Making A Difference Through Mentorship

Romans 12:1-2, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.....

The word transformed in verse 2 is translated as "metamorphosis" in the original Greek. Morphe is the root word that carries the meaning of a person’s being or character.

Therefore, we can rightly conclude that a metamorphosis of a person is a change in being or character. In conjunction with the mind, the metamorphosis is a new way of thinking embedded in our character. A change of character produces a change in our condition. Therefore, a renewed mind, a metamorphosis of the mind, is fully capable of overcoming negative thoughts of the past and the present because we have a new way of thinking. A Transformed Mind!

We're certainly living in in a day and age with there are lot of questions that we have. We have questions about the stock market or where to invest our money. We have questions about retirement. We have questions about the current climate of our nation. We have questions about the Corona Virus and the safety of the vaccine. We have questions about when we will return to some sense of normalcy. And the list goes on and on and on about the questions that we have.

In today's podcast the answer to all of our questions no matter what the question may be… the answer is have faith in God or possessing a mindset of faith. Romans 1:16-17, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” All things are possible if you only believe. This is a mindset of faith, the answer to all of your questions.

Even in dark times, even in difficult times, challenges in our bodies physically, challenges financially, challenges relationally, in my home, in my marriage, with my children, a mindset of faith shifts to the principle of Psalm 91, "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust." This a mindset of faith, the answer to all of your questions.

A mindset is simply a mind that is set. Our minds can be set in the past and the most important thing to understand and remember about the past is just that, it's in the past. There is nothing that we can do about yesterday. Yesterday has gone on into history with its memories, successes, and yes, even our failures.

Vince Lombardi, the former coach of the NFL’s Green Bay Packers in the late 1960's once told his team, “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.”  Lombardi also told his team that “the difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.

To reset our minds is a matter of our will. To reset our minds is to also refresh our minds, which means “to be made new, renewed, readjusted, changed, or turned around” in the original Greek.  In addition, to refresh is “to give intermission from labor, to give rest, to cause to cease.”

Jesus renewed, refreshed, and changed the mind (thoughts) of a man that was possessed in the town of Gadara.  The demon-possessed man went from dwelling in tombs, naked, cutting himself, and constantly crying out to sitting and clothed in his right mind (Mark 5:1-13).

This man in Mark's gospel was given rest from demonic, negative thoughts because Jesus reset His mind and clothed him with the right mind, the right way of thinking.

Does your mind need to be reset? Invite a friend or family member to join us as we continue to learn to "Think Like God Thinks" with principles and precepts from God's word in today's podcast, "A Mindset of Reset-Part 1."

Ephesians 4:23 says to us, “And be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” To be renewed means to be made new, readjusted, changed, turned around, and regenerated. It is a process of spiritual renewal.  In Ephesians 4:23, Paul is saying to the church that the mind of man has been infected by the world’s way of thinking and conduct and needs to be made new.

We live in a very troubled world. Acts of violence and crime are commonplace and we live in a society full of toxic people and toxic experiences that impact and influence our minds by the trauma and drama of these realities.

Paul reminds the church that the mind is far from perfect. The Living Bible translation of Ephesians 4:23 says, “Now your attitudes and thoughts must all be constantly changing for the better. In verse 24 the Bible then says, “You must be a new and different person, holy and good. Clothe yourself with this new nature” (character).

Jesus tells us in the NIV of John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” Light always dispels darkness. Darkness is also a sign and symbol of uncertainty, unawareness, unclearness, what we cannot see.

In the ESV of John 1:5, Jesus further declares that as the light He

As God Thinkers, the Lord always shows us the way because He is the truth and He gives us life and that more abundantly (John 10:10). Others will see our light and by letting our light shine, we help others to come out of their darkness.

Dr. Gregory L. Cruell

It has often been said that we are spiritual beings having a human encounter. The Apostle Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 15:46, “the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual.” The Common English Bible version of 1st Corinthians 14:40 teaches us that “Everything should be done with dignity and in proper order.” Paul says in verse 33 of this 14th chapter "God is not the author of confusion.” Where there is chaos and confusion, God is not there. Where there is stress, struggle, and strain God is not there. Living life in this present day and age is full of stress, struggle, and strain naturally for many.

Yet with Jesus as Lord of our lives, spiritually He provides balance to our lives and the world in which we live for those that make Him Lord of their lives. There's no question that the world in which we live is out of balance.

The war in Ukraine is ongoing, and people dying needlessly. Political infighting between Republicans and Democrats in our nation’s capital. Over 140 mass shootings and 5 mass murders according to Business standard.com, in 2022 so far. According to the US State Department, 15,000 and 50,000 women and girls are victims of human and sex trafficking or modern-day slavery each year in the United States.

The KJV of Romans 8: 6 says, “to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”  To have a worldly, carnal, fleshly, mind and thoughts; means that person’s life is controlled by their own sinful desires; to be unspiritual. The carnal or natural mind is out of balance with the ways of the Lord. And it is important to know that you cannot balance what is out of order.

This is why Paul says in the Amplified Version of Romans 12:2,  “Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].”

This is how we Balance The Natural and The Spiritual; Life In the Middle.

The Apostle Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 15:46, “the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual.” Our primary passage from last week’s and today’s podcast is Romans chapter 8, verses, 5-6 in TPT, “Those who are motivated by the flesh only pursue what benefits themselves. But those who live by the impulses of the Holy Spirit are motivated to pursue spiritual realities. Verse 6, For the mind-set of the flesh is death, but the mind-set controlled by the Spirit finds life and peace.

