Sharing good news of great joy to all people.
Elation Church. Say, not mine, but God's. But
God's. Because I believe in every area of life,
we need to learn to develop the skill. Everybody
say skill. Skill to not rely on what we have
or what we can do, but we need to shift. Our
focus, right? We need to rely on God's supply
and his ability, what he has and what he can
do. Amen? Amen? In this series, I was reminded
of my favorite Bible verse. That is 2 Timothy
1 .7. It says this, For God has not given us
a spirit of fear, right? He's not given us a
spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound
mind. Amen? Aren't you glad God has given you
some things, right? His word is full of those
things in which he's given us, right? That we,
he bestows on us, right? Helps us know that when
we're in fear, when our response turns to fear,
it's like we can know that, well, that's not
of God, right? It's not from him. He did not
give me that, right? What has he given us? The
verse says power. Right? Love and a sound mind.
But here's the thing, and kind of the whole,
you could say, crux of this series. When we look
at the Bible, when we look at Scripture, we discover
that it's not just Him empowering us, giving
us more strength or, you know, making us stronger,
right? He's actually... Giving us his power.
I want you to see this. He gives us his power.
He gives us his strength. He's not just elevating
my human abilities. He's indwelling me with something
that is his. It's his love, right? It's his love
that flows through us. It's not elevating my
love. My love is conditional, right, on what
someone says. If they looked at me the wrong
way, if they spoke out of turn or whatever, I'm
offended by it, and I fall into bitterness and
hate. Someone does something wrong to me, right?
But God never expects you to love from your natural
love. He gives you his love to love others with.
That's why it goes so far beyond what we have.
That's why we need to lay hold of what God has
and his ability. Because I feel like a lot of
us, if you're like me, a lot of us struggle in
areas because we're trying to work what we see
in Scripture. trying to make it happen in our
own ability, right? Trying to live for him in
our own power. But that's not what God wants.
He indwells you, listen, he indwells you to give
you his power. If he empowered you, it would
be lesser than who he is. So he comes on the
inside of you and he empowers you with his love,
with his truth. Right? And a sound mind. We're
talking about the mind today a little bit. We're
going to talk about other things. But as dad
mentioned during the offering, he made the point
where we need to view God as our source. Our
source for everything. He's not just a side thing.
He needs to be our source for each and every
day. A lot of people view themselves as their
source, right? Their ability to, you know, make
it happen, their ability at their job, things
like that. Some people view others as their source,
right? Maybe your boss, you know, maybe your,
whatever, your occupation is. You view that as
your source. But God never intended, those things
are all avenues for God's blessing, but he never
intended for those things to become your source
and what you're dependent on. Amen? Because who
you draw from, you depend on and display. I'll
say that again. Who you draw on, draw from, you
depend on. And display. This morning, when I
plugged in this cable here that connects the
computer to the projector, it has some words
on it. And in order for the picture to be up
there, this is the source. And then up there
is the display end. And for some odd reason,
the HDMI cable only works one way. Very strange.
I don't know why. This is just a unique one.
But I had this thought as I was plugging it in.
It's like... Who our source is, is what it's
going to look like on the outside. Are you tracking?
Right? If my source is my job, guess what? Your
job, most likely you won't have it. Something's
going to happen. There'll be hiccups, right?
You might have to leave. You might have to go
to another place. If that job is your source,
guess what? You're going to display some fear.
You're going to display some uncertainty, right?
But if you realize that God is my source, I'm
unmoved when those things in this world collapse
around me. Because I do not draw from those.
