Refining My New Mind

Isaiah 61:1-11

We are all on a spiritual journey in which God is building us up. How do we respond to his work in our lives?

Define Refining: is the process of purification of a substance or a form. The term is usually used of a natural resource to remove impurities or unwanted elements

1. We are on a spiritual journey with God

a. Each is at a different place:

• Some are all in and have a strong relationship with Jesus

• Some are just beginning the journey

• Some are unsure and considering to start the journey

• Some never intend to start the journey with Jesus

b. God is working to build or rebuild our lives on this journey

• It is a vital necessity that we line up our thoughts with God’s thoughts.
• Don’t ever give up because little by little we are changing
• The more we change our mind for the better, the more your life will change for the better

2. Some of us reflect and say, “My life is in ruins.” – Discouragement and hopelessness

1. God has an individual plan for each of us. Am I going to trust Him to do the best thing for me, or am I going to trust more in me and what I see?

b. We have a choice – to give up in our broken condition or embrace the hope that Jesus offers for NOW as well as eternity

c. We have more than a ticket to heaven when we die –

Philippians 3.10 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection,

Paul was talking about the Holy Spirit who is the third person of the trinity who brings God’s Power or Anointing to manifest what God wants to be done on the earth.

The Anointing enables us to do the work that God has called us to do on the supernatural level that God has called us to do it.

Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Jesus Christ Means “Jesus the Anointed One” Christ comes from the Greek word Christos which means “the anointed one”. In Hebrew, the word for “the Anointed One” translates as Messiah

As Christians, we are more than just followers of Christ. We are SONS & DAUGHTERS OF GOD and are Partakers of Jesus Anointing that resides on the inside of us

Colossians 1:27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

d. The power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to rebuild our relationships; rebuild our finances; rebuild our morals and every other aspect of our lives

3. Jesus came to build us up on the journey – Isaiah 61.1-4 (cf. Luke 4.18ff)

4. The Construction Process:

I. The Good News Announcement

Isaiah 61.1a The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor;

A. God Initiates the Process

1. Announcement to Hell of the coming of Jesus

2. God reaches out to the bankrupted souls of the world

a. “Poor” are not financially poor, but “poor in spirit” who enter the kingdom

b. People Jesus spent the most time with – Woman of the night; Samaritan woman; Tax Collector; “Commoner disciples”; cast off as irredeemable and worthless

B. God Gives Good News – “Gospel” –

Romans 1.16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”

C. This is the Experience of the Cross – “It is finished” – payment for sin

II. Stop Dying and Start Healing

Isaiah 61.1b he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

A. All of us Have Been Broken, Wounded, and Scarred

B. Jesus Came to Heal Us –

Isaiah 53:4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken,

smitten by God, and afflicted.5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

• Wounds on His Head – Our Thoughts, Memories, and Experiences

• Wounds on His Side – Near His Heart – the Seat of Our Emotions

• Wounds on His Hands – Actions and Activities: Jobs; recreation; school;

• Wounds on His Feet – where we go in life

• Wounds on His Body – everything else involved in our lives; every abuse

III. Start Rebuilding

Isaiah 61.3a 3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion—to give them a beautiful headdress [crown] instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning,

A. Crown = Victory and Life –

2 Timothy 4.8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

B. Oil – Anointing of Ambassadors; Holy Spirit for All Believers

C. God is Present Giving us Life and Hope by the Power of the HS

IV. Stop Doubting

Isaiah 61.3b the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.

A. The “Catch” –

John 11.25-26 “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

Mark 11:23 NLT I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ”May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea, and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart.

B. Some things only God can do and he receives glory for it

• How was Lazarus resurrected?

• How did Israel escape Egypt?

• How did Israel conquer Canaan?

• How did a small band of disciples “turn the world upside down”?

V. Start Living

Isaiah 61.4 They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.

A. God Saves so that We Can Serve –

Mark 10.45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

B. Remaining in God’s Will (including serving) Brings Joy –

John 15.11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

1. We Need the Cross and the Resurrection

2. Sin has a price tag and Jesus paid it.

3. We accept the gift of the cross and then LIVE in the promise of the Resurrection

Conclusion.

Open Your Mind to This:

“Jesus didn’t come to make bad people good. He came to make dead people alive.”

Ephesians 2.4-5 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ

Ephesians 2:7-10 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- ⁹not by works so that no one can boast. ^10For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Ephesians 2:13-22 But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. ^14For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, ^15by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, ^16and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. ^17He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. ^18For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. ^19Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, ²⁰built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. ^21In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the LORD. ²²And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.