Martin - I must be out of my mind to have the mind of christ

I MUST BE OUT OF MY MIND

TO HAVE THE MIND OF CHRIST

June Martin

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION.
Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible

Scripture taken from the New English Translation. The names: The Net Bible, New English Translation Copyright (c) 1996 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. Net Bible is a registered trademark the Net Bible logo, service mark Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

2010 June Martin. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by CrossBooks: 12/15/2010

ISBN: 978-1-4956-1877-2 (print)

ISBN: 978-1-4956-1878-9 (epub)

ISBN: 978-1-4956-1879-6 (mobi)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2010942526

Printed in the United States of America

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

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Certain stock imagery Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any Web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Introduction

This book is meant to be an exhortation to women of God to continue in worship and prayer. I have been utilizing a simple template that God showed me for five years, and I would like to share it with you. In this little book, I have documented areas of sin in my life, which God has had to expose in order to allow me to grow closer to Him. Also, I outline the armor of God and its vital use in our daily lives. We women each have a spiritual calling on our lives, but we can go through our whole lives and not realize it.

The Lord wants to use us and the gifts He has given us to bless others and to glorify Him. When we worship and pray daily, we will see things change in our lives and the lives of others.

Life Experiences of the Author

We are born sinners; thus, we live under the control of our fallen nature.

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned (Rom. 5:12 NIV).

Because we are sinners, we have need of a savior. Just look at a two-year-old child; he does not need to be taught to say no or mine, these words come naturally. This fallen nature, which came through Adam, is why Christ, Gods only Son, had to come and die and be raised from the dead.

God calls us to Himself through the cross of Christ, His Son. When we give ourselves to Him, He gives us a new nature (His divine nature).

Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust (2 Peter 1:4 KJV).

The things we learned and accepted prior to our conversion have shaped our minds toward the natural. The natural mind (old nature, if you will) thinks of itself only; Gods heart for us is to live for and glorify Him by loving Him and all others as ourselves. When we love others, we bring Him glory; but this type of love is impossible in our old nature because it has been bent toward prejudice and fear . We need to be enabled by God in order to love unconditionally. I have a constant need to depend on Gods strength to love my enemies, and even my family and friends at times.

Jesus modeled unconditional love during His ministry on earth and through His death on the cross, and yet I want to blame those who caused and carried out His death. The Lord Jesus Christ, though, taught us by His prayer for them from the cross. Only Gods love can allow us to begin to love all our enemies today.

Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots (Luke 23:34 AKJV).

I have been a Christian for thirty-eight years now and still grapple with this type of love. I will always deal with my old natures pressure to some degree until the day He calls me home. Only if I allow God through the Holy Spirit to work in my heart and mind will I be freed up to love more and unconditionally through the mind of Christ. The Bible tells us that perfect love casts out fear.

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love (1 John 4:18 NASB, emphasis mine).

Fear exists there, or God would not have said, perfect love casts out fear. Often, the reason I do not love people is fear. I fear other nationalities, those who are richer, those who are poorer, smarter, and so forth because I do not understand them, thus I fear them and cannot love them as Christ does. This is the attitude of my old nature. During my daily study time with God, He showed me clearly that fear cannot survive when He is alive in me. Fear can offer itself to me constantly, but it cannot reside in me when Christ is given His proper domain in my mind and heart and soul. But how can we daily love and fear not?

For God has not given us a spirit of fear , but of power and of love and of a sound mind (2 Tim. 1:7 NKJV, emphasis mine).

What a comfort to know that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind. We are free from the grip of fear! We can enjoy power, love, and a sound mind! Have you ever worried and fretted about a situation for an extended length of time and felt like you might be losing your mind? I have had this experience, and if I had not called on God, I am not certain what I would have done. This passage in 2 Timothy has brought me back from the brink many times.

Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma (Eph. 5:12 NKJV).

We are told to be imitators. God modeled love for us in His Son, Jesus Christ, and His sacrifice at Calvary over two thousand years ago; He reminds us of this gift throughout the entire Bible. God knows that we are unable to walk in love on our own, and so He has provided the power through His Holy Spirit. His Spirit reminds us to read and pray and then obey, stay in fellowship, and worship God. Then and only then can we be out of our natural mind, which cant love unconditionally and battles with fear.

God, I need to know Your purpose for my life.

He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them (Ps. 145:19 NASB).

I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me. (Ps. 57:2 ESV).

The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest. So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things (Mark 6:3034 NIV, emphasis mine).

The above passage really speaks to me, and I find myself telling God, I know that I come to You with all my daily needs, whining about finances, health issues, and so on, but like these people who came to You for their natural needs, You saw their spiritual needs. Lord, show me my spiritual needs, so I will serve You and allow You to fulfill my call/plan/purpose. And taught them many things (eternal things). See, my prayer should be that I know that this physical body will soon wear out and die, but my spirit will live eternally. Please nourish my spirit today, Lord, which will live eternally with You.