Peace of Mind
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Who here wants to graduate middle school?
Who here wants to graduate high school?
Which one is more important?
High school!
Why?
Because that will make be the main thing that determines your future.
Do you need to graduate middle school to graduate high school?
Not necessarily, but it may be an indication of what the outcome will be.
Have you ever wondered if you will graduate or not?
When I was in middle school, I just always assumed that I would graduate high school.
I was not the best student,and went from getting straight A’s in elementary school to not caring and slacking off in Jr. High.
I thought it helped me get friends.
Come 8th grade, I was having the realization that there would be a ceremony.
I would either walk or not walk.
It finally became a reality.
I almost didn’t graduate,and had to change my mind and work ethic.
I realized that me not graduating would be embarrassing, and this caused me a lot of anxiety.
I had a lot of thoughts that were not so peaceful.
This caused a lot of feelings and emotions I had to come to terms with.
The main conclusion that I came to was that I was not guaranteed to graduate middle school, let alone high school.
It may seem like a “Well duh!”, but I was only a middle schooler.
Not everything is apparent in your age group. There is a vast maturity range.
I just thought it would be a given that me, of all people, would graduate.
Of course I would… right?
Being that we have discussed a reality that everyone is going to have to go through in their lives(you included),
I want you to think about that future day and what category you need to be in on that day.
That day is coming, and you are going to be in one category.
Graduate or non-graduate.
I want you to think in this message about what path you are currently on.
Is this a path that you have control over?
Think about the things you have to do to be able to graduate.
What are they?
Is it getting good grades?
Is it going to just be showing up every day?
There is more than these things.
What is the main thing that makes all of this happen?
The Mind.
Have you realized how much your mind plays into your life in all aspects?
Have you realized how much your mind plays into your life in all aspects?
I mean of course, but it is such a powerful thing.
You mind will make or break you.
There are a lot of parts of your mind that will be a big factor in everything in your life, even your path to graduating and beyond.
What are some aspects of your mind if we were to boil them down?
Thoughts
Emotions
Attitudes.
We are going to talk about the mind today and go over some things that maybe you didn’t THINK about… eh eh...
Let’s turn to 1 Peter 1:13.
13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
Therefore gird up the loins ...
Therefore gird up the loins ...
What do some of your bibles say....the other versions?
They are going to say something like prepare your minds for battle.
This is an okay translation of the original language.
But could be better in my opinion.
Who knows what the original language of the New Testament is?
Greek, and Hebrew for the Old Testament.
The reason I am bringing this up is because sometimes there are cool pictures and illustrations that were in the original language, that are lost in translation.
The picture of girding up the loins:
The picture of girding up the loins:
Back in the day, men did not wear pants.
They wore robes.
Long flowing garments.
I know we don’t think it makes a difference for dudes to not be wearing pants, but it does.
Who here has worn a dress?
Raise your hand if you have even if you are a boy?
Imagine wearing a dress playing basketball or football.
Imagine wearing a dress in P.E. class.
Those long flowing garments are not the best option.
Back in the day people couldn’t always chill as much as they do now.
Things were dangerous.
There were no police or cameras.
It was a hard time.
If a major threat came about, they couldn’t just pull out their pepper spray.
They had to be able to get down and fight if they needed to.
They needed to be ready to fight, or flee, depending on the situation.
This is where girding came in.
The process of girding was to take all of the excess garments and pull them up and tie them around the waist.
This gave them better mobility, agility, and helped them in maneuverability to spring into action.
They had to actually be ready and have it as a reflex.
They had to take what they could not get rid of and bring it under control.
It is a really cool picture, of something that we do not really have today.
But Matt, the loins are the waste areas?
That isn’t the mind.
I get that, and that is why I said it is a cool picture and idiom.
Do you guys know what an idiom is?
It is a non-literal saying in a language that means something else.
It only makes sense in the language or culture.
It is like me telling you when you ask, how a new outfit looks, and I respond with you can really pull it off.
It does not mean you can literally take the outfit off.
It means you look good.
This is why it is important to try and understand it, because there are cool meanings once you decipher it.
The loins of your mind are all of the excess parts of your mind.
The parts, much like a long flowing garment, that you cannot get rid of.
What do you think these parts are?
Your thoughts, emotions, attitudes, etc.
Right? You cannot get rid of these things.
You can’t stop thinking, stop feeling, stop reacting to life.
It is impossible.
But you can gird them, and take them to control them.
The truth is that a lot of what we think is peace is what is going on in our minds.
The truth is that a lot of what we think is peace is what is going on in our minds.
You can have lots of different emotions in life, and sometimes they might match the situation.
Many times they will not.
How many time do your thoughts drag you down?
How about your emotions?