I draw from an unlimited source, right? Some
people, think about it, some people, their source
is the stock market, right? Their sense of security
for retirement, it's all found in the stock market,
and their emotions, their attitudes in life,
you know, fluctuate with the stock market. All
of a sudden, it's up, and everybody's, whoo,
high five, shaking hands. Kissing babies, all
that kind of stuff. Everybody's very happy. And
then as soon as it crashes, right? Oh no, what
am I going to do? What am I going to do? What
am I going to do? Who's your source? You know,
there's a lot of different avenues for God's
blessing. And we don't need to confuse those
avenues with our source. If God's our source,
the avenues can change. The avenues can change,
amen? And many believers struggle, I think. We
all get to this place where we're like, we love
God and we trust him with our eternity. We've
entrusted him with our salvation, but we don't
trust him with our every day. It's amazing to
me. We have faith that... He died on a cross
2 ,000 years ago, and that's applied and removed
all my sin, right? And I can walk in newness
of Him, but yet my day -to -day, my everyday
decisions, I turn to myself, and I expect that
I have to supply, I have to come up with the
ability, the work, the effort. I've got to have
somebody else's to figure out. And to live, man,
y 'all are too quiet this morning. Acts 17, 28
says this, listen, for in him we live and move
and exist. What does this mean? That God never
meant for you to do life, any area of life apart
from him. It's only from this position of our...
In Christ, being in him, right? That we live,
that we move, and that we exist. That means it
should impact every area of our life, not just
the areas in which we feel like we might need
him. We should be dependent on him as our soul
supplier, our soul source. Amen. John 14, 10,
Jesus was a prime example of this, and he even
said this, the words I speak are not my own.
Imagine that. Jesus saying, the words I speak
are not my own, but my Father who lives in me
does his work through me. Think about that. He
was not relying on his own. ability to speak,
his own abilities to do. He was fully dependent
on the Father. Get a hold of that. He's fully
dependent. He said, it's not my words. It's not
what I think. It's not that he developed to a
certain point where he was just like, well, I'm
going to do and work and say this and say this,
say this. A lot of times it's recorded that When
he would get even asked a hard question, he would
stop. And he would bend down. And he would think.
Why? Was he reasoning in his own head? Or was
he waiting for the answer from someone who knew
the answer? He wasn't relying on his own mind,
his own flesh to come up with it. He was fully
dependent on God. And he said, I will wait here.
until God wants to speak what he has to say.
As the supreme or the prime example, how much
does that differ from you and I in our day -to
-day experience, right? Paul writes in 1 Corinthians
and then later in 2 Corinthians, he gives us
this picture because... We are now in Christ.
Believers take up that position of being in him.
We are now God's fellow workers, just like Jesus
was on earth. He did the works of his father.
He spoke the words of his father. Now, listen,
since we are in him, we join with Christ to accomplish
that same work in the earth. Do you realize that
God has a plan and a purpose for your life? And
it's so far beyond just the making you feel good
today. His plans and his purposes are not for
your temporal. It's for eternal things in the
earth. We are supposed to be co -laborers with
God to carry out his will and his kingdom into
the earth, right? We are co -laborers with him.
As co -workers with God, then, we have the opportunity,
listen, to exchange our natural things for his
supernatural. To trade what we have for what
God has and what only he can do. Amen. This is
good news. Y 'all are looking at me like you
sucked lemons before you came in. But this is
some good news. Amen. We need to get a hold of
this. Because God did not take up residence in
us for us to live life apart from him. He didn't
move into my home for it not to impact my life.
Have you ever had someone move into your home?
It impacts your life a little bit. Changes some
things up a little bit, right? Right? Come on.
Imagine if God moved in. Woo! But then we act
like it just doesn't impact a thing. He's a great
gentleman in the sense that he doesn't force.
He doesn't, like, go, okay, now, Timmy, you're
mine and you're going to do what I want you to
do today. Right? He doesn't take away our will.
He doesn't take away our desires, our souls,
or our flesh, right? But he gives us an opportunity
to labor with him, to join with him in the work.
John 15, 5 says this, Yes, I am the vine, you
are the branches. Those who remain in me and
I in them will produce much fruit. For apart
from me, you can do nothing. Apart from him,
you can't produce the fruit that will impact
the kingdom. Talking about the fruit of the spirit.
