Your Mind Matters

Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with Jack Graham. A little later in the program we'll tell you how you can get Dr. Graham's eight message series, Help. But first here's his message, Your Mind Matters. heartbreak and heartache and emotional struggles and pain.

And so often churches have neglected the issue of mental health in people's lives. But let me say to all of you today that all of us are broken. Every one of us. We are born in a broken condition. We have all fallen in sin. We are born with this condition.

We are birthed with this bent. Our minds are fallen. Our lives are fallen before God. And it is only until we are redeemed that we can begin to really heal and find hope again. Jesus died not only for your sins but for your shame, for your pain, for your hurt. He has borne our griefs.

He has carried our sorrows. We have all been wounded by sin. Had there been no sin there would have been no suffering.

Had there been no suffering there would have been no heartache and heartbreak. But Jesus went to the cross. He laid down his life. He died.

I say it again and again. He not only died for us but he died as us. He took our sin upon himself. He who knew no sin became sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God. And so God reverses the curse and he begins healing the heart and the brain when Christ steps into our lives.

So that is where we begin but here's the thing. Maybe you're thinking, well I'm a Christian. I don't have any problems. You know, I believe the Bible and I'm going to heaven.

I know I'm going to heaven. I shouldn't feel like this or I don't even have any problems. Well let me just say, that's a problem. Because we all have problems and we all have pressures. Have you ever seen or experienced so much pressure, so much tension in our culture? Just the brokenness of the culture and in people's lives being expressed in the streets and in the shootings and in the arguments and the agitation that we feel in our communities and in our world today. There's just so much of this.

And the tension, it's a pressure cooker. So what happens when we come to faith in Jesus Christ is that we still have problems and we still have pain from our past and otherwise but we are redeemed. And having been redeemed, we are then restored and we start recovering. And this is a life long experience as we continue to grow in our Christ's likeness and gain the mind of Christ as we go. So the Scripture says in Romans chapter 12 and verse 2, don't be conformed to this world. Don't allow the world to suck you, squeeze you into its mold. Don't be conformed but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. The renewal of your mind because the mind matters and that's the title of this message.

Your mind matters. What does the Scripture say in the book of Proverbs? As one thinks in his heart, so is he. As a man, a woman thinks, so are we. We think and therefore we are. And our thinking produces our behavior, our actions and the consequences of our actions, our decisions but it begins with the mind. It's in the way we think and as you think as a Christian, you need to begin to think God's thoughts instead of the world's thoughts and to begin to think according to God's word. The old saying is, sow a thought, reap an action, a deed, sow a deed, reap a habit, sow a habit, reach and reap a destiny. So it all begins in the mind. That's why the Scripture says we are to take every thought captive in obedience to Christ, to control the mind.

Now how are we going to do that? Well in 2 Thessalonians 5 and verse 23, we're told that the God of peace and he is God our peace, he is God our helper and we have the Holy Spirit who is our counselor, our helper, our guide who calms us and strengthens us and corrects us and changes us. But may the God of peace himself sanctify you. Now that word sanctify, it means to make holy, to be separate. You see the word sanctify, you think of the word sanctification of course is the big word but you think of sanctuary, a special place that is set aside. So sanctification is that process and we are being more and more made into the image of Christ, made like Christ. So God himself is sanctifying us not just partially but the goal is to completely make us like Christ and one day we will be like him as we stand before him.

But watch this, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Note those three words, spirit and soul and body. We are body, soul and spirit. When God made each one of us he clearly gave us physical life. We have bodies and with the bodies of course we have brains.

It's an amazing computer unlike anything that man could ever make. The mind is the creation of God. So the brain, the body, we have physical life. And with the soul, it says we are body, we are soul, we have psychological life.

So where do you get that? Well the word soul is suke. We get the word psychiatry, psychology, psychic from that word. It means the soul. And the soul represents the inner person, the inner you.

The mind, the emotions, the intellect, the will. So you are born with a body, you are born with a soul. And the soul is the inner life, the inner you, the part of you that thinks, the part of you that contemplates, the part of you that can learn and grow and all the rest. That's your soul. Now there's a difference between the soul and the spirit. And the difference is very small in some ways. In fact, the writer of Hebrews tells us that it takes the word of God to divide the soul and the spirit.

So it's a fine line there. And we often catch our diseases otherwise emotional, physical and otherwise from the soul and from the spirit. But the spirit is the part of you that is made for God. It's the spiritual life. It's the part of you that will live forever.

Your spirit. Now if you are not a believer and follower of Jesus, then your spirit according to the Bible is not alive, it is dead. When you are regenerated, that means born again, when you come alive in Christ, when we are risen in Christ, Christ lives in us. That's why we talk about our relationship with Jesus Christ. Some of you have the idea that you are a Christian, you consider yourself a Christian, but you don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ.

You don't know Him inwardly and eternally. Your spirit is not alive. But when you receive Christ, you receive His love, His life and you come alive. That's what it means to be saved and saved forever.

