BREAKING THOUGHT PATTERN
Introduction
We have been given a command to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. In Mark 12:30 says that, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with your all mind and with all your strength”. Christian’s renewed mind holds a vital role in His conquest of loving Jesus truthfully. On the other hand, this must be taken into a serious account that in order to experience the Kingdom blessings and to purposefully transform into the image and likeness of Christ our minds must be constantly renewed (Romans 12:2).
To love God in the mind is incredibly possible; however, only the power of the HOLY SPIRIT can supernaturally break the thought pattern, molding to become an empowered
…show more content…
And the fires of love for God drive the engines of thought and deed” (89); a burning love for God is needed in this perspective. It is crucial for us to put out the fire of love in our mind, considering that the world is waiting for someone who will enjoy what it prepares. Nowadays, modernization is rampant in every place, which creates an easy life for an individual’s journey, however, unknowingly this system pulverizes the purity of one’s thought because the love of this world disperses and wickedness are rising anywhere. Christians are even prone to embrace this kind of walk, and if we are not journeying uprightly our minds will be contaminated by many evil desires which are a ramification of a dead soul, Jesus said in Matthew 10:28, “Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God who can destroy both soul and body in …show more content…
This will of God for us is called a divine decree; it meant not to be amended and it is sure to come to pass. God’s will is for everyone to receive the freedom that comes from His Spirit; a freedom from the bondage that was set by the enemy long time ago, capturing every thought and subjecting it to his deception. God remembers us in His holy mind “The LORD remembers us and will bless us: He will bless his people Israel, he will bless the house of Aaron,” (Psalm 115:12). We receive the same oath that He gave for the godly men, a future possession for Abraham (Genesis 22:16-18), and to David, as God will establish his throne forever firm for all generation (Psalms 89:3-4). However, in order to fully claim this inheritance of God’s will is to have a Christ-like mind. A mind that believes and trusts God’s perfect will amidst of any situation. So, it is important to have a Christ Like mind to receive an overflowing of God’s abundance; be focused, humble, at peace and responsive to the Kingdom pattern. Therefore, human’s response that comes from his own thought toward God’s plans and decrees played an important part in retracting what God already declared in our lives. (R. B.
“You will surely grant and concede to me, that nothing more pernicious and fearful can happen to anyone than the loss of his soul.” (38).
Apostle Paul said,” And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;” (Rom. 1:28 KJV).
There is so much mystified confusion surrounding the will of God in today’s society. It is evident in the ways that people use the term that views about it differ widely; there is even contradiction in two things the same person might say. It is because of the recommendation of my pastor and others that I decided to read The Will of God, written by Leslie D. Weatherhead.
… by that union of change and performance which we call Rhythm” (39). If you have the love of God in your heart, you will have a love for humans and your actions will change. Everything about a person will change once the love of God is in them, one will automatically want to change for the better for God. John 1:12 says “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:” Love and power comes when Christ is received. God defeated darkness a long time ago when he gave up
As we have looked in to the Christian worldview of God, our humanity, the Son of God, and the restoration of our lives back into God’s purpose. Now we have a better understanding of what it means to be a member of the Christian community. God wants believers to dwell in union and in community having the same mind that is in Jesus Christ (Phil 2:1-11). This paper showed how God and Jesus Christ are at the fundamental core of all Christian beliefs regardless of the countless differences many Christians may
Mark McMinn purposely writes this twofold book to first, address the pragmatic assimilation of psychology, theology, and spirituality. Secondly, he explores the spirituality of a Christian counselor, and how this aspect of character affects the methods he or she may use to represent Jesus Christ when dealing with clients. Altogether, this book discusses the dual need for Biblical Counselors to multitask with clients while pursuing personal development in spirituality to advance a Christian worldview. The objective is to “help Christian counselors and researchers unite around certain key questions and perspectives so that our interventions become increasingly relevant and effective" (p. 6).
