…But we have the mind of Christ (the Messiah) and do hold the thoughts (feelings and purposes) of His heart.
—1 Corinthians 2:16
I reached the curb in front of the airport, where my friend would pick me up. I was calm and relaxed and thought of the great conversation we would have. To my surprise, she wasn’t there yet. That was odd because she’s the kind of person who is never late for anything. I remained calm and peaceful. I spotted what I thought was her car and took a step forward, but the car went past me, and there was a stranger in it.
Not more than three minutes had passed, but I realized I was anxious and worried. What had happened to her? Had she been in an accident? Did she forget me? From calmness to anxiety in less than three minutes, and nothing had changed—nothing except my mind. Worried thoughts struggled inside me.
I pulled out my cell phone and started to dial, when I heard a car honking, as she pulled up to the curb. My mind shifted once again to calmness, even joyfulness. How quickly my emotions had shifted in that short period of time.
My mind had quickly changed when my circumstances did. Sometimes I find it easy to hear God speak . . . and to believe without any difficulty. Yet at other times, worry and anxiety push their way into my mind. The Bible says we are to walk by faith and not by sight, but that day at the airport, I was definitely being led by what I saw. When we worry, we are not walking in faith and trusting God.
For a long period of my life, I had a critical, suspicious, and judgmental mind. That may seem normal for many nonbelievers, but I was a Christian. I was going along with the same thinking and mindset that I had known for years. It was normal to me—it was just the way I was. For years, I had no awareness that my wrong thinking was causing any problems.
Because no one had taught me, I didn’t know I could do anything to change my thought life. It simply had not occurred to me. No one had taught me about the proper condition for the believer’s mind. God offers us a new way to think and a new way to live.
God has called us to renew our minds (see Romans 12:2). For most of us, it is an ongoing process. We don’t control our thinking all at one time.
One day I read 1 Corinthians 2:16, where Paul says we have the mind of Christ. What could he have meant? I pondered that verse for days. I concluded that for us to have the mind of Christ doesn’t mean we’re sinless or perfect. It does mean we begin to think the way Christ thinks. If we have His mind, we think on those things that are good and honorable and loving.
I confessed to God how many times my mind had focused on the ugly, the mean, and the harsh.
In 1 Corinthians 2:14, Paul wrote, But the natural, nonspiritual man does not accept or welcome or admit into his heart the gifts and teachings and revelations of the Spirit of God, for they are folly (meaningless nonsense) to him . . . because they are spiritually discerned and estimated and appreciated. Yes, I thought, that’s exactly how it works. The natural mind—even that of the Christians whose minds are tampered with by Satan—doesn’t grasp what God is doing. Those things seem foolish.
We must remind ourselves that we have Christ’s mind—we have the ability to think loving and caring thoughts. We can defeat Satan’s attacks.
Holy God, I want to live with the mind of Christ. I ask You to enable me to think positive, loving, caring thoughts about myself and about others. Help me to see and think on the good things in life and not the bad. I ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Carrying the Load
by Dr. Paul Chappell
“Then answered one of the lawyers, and said unto him, Master, thus saying thou reproachest us also. And he said, Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers. Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.”
Luke 11:45–47
Christopher Wren was the premiere English architect of the seventeenth century, but even he sometimes faced clients who thought they knew more about construction than he did. In 1688 he was commissioned to design a building in Windsor, England. Wren devoted his considerable skill to the task, and created a stunning design for a building held up by a series of columns that left an open space on the first floor where business and trade could be conducted. The city leaders feared the columns would not be sufficient to support the structure of the upper floors, so they insisted Wren add additional columns. So, in the interior of the open area, Wren designed four more pillars. However, he intentionally had them constructed too short, so that they did not reach the ceiling above—they looked like the other columns, but bore no actual weight.
There are many people who have the outward traits of Christians, but are doing nothing to carry the load of doing the work of God’s kingdom. They are perfectly content to tell others how they should manage and carry their loads, but they do not take on any responsibility or burden themselves. God’s design for the church does not include any decorative columns. Each one of us is called to not only carry our own weight, but to be helpful and an encouragement to others as well. Paul wrote, “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).
