Healing of the Mind Pt 3:
The Stewardship of Our Mind
Stewardship- the job of supervising or taking care of something, such as an organization or property.
Proverbs 4:23-27 23 Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.24 Put away from you a deceitful mouth, And put perverse lips far from you. 25 Let your eyes look straight ahead, and your eyelids look right before you.
Defining the word “heart”
In the Old Testament, the word “heart” is used 800 times- and of these 800 instances that the word is used, the word “heart” practically never refers to the ORGAN, it refers to the MIND- the mind of every MAN and the MIND of every WOMAN.
“Son, guard your mind, son protect your mind because from your mind flow all the issues of life.”
Solomon is saying here is that the HEART is the MIND of a man. In other words, we are what we think.
- Introduction
- We Are What We Think
- 3 principles:
- The MAJESTY of the MIND
- THE MASTERY of the MIND – and finally,
- THE MINISTRY of the MIND
- The Majesty of the Mind
- The mind is majestic because the mind controls absolutely everything
- The Mind is Supreme
- Solomon says, Guard your mind, because from it flows the issues of life
- Your Thoughts Control Your Life
- if you never learn to control your thoughts, you will never be able to control your life.
- Proverbs 23:7 For as a man thinketh in his heart so is he
- The Mouth is evidence of what’s in the heart
- Matthew 12:34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.
- Thoughts are going to control the attitudes we display in our lives and our attitudes take us to certain actions in our life…
– We act in love when our thoughts give us love.
– We act in hate when our thoughts give us hate.
– We act in kindness when our thoughts give us kindness.
And all these things come from one place- the mind, the heart of every man and the heart of every woman. We could say that our thoughts are the father of our actions- whether good or bad.
– Plant a thought, reap an action.
– Plant an action, reap a habit.
– Plant a habit, reap a character,
– Plant a character, reap a destiny.
All these things are related to one thing- our thoughts. What we do with our minds.
Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God
– When we change our thoughts, we change our attitudes.
– And when we change our attitudes, we change our actions.
– And when we change our actions, we change the goals in our lives.
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- The mind governs, the mind reins, the mind controls, all the areas of our lives
- Where Your Mind Goes, Your Peace will Follow
- The Storm only comes to move your peace
- Mark 4:35-39 35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
- The Mastery of the Mind
- If the mind is so majestic- the question should be, how can I have mastery over it?
- if I don’t control my mind, my mind will control me!
- Remember Your Power Thoughts
- Pure Thoughts Create Pure Actions
- What are the Things that we permit in our minds?
- Proverbs 6:27 Can a man take fire to his bosom, And his clothes not be burned?
– What are the things we look at?
– What are the things we listen to?
– What are the things we are read? Satan is going to do all he can to fill our minds with garbage—Why? Because Satan knows,
– That if he can change our thoughts, he can change our attitudes,
– and if he changes our attitudes, he can change our actions,
– and if he can change our actions, he can change our goals,
– and if Satan can change our goals, he’ll get what he has always wanted- the destruction of every place in our life
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- How can I protect my mind from thinking what I shouldn’t?
- It is impossible to think evil when we think on the good!
- God has designed the mind in such a way that it cannot truly think on two things at once.
- James 1:8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways
- If God’s Word is in our heart and we saturate our minds with the thoughts of this perfect Book, evil will flee from us!
That is the MASTERY of the MIND
3. The Ministry of Our Mind
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- What is the first thing that will happen in my life when I allow God’s Word to be the Master of my Mind? My person will function in a very specific way.
- And the first function that the Lord will perform in my life is that He will govern what I SPEAK.
- v. 24 Put away from you a deceitful mouth, And put perverse lips far from you.
- When I fill my mind with God’s Word, there is no room for perverse lips or a deceitful mouth!
- The Second function The ministry of our eyes…
- 25 Let your eyes look straight ahead,And your eyelids look right before you.
- What determines what we look at? Just one thing- our MIND.
- We need to make a pact with our eyes. “Lord I want to see things that only please you.”
- “25 Let your eyes look straight ahead, And your eyelids look right before you.”
- Theres a Power that Comes Forth When You Make Up Your Mind
- Remain in His Rest for A Lifetime
- Psalm 37:1-9 Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.4 Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.5 Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.6 And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.9 For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.
- Conclusion
- Are we being good stewards of our minds? Solomon thought it would be a good idea…“23 Keep your heart with all diligence,For out of it spring the issues of life.”