Do You Have the Mind of Christ?

Do I see the beauty of a holy life as Jesus saw it? Do I see lost people through His eyes? Do I understand the eternal purpose of God with the same conviction that Jesus had?

The apostle Paul said, “We have the mind of Christ” (I Corinthians 2:16). What are the implications of having that mind?

In contrast to the pagan false “wisdom” Paul sets forth the wisdom from God, “That is found in the righteousness and sanctification and wisdom of God in Christ. God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.”  Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 

In God’s magnificent wisdom, He has been “well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe,” and the message preached is “Christ crucified.”

The unregenerate, sensual person who lives his life as if there is nothing beyond the physical “does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually appraised” (I Cor. 2:14).

In contrast Paul says the believer in Christ has “received” not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely give to us by God” (v. 12).

We have the mind of Christ because we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us.  Therefore, since we are new creatures in Christ, our habit of mental activity needs to be like that of Christ.

The apostle Paul uses the word “mind” signifying the exercise of the mind, including our emotional and spiritual responses creating activity.  It refers to understanding, intelligence, and mental presence.  It is the whole knowledge of Christ including emotions and volitions based on thought.

Perhaps John 17 reveals the mind of Christ in its rare beauty.  “Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life’” (John 17:1-2).  That is the passion of God incarnate.  He came to reveal the Father and give eternal life to all who will believe on Him.  In the mind of Christ, we understand the cross.  Only then will the passion our preaching be “Christ crucified.”  “For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2).

The mind of Christ is revealed in the cross.  In the mind of Christ we see “the beauty of holiness.” Christ came to reveal the holiness of the Father and the sinfulness of sin.  The cross of Jesus exposes our sins, and we stand condemned before a righteous God.  The cross reveals the mind of our Savior who knew no sin and became so identified with us that He gave Himself as the substitutionary sacrifice on our behalf.  The mind of Christ reveals an attitude of self-emptying and humility so profound that He would empty Himself “taking the form of a bond-servant and being made in the likeness of men” and give Himself a ransom for sin.  “Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8).

Jesus saw everything in perpetual relationship to His Father.  He saw the whole universe related to the Father and for that reason He gave His life in obedience to Him.  The master passion of Christ Jesus was to glorify His Father in saving sinful man.

“We have the mind of Christ” when we see the Father in all of His holiness.  “We have the mind of Christ” when we sin as it breaks the heart of a holy and righteous God.  We have the mind of the Savior when we understand the penalty for sin must be paid in full by a divine, sinless substitute.  “We have the mind of Christ” when we feel the passion of His soul in submission to the will of God, even unto death.

If I have the mind of Christ, I can see the infinite beauty of holiness as He saw it when He clothed me in the robes of His perfect righteousness.  “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Do I have that same passion to see lost people as He saw them?  If I have the mind of Christ, I will pour out my life in obedient sacrifice and believe and trust in Him.

Hear my prayer, oh God. I give my mind to you; let me think the way Christ thinks.  Help me make the choices the way You would choose.  I want to do what You would do and feel as you feel. Help me to obey You—even unto death!Selah!

Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006

Anyone is free to use this material and distribute it, but it may not be sold under any circumstances whatsoever without the author’s written consent.

Generally Symbolizes a Period Of

The number 40 generally symbolizes a period of testing, trial or probation in the Bible.

In my forty years of being Jesus’ free will servant he has tested me to see if I will fulfill my vows to Him. There was so many fleshly temptations. Some were so strong it felt as if my head was going to explode in holding back from succumbing to them.

He has put me through many trials to see if I have matured in both faith and obedience. He would tell me to go while not telling me where He was leading me.

Many times I knew not what He intended me to do once I got there He has put me on probation to see if I will remain His faithful servant through many difficult and painful circumstances in service to Him.

Most times it looked like the wicked were prospering while I lived in rags as I was obedient unto Him. It seemed as if I was a fool to those around me for living a Godly life while they were living a decadent lifestyle.

Many times I was the butt of many jokes and seemed as if I were the only man of integrity in the world.

But now in my old age He is fulfilling His covenant to bless me with a home to dwell at and live prosperously and peacefully.

He has even promised me that during the millennium this is where I will dwell.

Prayer: Thank you Jehovah El Emunah (Deuteronomy 7:9 The Faithful GOD ) that You are a Father of integrity that is always true to Your promises.

May this article encourage others to hang on an continue in faithful service unto You. I praise You and humbly request this in the name of the King with whom it has been an honour and privilege to serve, Jesus Christ. Amen

indeovi vas ( may you live with Jesus in Latin )

Seleh- stop and think about it.

This photo and article @ Joseph- Anthony a son of Jehovah 2024 Anyone is free to use this material and distribute it but it may not be sold without authors consent

As you think so too you are. Joseph- Anthony a son of Jehovah.

IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A GOOD SITE ON HOW TO DEAL WITH TOXIC PEOPLE AND GET HEALING IN A CHRISTIAN MANNER PLEASE GO TO https://www.youtube.com/@Kris_Reece/videos HER ADVICE HAS HELPED TREMENDOUSLY

It Symbolizes the Relationship Between

I am grateful The Holy Spirit suggested making a healing path ( like I saw in China in the front garden. It is a path of patio stones with rounded stone cemented into them. When you walk on the when they are warm they cause healing while giving a foot massage ).

I am grateful The Holy Spirit suggested making a shrine beside the walkway. It symbolizes the relationship between Jehovah, Jesus, The Holy Spirit, angels and me in my walk with Christ

I am grateful The Holy Spirit suggested planting specific flowers around the walkway and shrine. They represent powerful symbols.

I am grateful The Holy Spirit suggested

putting the raised gardens in a specific sequence to represent my dedication and suffering for Christ

I am grateful The Holy Spirit suggested arranging the biggest raised garden in a special way representing Jesus and His followers.

Discipleship

The call to discipleship is on Christ’s terms, not ours.

The cost of discipleship is determined by the Lord, and not by the servant.

In our desperate attempt to play the numbers game in today’s churches we invite people to come and join without any regard to the cost of discipleship.

Jesus Christ is Lord; He is the only Lord.

Jesus reached out to touch a leper, and the leper was instantly cleansed. He is the Great Physician and Master over all kinds of sicknesses.

Jesus lay asleep in the stern of the fishing boat and when the disciples feared for their lives Jesus spoke and the storm departed. When Jesus spoke, God spoke. To defy the Lordship of Jesus Christ is to defy God. He spoke as God’s authority and as God the Creator. He is the Lord of creation.

Jesus told the paralyzed man, “Your sins are forgiven.” Only God can forgive sin. Jesus is the sinner’s friend. Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior.

The same Jesus who has authority over demons, sickness, death, nature has the same authority over every Christian. He is Lord. If we are to be His disciples it must be on His terms.

Dr. Luke in his gospel tells of three individuals who were would be followers of Christ (Luke 9:57-62).

One of the individuals must have been listening to the teaching of Christ and he approached and said, “I will follow You wherever You go” (v. 57).

It is easy to get caught up in the enthusiasm and excitement of the moment and join the crowd. But this man must have failed to think through what following Jesus involves.

Jesus did not want him to have any false apprehensions. He said, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head” (v. 58).

At the end of His ministry, the day of His crucifixion, Jesus owned nothing, but the clothes on His back. The cost of discipleship for Jesus was high. It cost Him His life in execution as a criminal to follow the will of His heavenly Father. Jesus was obedient unto death.

Jesus calls us to radical discipleship. Is this the reason so many drop out after joining up?

Another person heard the call, “Follow Me” (v. 59). But he replied, “Permit me first to go and bury my father” (v. 59b).

Was the man’s father dead? Probably not, because he was there listening to Jesus. If his father had been dead this man would have been busy with the details because in Jesus’ day a person had to be buried the same day that he died. The man is probably saying that he wants to wait and remain at home as long as his father lives, and then he will consider following Jesus after this phase of his life is over.

Jesus’ call to discipleship is radical. “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the Kingdom of God” (v. 60).

Let the spiritual dead bury the dead. They are dead to spiritual realities. On the other hand, those who are spiritually alive will drop everything, counting the cost, to follow Jesus as Lord.

Discipleship demands that we drop everything, even our families and anyone opposing Him. Who would seek to exercise a higher relationship of affection in our lives? Discipleship makes us chose between Christ and others.

Another person in the crowd said, “I will follow You Lord, but first permit me to say goodbye to those at home” (v. 61). Jesus replied, “No one, after putting his hand to the plough and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God” (v. 62).

Who but God could make such demands on His followers? He has not left the choice of standards of following Him up to us. We want to submit Him to our lordship and it will not work. Jesus is Lord. He determines the conditions of discipleship. If Jesus is Lord then this kind of discipleship is really not radical, or extreme, but is normal. Since He is God we owe Him total obedience and total self-surrender. That is radical in the world’s way of thinking.

I suspect we are quick to join up without counting the cost, and then when faced with the choices of obeying our Lord and Master or the pleasures and demands of the world we follow our true desires. You cannot serve two masters; you will love one and hate the other. The disciple no longer lives for himself, but for the Kingdom of God. What happens to my life in unimportant. What really matters is my submission to the will of God.

The disciple of Jesus Christ cannot live to please himself. He can live only to please the King. “Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ living and incarnate,” wrote Bonhoeffer. “Costly grace . . . calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ.”

Where is your priority? Who is Lord of your life?Selah!

Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006

Anyone is free to use this material and distribute it, but it may not be sold under any circumstances whatsoever without the author’s written consent.

