THE MIND SET PRINCIPLE

Hello friends and neighbors...what's your mind set? What is shaking you up? What is rocking your world? Is it REAL...or is it IMAGINED?

Have you tried hiding behind a mask like the family in the top left hand corner of our first picture? Are you closing your eyes...hoping that what is bothering you will go away? Are you in a constant struggle with the monsters inside? Are you running from place to place trying to find someone who will help you, like Earl Holliman did in the Twilight Zone episode called WHERE IS EVERYBODY?

There is no doubt that this spinning planet is spinning out of our control. Peace in the Middle East...financial stability...job security...family harmony...faithful spouses...children safe from predators....inner peace...good self-esteem...political protectors...are what we desire. What we imagine...is based on what we see and hear...and as we allow our minds to dwell on CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, FOX, radio, television, newspapers, Internet, blogs...we become like our family in the first collage. The masks we wear...the things we think...we turn into those images.

Is there anything that we can do...or are we limited to our fears. Is there any proactive stance that we can do as our imaginations run rampant through the gyriand sulci (hills and valleys of the brain) in our convoluted grey matter...aka BRAIN?

THERE IS HOPE (confident expectation)...but the answer...the solution will not come if you just sit back and do nothing.

II Corinthians 10:3-6 speaks of the attack...and speaks of the defense. To fight off the things that are happening in the physical reality...we must attack the root in the spiritual reality.

"For though we walk in the flesh...we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare ARE NOT flesh, but divinely powerful for the DESTRUCTION OF FORTRESSES (pulling down of STRONGHOLDS). We are destroying SPECULATIONS/IMAGINATIONS and every lofty thing raise up against the knowledge of God, and we are TAKING EVERY THOUGHT CAPTIVE...to the OBEDIENCE OF CHRIST (the Anointed one and His anointing to destroy yokes, lift burdens, remove oppression), and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete." (II Cor. 10:3-6)

There are TOWERS...some man-made...some God made. In our pictures of towers...we see the Sears Tower...the Tower of Babel...Ancient towers...and a representation of the Lord's STRONG TOWER.

A STRONG TOWER is something that can be very protective of the attack against us...or something that HOLDS us STRONGLY...in the grip of fear.

Proverbs 18:10 states, "The NAME OF THE LORD...is a STRONG TOWER; the righteous runs into IT (the name of the Lord)...and IS SAFE."


The STRONGHOLDS...the IMAGINATIONS...take place in our noggins...the old grey matter..our thinkers...our brains. As we feed in the junk of the world... and then allow our MINDS to DWELL on what is happening...and then let our imaginations run wild about what MIGHT HAPPEN...then we become CAPTIVE to our THOUGHTS.

My old homiletics teacher back at Tennessee Temple Bible School...used to call us young preacher boys. He was a crusty, old, white haired saint...who had a rough exterior...and I suppose a heart of gold, although I never saw it. He once had me stand up to pray before my Old Testament Survey class...and immediately had me sit down after the first word of my prayer...because I was chewing gum. He said things to us with a sneer in his voice..."You young preacher boys have minds like cement...well mixed and thoroughly set." "You young preacher boys have minds like steel traps...SHUT TIGHT." He was trying to get us to open our minds out of the status quo...to think outside of the box.

We have to take control of our imaginations and mind sets. Romans 8 talks about MIND SETS...and the cause and effect of our MIND SETS. "For those who are according to the FLESH...SET THEIR MINDS on the THINGS OF THE FLESH...but those who are according to the SPIRIT...the THINGS OF THE SPIRIT. For the MIND SET on the FLESH is DEATH...but the MIND SET on the SPIRIT...is LIFE and PEACE...because the MIND SET on the FLESH is HOSTILE towards God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so...and those who are in the FLESH cannot PLEASE GOD." (Romans 8:5-8)

How can we deal with our MIND SETS...our IMAGINATIONS...our STRONG HOLDS? It starts with the realization that we have been given the authority (exousia...delegated authority) and the power (dunamis...dynamic ability) over our thoughts...but if we don't take a proactive stance...we will be overwhelmed with our thoughts...and be like Job...where what we fear has come upon us.

We need a good old fashion BRAINWASHING. No...not tortured and broken down by waterboarding or some other technique to break us down...but taking what is dirty and cleaning it up.

The first step is to apply Romans 12:1,2..."I urge you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual/reasoning service of worship. And do not be CONFORMED (squeezed into a box) to this world...but be TRANSFORMED (metamorphosed) by the RENEWING OF YOUR MIND...that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."

For 19 years...my mind had been filled with good, bad, and ugly stuff. I was shaped by what I thought. When I became a Christian in 1970...I became a NEW CREATION IN CHRIST (II Corinthians 5:17)...the old things passed away and the new things had come...HOWEVER...my MIND STILL HAD OLD THOUGHTS AND INFLUENCES that needed to be WASHED...RENEWED. I needed a little rub-a-dub-dub...with the WASHING OF THE WATER OF THE WORD. Even with a good BRAINWASHING...I am still subject to the junk of the world...and it can get dirty again...so I need a brain washing more than just one time...I need to read/wash in the WORD OF GOD all of the time.

The next thing that we can do...is found in where we started this thing...II Corinthians 10:3-6.

1. Realize that we may be in the flesh (flesh, blood, bones)...but we don't fight according to flesh (flesh, blood, bones)
2. Realize we are in a war (not just physical...but a spiritual war)
3. Realize we have weapons of warfare
4. Realize that our weapons are not M-16 or Atom Bombs (of the flesh)
5. Realize that our weapons are DIVINELY POWERFUL
6. Realize that our weapons are designed to DESTROY FORTRESSES...to PULL DOWN STRONGHOLDS (things that have a strong hold on us)
7. Realize that our weapons are designed to DESTROY EVERY LOFT THING raised up against the knowledge of God.
8. Realize that with these weapons were are TAKING EVERY THOUGHT CAPTIVE
9. We bring these speculations, thoughts, lofty things, strongholds to OBEDIENCE of CHRIST (yoke destroying, burden lifting, oppression removing power) Acts 10:38

The MIND SET...is not a one time event. We must DWELL...spend time...on WHATEVER:

1. Is TRUE
2. Is HONORABLE
3. Is RIGHT
4. Is a GOOD REPORT (versus a constant barrage of bad reports)
5. Is EXCELLENT
6. Is WORTHY OF PRAISE

We are told in Phillipians 4:8...that we are to let/allow our MINDS to DWELL ON THESE THINGS...versus letting/allowing your mind dwell speculations, strongholds, imaginations. The cause and effect is PEACE THAT PASSES ALL COMPREHENSION and/or UNDERSTANDING. Paul then encourages us to take the things you have learned, received, heard, and seen in him...to PRACTICE THESE THINGS...with again, the cause and effect...THE GOD OF PEACE SHALL BE WITH YOU. (Phillipians 4:8,9)

One last thought on STRONGHOLDS and peace found in Isaiah 26:1-4:

"In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a STRONG CITY...He sets up WALLS and RAMPARTS for SECURITY, Open the gates, that the RIGHTEOUS NATION...may ENTER, the one that remains FAITHFUL...the STEADFAST of MIND...THOU WILL KEEP IN PERFECT PEACE...because he TRUSTS IN THEE. Trust in the LORD forever, for in God the Lord, we have an EVERLASTING ROCK."

Love and Peaceful Kisses
Rod "Rod Lassos The Moon" Boyd