Luke 11:45–47
Christopher Wren was the premiere English architect of the seventeenth century, but even he sometimes faced clients who thought they knew more about construction than he did. In 1688 he was commissioned to design a building in Windsor, England. Wren devoted his considerable skill to the task, and created a stunning design for a building held up by a series of columns that left an open space on the first floor where business and trade could be conducted. The city leaders feared the columns would not be sufficient to support the structure of the upper floors, so they insisted Wren add additional columns. So, in the interior of the open area, Wren designed four more pillars. However, he intentionally had them constructed too short, so that they did not reach the ceiling above—they looked like the other columns, but bore no actual weight.
There are many people who have the outward traits of Christians, but are doing nothing to carry the load of doing the work of God’s kingdom. They are perfectly content to tell others how they should manage and carry their loads, but they do not take on any responsibility or burden themselves. God’s design for the church does not include any decorative columns. Each one of us is called to not only carry our own weight, but to be helpful and an encouragement to others as well. Paul wrote, “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).
Today’s Growth Principle:
Each one of us has a responsibility to do our part to further the work of God and encourage other Christians.
The Condition of Our Minds
by Joyce Meyer - posted May 13, 2016…But we have the mind of Christ (the Messiah) and do hold the thoughts (feelings and purposes) of His heart.
—1 Corinthians 2:16
I reached the curb in front of the airport, where my friend would pick me up. I was calm and relaxed and thought of the great conversation we would have. To my surprise, she wasn’t there yet. That was odd because she’s the kind of person who is never late for anything. I remained calm and peaceful. I spotted what I thought was her car and took a step forward, but the car went past me, and there was a stranger in it.
Not more than three minutes had passed, but I realized I was anxious and worried. What had happened to her? Had she been in an accident? Did she forget me? From calmness to anxiety in less than three minutes, and nothing had changed—nothing except my mind. Worried thoughts struggled inside me.
I pulled out my cell phone and started to dial, when I heard a car honking, as she pulled up to the curb. My mind shifted once again to calmness, even joyfulness. How quickly my emotions had shifted in that short period of time.
My mind had quickly changed when my circumstances did. Sometimes I find it easy to hear God speak . . . and to believe without any difficulty. Yet at other times, worry and anxiety push their way into my mind. The Bible says we are to walk by faith and not by sight, but that day at the airport, I was definitely being led by what I saw. When we worry, we are not walking in faith and trusting God.
For a long period of my life, I had a critical, suspicious, and judgmental mind. That may seem normal for many nonbelievers, but I was a Christian. I was going along with the same thinking and mindset that I had known for years. It was normal to me—it was just the way I was. For years, I had no awareness that my wrong thinking was causing any problems.
Because no one had taught me, I didn’t know I could do anything to change my thought life. It simply had not occurred to me. No one had taught me about the proper condition for the believer’s mind. God offers us a new way to think and a new way to live.
God has called us to renew our minds (see Romans 12:2). For most of us, it is an ongoing process. We don’t control our thinking all at one time.
One day I read 1 Corinthians 2:16, where Paul says we have the mind of Christ. What could he have meant? I pondered that verse for days. I concluded that for us to have the mind of Christ doesn’t mean we’re sinless or perfect. It does mean we begin to think the way Christ thinks. If we have His mind, we think on those things that are good and honorable and loving.
I confessed to God how many times my mind had focused on the ugly, the mean, and the harsh.
In 1 Corinthians 2:14, Paul wrote, But the natural, nonspiritual man does not accept or welcome or admit into his heart the gifts and teachings and revelations of the Spirit of God, for they are folly (meaningless nonsense) to him . . . because they are spiritually discerned and estimated and appreciated. Yes, I thought, that’s exactly how it works. The natural mind—even that of the Christians whose minds are tampered with by Satan—doesn’t grasp what God is doing. Those things seem foolish.
We must remind ourselves that we have Christ’s mind—we have the ability to think loving and caring thoughts. We can defeat Satan’s attacks.
Holy God, I want to live with the mind of Christ. I ask You to enable me to think positive, loving, caring thoughts about myself and about others. Help me to see and think on the good things in life and not the bad. I ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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