CHALLENGING OLD MIND-SETS

By John Stallings

No one puts new wine into old wineskins…. Luke 5:37


I recently read the story of a man who worked with refrigerated railroad box cars. His worst fear was that he’d someday accidentally get locked in one of the cars and freeze to death. His family, friends and working buddies all knew of his fear because he constantly talked about it. One night his worst fear came to pass and he inadvertently was locked in one of the cars.

When he was found the next morning, an autopsy showed he’d indeed frozen to death. He had found a piece of a paper sack and left a note saying, “It’s so very cold. It’s getting colder and colder, and I know I can’t last until morning.” The strange thing was that in that particular box car, the refrigeration wasn’t working and the temperature never got over 61 degrees all night. They found that the oxygen level in the car was plenty to keep a person alive. His mind and what it believed must have frozen him to death.

It’s amazing the power our minds have to create what we’re convinced of.

If you saw the movie, “Fiddler on the roof” you will remember the song, “Tradition.” I like the catchy tune but I especially was taken by the truth it teaches about the concept of different cultures and ways of speaking, thinking and doing things. So much of what we do is nothing more than ideas, concepts and traditions that were handed down to us from our ancestors and have little to do with sacredness. There’s nothing particularly wrong or right about them, they are just costumes.

There are few things as powerful as a fixed idea in the human mind.

Whether the idea is true or false, it can be almost equally as powerful when it gets lodged in our brain. In Romans 12 we read about the renewed mind and this renewal is imperative to be truly victorious in the Christian life.

In Ephesians 3:20 we read, Now unto him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.

What makes this verse so great is that we have the ability to do some rather large thinking and asking sometimes. But God is able to do much more than I could ever ask or think, and obviously, that’s a lot.

However, if we can’t ask or think it, how is God ever going to bring it to pass for us? If our minds are fixated or bogged down with small expectations, why do we even need God to be involved when He’s such a big God? His greatness only has a showcase in our lives when it’s something that is above what we can already conceptualize.

Have you ever considered some of the fixed, negative ideas you may be harboring in your mind? Thoughts that have established themselves and, though wrong, are actually setting the limits for what can happen for you?

Sometimes when thoughts get a foothold they can gradually become a stronghold in our minds. Then these thoughts can finally become strangleholds. Paul talks about strongholds in 2 Corinthians 10:4.

Romans 12:1-2 says, I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind……

This tells us that to truly follow God, we must have renewed minds, and renewed thought patterns. Take for example,

OUR OWN SELF PORTRAIT

Most people would agree that a person will only go as far in life as their self-image will let them go. If our minds are filled with thoughts of inferiority we will act accordingly and never believe for the big and best things in life. What does your self-portrait look like? In reality, the ultimate victory of our lives won’t depend on how big and great God is. There’s no question about how big God is. There’s no question about how much power He has and what He’s able to do. The ultimate victory of our lives will depend on how much of God’s power and ability we will allow to work in us. Remember, as a man thinketh, so is he. Proverbs 23:7. When you think of yourself, do you see an image of a beaten down rumpled person trying to hang on, or do you see yourself as God sees you?

Let me give you a snap- shot of how God looks at us. In 2 Corinthians 2:14 we see God's portrait of us; “Now thanks be unto God who always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh the savior of his knowledge by us in every place, for we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ.” God sees us ALWAYS TRIUMPHING.

Many people wrongly think God’s going to do it all, but He wants to do it through us. Think of this like this;--“without God we can’t and without us He won’t.” If we think God by divine fiat, will do everything for us, we’ll be sorely disappointed. The truth is, God will do His part but He expects us to do our part.

I heard about a man (whether it’s true or not, it makes a good point) who went into a church and prayed one day, asking God to please let him win the lottery. Every day he’d go into the church get down on his knees and beg God to give him a break and let him win the lottery. He did this each day for a week and at the end of the week as he prayed he hear God say, “would you please give me a break and go buy a lottery ticket.”

We must put forth the effort through reading; studying, prayer and meditation, to daily cultivate a renewal of our mind, keeping out the wrong thought patterns. As an example, take a person with lung cancer. What good would it do if God healed the person and they kept right on being the Marlboro Man, and continued to smoke? Cancer would still have an inroad into that life through the tobacco. No change of any kind will work for us unless we make a decision to change our mind-set, actions and habits. Let’s say a person is depressed and God worked a miracle and lifted the mental depression. If that person refused to meditate on God’s word, didn’t guard their thought life and allowed themselves to get spiritually and physically run-down, more than likely they’d go right back into a depressed condition. That’s what Romans 12 is all about; a renewal of our thinking. It’s really surprising how practical God is isn’t it?