Alright, so let's review. You have a body, you have a soul, you have a spirit. You have physical life with the body, you have psychological life, emotional, intellectual with the soul and you have spiritual life with the spirit.

So think of it this way. If all is right with the body, you are healthy. If all is right with the soul, you are happy. And everyone wants to be happy. If you don't want to be happy, that's a problem. And some people have given up hope on ever finding real happiness, unfortunately. But God made us that we would experience happiness in life. Did you know over 2,500 times in the Bible, words like happiness and joy and blessedness and favor and merriment and gladness. Such words are used again and again and again.

Why? Because Jesus said, I've come that you might have life and have it more abundantly, overflowing. God wants you to be happy and you can be happy and you can be healthy.

So if your physical body is right, then you are healthy. If your psychological life is right, if all is well, then you are happy. If your spiritual life is well, you are holy.

Not because of what you have done, but because of what Christ has done and is doing in your life. So physical life, soul life, spiritual life, emotional, psychological, spiritual. If you are healthy, if you are happy, if you are holy, it means that you are whole. You're whole.

And that's what God has promised each one of us, that we can find wholeness and completeness in Him. You are listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and today's message, Your Mind Matters. So many people are crushed by the stress of life and are searching for help and hope. That's why we're excited to share that a generous friend has offered to double your gift of up to $150,000 to help us reach our hurting world with the perfect peace Jesus offers. As a thanks for your gift, we'll send you Dr. Graham's eight message series help.

This resource will help you walk in the quiet trust that comes with knowing your security in Christ, even in uncertain times. So call right now to have your gift doubled and request your copy of help. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. That's PowerPoint to 313131. And don't forget to visit Jack Graham.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional.

Our website again is Jack Graham.org. Now let's get back to today's message, Your Mind Matters. The scripture says, let this mind be in you, which was in Jesus Christ. That's Philippians 2.5. The mind of Christ there represents his sacrifice, his surrender to leave heaven and come to earth to give his life for us, his humility. He laid aside his dignity, but never his deity, but he became a man.

He accepted our humanity. That is the great emptying of God. And the scripture says, let that mind, this mind, which was in Jesus Christ, be in you. In other words, because of Christ and Christ alive in you, start thinking and acting as a result like Jesus. If you want to elevate your thinking, begin contemplating the greatness and the goodness of God. Receive the mind of Christ.

His presence is in us. Same word is used in Colossians 3. Set your minds, there it is again, your minds on the things that are above, not on things that are of earth and on the earth. He goes on to say, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ and God.

When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. So the way we think is no longer about the world and what's in the world. But now our affection, our attention, our ambitions, our attitudes are not on things below, but on things above. We keep our eyes fixed and focused and fastened on Christ, the mind of Christ, the mentality of Christ. This idea of mind has to do with mentality, it has to do with mindset, all about the way we think transformed thoughts in Christ by the power of Christ in us.

One of the problems that we have that creates so many diseases, disasters, discouragement in our lives is because we're so focused on self and we listen to the lies of Satan all around us. But what I pray is going to happen in my life, in your life, in these days that we share together that you can exchange Satan's lies for God's truth. That you will exchange your anxiety and your stress and your fears for God's peace. That you will exchange your sin and your shame, shattered life for His forgiveness and grace and mercy. That you will exchange your loneliness and alienation and isolation for His presence and His comfort in your life. That you will exchange your grief, your sadness and depression for His love and His hope in your life.

That's what this is all about. That we would have the mind of Christ. How do we have the mind of Christ?

Listen up, four ways. Number one, if you want to have the mind of Christ, the mentality of Christ and win the battle for your mind, then number one, decide to possess the mind of Christ. Decide to possess the mind of Christ.

Make a decision. Make a determination in your life that you will seek those things which are above. That you will begin to listen to God and hear His voice.

It's easy to think like the world because we hear the world's viewpoint, the world's values, again and again and again. I'm saying what you need to do on a personal level if you want to heal, if you want your mind to recover from the past and the baggage and the brokenness that you bring even into a relationship with God. If you want to heal and find hope, then make a decision to possess the mind of Christ. Isaiah 26 3 says, you will keep Him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you for His soul, trust in you.

That's a decision that you need to make in your life. That you will stay your mind and steady your focus and when your boat is rocking and maybe sinking when you are going under, that you will be steadied in the storm, anchored in the storm by the very presence of God. This takes conscious effort and concentration.

It does. You know what our problem is? So often just mindless thinking.

Not thinking. Or thinking the wrong thoughts but so often just not thinking about it. Do you seek God? Do you seek God's word?

Do you ask for God's wisdom? How do you expect to heal from your hurts and your pain if you never make a determination to decide to focus, to fasten your mind upon Christ? Because if you will do that, then it can happen. The transformation can happen very quickly but typically over time, remember this is a process, our minds begin to change. And we begin to think differently than we used to think. And we stop putting all that jive in our heads, the negativity, the stuff that disrupts and destroys us and defeats us and we start putting the right things in our hearts, in our heads.

