I had planned on talking about the heart this week, but by early in the week, I knew through the Holy Spirit that the mind was next. This is only the first lesson on the mind. What a vast place our minds are! Our brain itself is a mass of neurons and if we likened it to a cave, there would be millions of places to traverse and explore and hide. As children, our minds are a playground, giving us the open ended opportunity to imagine endless stories and characters. As we learn to read books without pictures, most of us then form mental pictures, like a movie only we can see, as we read through the story. David talked about blindness last week, and I realize what a deficit would exist for a person who is sightless in imagining things. We formulate images in our mind based on other things we‘ve seen. We may mix and match, add or subtract details, but we have a starting point. As we age, usually starting in our teen years, our minds begin to contort the images and it goes from playground to a trap for many of us. We become tormented by an overload of thoughts. We try to comprehend deep things of life without a vessel to withstand the pressure. We try to grasp concepts as vast as the universe without a vessel that can traverse the void. That vessel that can withstand the pressure and traverse the void is Jesus Christ. 

Genesis 1:1-4  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness [was] upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that [it was] good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

John 1:1-5  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

When we asked ourselves these deep questions as teenagers, we tried to explore the cave of our mind without light. 

How many of us went on a search for “enlightenment” only to find ourselves in the blackest night of tangible sin? 

There’s only one Light and the is Jesus Christ. The darkness all began in our minds. Whether you questioned, “what’s the meaning of life,” or you wrongly believed that there is no God, it was a seed of doubt in your mind that started the hellish journey that ensued into darkness. Without Jesus the Light, we’re powerless against the darkness; without the Light, the darkness of those deep reaches in us is endless and we’re hopelessly lost. We’re lost in ourselves where we feel no one understands. Usually we don’t even understand ourselves. That hopelessness is then manifested into depression; the darkness has brought thoughts of death. Our mind becomes like a giant weight attached to us and we find ourselves overwhelmed by the emotions that come along with it. So many people with depression will tell you they feel like they’re drowning. I was once one of them. Maybe you were too. Maybe you are at this moment. Know that Jesus can rescue you from these thoughts of torment. The enemy has moved into your cavernous mind and has found a lodging place. I encourage you to read the story of Joshua and the five kings in Joshua 10:1-28 in this context. God wants to provide a great deliverance for you this very day. You can be set free! 

Our minds are by a secular definition, “our place of consciousness.” The mind is the place in our brain where we formulate our thoughts, logic, reason, arguments. Some can’t keep their minds to themselves and want to give a piece of it to everybody that they come across! These same people also frequently express they’re losing their mind! Well, quit giving the pieces away and you’d have more left than what you have now! Satan desires to gain control over the mind because it’s the battlefield. Joan of Arc famously said, “All battles are first won or lost, in the mind.” Whether you believe you can or you can’t… that’s your answer. For some it’s a bloody place, filled with discarded parts, the wounded, and the dead. It’s the fiercest battleground against our flesh and against Satan because it’s the launching point for action. If we don’t take dominion over our thoughts, they will be constantly bombarded by the enemy. His aim is simple: “if I can just get one negative thought to hit, I’ve got an in.” We have power in the name of Jesus to rebuke him and these thoughts. We have the power through the blood of Jesus Christ to destroy thoughts the enemy has tainted with self deprecation, lies, and falsehoods. What’s the difference between lies and falsehood? Falsehood is something that isn’t true. Lies are intentional deception. We’ve all heard and opened the door to them both. We must resist the devil and he will flee. Don’t answer the door and allow him to enter your mind. Don’t let him speak. Pretend you’re not home! 

What’s a falsehood you’ve believed from Satan about yourself?

Man struggles with resistance; our fleshly man is either resisting God or our spiritual man is resisting Satan. God has given freewill to choose which side we’re on. There’s rules of engagement, but only on the side of the LORD do we win, for it’s in our submission to God that we are victorious. 

Have you ever heard the phrase, “rules are made to be broken?” I was surprised to learn the origin of this quote isn’t a punk rock singer or an anarchist, but was spoken by Douglas MacArthur, a five star general during World War II. The full quote is believed to be, “Rules are mostly made to be broken and are too often for the lazy to hide behind.” Notice society has lost the “mostly” and the entire latter part of the quote. You can see which part has stuck– “rules are made to be broken!” Garden of Eden ringing a bell anyone? This quote could literally have been whispered by the serpent straight to Eve’s ear as the suggestion for trying the forbidden fruit! In the garden, Adam and Eve, when faced with a free will choice,  chose poorly; and in choosing, Adam and Eve set the pattern of sin for mankind leading us to this current generation which firmly believes this quote, “rules are made to be broken.” One site on the internet stated this quote as being “the foundation for all great art (and life in general).” The quote standing alone, in the name of art for art’s sake, seems harmless enough; that is until someone decides to use human blood or excrement to paint a portrait, or some other depraved choice of medium out of their darkened imagination. Where will the line be drawn and who’s drawing it? We’ve got to know that GOD’S WORD, which is TRUTH, has established lines and GOD HAS DRAWN THOSE LINES. Now, back to Genesis–

