Monday, February
4, 2019
Yet when I am among mature believers, I do speak with words of wisdom, but not the kind of wisdom that belongs to this world or to the rulers of this world, who are soon forgotten. No, the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God—his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began. But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord. That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths. But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others. For, “Who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:6-16(NLT)
Inside stories are a puzzle to
those on the outside. It may be
something simple, like a 4-digit code to get in your mower shed; you’re the one
who owns the lock, so you know that simple code. Outsiders have to use their own mower.
Those who have become God's
children through faith in Christ also understand the family ways and the inside
stories.
If you had ever had the
opportunity to sit down to dinner with my Mom and Dad, and part of the meal is
pickled red cabbage, you’d have thought my mother lost her mind. The
reason is an inside family joke. Years ago, someone mispronounced it
while setting it out on the table. Since that moment Mom has not been
able to look at "Red Garbage" without breaking
up.
Inside jokes are what make family
reunions great. You tell the same story for the 1,800th time, and it is
enjoyed better every year. There is much
laughter in the family of God. And God approves! In fact, He
created us with a built-in capacity and need for joy!
A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength. Proverbs 17:22(NLT)
The mind of Christ is
an inside-the-family concept. Simply
expressed, it is thinking like Jesus, so you can be more like Jesus. Now, if that’s all you have of the story, you’re
liable to miss the key ingredient, the code that unlocks this shed. It is only by the Spirit of God that you
receive the mind of Christ. The Apostle
said it clearly – NO human mind has imagined what’s on God’s mind! You just cannot read the Bible, weigh its
advice, and decide to have the mind of Christ.
It is a gift to those who give their hearts to Christ.
Paul was a brilliant man, schooled
at the feet of Israel’s best scholars…yet he was as lost as a goose in a
snowstorm when it came to understanding God’s simplest blessing – the Gospel. He missed it like a man on a pogo stick trying
to jump up to the moon. But when he
finally surrendered his will, his life, energy, and thoughts to God, everything
fell into place.
If you read the account of Paul’s
surrender to Christ in Acts 9, you find he went blind. Once he committed his life to the Lord, God
sent him to the home of a believer named Ananias. This man prayed for Paul, and the scales of
blindness fell off his eyes; he then saw God’s plan clearly. Paul now had the mind of Christ spreading
over his consciousness like a warm friend’s embrace. In obedience, Paul lived with that understanding
the rest of his life.
For You Today
The mind of Christ makes big
changes.
You ready for that?
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