WRONG IDEAS ABOUT PRAYER

Maybe, without realizing it you’ve let a wrong fixed idea get established about prayer. Some people have the idea that prayer is “doing penance.” If they want God to hear them they must utter so many “Hail Mary’s.” Somehow, they feel, if they expect God to hear them they must spend enough time in prayer that God will see they really love him. Some religions ritualistically turn their faces toward a certain place and make sure they do it five or six times a day. The truth is; God isn’t looking for us to pray for long stretches to prove our love for him. A better & more scriptural way to prove we love God would be to love one another. Our prayers needn’t be long drawn out drudgery, thinking it will get God’s attention.

Jesus said in Matthew 6:7, When ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

If you have that idea fixed in our heads, you need to reprogram your mind with Gods thoughts, revealed in His word, so you can move on to a deeper, fuller prayer life. You may even have allowed yourself to think that fasting and starving yourself will remove guilt and make you feel more accepted and loved by God. The Bible teaches us the only thing that will remove guilt is the blood of Jesus Christ. Fasting has its place, and some stubborn things will only respond to fasting and prayer but we can’t get God’s approval and absolve guilt in that way. True prayer springs out of our relationship with God. I don’t spend time with my wife each day to keep from feeling guilty or to show her and others I’m a good husband. I spend time with her because she’s my wife and we have a close relationship. The same would be true in our prayer time with God.

OLD MYTHS CAN STILL PLAGUE OUR THINKING.

I heard that one little boy said; “a myth is a female moth.” We can get all sorts of wrong ideas. I often hear folk say, “God helps those who help themselves.” That sounds good but it’s a myth, and not scriptural. What about people who can’t help themselves? There are millions of people like that in the world. God expects us to do all we can and then he’ll step in and do the rest as we believe him. God “helpeth our infirmities”, which means that often He asks us to pick up one end of the log and he’ll lift the other.

What good does it do us if we cram great spiritual ideas and truths into our minds on top of old wrong, mythical, fixed ideas? I’m not being critical, but rather encouraging us to truly think Biblical and constantly renew our minds with God’s Word.

SOME HAVE WRONG FIXED IDEA’S ABOUT MONEY.

Many people don’t like to think about money and consequently don’t plan ahead. Many people reach retirement with nothing but what the government gives them. They think that when they get older, something magical will happen to supply their financial needs. Some have even allowed the fact that Jesus is coming soon to keep them from properly preparing and planning for their later years. Jesus never told us to be preoccupied with his coming, but to occupy till He comes, there’s a big difference. These folk soon see they were wrong, but by that time it’s too late to do them much good.

Some men even harbor mythical ideas about how much money they should earn. Their fathers only earned so much so they should only earn about that much. I heard about a man who went to his dad and showed him his first pay check as an insurance agent and his dad broke down and started to cry because it was so much more than he’d ever made. The grown son determined to never again make more money than his dad made. I think you’ll agree this is a serious problem but there are people who think this way. They settle for mediocrity rather than think big because they have been so ridiculed for wanting bigger things than their parents had. Such is the power of fixed ideas. Some people only pray for their needs, never their wants. Others look at it differently; they need everything they want.


SOME PEOPLE FEAR FINANCIAL RESOURCES

My parents were wonderful people, and instilled in me some good spiritual as well as practical knowledge, but to be frank, they were funny about money. They really didn’t earn enough and save much for their old age. My dad was a Pastor and never had a large salary, but one of his problems was that he wouldn’t stand up for himself on money issues. I sometimes got the idea that my parents were afraid of money; for what reason I really don’t know. I remember when my dad pastored in Orlando, Florida in the 1950’s and I was just a teenager. He was being paid a percentage of the tithes and as the church grew, his income grew. Though it wasn’t that much, my mother would be so nervous about what they earned that on the day of the annual business meeting, when a report of the Pastors salary was read, she’d have to go to the doctor and get medication to calm her down. They really weren’t getting paid all that much, it was just a fixed idea she had that it was too much money.

Once they were given a raise by the church [their percentage was raised] and my mother refused to take it, and they stayed at the same percentage. Can you imagine that? A few months later, my father got sick and was put in the hospital. Their insurance didn’t pay the entire bill so my mother went to the church treasurer and asked if they could get a small loan from the church to help pay the hospital bill. The wonderful man who served that church for many years as treasurer, went to the church safe, and pulled out an envelope and handed it to my mother. He explained to her that when they had refused the raise the church offered them; he went ahead and put the money aside, knowing they’d probably need it someday. I can hardly imagine that as I look back, but it happened. I never really asked her about it but my mother must have been afraid of money. I’ve had to be very vigilant in my own life to make sure I wasn’t letting any of those old wrong ideas get fixed in my thinking. I’ve always believed in and preached tithing and giving in all sorts of ways, but I also believe that the best way to help the poor is to not become one of them. Some people, like my parents, seem to think that money is dangerous and evil and if you’re not careful it will corrupt you. There’s an element of truth to that but by the same token, the Bible doesn’t teach that money is evil, just the love of it.