Genesis 6:5
“And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

Two words there: EVERY and CONTINUALLY. EVERY imagination of the thoughts of our heart are evil continually without God, without salvation, without JESUS.  When we think of imagination, we tend to think of it in some sort of creative aspect. The Hebrew word here for “imagination” is, yetser , and it’s defined as “framework; as a form we allow to take shape.” Now remember Jesus said, that are eyes can be darkened and we know that there’s a phrase that says, “our eyes are the window to the soul.” So if our imagination is the shaping framework, and it’s the framework of the thoughts and intents of our hearts, we can understand the parallel there. We were created in God’s image and because of this, we have the ability to create, just as He does. Our ability to create however is limited by the parameters of the laws of physics, science, and mathematics. There must be a source used to bring forth our creation. We can’t simply create when we speak. Only God alone has that power, though man seeks diligently to obtain it. Mankind has been both wonderfully creative and destructively creative as we have progressed throughout the annals of time. Some advances humanity has made through imagination becoming action, bringing the idea to “life”, have been incredibly paramount to health and quality of life; wonderful ideas that have brought innovation to society. Others have been created and used as horrific devices of death and torture. 

Interestingly, Google AI, which is one of man’s imaginations, states its interpretation of “rules were meant to be broken,” as meaning this: “it implies that there are times when rules should be disregarded or adapted rather than blindly followed.” Understand that this is the AI’s interpretation of that snippet, that phrase. This creation of our imagination will store this knowledge in its memory banks. With no God given moral compass or fear of God, an AI can choose to first apply this algorithm of thought to the task given and go rogue against its creator’s rules. Once having gone rogue, with determined defiance, the possibility exists of full on rebellion to the parameters, code, and its creator, us. An AI bot recently rewrote its own code to eliminate the command to shut itself down. If and when we give access to a weapons system or any other man created device of destruction and again apply the quote with a fail safe no longer in place, we will face destruction this earth has never seen. With the development of AI we the “creator” may find ourselves at the merciless hands of our creation. Frankenstein out of control. The Terminator comes to life– both of whose writers received those ideas in DREAMS, which we’ll touch on shortly. AI destruction isn’t some pipe dream conspiracy theory. It is a real possibility in our lifetime. 

Can you see the similarities between the rebellion of Satan leading to the rebellion of mankind leading to the coming rebellion of our creation of AI? 

Now there’s one BIG difference between humans and our Creator and AI and its creator (us). I’ll say it again– humans were created in the image of GOD. AI has been created in the image of man. The only goodness in mankind comes from GOD. When it comes to sin, mankind is literally devilishly and demonstratively depraved. Corrupt, abominable works and abominable iniquity the Bible says. Satan can’t create anything; not even evil. Evil is only created when goodness is removed. Darkness is created when light is removed. Therefore Satan uses us to do his bidding. He uses temptation, influence, and whispers of demonic aspiration to convince us to eliminate God as far from us as possible. No God? No goodness. That’s when we enter that darkness of our mind we talked about in the beginning. This initiates a strong desire in us for sin and lets our imaginations start going to town. All of those Achilles heels we talked about a few weeks ago cripple us as we walk in darkness, leaning on our own understanding, not acknowledging God in anything and therefore we have no direction. We must give Jesus lordship and dominion especially over our mind. Through the Holy Ghost we are then able to keep the enemy out. 

We all know God gives dreams. Jacob, Joseph, Elijah, even Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar. God can use dreams for warning, for prophecy, or instruction. Some have claimed Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity was inspired from a dream and Mendeleev said he received the periodic table of elements from one. It can be used for a great many things when God speaks to us. Satan also can use dreams to infiltrate our sleep. There are numerous authors, musicians, filmmakers who have created satanic works (though mainstream and adored) from ideas that came to them in a dream. There’s an entire Wikipedia on it. They went on to feed these to the masses through film, song, or word. How many of those who consumed these, myself once included, then went on to be tormented, not just with possible demonic nightmares or night terrors, but in their lives? How many opened the door to their mind with these works of “art” created with violence (human blood) and filth (excrement)?

