something or some place

you set your mind on that and you keep

thinking about that thing about thinking

about next thing you know listen your

mind is not on there but you have fit

you are there your feet are going to

travel where you set your mind and so

therefore we have to guard what we think

then he says consider the members of

your body dead to the out did all of

these things and so he says these things

we once walked in this is the way we

once walked back yonder but remember we

died to that if somebody died and we

brought the casket right in here and set

it down here it could be a hundred

thousand dollar casket you know what

they’re dead and you can do anything you

want you can take the coffin top off you

can talk to them sing – shout Holly and

you know what they’re not gonna move

because they’re dead and there are

things in life and their times in life

when you and I to meet need to be just

as dead to what we’ve seen of what we’ve

heard remember this Satan will bring

back what you’ve seen heard felt touch

experience that you name it and so what

do we do to put that to death thank you

Jesus says no that doesn’t fit Who I am

so we say no and you can say no when

somebody says but I’m so weak listen

when you hears watch this when you say

I’m weak you have thought you have just

cited up of the devil I am weak

and Satan says that’s right say it again

say it again I’m weak no you’re not weak

you choose to think it at the moment but

you have the power of God within you to

make a wise decision then when he says

for example watch this and I just love

this he says the word of Christ richly

dwells in you in the third chapter look

at that look at the third chapter in the

sixteenth or us let the word of Christ

richly dwell in within you with all

wisdom look at this with all wisdom

teaching and admonishing one another

with Psalms and hymns and spiritual

songs singing with thankfulness in your

hearts okay I wanted what an awesome

thing that is he says let the word of

Christ richly dwell on you and I love

this Greek word the word is pluteus and

here’s what it means it means

extravagantly let the Word of God when

he says richly extravagantly dwell in

you that is you’ve got the Word of God

care what you you can’t think about much

without quoting some scripture or

thinking about some scripture or the

Spirit of God will bring to your mind

some verses scripture he says let it

dwelling within you he says he says

extravagantly which means if it’s gonna

drilling me extravagantly it’s gonna

have a powerful effect on my life but

secondly it’s not gonna dwell

extravagant in me by just reading it

once in a while so please don’t raise

your hand it’s a question how many of

you take your Bible home I know that

wouldn’t be true of you take your Bible

home after service and close it till

next Sunday surely nobody this

congregation will do that amen

well some of you don’t sound very

convincing amen you wouldn’t do that you

know that’s not filling your mind

abundantly and as he says in this

passage so beautifully

he says extravagantly the Word of God

filling our mind and heart so that what

we have this awesome reefs

listen when you do that you know what

God thinks about everything that you

confront every aspect of your life you

know what he says and listen when it’s

overflowing in you when the word of

truth is overflowing in you you come

against anything no matter what it might

be what happens you know what the right

response is and if it’s overflowing in

you then what happens is you since the

strength and the power of God to help

you in that situation no matter what it

is but you just read the Bible once in a

while and when I think about that word

richly extravagantly overflowing in you

that’s all to be our lifestyle so we

begin by saying your mind is a control

tower so you have to decide how you

gonna live your life and what you’re

gonna see what you’re gonna read what

you gonna look at and so forth and we

said we make choices not think about

that 119th some a couple of verses I’m

sure I learned a long time ago in the

hundred nineteen summoned the ninth

verse says how can a young man how can

the young man keep his way pure by

keeping it listen according to your word

how can you keep you away pure keeping

it according your word then he says in

that later verse night eleventh first

your word have a treasured in my heart

that I might not sin against God

treasure not just drop it in treasured

super abundantly overflowing overflowing

in our heart the Living Word of God

because what that means is up in the

control tower is truth and the control

tower is the right sense of direction

control tower yet you’re evaluating

things as they are not as they appear to

be and the control tower is what you’re

thinking there are consequences to sin

whatever I do today I’ll reap tomorrow

words you’re gonna be thinking right

superabundant as he says extravagantly

so if there is some particular area of

your life in which you’re having a real

problem ask yourself the question where

come from it didn’t come from this

extravagantly awesome word of truth in

my mind in heart and if it doesn’t fit

that it doesn’t fit me remember this you

decide who you want to be you decide

what you want to accomplish you decide

how you want to live all right here you

decide whether you want to be accepted

or rejected you make a lot of decisions

in your life all right here and I

remember right here’s a battle feel in

your life

Satan’s wants to pull you one way God

the other Satan has never done you any

good he’s lied to you deceived you and

made you promises not a single one of

them has ever come true but the

deception he says you’ll enjoy this but

what he doesn’t tell you is you’ll enjoy

the only for a season there are

consequences there is a cost there’s a

payday someday

you have to decide right there what come

later you’re gonna live what kind of

future you’re gonna have and he says if

you was you’ll make right decisions

you’ll ask those questions that I gave

you about situations that arise in your

life and in the process of making a

decision it’s my prayer you make the

right decision a wise decision and

you’ll be glad if Father how grateful we

are for your love for us and thank you

thank you thank you for your forgiveness

thank you for the gift of the Holy

Spirit to enable us strengthen us

overshadow us and guide us and I pray

for every person who hears this message

especially for those who’ve never

trusted you as they’re saving and living

in defeat that you will assure them that

if they are willing to trust you Lord

Jesus as their personal Savior you bring

about the death to their old life you

bring about the changes in life you

promised it and you always do I pray for

those Lord who have trusted you as their

Savior but they’re living in sin

miserable obeying the devil and

temptation make them so miserable dear

God they’ll turn around realizing I

don’t have to live this kind of life I

want God’s best and this is not God’s

best thank you father you know what all

of us need thank you for y’all some

power to provide it and we praise you

and bless you for loving us the way you

do in Jesus name Amen

[Music]