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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781468576603 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | AuthorHouse |
| Publication date: | 04/11/2012 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 112 |
| File size: | 246 KB |
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The Mind
The Pulpit of GODBy Pastor M.E. Lyons
AuthorHouse
Copyright © 2012 Pastor M.E. LyonsAll right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4685-7662-7
Chapter One
Temptation Is Still Here
"I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me." Romans 7:21
I have thought about this concept for some time now and the verdict is, we all have, are, and will be guilty of facing temptation at some juncture in our lives. When we begin to decipher and deal with this dialogue that Paul teaches in the aforementioned scripture, Paul takes the initiative and shares with us that even though thousands of years have passed, the problem in the Bible days and the problems today, are similar as it relates to our mind.
There is a struggle that we all share, whether it be ommissive or commissive, hidden or exposed. every person that is to read this literary work will be the victim of one of the most overlooked and underestimated enemies of all times, TEMPTATION. Temptation is a very sneaky, sensitive, and for many, an acceptable sin itself. It really becomes a more dressed up word for sin. Think about it; you are walking around and decide to sit down and eat and delve into the delicious food and before you know it you are full; but because temptation is more acceptable than sin in our minds; we continue and fall victim to a sin without ever acknowledging it. Once we have acknowledged this behavior we label it and overlook the shortcomings by saying, that is a temptation of mine.
Perhaps that vehicle did not carry your temptation. Well, what about when you are in church or a social gathering and see an exceptionally beautiful woman or outwardly handsome gentleman and know that you are married and take one look and then instead of looking away and gathering your mind; you continue to set your eyes upon them in a lustful way. What happens is that because we feel as though it has been localized in the human mind; we lessen the incident by saying he or she is my flavor or that is a temptation of mine. Inevitably, we have already succumbed to the trick of the enemy and are on our way to swallowing the bait which now has a better hold of us allowing us to be reeled in.
Paul teaches us that in this verse that temptation is just as much a sin than actually committing the sin. One of the worst things a Christian can do is entertain the thought of sin. Entertaining the thought of sin creates the experience of sin, and when the experience has been created, all that is now needed, is an opportunity to or fall for the manifestation of the sin. Sin, through the vehicle of temptation is very crafty, sneaky, and alluring, and not to mention temptation avails itself at all times, in one form or another. This is why satan uses our mind to weigh down the very thought of self sufficiency through Christ.
When the evils of this life attempts to gain the reigns of our mind, it opens a realm of sin that is difficult to avoid. This is one of the many reasons Paul says ... "I find then a law ..." He is saying that he has found a law for the simple fact that this is not an easy thing to shake, it is no joke, it is not a simplistic outlet, nor is it quick to process, this is a law. There must be great strides and endeavors to ready one's mind when they turn aside and confront and look into the evil eyes of temptation and say, no thank you. There must be a conviction harbored in one's heart to confidently know that when temptation has lifted its seductive yet ill-gotten appearances above the surface of thoughts in our mind that what is, cannot be compared to what shall be.
Many times in my own life, there have been times that things appeared much more appealing than they really were, only to find out that the picture was only a mirage. Temptation works similar to that. No matter how engaging or inviting it may seem, the end result is always worse. That is why Paul speaks of an attitude, we should take it into consideration when he says, "when I would do good ..." Otherwise, my mind was made up, my thoughts were in order, and the direction was mapped out, but temptation has a way of messing up your mind, tainting your thoughts, and changing your direction.
Temp, is the term which indicates the climate in a room. So when we speak of this subject matter, it determines the climate in our lives. Will we fall victim to it, or will we stay the course? Will we be those that the temp determines our direction, or will we be those who will remain who we are destined to be, even in the midst of heated situations? We cannot expect Sunday morning favor while our mind is clouded with Saturday night fever. One of the most dangerous mechanisms of mistakes is that of the maneuvering of our misguided minds. If you absolutely want to know what powerfully pulls you from sanity to schizophrenia, it is the battle going on in the mind. There is but a thin line of division between having a clear mind and having a clouded mind. The deciding factor in whether or not we do the right thing or we do the wrong thing is based upon our minds. If you don't believe me, think about some instance in your life, where you had to make some very important decisions. Now in making the decisions, you had to talk it over with yourself before coming to a conclusion. Why is it that when we are making decisions we contemplate in our minds what to do, and then talk it over with ourselves. It is because, that which we know we should do is wrestling with that which know we should not to do. The fact of the matter is, our mind has us struggling on a daily basis with our own selves.