Apart from him, you're not going to be able to
produce those things, right? Like a tree, if
I cut off the limb, does the tree die? No, it's
just removed itself from the source of life.
So if we are like branches, we must abide in
order to what? Produce the fruit of the Spirit.
We're co -laboring with Him. It's not by working
to be the best you. Some people treat it like...
It's what I can do. I'm trying to work to be
the best version of myself, right? But the Christian
life is characterized by God's life flowing through
you. Galatians 2 .20 says this. Paul wrote, I
have been crucified with Christ. I no longer
live, but Christ lives in me. Amen? The life
I now live in the body, I live by faith in the
Son of God. Ooh. Who loved me and gave himself
for me. That's good. What is this, what is this
meaning? That, you know, we spend a lifetime
learning how to live. I learn how to use my facilities,
my motor skills. I spend a lifetime developing
these things. I learn how to interact with the
people around me. I learn how to respond. I spend
a lifetime doing that. But when you come to Christ,
we must learn. And what this series is about
is it's about learning to live again. Learning
all those things that happen in the flesh that
you need to learn. There's a whole life of being
yielded to the Spirit and the things the Spirit
wants to teach you and for you to walk in. There's
a whole lot of different things. It's not just
magically upon you. You don't just magically
walk into the things that the Spirit has for
you. You don't magically walk into, you know,
whatever is joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
all these things. We must learn to live again
as those in the position of oneness with Christ.
We have to live from that position, and it's
going to take some skill. It's going to take
some maturation to develop that. Proverbs 3,
5, and 6. It's one of my, like, another favorite
verse. I have a lot. But I like what it says.
I continually kind of like meditate on these
words, but it gives us a good picture. It says
this, trust in the Lord with all your heart.
The heart is the sphere of your existence. It's
everything. And it says this, do not depend.
Everybody say, do not. Do not depend on your
own understanding. Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take. This
word depend here can also be translated lean.
Leaning involves shifting your weight over to
something for it to hold you up. We good? Right?
If I'm leaning on this, I'm relying on it in
a sense to hold me up, to sustain me, correct?
So he's telling us to not lean. That when things
get unstable, we don't need to lean on, the first
thing we lean on is our own self, on what is
ours. We need to lean on, we need to press into.
His word needs to carry more weight in our lives.
But often... This is something that's very hard
for us to do because it feels unnatural because
we spend our whole lifetimes learning to rely
on our own ability, on our own mind, on our own
facilities, on our own reasoning. We've studied,
we've learned, we've done. Right? And here, in
Christ, he's saying, we need to throw it all
away. Think about that. Do not depend. on your
own understanding. Some people say like, you
know, well, God gave you a mind. It's time for
you to use it. How many of you have ever heard
that? You've heard that phrase? Yeah, that's
true. That's talking about common sense. And
we need a lot more. Common sense is not as common
as it used to be, right? We need some more of
that too. in order for us to experience God's
best in the life, the abundant life that he has
for us, we got to learn again to live as one
in him and to not rely and not depend on what
is ours. We need to always shift our focus and
press in to God in every area of life. I know
this is super simple, but if we can get a hold
of it, it'll be transformative. Because we're
so good at turning to our own self. Things get
tough, situation comes, we're going to turn to
what I know, turn to what I'm familiar with,
right? Instead of going, God, what do you want
me to think about this? How do you want me to
process this information? When's the last time
you did that? When you just stopped? Before you
let your mind run off in a thousand different
directions, when's the last time you stopped
and just simply asked God, what's the next step?
When the doctor's report is really bad, what
do we do? Do we rely on our own understanding,
on past experience, or do we say, God, what do
you want me to do? What do you want me to take?
What action do I need to do next? Because guess
what? Without him, there's no restoration and
there's no healing. Doctors can do a lot, but
healing comes from God. The surgery can be your
avenue, but get this straight. God is your source.
Okay? And this goes in a lot of different directions.
