“For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit
--Romans 8:6
A mind concerned for the flesh wants to know…
“What's for dinner?”a mind for what leads to death.
“Where are my friends?”
“When will I have what I want?”
“How much trouble will this be?”
“If I can just make it to my retirement…”
“Will I be able to buy birdseed this month?”
as it is written:
“We grope for the wall like the blind; we grope as if we had no eyes…”
--Isaiah 59:10
The mind set on the Spirit of Christ is confident to say…
“Give us this day our daily bread…”a mind for life and peace.
“And forgive us our trespasses.”
“Lead us not into temptation.”
“But deliver us from evil.”
“Your kingdom come, Your will be done.”
“Thank You, Father, for feeding the sparrows - even by my hands.”
it is written:
“…for the one who doubts is like the sea's surf, driven and tossed by the wind. Let not that man expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”
--James 1:6-8
Doubting and doubling dashes our expectation that we might receive from God, leaving us to struggle in our own means… sometimes pretending God has helped us.
If we continue to make choices to follow what we think, feel and desire over what God is prompting us to do, God's Life in us will be largely quenched. This is called double-mindedness or
Satan knows that double-mindedness will reliably quench God's Life in us, and cause us to show forth
* Eve's reason - [Genesis 3] The naked truth about entertaining another rational mind.What does Jesus say?
* (the double-mind of) Lot's wife - [Genesis 19] She wouldn't leave home without it.
* Esau - [Genesis 25] I'm hungry. What could matter more?
* Moses - [Numbers 20] This worked so 'well' before.
* David - [2 Samuel 11] And as I was looking around…
* Peter - [Matthew 14 & 16] Do I really know Jesus?
* Ananias & Sapphira - [Acts 5] The big lie of a double-mind.
* Simon - [Acts 8] Adding Jesus to personal ambition.
* early Corinthian Christians - [I Corinthians 5] Another mind for apathy or tolerance.
* Lot & wife - [Luke 9:62] “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God.”
* Esau - [Matthew 6:25] “take no thought for what you shall eat, or what you shall drink…”
* Moses - [Luke 6:46] “Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?”
* David - [Matthew 5:28] “everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
* Peter - [Luke 24:38] “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your heart?”
* Ananias & Sapphira - [Luke 18:29-30] “There is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the Kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times as much…”
* Simon - [Matthew 6:24] “No one can serve two masters.”
* Corinthian Christians - [Matthew 23:25] “First clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.”
DoubleMind Breakers:
* Single-minded is being prepared to win.
Paul writes: “I do all things for the sake of the gospel, that I may become a fellow-partaker of it. Those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize. Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive perishable wealth, but we run for the imperishable. I run in such a way that I am not aimless or just moving the air.”
[I Corinthians 9:23-26]
* A mind of the world makes an enemy of God.
James writes: “Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Whoever thinks to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
[James 4:4]
* We are occupied by the Spirit.
as it is written:
“He jealously desires to dwell with the spirit He made in us.”
[James 4:5]
“Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?”
[I Corinthians 6:19]
* We're in His Master's service.
it is written: “Jesus died for all, that we who live should no longer live for ourselves, but for Jesus who died and rose again on our behalf. From now on, we no longer recognize any man according to the flesh…”
[2 Corinthians 5:15-16]
“Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves to the one whom you obey; either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?”
[Romans 6:6]
* Renounce the “My Lie”: my job, my family, my retirement, my computer, my files, my music, my church…
How much does a slave own for himself?
“You were purchased -- bought with a price paid, therefore
[I Corinthians 6:20]
* No moonlighting! “He who is called while free is Christ's own slave.”
[I Corinthians 7:23]
* Christian unity encompasses “one mind”. “We have the mind of Christ.”
“Mind of Christ”? {νουφ : His mode of thinking; His understanding; His power for consideration with impartiality.}
“Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ…standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.”
[Philippians 1:27]
“Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree, and that there be no divisions among you; but you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.”
[I Corinthians 1:10]
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additional “double minded” notes ref:
Psalm 119:113; James 1:5-8; 4:8
Don't always have time for God?
Be transformed by the renewal of your mind
Bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ
How do we prove (demonstrate) what is perfect, good, acceptable, the will of God?
One mind together
Simplicity in Christ
In 2 Corinthians 11:3 Paul warns us about double-mindedness. He says, “I fear lest by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ!” “Simplicity,” here, does not mean ignorance, naiveté, or being unschooled in the things of God. The Greek word for simplicity is ηαπλουφ, which means “singleness of mind.” It means something that is folded together, braided together or intertwined. Simplicity in Christ means having our thinking “folded together” and intertwined with Christ. In other words, “simplicity in Christ” is the same thing as the single-mindedness in having the Mind of Christ.
What is the “Mind of Christ”? [νουφ : His mode of thinking; His understanding; His power for consideration with impartiality]
I Corinthians 2:16
Since many of us have not really understood the authority and power we possess because of the Mind of Christ in us, we've not been equipped or prepared to stand in the battle against Satan. And as a result we've ended up “falling” before we have even begun.
Many of us haven't understood that by constantly renewing our minds, we can be “set free” from our fears, hurts, doubts, lusts, memories, unforgiveness and all the other negative thoughts and emotions that block God's Life in our hearts. We call upon God to replace these things with His Wisdom, His Counsel, His Strength and His Knowledge, through His Spirit.
Luke 11:33-36 describes both single-mindedness and double-mindedness. “No man, when he hath lit a candle, putts it in a hidden place… but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light. The light of the body is the eye: therefore when your eye is single
“Doubters Welcome” - with their hope in God on “hold”.
The double-minded man is trying to please and serve God while holding on to his life, to the world, and to darkness. You need to make up your mind where you want to go… the way of God or the way of the world. One cannot leap back and forth between God and the world. As we read from James, God cannot accept my double-mindedness.
Christians have made up their minds and are committed to heavenly purpose. Having such affects the way they respond to earthly circumstances. But, the double-minded man is seldom focused beyond the moment. He runs hot and cold in his pursuit of many different things, depending upon who he is with or how he feels or the circumstances that confront him. The first step in determining a goal is to ask, “What do I really want?” The decision we make about what we want creates within us single-mindedness. Sadly, the double-minded man is torn between seeking God and pursuing the world because he has never answered this question.
| DOUBLE MIND | SINGLE MIND |
| We wanted to have children. | We want godly children. |
| Feeling burned out in having to focus | Our strength renewed |
| Part of what I have is mine, | My whole life |
| We seem to be going two directions at once; somewhat committed to | I am intent on |
| We have housework, homework, | I am always abounding |
| We need to plan for our lives, | I seek first the Kingdom of God |
This study outline