Paul says that there are two things tugging at my mind. The reality of this struggle is that we are all faced with temptations. We need to recognize that it is evident in all of our lives, and then we can handle it accordingly. We must allow Jesus to stand in the place that the battle is being fought. We should fill our minds with Christ, so that we may positively affect those who surround us.
Consider this metaphorically speaking; if our minds can serve as pulpits, our mouths become the speakers God desires to use. I have come to find out in my studies that our minds are really not our spiritual control panels, our ears are. Whoever controls that panel has direct access to our minds. What happens here is that whatever comes through our control panels, our ears; and filtered in our minds, will be magnified through our mouth. No one can control your mind unless you give them your control panel, unless you lend them your ear. By doing this it actually transforms your mind from being simply a pit to being a pulpit.
Chapter Two
It's All In The MindLet this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; Philippians 2:5-10
The mind is a strange subject, primarily because in this text it speaks of putting away one mind in order to replace it with this mind. One major issue that sweeps our communities, environments, and even our churches, is that of having the wrong mind-set or mentality. We have the wrong mentality because have not allowed the correct mind to be in us! When we are bent on thinking, behaving, and even speaking our mind, we actually evict God from a place He desires to be. We already know that He will not force His way into any situation, He would rather be welcomed. Many times in my own life I have found that my thoughts only make things more complex, my ways can only muddy the situation. It is only when I had completely become submissive in letting His mind be priority that things begin to fall in place. I remember one instance in my first pastorate I thought I knew how to go about making changes and even attempting to do what I thought needed to be done. If I would have let His mind become dominant, perhaps things would have turned out differently. Our minds complicate marriages, families, and sometimes even memberships because sometimes our minds are geared toward personal gain rather than spiritual gain.
In this 2nd chapter of Philippians, we find that the writer Paul is incarcerated. He is saying that we do not have to argue about anything. Be concerned about others (verse 4). When we look at the book of Philippians we see an ambiguity of the all-sufficiency of Christ. this means that He is always sufficient or enough.
Is it not peculiar to look at the text and to see that Paul is writing to a people who are free, and encouraging them, yet while he is bound in prison. Paul takes the opportunity to author this book of encouragement, which is defined as a book of rejoicing. Even though the writer is incarcerated waiting to attend trial with that egotistic and ever hateful Nero, he yet writes letters indicating the joy that they should possess because of their relationship with God. I find this very uplifting because we have a proclivity to partake a spirit of depression when things are not going our way. When you really think about it, those of us who walk with God can usually accept the consequences when we have done something wrong. But when we have done nothing and hard times come, we have a tendency to get angry with God.
Paul's attitude throughout this whole ordeal is, to live is Christ and to die is gain. He is saying that, it does not matter what is done to him, he is prepared for the inevitable. You see Paul is not the kind of guy you want to hang out with if you do not like commitment. Can you imagine being in the prison cell with him, you are trying to get him to keep silent, and all Paul wants to talk about is Jesus? Nero is killing people for talking about Jesus. Would you admit to being with Paul? Some of us would tell Paul to pray quietly. Have you ever been with anybody who is just on fire for the Lord, a walking inferno? It did not matter where they were, they could be in the grocery store, and scream, "thank you Jesus", or they would start dancing on their job. You may know someone that would begin to speak in tongues while you are on the phone with them. this is how Paul was. It did not matter to Paul, he was in it for one reason and that was to praise the name of the Lord. You have to understand that it takes a certain spiritual depth to praise God in spite of circumstances. God does not want a circumstantial praise, he wants a positional praise. Paul's ties were so deeply rooted in God, he was so anchored in God that no matter what was going on, on the surface, he found praise. The devil needs to realize that if God brought me out once, then the struggles I face now do not scare me. If I came out of a ditch once, what can you say to me about how I should praise God or when to praise God? Paul knew that if God desired to deliver him out of prison, He would, and when you know God like that, you can lift Him up no matter what. This is why he said, "be anxious for nothing but in all things ..."
You are operating in the spirit, when everything natural and material is working against you and you can still find praise. When you have no money, you can still find praise. When your friends have turned their backs on you, you can still find praise. When everything in your life is going wrong, you can find praise. When your family is on the verge of breaking up, you can still find praise. Praises release the blessings of God.
Paul reminds us that we should be able to help others. You may not be the greatest speaker, but you should be able to encourage someone. Your life may be in shackles, but you should have something to give to someone that is in greater need than you. At times, it seems like everything is going wrong all at the same time. Your boss is on your trail, your kids start acting out, the dog is barking at the wrong times, all of the sudden the car breaks down. things are going wrong, and it causes you to lose your focus. Paul is saying you have to be on one accord, let this mind be in you ..." Whenever there is a breakdown in situations that should be working together, they become splinters with everything else. Paul says, there is a need for togetherness in the church at Philippi. When we come into the house of God we should have one thing in common and that is to praise His name. I do not have to speak like you, I do not have to drive the same kind of car that you may drive, I do not have to be like you, I just have to come in with praise on my lips. As long as we are together, the devil cannot divide the house of worship. You can speak with your eloquent levels of linguistics. I can say three letter words, and He hears me just the same. If we all are coming for the right reason, satan does not have a chance.