But listen, God expects us to develop the skill
of relying on his mind, his thoughts, his ways,
and not our own. Get this, 1 Corinthians 2 .16
says, it's actually Paul quoting Isaiah here.
It goes, who can know the Lord's thoughts? Who
knows enough to teach him? And then he writes,
but we understand. I'm glad he understood. We
need to understand, right? I'm glad he got a
hold of it so I could get a hold of it too. But
he goes, we understand these things, right? For
we have, what? The mind of Christ. We have. Everybody
say that. I have. Say, I have. The mind of Christ.
If you are in him, the fullness of who he is
is in you. Not just the area you think that benefits
you the most. His mind, his power, his love.
The same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead,
what? Is alive on the inside of you. Filling
your mortal body. Come on. We understand these
things. Do we, church? Do we understand this?
Have we got a hold of it? We can. We can. It's
available to us. You have his mind. So why keep
going to yours? Why keep relying on yours? In
every area. Why run to yours? Because guess what?
You can exchange what you have for what God has.
You can exchange your confusion with his clarity.
You can exchange your struggle with his stability.
Amen. But listen, just because you have the mind
of Christ does not mean you are utilizing it.
Does not mean that you're turning to it. It's
in you by the Spirit. But that doesn't mean that
you, so like, you possess something that you're
not partaking of. Like, I have food in my fridge
that I possess right now. And I'm kind of hungry
because I'm thinking about food. I have food
in my fridge, right? It's mine. But unless I
take it out and eat of it, I don't experience
the benefit of it. I don't experience the nutrients
that it has for me. I have to be a partaker,
not just a possessor. You and I as Christians,
we need to learn to be partakers of Christ, the
greater one inside of us. Instead of partaking
from our flesh and our own mind and our own emotions
and our own will, we need to partake of him,
his spirit alive on the inside of us. Because
only then will transformation happen. He's not
taking the things of you and elevating them.
He's given you himself for his spirit and his
life to flow through you in every area. Amen.
So just because you have the mind of Christ,
it doesn't mean that you're utilizing it. It
doesn't mean that you're walking in it. Romans
12, 2 says this. Get how strong these words are.
Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world.
Don't copy them. Don't copy the behaviors and
customs of this world. But we think the world
teaches us that if we do everything that someone
else does, we'll achieve everything that they
have. And in some degree, maybe that will happen.
But guess what? More times than not, you'll chase
something and it will not happen in your life.
Because why? You are not them. You are unique.
You carry a unique... image of who God is. It's
personalized to you and his plans for you are
personal for you. They're not just universal.
They're personal to you. And he's telling each
one of us to not copy just because, well, that's
what someone else did. That's how someone else
acted and responded. Therefore, I need to act
and respond that same way. I need to copy that.
That's what everyone else does. It's their custom,
right? I shouldn't copy that. It shouldn't be
like that. But it says this. Let's continue reading.
But let God transform you into a new person.
Let God transform you into a new person. How?
By changing the way you think. Then. You will
learn to know. Everybody say, learn to know.
Learn to know God's will for you, which is good
and pleasing and perfect. Amen. Paul didn't say,
listen. Paul didn't say, be transformed by trying
harder. Be transformed by doing your best. He
says, be transformed, how? By letting God change
the way you think. But he's not just saying to
think on, you know, whatever you can think on
that's better. He's actually supplying the thoughts
on which you should think and which you should
meditate on. Because we're not supposed to do
it without him. Amen? And this goes in full circle
for the Christian life and the Christian experience.
But today we're just talking about your thought
life. and that arena of your mind, right? He's
going to give you new thoughts. So how do we
apply this to our day -to -day? How do we have
this mind? How do we partake of it? It's not
by transformation, you know, by trying to think
better thoughts. This is the world's ideology.
This is how they have twisted God's Word. Right?
Because you can get some natural benefits from
thinking better thoughts, from meditating on
better things. But if you want supernatural transformation
in your life, you're going to have to go beyond
what you can think in the natural and step into
God's mind and God's arena. The things of heaven
are greater than the things of earth. It is exchanging
your thoughts for his. How do we do this? By
learning to know his thoughts. We have to learn
to know his thoughts. Paul gives us a breakdown.