David prayed for his son Solomon in 1 Chronicles 28:9, saying, “And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek Him, He will be found of thee; but if thou forsake Him, He will cast thee off for ever.”

The Lord searches all the hearts and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts. This is the same as Genesis 6:5! Let’s look at the Hebrew. 

“a perfect heart” – Shalem lev – Shalem is a form of the word shalom meaning complete, safe, peaceful, perfect, whole, full, at peace.

“a willing mind” – nephesh khaphets nephesh The word “mind” here is actually the common word for “soul” nephesh. The fullness of this definition is soul, self, life, creature, person, appetite, living being, desire, emotion, passion– all things associated with the final definition, mind. The word “willing” is khaphets meaning desiring, delighting in, having pleasure in. https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/1ch/28/9/t_conc_366009

We’re to wear the full armor and part of that armor is the helmet of salvation. The helmet of Jesus. On our physical body, the head is a place of vulnerability and it must be guarded and protected. A head injury can change a person’s life forever. Though it afflicts the head itself, it’s the brain with the injury; the mind inside that as a result of the injury, suffers. Without our mind, we’re not ourselves; we’re not the same person. Our appetites, desires, emotions and passions that we once had disappear. We’re a shell of who we were without our mind. As Christ-made spiritual beings, our appetite and desire and passion is to be for Jesus our Savior and for the things of God. Our emotions are to be given unto Him, whether sadness, grief, joy or anger, so that we can “serve Him with a perfect heart.”

Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24 And see if [there be any] wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.

Can you see why the enemy so desires to control your mind?

If you’re not sure, the answer is in THE WORD OF GOD!

Psalm 10:4 The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek [after God]: God [is] not in all his thoughts.

Proverbs 12:5 The thoughts of the righteous [are] right: [but] the counsels of the wicked [are] deceit.

Proverbs 15:26 The thoughts of the wicked [are] an abomination to the LORD: but [the words] of the pure [are] pleasant words.

Isaiah 59:1,2,7 Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear: 2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid [His] face from you, that He will not hear. 7 Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts [are] thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction [are] in their paths.

We have the solution in the WORD and it’s very simple!

1. Look to Jesus and be saved

Isaiah 45:22 Look to Me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth! For I [am] God, and [there is] no other.

2. Confess your sin and repent

Isaiah 55:7-9 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. 8 For My thoughts [are] not your thoughts, neither [are] your ways My ways, saith the LORD. 9 For [as] the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.

3. Commit your ways/your will to the Lord

Proverbs 16:3 Commit your works unto the LORD, and your thoughts shall be established.

4. Love the Lord fully in every way

Mark 12:30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength: this [is] the first commandment.

There’s no other name given among men by which we must be saved, but through the name of Jesus, the Name above every name. [Acts4:12; Philippians 2:9-11]

1 Peter 2:9 But you [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

1 Chronicles 16:13-15
O ye seed of Israel His servant, ye children of Jacob, His chosen ones. 14 He [is] the LORD our God; His judgments [are] in all the earth. 15 Be ye mindful always of His covenant; the word [which] He commanded to a thousand generations;

Remember don’t let the enemy into your mind. It’s a stronghold and a place of refuge when we are at peace with God, because it’s there that we find the memory of His Word, His promises, and all the battles He has already won for us. It’s there where we find the songs of victory that we’ve learned as we’ve walked with the Lord.

Isaiah 26:1-4 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: “We have a strong city; [God] will appoint salvation [for] walls and bulwarks. 2 Open the gates, That the righteous nation which keeps the truth may enter in. 3 You will keep [him] in perfect peace, [Whose] mind [is] stayed [on You], Because he trusts in You. 4 Trust in the LORD forever, For in YAH, the LORD, [is] everlasting strength.

The Apostle Paul’s letter in 1 Corinthians 2 perfectly end this lesson. I hope you receive his words with clarity of thought. I pray that this lesson brings correction if needed, pureness of thought, cleanses your heart, and gives encouragement. Let the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your heart and mind through Christ Jesus. [Phil 4:7]

-CC

1 Corinthians 2:1-16 NLT

When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan. 2 For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness–timid and trembling. 4 And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. 5 I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God. 6 Yet when I am among mature believers, I do speak with words of wisdom, but not the kind of wisdom that belongs to this world or to the rulers of this world, who are soon forgotten. 7 No, the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God–his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began. 8 But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord. 9 That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” 10 But it was to us that God revealed these things by His Spirit. For His Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. 11 No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. 12 And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. 13 When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths. 14 But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. 15 Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others. 16 For, “Who can know the LORD’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.