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Speaking to Christians, Paul tells
us, “We have the mind of Christ.”
(1Cor. 2:16) It is our choice as Christians to “let
this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 2:5)
The Holy Spirit is a “gentleman.” He will not force Himself on you. You
must choose to live from the mind of Christ in you “by
the renewing of your mind.”
If you type on my computer, you will
use the default font, which is Arial, unless you set it to another font. If
you don’t want to type in the Arial font, you must SET it to the font
you want or it will automatically use the default font. Each time you go to
my computer and start to type it will be in the Arial font, unless you set
it.
If you do not SET your mind,
your mind will “default” to the flesh. You must “set
your minds on things above, not on earthly things” because you
“default” to the flesh if you don’t choose to “set
your mind.” If you don’t SET your mind, you will “mind
the things of the flesh” and “to
be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace,”
“because the carnal mind is enmity against
God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.”
“So then they that are in the flesh cannot
please God.” If you desire to “please
God,” you MUST SET YOUR MIND. In other words, “Let
this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”
Now let us consider the mind of
Christ, particularly His view of Father, since to have the mind of
Christ is to have His feelings, desires, purposes, and plans working in us.
As Paul said, “I am crucified with Christ:
nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life
which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who
loved me, and gave himself for me.”
Your view of God is extremely
important in the quality of your relationships with others. Remember, what
you think of Father will have a direct effect on how you treat one another.
If you think God is good, merciful, pure, kind, etc., you will treat one
another in like manner. But if you think Father is mean, abusive, harsh and
crass, that is the way you will be in your relationships. “On
him who has mercy you will have mercy; to the upright you will be upright;
he who is holy will see that you are holy; but to the man whose way is not
straight you will be a hard judge.”
But in this article I
want to deal primarily with how Jesus as a man thought of Father in His
everyday walk. Jesus said, “All
things are delivered unto me of my Father.” Jesus considered
Father as the source of everything as far as He was concerned. He said, “The
Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what
things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.” And
again He said, “I can of mine own self do
nothing.” He said, “For as the
Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life
in himself; and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because
he is the Son of man.” Everything in Jesus’ life was immediately
related to the Father and understood as to be from the Father. “I
am come in my Father's name,” He declared.
Jesus said, “I
and my Father are one.” And He said, “I
am not alone, because the Father is with me.” Jesus counted on
the abiding presence of His Father. This explains the TRUE Passion of
Christ, not as depicted in the movies. Jesus was ONE with Father.
Jesus was NEVER alone without Father. Father was everything to Him. An
UNBROKEN relationship was maintained in a sinless union with Father. Then
came the Garden experience: “My Father, if
it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you
will." And He prayed again, “My
Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink
it, may your will be done.” At the thought of be SEPARATED
from Father “He began to be sorrowful and
troubled. Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the
point of death.” It
wasn’t the torture of the nails, or the shame. No, it was being separated
from the ONE Who was so dear to Him. When He “became
sin for us” and was separated from Father, is it any wonder He
cried out, “My God, my God, why have you
forsaken me?” The Mind of Christ viewed Father as always there
and Jesus always trusted not Himself, but His Father in all things.
Burk Parsons, managing editor of
Table Talk magazine, writes: “Those who do not know God can
only trust in themselves, for there is no one greater in whom they can place
their trust. Their confidence is self-confidence, their esteem is
self-esteem, and their reliance is self-reliance.” That was never true
of Jesus. Everything about Him was immediately identified as coming from
Father. Jesus expressed no confidence in Himself apart from His heavenly
Father.
For example, we would probably react
just as His disciples did when facing a storm in the middle of the lake.
The disciples were terrified and rightly so by all human standards, for the
Scripture says, “they were filled with water,
and were in jeopardy.” Where was Jesus? What was He doing? He
was asleep. He had no fear and manifested no alarm. He was always
confident of Father’s caring presence and His wonderful protection in all
situations.
“And
they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he
arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased,
and there was a calm.” Note how Jesus reacted to the disciples
who were scared out of their wits, “He said
unto them, Where is your faith?”
Jesus is revealing the conduct of
those who have His Spirit. By the simple argument of these verses He urges
us to keep our minds filled with the realization of God's control behind
every thing, which means that the disciple must maintain an attitude of
perfect trust and an eagerness to ask and to seek. SET your mind with
the idea that God is there.
If once the mind is set along that
line, then when you are in difficulties it is as easy as breathing to
remember, “Father knows all about this.” This Christ-like confidence
in Father’s presence is not an effort. When we have the mind of Christ it
comes naturally in the midst of pressing perplexities.
Before, you used to go to this
person and that, but now viewing all circumstances with the mind of Christ
you know Father is in control. This “mind” is forming so powerfully in you
that you go to God about all things. Jesus is showing the conduct of those
who have His Spirit, and it works on this principle: “God is my Father,
He loves me, I shall never think of anything He will forget, why should I
worry?” That is the Mind of Christ.
There are times, says Jesus, when
Father cannot lift the darkness from you, but trust Him. He will appear like
an unkind friend, but He is not; He will appear like an unnatural Father,
but He is not; He will appear like an unjust judge, but He is not. Keep the
mind of Christ strong in you by your deliberate choice, that Father is
behind all things. Not any particular thing can happen unless God's will is
behind it; therefore, you can rest in perfect confidence in Him with this “mind
of Christ.”
Prayer is not only asking, but also
an attitude of mind like Christ which produces the atmosphere in which
asking is perfectly natural. "Ask, and it
shall be given you." Of course you must ask BELIEVING.
“But when he asks, he must believe and not
doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by
the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord;
he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.”
Jesus was single minded. Jesus walked with a mind of
SingleVISION, seeing God (His Father) in all things.
When we are in fear we can do
nothing less than pray to God, but our Lord has a right to expect that those
who name His Name should have an understanding confidence in Him; should
have HIS mind. God expects His children to be so confident in Him
that in any crisis they are the reliable ones. Some times our trust is in
God up to a certain point, and then we go back to the elementary panic
prayers of those who do not know God. We get to our wits' end, showing that
we have not the slightest confidence in Him and His government of the world;
He seems to be asleep, and we see nothing but breakers ahead.
"O
ye of little faith!" What a pang must have shot through the
disciples - 'Missed it again!' And what a pang will go through us when we
suddenly realize that we might have produced down right joy in the heart of
Jesus by remaining absolutely confident in Him, no matter what was ahead.
There are stages in life when there
is no storm, no crisis, when we do our human best; it is when a crisis
arises that we instantly reveal upon whom we rely. If we have been learning
to worship God and to trust Him, the crisis will reveal that we will go to
the breaking point and not break in our confidence in Him.
"God is God; He sees
and hears
All our troubles, all our tears.
Soul, forget not, 'mid thy pains,
God o'er all for ever reigns."
"Fear not death, nor
Satan's thrusts,
God defends who in Him trusts;
Soul, remember, in thy pains,
God o'er all for ever reigns."
"For this life's long
night of sadness
He will give us peace and gladness.
Soul, remember, in thy pains,
God o'er all for ever reigns."
When we are in a storm, let us think
of Jesus asleep on a cushion in the boat. He was without alarm. He was so
calm He was asleep. Are you any more vulnerable than when asleep? Perhaps
that explains some people’s insomnia. They can never allow themselves to be
“vulnerable.” Experiencing the storm should work out into rest in Father’s
care, which means oneness with Him, a oneness which will make us not only
blameless in His sight, but a deep joy to Him, because “WE
HAVE THE MIND OF CHRIST.” Will you “LET
THIS MIND BE IN YOU THAT WAS IN CHRIST JESUS"?
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