It's all throughout scripture, but I like...
This set of passages in Ephesians 4, 21 through
23, says this, Listen, since you have heard about
Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from
Him, throw off your old sinful nature and your
former way of life, which is corrupted by lust
and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew
your thoughts and attitudes. That word renew
means to make new. not to, it's actually a full
exchange for that which is new, to be spiritually
transformed to take on a new mind, to rely on
it. So let's go back to this verse. Since you
have heard about Jesus, we must first have to
hear. In order to have the mind of Christ, to
be partakers of something which we already possess,
Work with God to take hold of what he's given
us by being on the inside of us. Like a good
example of this, like I have a push mower that's
self -propelled, right? And if you don't know
what that means, it's like when you cut your
grass, I have this push mower, and I have to
engage a throttle on it even after I cut it.
I don't have to do all the effort myself. If
I engage that, it'll actually just move for me.
It'll just propel itself. I don't have to put
that effort in to push it. But just because I
have that doesn't mean that this afternoon my
grass is going to be cut. Unfortunately, right?
It's really bad. Florida grass is different,
I think. It grows twice as tall between lunch
and dinner. It just keeps growing. You keep cutting
it, and it just keeps growing. But to be co -laborers
with Christ is kind of like we realize that it's
his power propelling us forward, moving us forward,
but to be a co -laborer means that I have to
come and put my hands on it. I have to realize
that it's his power through me, but then I have
to correspondingly act in faith, right, and put
my hands on it to propel and to cut the grass
for the job to be done. Right? In order for us
to have the mind of Christ, in order for us to
partake of it, we're going to have to hear the
word. Everybody say hear. This is so simple,
but yet I think we miss it too often. When we
hear, we have to saturate ourselves in the word.
The Bible often compares God's word to a seed,
right? And he compares us to his soil. So his
word, right? We hear this word and then it's
implanted into our hearts, right? And then we
have the opportunity. How many of you know in
the natural world, if I plant a seed in the ground,
I'm going to have to do some things in order
for it to grow and produce fruit. And I want
to go ahead and say this, only the seed in which
you allow enter your heart is going to be the
harvest in which you reap from in the next season.
You don't just get a hold of everything there
is in God in one seed, in one word. It's multiple
words. It's getting a hold of God will supply
all my needs according to his riches in glory.
It's getting hold of his provision. It's getting
hold of his peace. That word, you're hearing
it. You're putting yourself in an environment
to hear it, to receive it. And then you continue
to go back to let that seed be watered. Continually
watered. You water it through relationship by
spending time in his word and that specific thing
that he's laid on your heart that he's shown
you, he takes you and he guides you. You say,
God, help me to see this greater. Help me to
see things the way you see them. And when you
spend time in fellowship in the word, what are
you doing? You are watering that seed that's
within you. So it's about word saturation. It's
about placing yourself in environments to hear,
for the word to be watered. And then it's also
about relationship, about fellowshipping with
him and with his spirit, right? So we must hear.
And then we also must learn it. We must learn
the truth. We have to get to a place where it's
not just... the exercise of learning, but it
must come to a place where it produces fruit.
And what the scripture is talking about here
is not just hearing, hearing, hearing information.
It's talking about when that information turns
to revelation in your heart and then starts impacting
your life and you start reaping the benefits
from it. It moves beyond just the process of
learning to all of a sudden, I know something.
I've learned it. I've heard it. I've allowed
it to be established in the soil of my heart.
And therefore, I'm going to stand in faith. Not
because of the storm, not because of the surround.