Now let us look at this word fellowship. If we are going to come together and fellowship, there has to be a common denominator. That common ground is Jesus. Many of us come to church for the wrong reason. We come looking for a man, you are and will end up having some competition, and then you are going to start coming mad due to eye service. You know that's when we have eye trouble. same thing for men, if you come looking for a woman; (looking at somebody else that doesn't belong to us); you start looking at her finger to see if she's married, how many kids she has? so now you spent all of service doing a background check on her & forgot all about Jesus. Understand this concept; when the spirit takes control; I won't shoot you the finger, I won't curse you out, I won't look at you crazy, I won't give you a piece of my mind. Because if I keep giving you a piece of my mind, soon I won't have any for myself. some Churches even have some folk fighting over the smallest things in church, you're sitting in my seat; you know I sit here every Sunday. Our minds are simply clustered with menial and meaningless advances.
You see beloved our minds as it relates to these scriptures we now examine; they hinge on the three letter word of let! This small word may be small in length but large in meaning. Many times the war is waged when we wrestle with whether or not we will LET the right mind prevail.
I remember one specific time in ministry as I was Pastoring how there was gentleman who was hell bent on allowing his mind to being his superior front. What this does is cause friction; it creates a struggle between what is priority in the individuals life and achievements that it absolutely voices that I expect more from my way of doing things than God's way of doing things. Well, needless to say, God will always prevail in any situation when we LET His mind become superior. Watch how Paul expresses this thought: "Let this mind be IN you". How obvious it is what Paul desires for us to do. He simply says I know there are others around you that want you to think like them; they want you to take on their way of doing things and ultimately it births an all out war with God. We cannot win a war with God. secondly, in evaluating the word IN Paul really suggests the same thing we offer in this book and that is don't allow Christ to be knocking on the door when your Pulpit should be vacant for Him to mount it, because what will happen is if God is not IN it's obvious; He's out. Whenever He is out anything can happen in the Mind. Remember the writer addressing this thought: "An idle mind is the devil's workshop". Otherwise a mind that has not God has become idle, because you can nowhere but become a person who has allowed satan to mount our minds! Beloved when we do not have the Mind of Christ dwell in us it sets an atmosphere of my way or the highway; and this is dangerous, because it suggests that God ways does not matter at all.
Chapter Three
What's On Your Mind?"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." Isaiah 26:3
Could it be that problems have rushed in and inundated your mind? Could it be that a family member that have you repeatedly tried to help seems to continuously cause greater frustrations to stand guard at the door of your mind? Perhaps it is finances that have you contemplating whether or not a second or third job is needed? All of these aforementioned questions are the polar opposite of what Isaiah wishes for us to leave this setting with. The prophet suggests that we can alleviate our minds of the ills and qualms that we struggle with from day to day.
The greatest tragedy of our time is that of satan playing with our mind. It started in the Garden of Eden. What plagues our land are the problems that originate in our minds. Our minds are sensitive to what is taking place around us. It is the processor of human emotions. It tells us how to think, feel, react and often control our senses. It can be deceived, but it also can be deceptive, that is why one secular songwriter says, your mind is playing tricks on you. I have a simple question for you, "what's on your mind?" Are your faculties focused on burdensome bills? Has your psyche (mind) run 7back to the fun you experienced last night? Does your sagacity or better yet mind wonder how you are going to make a relationship work that is beyond humanistic repair? Your thoughts may be tied to a spousal or parental argument, and upsetting you so much you have been discouraged. I really do not know, it could be a multiplicity of things, but the question I really would love to be entertained is, "what's on your mind?"
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Mind by Pastor M.E. Lyons Copyright © 2012 by Pastor M.E. Lyons. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Table of Contents
Contents
Dedication....................viiPreface....................ix
Acknowledgements....................xiii
Foreword....................xvii
Introduction....................xxi
1. Temptation Is Still Here....................1
2. It's All In The Mind....................11
3. What's On Your Mind?....................25
4. I Know Who I Am....................37
5. Are You Out Of Your Mind?....................49
6. Do The Right Thing....................57
7. There's No Place Like Home....................67
8. Other Book(s) Written/Published....................77