Some fear that a lot of money will somehow get them into trouble. As Christians, that’s an uncalled for response. Though it may have been that way in the past, we are now King’s kids and we have the wisdom and integrity to be proper stewards over our resources. It’s true that if you gave some people one million dollars they’d soon be over their heads because of poor management. They’d fail to pay their taxes and soon would be in trouble with the I.R.S. Also, disagreement about how money is spent is the number one cause of divorce, so obviously it can cause problems, but again, it goes back to wrong concepts about money.

MONEY GIVES YOU A VOICE.

In Ecce. 9: 14-15 theres an interesting little story about a wise but poor man who saved a little city from its enemy but because he was poor the people didn’t respect or remember him. In other words, because he himself wasn’t prosperous, the people discounted him. What’s interesting is that the same principle holds true to this day. If a person is poor, they have no voice nor are they really considered very much. A modern day twist on that same idea is that people say nowadays, “If you’re so smart, why aren’t you financially successful.” To bring balance to the question, I think we could correctly say that while money doesn’t insure that a person is spiritual or upstanding, if we are to be viable in our society, the principles of Biblical prosperity should be visible and working in our lives. You can ask any of the minorities and they’ll tell you it’s true. No finances, no voice. The story isn’t saying that the poor are worthless in God’s eyes, but have a difficult time getting their story heard. Pastors and missionaries have lived with that reality for years; if there’s no money, the work will not be done nor the Gospel preached. God wants money to come into our hands and He also wants us to have the right attitude toward it.

Another wrong way of thinking about money would be hoarding it & ignoring the needs of others, and the work of God.

A SCARCITY MENTALITY IS WRONG THINKING.

Some people have developed the idea that there is only so much wealth and not enough for everybody. Have you ever wondered why some people are jealous of those who move up in life and get new things? Most of the time it’s not that they just don’t want the other person to have what they acquire; it’s that they see only one big pie and if somebody gets a big piece of it, there’s less for them. This is wrong thinking. We should realize we all have our own pie and what someone else gets in no way detracts or diminishes what we may have if we position ourselves rightly. Again, it’s the limited thinking that gets in the way. Psalm 78:41 says when speaking of Israel, Yea they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. Let’s be sure we don’t do the same in our thinking.

If you took a pig and cleaned him all up and let him live in your house, we know that it wouldn’t be long until his old pig-ways would necessitate that you put him back outside. You’d have to change his nature to be able to coexist with a pig.

Obviously, you and I aren’t pigs, but still, we can’t really go where God wants to take us with our old nature and set patterns of wrong thinking. Again remember, For as a man thinketh in his heart so is he.

If we try to put spiritual ideas into a mind that hasn’t been renewed, we’ve got a confused situation, for the Bible says “the carnal mind cancels out spiritual thoughts and ideas.”

Let’s say a man wants to become a doctor, so he goes to medical school to prepare. He studies to cram medical jargon into his head and truly is good at reading, absorbing the material, and passing the tests. Because he does all the work and makes the grades, he finally gets his degree and his license to practice medicine. The only thing is, the man doesn’t really want to be a doctor, has no interest in good health and helping people obtain good health. He doesn’t buy into the idea that he must scrub and clean his hands after visiting each patient and won’t use a single modicum of care to follow up on his patients to see them through to health. He really has never bought into the truth that there are certain medical principle’s we all must follow in order to have optimum health. All he’s doing, although his head is full of doctor knowledge, is going through the charade pretending to be a true doctor. Would you want a man like that to be your physician? A man who doesn’t even believe what he’s doing is important and is only in it for the prestige and the financial rewards? He’s got all the head knowledge but after medical school he refuses to stay abreast and up to date on new medical findings. Maybe he even doubts the things he’s learned are true, and when nobodies looking, bends and breaks all the rules of ethics and good medicine. Even though he knew all the things he was supposed to know, he really wouldn’t be much good, would he?

This man never had a mind-changing experience that truly made a life time doctor out of him.

It’s the same thing with us as Christians in the realm of spiritual truth. We must not be Christians in name only. It’s important that we have been transformed and are so full of Christ, and then His way of thinking, that there’s no room for faulty superfluous, harmful ideas.


I have read that in order for a crab to continue to grow, they must occasionally throw off their old shell and grow and new ones. But the old shell represents the crabs home, security, and comfort. It’s risky for him to get rid of the old shell but if he doesn’t do it, he’ll cease to grow and finally die. God wants us to be crabby. Not in the sense that we’re cantankerous and hard to live with but in the sense that we, as the crab, are constantly growing and throwing off the non-productive “shells” that become irrelevant as we grow up in God.

Take a close look at your life and ask yourself if you are suffering because of limiting ideas that have taken root and have kept you from God’s best. Ideas that are like the crabs too small shell that he must throw off in order to insure his continued growth. There is a battle going on for our minds and if Satan can get a foothold there, he will shrink us, keep us small and can rob us of total victorious living.

Make a commitment today to return to God’s word, open your heart and mind and watch God lead you to new vista’s that are,

“EXCEEDINGLY ABUNDANTLY MORE THAN YOU COULD ASK OR THINK, ACCORDING TO THE POWER THAT WORKETH IN YOU.”


John


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