In the days of Christ’s life on this earth, believers did not have access to the Bible in its entirety as we know and are familiar with today. Believers in this ancient time period only had access to the Old Testament. However, through their access to the Old Testament, believers were provided a foundation for New Testament times. This foundation provided New Testament believers with the Lord’s established principles of right and wrong they were expected to follow. In addition, the Old Testament is overflowing with accounts of people whose lives exemplified the future life of Christ on this earth. These pictures allowed the Israelite nation to begin to have an understanding of why Christ needed to come as their Messiah and the work He needed to do on earth. Finally, there are common themes that are interwoven throughout the entire Old Testament. Three of these themes: transgression, redemption, and consummation point to the purpose of Christ’s atoning death on the cross. These themes portray God’s work both in the lives of Old Testament believers, but they also foreshadow God’s desire and plan for believers in New Testament times and beyond.
“Slowly I begin to see that there is something more as well. To believe in Christ’s rising and death’s dying is also to live with the power and the challenge to rise up now from all our dark graves of suffering love” (pg. 92).
Revelations of Divine Love is a 14th century masterpiece written by Julian of Norwich. This book is an account of St. Julian’s sixteen different mystical revelations in which she had encountered at a time of great suffering and illness. St. Julian focussed on the many “mysteries of Christianity.” Through her many revelations she encountered God’s vast love, the existence of evil, God’s heart for creation, the father and mother-heart of God, and the need to obey her Father in Heaven. Amongst these revelations the most powerful was the revelation of God’s love and character. Revelations of Divine Love is a wonderful source of revelation to connect a reader to the Father.
"And think, this heart, all evil shed away." These are the words of a man who
In Jeremiah 29:11, God says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to
“Most Christians would rather die than think; in fact they do” (White, 17). This quote from Bertrand Russel is thought provoking and a most appropriate way to start a book on using your mind for God. A Mind for God by James Emery White is a fantastic piece of literature that delves deep into what it means to truly follow God with your mind. In just under one hundred pages White explains why, how, and what we need to follow God with all of our mind. “And he answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27, ESV).
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ” (New International Version). Werdel, Dy-liacco, Ciarrochi, Wicks, & Breslford (2014) state that “religiosity and spirituality are multidimensional variables that incorporate cognitions, sentiments, and behaviors including both positive and negative aspects of an individual’s relationship with the Divine”. One’s spiritual journey is not likened to a one dimensional flat line, but a line that has peaks and valleys along the way. Majerus and Sandage (2010) believe that “maturity is a developmental and teleological theme in Christian spirituality and is described throughout Scripture”. To understand spiritual maturity one needs to look toward Scripture and to investigate what God has planned for His children. Spiritual maturity is a process with the end goal of becoming likened to the
The Bible is full of instructions as to how God wants his people to live. It speaks of our relationship with God himself, the place of prayer and his word in our lives, and how to grow in that relationship. It talks about relationships in the home, relationships with other believers, how we should treat our enemies, our attitude to our authoritative figure and employees, what we should do with the gifts God has given us, the virtues we should seek to develop in our characters, our attitude to material possessions,and how we should regard this life in relationship to the next. We don't require any special guidance to find out God's will about these things. All we need to do is read the Bible regularly and prayerfully and seek to obey the things that God teaches us from it. Much of God's will has already been made plain. God gives us the Holy Spirit for the very purpose of enabling us to obey.
There are five aspects of covenant. For the purposes of this paper I am going to be referring to primarily the new covenant that is offered us through Jesus. The first aspect is the parties involved. There are two parties: God and the elect. Unlike the old covenant, the elect goes beyond the Jews. It also includes the gentile, or non-Jew in all the nations. This is one aspect of covenant that has helped shape my worldview. I have spoken to people who believe that God only selects a few privileged people to be saved, and condemns the rest to eternal punishment in hell. I now wholeheartedly believe this to be completely false, and even a heresy. In John 3:16 God uses the phrase “panta ta ethne” which means “all the nations.” There are other places in scripture, for example, when Paul says in Romans 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes…” He clearly says ‘everyone who believes’ not leaving anyone out. There are places in scripture, such as Ephesians 1:11 that talk about things which are predestined for believers. This verse is commonly taken out of context by those who believe in predestination. He has indeed planned out things He wants those in covenant relationship to accomplish for His kingdom once we accept Jesus and make Him Lord of our life. He does not, however, make the choice beforehand to save some, and damn some to hell! God created us in His image, therefore we have also been given the gift of free will to choose to love Him or love the world. This is the depraved condition of mankind in our fallen state.