We make a conscious effort. So that brings me to the second thing which is to discipline yourself to practice the mind of Christ. Decide to possess the mind of Christ, we talked a lot about that. And now discipline yourself to practice the mind of Christ. You can train your brain.

Did you know that? Just like you can train and develop and shape and reshape your body, you can train your brain to be healthy and whole, to think rightly. But again, one of the problems we have is this mindless mentality, undisciplined thinking. And so much white noise in our heads, so much racket.

And if we don't have enough racket around us, we put our earphones on for more racket or earbuds. When are we ever quiet? When are we ever still enough to hear our self think, much less hear God speak? And so that's why it is vital to your spiritual, emotional, and physical health, I might add, to find rest for your soul.

Jesus said, come unto me all ye that labor and are heavily laden, I'll give you rest, rest for your soul. In that you take time out to quieten your soul before God and to listen to Him because that's when you hear the still, small voice. In the midst of the racket and all the distractions, we begin disciplining our minds. And the way that we do this primarily is reading the Word, receiving the Word. It's not just reading the Word but receiving the Word.

It's listening to the Word as you're listening now. You ought to be constantly filling your mind with preaching and teaching. And we have so many tools and so much technology today even that we can use to keep filling our minds and building our brains spiritually. You need to start disciplining your mind in God's Word. Probe the Scriptures, ponder the Scriptures, think clearly about what the Scripture is saying, personalize the Word of God to your own life, pray the Word of God in and through your life, and practice the Word of God. You need to nourish your soul, your psyche with God's Word.

So discipline, make sure you are devoting and disciplining your mind. Discipline yourself to have the mind of Christ. Thirdly, dedicate your mind to pursue Christ. Like your body, your brain belongs to God. When the Scripture says, present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, your reasonable service, then don't be conformed but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. When it says give your body to God, would you say that your body includes your brain?

Of course it does. So if it includes your brain, your mind, your soul, it includes the way you think. I often hear people who dedicate their lives to God, their bodies to God, their service to God, their commitments to God. But when's the last time you heard anybody say, I give my mind the way I think to God? That would be a good prayer for all of us to pray today and every day. I give you my thoughts.

I give you my words because out of the heart, out of the mind, the mouth speaks. And if what's in your brain, what's in your heart is polluted, what's going to come out of your mouth is going to be polluted and so on. Focus your mind. Train your brain to settle your soul in Christ. And then when you're attacked by anxiety or you're facing fear or you're dealing with depression or you're trying to overcome an addiction in your life or you are overwhelmed with grief, then you will have an inner strength and your thoughts will steady you instead of destroying you. This is a troubled world.

And Jesus said, don't be surprised about that because in this world you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer because I have overcome the world. My peace I give to you, not as the world gives, my peace.

Do not let your hearts be troubled. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and today's message, Your Mind Matters. Where do you turn when the stress of life feels overwhelming? Many people look to the latest self-help fad, but true rest only comes in returning to the Lord and trusting in Him.

Because the truth is, you simply can't carry life's burdens on your own. In Dr. Graham's 8-message series, Help, he'll show you how to turn your stress into strength through the certainty of God's promises so you can face any challenges that come your way. Help is our special thanks for your gift to help boldly proclaim God's word through PowerPoint.

And thanks to a generous $150,000 matching grant, whatever you give today will be doubled to impact even more lives for Jesus Christ. So request your copy when you call today, knowing your gift will be doubled. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. Text PowerPoint to 313131. And don't forget to visit JackGraham.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online, or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional.

Our website again is JackGraham.org. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today? When was the last time a TV show encouraged you in your walk with God?

I promise it's possible. You just have to be watching the right programs. That's why we've worked so hard to get PowerPoint on television. I want you and thousands of other viewers all over the world to be able to find the encouragement you need from God's word right there on your television. Did you know PowerPoint is on television in over 113 countries? It's such an integral part of our mission to share the gospel to the ends of the earth and to preach Christ and teach the Bible. It's such an awesome way to build up the family of God around the world.

PowerPoint is in countries like the United Kingdom and Iran, Russia, and Australia. So you can watch the same message as your brothers and sisters all over the world. Isn't that such a beautiful picture of Christ's church? And it's right there on your television. I would love to help you glorify the Lord with your day every day by broadcasting God's word right into your home.

To join in, you can visit Jack Graham dot org and find your local channel or watch our broadcast right there on the website. I bet you didn't think you'd hear your pastor tell you to watch more TV today, did you? But I would be so excited to share God's word with you today right there on your television and to the ends of the earth. And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember, when you give a gift to PowerPoint, we'll send you Dr. Graham's eight message series help as our thanks. Call one eight hundred seven nine five four six two seven.

That's one eight hundred seven nine five four six two seven. You can also text the word PowerPoint to three one three one three one text PowerPoint to three one three one three one. On the next PowerPoint, Dr. Graham brings a message about how your life could be marked by peace, stability and hope. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.