A Life Filled With

What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? James 4:1 The Holy Bible, The New Living Translation

Selfishness only leads to destruction of relationships and societies. Living a life of loving service unto Jesus first and others second is a life filled with love, joy, peace and meaning. Joseph- Anthony a son of Jehovah.

Prayer: Thank you Ha-Melech Jesus Christ ( Psalms 98:6 The LORD the King ) for blessing me with the honour to be Your free will servant. Thank you for the opportunities to serve You by serving those You guide me that are deserving of help ( no free loaders allowed ).

May this bless those with in Your family

May it also be an opportunity to guide others to You through my service unto You.

I humbly praise You and request this in Your serving name. Amen

indeovi vas ( may you live with Jesus in Latin )

Seleh- stop and think about it.

This photo and article @ Joseph- Anthony a son of Jehovah 2024

Anyone is free to use this material and distribute it but it may not be sold without authors consent As you think so too you are. Joseph- Anthony a son of Jehovah.

IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A GOOD SITE ON HOW TO DEAL WITH TOXIC PEOPLE AND GET HEALING IN A CHRISTIAN MANNER PLEASE GO TO https://www.youtube.com/@Kris_Reece/videos HER ADVICE HAS HELPED TREMENDOUSLY

Consider Jesus the Apostle and High Priest

The keynote to the Epistle to the Hebrews is “consider Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and the Messiah.”  It admonishes us to set our heart on Him. “Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession” (Hebrews 3:1).

The word “consider” (katanoeo) literally means, “to direct one’s whole mind to an object,” to immerse oneself in it and hence to apprehend it in its whole compass” (TDNT).

In order to grow spiritually, we must fix our mind on Christ.  It is imperative that we consider carefully and understand fully the person and work of Jesus Christ.

The word “consider” is formed from the root of the Latin word for “star” and originally means to contemplate with the idea of a quiet, patient, persevering concentrated gazing in order to study the stars.

The writer of Hebrews admonishes his readers to gaze upon Jesus and contemplate Him, therefore increasing our knowledge, devotion, and faith in Him. What does he wish for us to “consider?”

He wants us to see the significance and thoroughly weigh the evidence of Christ’s superiority over the prophets, angels, and the patriarchs of Israel.  Because of the greatness of His person, the effectiveness of His redemptive work will be pleasing to God the Father.

The writer of Hebrews is addressing Christians calling them “holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling” (v.1).

Believers in Jesus Christ are saints. We are “holy brethren” in our standing with God because of the atoning sacrifice of Christ. We are holy in Christ. It is Jesus who makes us holy. The word “holy” in this verse is emphasizing our position in salvation.  We have been “set apart for God.”  Christian believers are saints, set apart ones.  Sainthood does not take place in some distant future.  The believer is already a saint because He is “in Christ.”  This perfect standing with God should be the greatest incentive to make every effort to live a godly life before Him (Phil. 3:14).

He has made a perfect propitiation for the sins of His people (1 John 2:21; 4:10).  The believer is holy because God has made him so (Heb. 2:11).  We “share in the heavenly calling” because God “is bringing “us” to glory” (2:10).  We share in Jesus Christ (Heb.3: 14; Eph. 5:30).  We are “partakers of a heavenly calling” (Heb. 4:14; 10:23). 

 “The call comes from heaven and is to heaven in its appeal,” says A. T. Robertson.

Jesus Christ is both “The Apostle and High Priest” of Christians.

Jesus is “The Apostle” because He was sent by God the Father to be His spokesman and revealer (Heb. 1:1-3; Jn. 3:17, 34; 5:36, 38; 6:29; 8:42; 10:36; 11:42; 13:3; Matt. 17:5; Deut. 18:15, 18).  Because He is God’s ambassador, we need to consider carefully and fully understand what He has revealed to us about a right relationship with God.

Jesus is also our great High Priest (Heb. 2:17-18; 4:14).  He represents God before men and man before a holy God.  “As an apostle, He is close to me; as Priest, He is close to God.”  “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself” (2Cor. 5:19).

Christianity is Christ.  Therefore it behooves us to contemplate and meditate on Him.  Lord Jesus, will I see you today?

The Lord is not ashamed to call us His brethren (Heb. 2: 12).  May we never be afraid or embarrassed to call Him our Lord and Master (Matt. 10:32-33).

God has done something marvelous for sinners. Because of our vital union with Christ, He has imputed to us His righteousness.  We are partakers of the heavenly calling.  “What He has, we have.  Where He is, we are.  He is the Holy One of God; therefore, we are holy. He has been made higher than the heavens; therefore, we are partakers of the heavenly calling.”

No passing glance of Christ will do. Understand and learn the lesson that God wants to teach you.  “Consider attentively and thoughtfully the Apostle and High Priest of our confession Jesus” (Wuest Expanded Translation).Selah!

Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006

Anyone is free to use this material and distribute it, but it may not be sold under any circumstances whatsoever without the author’s written consent.

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