MID SOUTH REHAB GATHER 10.19.22
The Battle of the Mind
Romans 8:5-8 5Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh; but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 The mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace, 7because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those controlled by the flesh d cannot please God.
Col 3:1-4 1If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your a life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Romans 12:2 2 Do not be conformed to this world,c but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.d
Ph 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Team I am very thankful to get to come together this Wednesday. What a blessing it is that at the mid-point of every week our company takes time to encourage us to hit the reset button and remember where our help comes from. This is a beautiful time to pause, meditate on truth, learn, and be strengthened by God for the good He has left for us to do today and every day.
I got to have a wonderful conversation yesterday with my brother Dan, and it spurred me on in thinking about this message today. I want us to take time to consider how vital it is for us to actively set our minds on what is good, and then to do that together today! Dan and I were discussing how essential it is for us to recognize when we see good in others and to encourage one another, and as we began discussing this I began to think about all of the commands we have in scripture to do just that! I listed a few of those verses above, and I want to read over those now.
Think about what these verses all tell us. Not only do they command us to set our minds on things above, to be transformed by the renewal of our minds, to set our minds on the things of the Spirit, and to think about whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, any excellence, and anything worthy of praise, but they also tell us what will happen if we do these things and what will happen if we do not do these things. According to the scriptures, if we actively take our thoughts captive and intentionally set our mind on good we will live according to the Spirit, we will have life and peace, it will prepare us to appear with Christ in glory, and it will help us discern God’s will in every situation. On the flip side of this, if we do not set our minds actively on the good, but we let our minds coast along to what is natural to this world, we will live according to the flesh, we will be walking as enemies of God, we will not be able to submit to God’s ways, we will miss opportunities to prepare for the return of Christ, and we will miss God’s will in the midst of the trials and tribulations of this life.
I do not know about you all, but I want to go with all of the life-giving and eternal life-preparing benefits of actively setting our minds on what is good. Not only that, but I want to help my brothers and sisters do that as well! What are some practical ways we can do this? I think some ways are to faithfully attend local churches in our local communities, to have small groups of brothers and sisters we trust and can confide in, to take opportunities to participate in things like gather at work, to read and meditate on Mr. Cole’s Monday morning message and brother Dan’s consistent encouragement, and to actively seek out opportunities to praise our brothers and sisters we have working right next to us. When someone does good, and you think, “they did this or they did that well,” TELL THEM and not only them, but take the time to tell others! Positive team speak is valuable for the team, for our patients, and for our entire company. And I guarantee you it will be good for you too!
I want to encourage you today to make sure that you take time to praise someone for doing something good, and if you do not see someone doing something good, then you look around and find what can you do today to be that person doing good around you. Let us all intentionally and purposely set our mind on the good. And there is nothing more good, no one more good, than our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the king of glory who humbled Himself from His eternal throne to be born into a world of suffering. He is the perfect one who actively completed all of the good laws of God, and in humility and servitude laid His life down for the love of His friends and His enemies. He is the author of life who died on the cross and three days later resurrected destroying sin and death for all of humanity who would but look to Him in faith. He taught His people for 40 days and then ascended into heaven where He is sitting at the right hand of God to intercede for us, and He sent His Holy Spirit to dwell in us and to help us remember His words of life and to keep us from sin. He will return to make all of the wrongs right and to heal all that is broken in us and our world, and He is using us now to help to bring His kingdom into this earth. He desires to hear from us His children, and He will bend heaven and Earth when we cry out to Him.
Let us pray to Him now,