The KJV of Romans 8, verse 5-6 declares, “they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.”  Verse 6, “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”

By flesh, Paul means the entirety of our humanness viewed as corrupt and unredeemed, ‘our fallen, egocentric human nature in Adam’, or our sin-dominated self’. By Spirit in this passage, Paul means the personal Holy Spirit Himself who now not only redeems us through Christ but also indwells the people of God (Romans 8:14). This tension between ‘flesh’ and ‘Spirit’ speaks to the irreconcilable, never-ending conflict with each other.

Join us and invite a friend or family member as we learn from the Apostle Paul, the converted murderer and slanderer, and persecutor of the Lord, who provides us with principles and precepts to this conflict concerning "Life in The Middle--Balancing the Natural and the Spiritual."

There will always be times in life when we simply don't know what to do. After all the knowledge that we have acquired in life and ministry through elementary, junior high and high school, college, graduate school, postgraduate school and our professions, the knowledge that we have acquired….after all the many things that we know to be true, our names, who we are married to, the dates that our children were born, where we live, what we know to be true about ourselves, what still remains true for you and me is what do we do when we don't know what to do? Some of us have excelled academically, professionally, and financially... But what remains true for all of us is the question of What Do We Do When We Don't Know What to Do? Join us on today's for biblical principles and precepts that help us to answer this life-changing question.

Today's podcast is part 4 of this five-part series where we have selected a particular word that provides the "factors" or circumstances and conditions, elements which make a thing what it is, including results and outcomes.

Today’s word concerning the reason why a person’s mind may not be filled with peace is procrastination. Procrastination is the act of delaying or postponing something. Procrastination maybe further defined as difficulty persuading yourself to do the things you know that you should do.

When you procrastinate, instead of working on important, meaningful tasks, you find yourself doing things that are trivial and not very productive which unconsciously ignores the value of time. Seneca an ancient Roman philosopher once stated, "While we waste our time hesitating and postponing, life is slipping away." We were all born and at some point, will all die as well. The time we spend on Earth is both limited and finite.

Considering this reality, time is the most valuable commodity that we have. It’s not money; unlike time, you can borrow money, save, or earn more. You can’t do that with time. Every single second that we waste is gone forever.

Our power source for constantly maintaining a peace filled mind is Paul's declaration noted n Philippians  4:8-9 in in the Living Bible where we, “Fix our thoughts on what is true and good and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely, and dwell on the fine, good things in others. Think about all you can praise God for and be glad about. Keep putting into practice all you learned from me and saw me doing, and the God of peace will be with you.” 

Life is short, and we do not know what will happen tomorrow. to have a peace-filled mind is obey and pray Moses prayer in Psalm 90:12, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” The later portion of this text may also be translated, to live a successful human life.

If you knew how many days you had left to live, what would you do differently with your life? What would you do differently if you knew you had 30 days, one week or one day left to live? What would you do?

We live in a world where people feel they have plenty of time to live. There is no man or not anything that has the authority to guarantee how long we will live. Therefore, God want us to live your best life now (John 10:10) These are Factors of A Peace-Filled Mind.

As we have discussed in the previous two podcasts, today's podcast is part three of five parts with the title or theme---Factors For A Peace Filled Mind.

As we consider a factor, or factors for the purpose of this podcast, factors can be defined as circumstances, or conditions, that bring about a result or outcome.

A factor can also be an element or something that makes a thing what it is. Factors can be positive or negative. It depends on our viewpoint of the circumstances of the elements that can produce negative or positive results or outcomes.

Each week in this five part series we will use a particular word that provides the circumstances and conditions, the elements of which make a thing what it is , or simply the factors of a matter.

Today’s word concerning the reason why a person’s mind may not be filled with peace is perception.

Perception includes the five senses: touch, sight, sound, smell, and taste providing us with awareness of a thing. This concept also includes our ability by which we see, view and decide what we identify about our environment, people and relationships, or how we view the world.

In 2nd Kings the 6th chapter, the King of Syria is looking for Elisha. It has been discovered that Elisha is in the city of Dothan. The king sends troops, and they surround the entire city of Dothan.

Elisha's servant looks out the window and sees that they are surrounded, and they are in trouble. This was the servant's perception of the situation.

Elisha looks out the same window but does not see or does not perceive what his servant perceived. Elisha saw the same thing, but he did not see it the same way. Elisha's mind was at peace because of his perception of the situation.

Elisha says to his servant in 2 Kings 6:16-17. "Do not be afraid. For those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, I pray, open his eyes, that he may see.”

And the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he saw. What Elisha’s servant saw (his perception was changed) that the mountain was full of horses and war-wagons of fire all around Elisha."

No matter what the circumstance or situation we encounter in life and ministry, as we place our faith and hope in God, He will change our perception and "open our eyes that we may see that there are more with us."

Today's podcast is part two of five parts with the title or theme---Factors For A Peace Filled Mind. As we consider a factor, or factors for the purpose of this podcast, factors can be defined as circumstances, or conditions, that bring about a result or outcome.

A factor can also be an element or something that makes a thing what it is. Factors can be positive or negative. It depends on our viewpoint of the circumstances of the elements that can produce negative or positive results or outcomes.

Each week in this five part series we will use a particular word that provides the circumstances and conditions, the elements of which make a thing what it is , or simply the factors of a matter.

Today’s word concerning the reason why a person’s mind is not filled with peace is pain, and that pain many times is the pain of not trusting God. There are some matters in life that are self-inflicted wounds.

The reality of pain includes the place of stress, distress and being upset…. all begins with how we think.

Isaiah 26:3 in the Amplified Version says “God will keep in perfect and constant peace the one whose mind is steadfast [that is, committed and focused on You—in both inclination and character],Because he trusts and takes refuge in You [with hope and confident expectation].

Although there will always be troubling life circumstances, situations and factors that attempt to rob us of peace, Jesus as our Prince of Peace, will always increase peace because our minds are stayed on Him.