Today’s message summary from Pastor Gus Brown:
God keeps us in the hollow of His hand with His love for us. This doesn’t mean that we don’t experience sin. We must note that sin must be kept out of our lives because it brings about spiritual death.
James 1:13-15
13 No one undergoing a trial should say, “I am being tempted by God.” For God is not tempted by evil, and He Himself doesn’t tempt anyone. 14 But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desires. 15 Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death.
We’re going to look at our thought process and our way of thinking, which leads to our decision-making process. If my thoughts are guided by our worldly system, then the thoughts that come forth will reflect what the world represents. Those thoughts will generate sin, and they will generate spiritual death. This is represented in uselessness for God’s kingdom.
God’s desire is to develop a system of thinking in us that is above this world’s way of thinking.
Acts 20:32
“And now I commit you to God and to the message of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified.”
God provides us with the knowledge that allows us to overcome the world.
2 Peter 1:2-4
2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
3 His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. 4 By these He has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desires.
Our thought process is developed through observation, our life experiences (trust or distrust, like or dislike) and education. Keep in mind that all of this is coupled with our own desires if we are looking to the world for our values. All of these work together in forming a person’s way of thinking. God wants us to recognize His role in our thought process and look to Him for wisdom and knowledge through our observations, experiences and education.
God intends to build us up through His Word in order to help them to grow in Him and overcome the world. Without His Word, you will succumb to the world and fall subject to sin. The peace of God and His grace comes through the wisdom and knowledge of God through Jesus Christ. There is a distinction between knowedge as we understand it in the world and godly knowledge. God gives you everything you need to live in holiness and a godly life in Jesus Christ.
If you proclaim yourself to be a Christian, you will need to look to God’s Word for guidance in how you should live. Satan wants to keep believers from obtaining that knowledge and wisdom, which will render you as ineffective and corruptible through sin and its worldly influences. God’s Word provides you the ability to live in His divine nature and a Christlike existence.
There are two different ways that you can develop as a person:
1. Natural development (according to the world’s standards)
1 Corinthians 1:20
Where is the philosopher? Where is the scholar? Where is the debater of this age? Hasn’t God made the world’s wisdom foolish?
Proverbs 13:20
The one who walks with the wise will become wise,
but a companion of fools will suffer harm.
Proverbs 12:15
A fool’s way is right in his own eyes,
but whoever listens to counsel is wise.
Proverbs 17:12
Better for a man to meet a bear robbed of her cubs
than a fool in his foolishness.
2. Divine development (according to God’s will and His standards)
Proverbs 12:15
A fool’s way is right in his own eyes,
but whoever listens to counsel is wise.
Proverbs 1:7
The fear of the Lord
is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and discipline.
Proverbs 2:6, 9-10
6 For the Lord gives wisdom;
from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
9 Then you will understand righteousness, justice,
and integrity—every good path.
10 For wisdom will enter your mind,
and knowledge will delight your heart.
Proverbs 13:20
The one who walks with the wise will become wise,
but a companion of fools will suffer harm.
Believers are to operate within a “kingdom system” in the development of their thought life.
To man belongs the plans of the heart, but God provides the answers (Proverbs 16:9). God wants to give us knowledge that develops our thinking, our imagination, and our thought process. It is up to the believer to receive it and live accordingly.
Proverbs 16:1-9
1 The reflections of the heart belong to man,
but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.
2 All a man’s ways seem right to him,
but the Lord evaluates the motives.
3 Commit your activities to the Lord,
and your plans will be achieved.
4 The Lord has prepared everything for His purpose—
even the wicked for the day of disaster.
5 Everyone with a proud heart is detestable to the Lord;
be assured, he will not go unpunished.
6 Wickedness is atoned for by loyalty and faithfulness,
and one turns from evil by the fear of the Lord.
7 When a man’s ways please the Lord,
He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
8 Better a little with righteousness
than great income with injustice.
9 A man’s heart plans his way,
but the Lord determines his steps.
God knows our hearts and our thoughts. We certainly can’t hide anything from Him. He knows our sincerity in seeking Him, and He will provide answers that will guide us in every decision we make.
Here is an example with reference to David:
1 Chronicles 28:2-3, 6
2 Then King David rose to his feet and said, “Listen to me, my brothers and my people. It was in my heart to build a house as a resting place for the ark of the Lord’s covenant and as a footstool for our God. I had made preparations to build, 3 but God said to me, ‘You are not to build a house for My name because you are a man of war and have shed blood.’
6 He said to me, ‘Your son Solomon is the one who is to build My house and My courts, for I have chosen him to be My son, and I will be his father.
1 Chronicles 29:2-3
2 So to the best of my ability I’ve made provision for the house of my God: gold for the gold articles, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron, and wood for the wood, as well as onyx, stones for mounting, antimony, stones of various colors, all kinds of precious stones, and a great quantity of marble. 3 Moreover, because of my delight in the house of my God, I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the house of my God over and above all that I’ve provided for the holy house.
We are to use God’s thoughts, His ways, His standards and the enabling of the Holy Spirit to develop our thought process in order to keep our hearts and minds on Jesus Christ over the world’s view of life. In this way, we will resist sin and remain focused on our service for Him.
Akron Alliance Fellowship 