I'm going to stay in faith. Why? Because I know
something greater than what my situation's telling
me. I know something greater than the thoughts
the mind is trying to put into my head. I know
something, that the joy, like we were singing
about, the joy of the Lord is my strength. It's
not my joy, it's His joy in me, through me. So
it's not dependent on the world around me, it's
dependent on me leaning, pressing into Him. It's
hearing, it's learning it, it's allowing it to
be the truth in our lives, not just a better
truth than the world. It has to be the truth,
amen? And then, because we've heard, because
we've learned, we've allowed it to become established
in us, therefore, now we have the ability to
disregard our old way of thinking. We can throw
it off, as the passage said, right? He's telling
us a command to throw off, right, our old sinful
nature and your former way of life, which is
corrupted by lust and deception, right? He's
talking about the mind. Your belief happens in
the mind. And you're saying you can throw off
that old nature, that former way of life. We
can disregard our old way of thinking. And then
when we do that, guess what? When we do that,
we can yield to our spirits. Because like I said,
we've learned really well to rely on our flesh,
to rely on our souls, our mind, our will, and
our emotions. We rely on those things, but now...
We have a substitute, a great exchange for those
things in Christ so that we can press in, we
can lean into those things. So we yield into
the Spirit and what the Spirit wants to do in
and through us. And only then will we reap the
benefit, the full benefit of who He is. Amen?
Matthew 11, 28, and 30, and I'm done. I really
like this passage because I really think it gets
to the heart of it. And I believe it's what God
would really want to say to us. Jesus said this.
He said, come to me. It's an invitation to leave
what? Physically come, no, no, it's an invitation
to draw near to him. It's an invitation to experience
him. He's saying, come to me, all who are weary
and carry heavy burdens. Some of the greatest
burdens you can bear are those in your mind and
in your heart. And he's saying, come to me. If
you're weary and heavy laden, come to me. Exchange
what you have. Throw off what you have. Your
old sinful ways of your flesh and your corruption
and the lust. Throw off all those things. Come
to me. Why? Because he's got something for you.
He's got rest for you. He says, I will give you
my rest for your burden, for your weight that
you've been carrying. I will give you something,
not a nap this afternoon. I will give you a peace
that surpasses all understanding to guard your
heart and mind in you. Because it's not the world's
peace, so therefore it can't be taken away. Look,
if the world didn't give it to you, The world
can't take it away. I like that old song. Have
you ever? I don't know. No, I'm moving on. But
listen, the thief comes to steal and kill and
to destroy you. Guess what? The enemy's not stealing
God's peace. The enemy's not moving God. He's
not moving God. God's not concerned about what
happens in the earth. Why? If he's not concerned
with it, I shouldn't be concerned with it. Because
I'm in him, he's in me. I'm operating in his
power, his ability, his mind, his thoughts. And
all he's saying for me to do is come. It's so
simple. Come to me. Exchange what you have for
what only I can give you. He will give you rest.
Amen. Continuing on verse 29, take my yoke. This
word yoke was describing a beam that would go
between two animals. Instead of being yoked with
your flesh, instead of being yoked with your
mind and all of its burdens and all of its stuff,
you can throw off that old way of life because
it has no power over you, as we've looked at
in Romans in our life group, if you've been part
of that. You can throw off. It has no power over
you. With your authority in Christ, you get rid
of it and you put on the yoke of God. And what
is this? He goes, let me teach you. Because some
things have to come into your head before you
experience them in your life, right? Because
what you think about determines how you live,
what you say. right, determines how your life
is going to play out. So he's saying, take my
yoke upon you. Let me teach you because I am
humble and gentle at heart and you will find
rest for your souls, your mind, your will, rest
in your emotions. Amen. A source, God is our
source. For our souls. For my yoke, verse 30,
for my yoke is easy to bear and the burden I
give you is light. Just wanting us to place our
hands on it, right? It's his work. It's his power.
It's his joy. It's his peace. It's his mind and
not my confusion. Not my disillusionment. Not
my reasoning. Not what some influencer told me
online and so therefore I can do it. No. It's
a reliance on his mind in every area of your
life. This online worship experience was brought
to you by the friends and partners of Elation
Church.