They come and go, or more that likely stay.
But you cannot get rid of them, they are in your mind.
You cannot get rid of your mind, it is there to stay.
Your thoughts can change how you feel and you your attitude.
Life will bring many things and your mind is always interacting to them.
You need to gird your thoughts, and you will have peace.
You need to gird your thoughts, and you will have peace.
So many people are not at peace in their life, and it is because they try and go to action with their mind dangling and tripping them up.
So many people(including Christians) let the rippling of their emotions destroy the peace that God gives.
I understand that the mind can be a war zone, but..
We need to grab them and tie them up so we can be ready for the Peace that the Lord wants.
The thoughts and emotions we have will affect more of our life than we can realize.
We need to realize that we can pray for peace and ask for it all we want, but we have prepare our minds to receive it.
We need to realize that we can pray for peace and ask for it all we want, but we have prepare our minds to receive it.
I pray that God helps me lose weight every night.
What, no seriously, I do, and I don’t get why I haven’t lost weight.
No, I don’t workout.
I don’t exercise.
Don’t judge me.
That is a silly example, but it applies here.
So many Christians complain about such anxiety and think themselves a victim because they let their emotions control them.
For so many years I was like so many Christians, and blamed God for my thoughts and emotions.
I made it His fault, and then blames Him for not having this life of peace that the Bible and Christians talked up so much.
I had hard times happen and that would affect my mind.
My attitude was so negative and people knew it.
We need to understand that to large extent, our mind is ours to control.
We have a responsibility to pick them up and set them straight in whatever situation.
We cannot blame God.
That is like someone who is wearing their robe/dress and they blames someone else for falling when they have to run.
5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
Paul says that we need to take our thoughts captive,
Take them prisoner.
If not, they can take you prisoner.
Be Sober...
Be Sober...
This is then next command in this verse.
This is very important because this is in reference to the things that we can control.
The word sober means to not be intoxicated.
We use the word to mean not drunk anymore, but it really means that your mind is clear.
It is free of things that intoxicate it .
I already mentioned I had an abusive/alcoholic father.
I remember being young and being in angst from my father.
I plead with him many times to stop drinking, because I did not like who he became.
It took control of him and made him a different man.
His response to me was that it wasn’t his fault, but it was his friend’s fault because they gave it to him and the alcohol’s because of what it caused him to do.
Now you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to know that that is some bologna the ages of 4-6.
The idea that Peter is getting at is that there are things that we can get rid of.
Things that we have the choice to not let in.
We discussed that we cannot ever ditch our thoughts and emotions, but there are things that we can get rid of and not influence us.
This does not just have to mean alcohol, but that is a great picture.
What are the things that if you let in from the outside will intoxicate your mind and spirit?
Maybe things like alcohol.
Maybe looking at bad things on the internet.
Maybe the company that you keep like your friends.
This is a big one.
Maybe they are toxic.
They influence you to gossip and talk smack about people.
They influence your to do negative things.
A lot of friend groups are toxic and they will intoxicate you, controlling your mind and taking away your peace of mind.
Rest your hope fully upon the grace that will be brought to you at the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
Rest your hope fully upon the grace that will be brought to you at the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
There is a future day that Jesus is coming back.
This is a fact.
There will be two camps on that day.
The ones that will have grace and the ones that will not.
He is coming to sort things out.
To bring peace.
Like literal peace and justice to the universe.
The problem is that means He will deal with all of the corruption in the universe.
All of the people who do not want to serve the God of peace, but themselves.
Causing the current world to not be in peace.
He is coming back and that is a future day.
He will bring grace to those who followed Him.
I like to think of this as graduation day...
I like to think of this as graduation day...
Just like graduation day, we were all given time.
What did we do with it?
We all had to control our mind in the chaos.
I have had many times I was tripped up by my thoughts and emotions.
Not feeling like doing homework.
Caring about my focus being on my crush, what my friends thought of me, or what was for lunch.
Having to keep our minds sober and away from those things that tempt us.
Some slack off and want the peace that comes with comfort of mind and free from commitments, but these people will not have their true peace on graduation day.
Others who controlled themselves and brought the peace in the process, even if it was crazy will have their true peace on that day.
The same is true in our spiritual lives.
This time is the time to be used and do God’s will.
It will require us to take the reins of our thoughts, emotions, and attitudes and do the Lord’s will.
This is because we have a future hope.
That future reality helps me to have peace in the present.
Because I know that everything will be all right in the end.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
There are many things in life that will try to steal our peace and joy
We must take our thoughts captive and gird up the loins of our mind.
a. Even if it means we need to change our friends
b. Even if we need to work harder in school
c. Even if we need to change some of our habits.
3. Jesus is our hope and he is coming back soon.