Mind Wars

Matt 5:27-30

A science teacher wanted to demonstrate to his class the dangers of alcoholism. He brought in 2 large jars. One was filled with water the other with alcohol. In the water jar, he dropped several worms and they swam around just fine with no ill effects noticed. In the jar of alcohol, he dropped several worms and within a minute they were all dead. Satisfied with his experiment he asked the class, “What have you learned from this experiment?” One of the students raised his hand and said, “if you drink enough alcohol you wont get worms.” That wasn’t the answer the professor was looking for.

Some of our solutions to the problems of life make about as much sense as that student’s answer. We come up with all kinds of crazy ways to solve problems that usually cause more problems in life. If you surveyed several groups about a solution, you would come of with a different one for each group. Jesus gives us some solutions in this text that at first seem just as crazy, but when you understand what he is saying, makes perfect sense.

PRAYER

I. Mind Wars

A. So many views

1. You don’t have to look very hard to find some pop psychology answer for everything and anything.

2. Money is the answer

a) If you just have enough money, everything will be fine

b) The more money the happier you will be.

c) Why are so many of the wealthy then on drugs or commit suicide?

3. Fame is the answer

a) Just be famous and you won’t have any more problems.

b) All you have to do is look at Hollywood to see that problems aren’t solved by fame.

4. Blame others

a) The 90’s was the decade of blame.

b) Turn on the talk shows and everyone was bringing up repressed memories of how they were treated badly as a baby.

c) The pop psychologists convinced people that their parents made them losers in life.

d) Their early environment made them into the criminal they are today.

5. We could spend all morning talking about all the different things people claim will take care of your problems.

B. A new radical view

1. Jesus throws out a reason for problems that shocked the world then and shock the world today.

2. Your problems stem from you and your heart.

3. No, No, it’s got to be their fault not mine!!

4. Jesus gets to the root of the problem

II. Getting to the Root

A. Dig past the surface of the problem to the heart of the problem

1. text from “The Message”

2. “You know the next commandment pretty well, too: ‘Don’t go to bed with another’s spouse.’ But don’t think you’ve preserved your virtue simply by staying out of bed. Your heart can be corrupted by lust even quicker than your body. Those leering looks you think nobody notices—they also corrupt. “Let’s not pretend this is easier than it really is. If you want to live a morally pure life, here’s what you have to do: You have to blind your right eye the moment you catch it in a lustful leer. You have to choose to live one-eyed or else be dumped on a moral trash pile. And you have to chop off your right hand the moment you notice it raised threateningly. Better a bloody stump than your entire being discarded for good in the dump.

3. If we want to walk closer to our Lord we need to get to the root of our problems and fix them.

4. It’s not about cutting off a hand or plucking out an eye, its about what’s in our heart.

5. Our outward sins, start in our hearts.

a) READ Jas 1:14-15

b) James says our OWN evil desires drag us away, and then gives birth to sin. That sin left to grow gives birth to death.

B. Larry Calvin says this passage gives us 10 ways to get to the core of our problems in life.

1. Prepare your mind for war

a) Our minds are a battlefield as deadly as any battlefield in any war.

b) It’s there that our war for our souls will be fought and won.

2. Control your thoughts

a) God has given us control over our thoughts. He has given us 3 ways to help us master our thinking

b) Control the eye-gate to our brain.

(1) Be careful what you look at on TV, in magazines, and the Internet

c) God puts us in control of our ear-gate

(1) Think about what you are listening to.

(2) Is it giving ammunition for God or Satan?

d) God puts us in control of our mental focus

(1) We all talk to ourselves

(2) The question we need to answer is what are we telling ourselves?

(3) We can’t always control the images that come into our mind, but we can control whether or not we dwell on them.

(4) If you start thinking negative thoughts, purposely take control and begin thinking on more positive thoughts.

3. Develop positive habits

a) It’s not just enough to get rid of bad habits, we need to replace them with good habits.

b) In Matt 12:43-45 Jesus tells about what happens when a demon is cast out of a man, but nothing replaces the evil. He comes back with 7 friends and the man’s life is even worse.

c) If we don’t replace the bad habits, they will return with even greater effect.

d) Replace bad habits with prayer time, Christian music, book and most importantly, Bible study

4. Remove self from center stage

a) Let God be in front rather than yourself

5. Declare Jesus as Lord

a) Make him truly master of your heart

6. Get the Lord’s approval

a) the WWJD craze is from a book written about 100 years ago. In it the congregation begins to ask themselves, “what would Jesus do?”

b) ask yourself the same question

7. Choose an accountability partner

a) Find someone who is compassionate yet firm to talk with and hold you accountable for your thoughts and actions.

8. Confront your blind spots

a) We all have areas we don’t want to see.

b) Be honest with yourself when they are pointed out to you and deal with them as God would want you to.

9. Accept personal responsibility

a) boy that seems hard to do doesn’t it?

b) It’s so much easier to deny things or blame someone else, but we will never grow spiritually unless we accept personal responsibility for what we do, think, and say.

10. Share the responsibility

a) Just as bad as blaming everyone, is taking responsibility for everyone else’s actions.

b) Everyone is going to stand before God and be judged on their lives, whether you try to take the blame or not.

c) If they never realize their responsibility they will not deal with it until it’s too late.