A "sharing originally posted at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/puttingonthemindofChrist/message/18
From: "ourfamily1gn" <goodnewsinc@juno.com >
Date: Sat Dec 29, 2001 5:37 am
Subject: The Mind of Christ
The Mind of Christ
Jesus Christ himself had a "Head". It is because he did not "do his own thing" or think his own way. He always sought to follow Father's directions and adhere to Father's words. He thought Father's thoughts
and spoke Father's Words.
Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.
John 8:28 Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. 29 And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.
John 12:49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.
As you can see, Jesus did not "free lance" like earthly men are prone to do by thinking their own thoughts and speaking their own words.
Isaiah 58:13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: 14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
John 5:36 But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me. 37 And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. 38 And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.
You cannot "put on the mind of Christ", who is the Father Himself, if you do not know Him and cannot hear His voice. Jesus could see the Father and hear His voice at all times. That is how he was able to use the Father for his own Head. He thought Father's thoughts and followed Father's ways in all instances. If you have been taught that God does not speak to men in the way He spoke to the prophets, obviously you do not and have not heard Father's voice. You CANNOT "put on the mind of Christ"! As for man and his righteousness in the eyes of God, the following is written:
Psalm 14:2 The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. 3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. So if a man cannot hear Father, then He cannot follow Father's lead nor any commandment He might give at any moment. He cannot "put Father on his head". Father is the mind of Jesus!
Isaiah 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: 11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
Jesus just might be too big for arrogant self-assuming and self-righteous men to "put on"! You cannot presume about your capabilities without walking a mile or two in Jesus' shoes. I understand that all men have come "short of the glory" and our measure is beneath the "fullness of the stature of Christ".
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Matthew 11:25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. 26 Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. 27 All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.
Ephesians 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Let us eyeball Jesus and apply his thinking to recent events in our time. As we do this, think about your own thoughts on these matters and measure yourself against Jesus. He will be our measuring tape.
Falling Towers
READ Luke 13:1-5
The September 11 tragedy in Manhattan. Islamic militants exacted perverted revenge against the US for perceived crimes and brought down the WTC towers. You know your own personal reaction to this and your feelings about Osama bin Laden. Look above at how Jesus reacted in a "similar" situation to the wars and rumors of wars around him in his time. As you measure yourself please be advised that "there is not a word or thought in your heart that the Father does not know even before you think it"!
Psalm 139:1 O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. 2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. 3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. 4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. 5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.
Jesus would have responded similarly to you about the WTC disaster if he were living in our day just as he did in Luke 13. Now reader, how close are you to the fullness of the stature of Christ? How do you feel about Osama bin Laden? Do you have the mental fortitude to say, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do"? Are Jesus' shoes too big for you to walk in? Are his thoughts that much higher than your thoughts? If you cannot THINK AND DO like Jesus did, then you cannot put on His mind.
Sexual Trysts
READ John 8:3-12
President Clinton had his privacy invaded by a snoopy judge. He was pilloried by right-wing Republicans and self-righteous men all over this nation including Christian right-wingers. They proudly undressed this man publicly to ruin him and tried to impeach him. You were around during those recent events. What did you think? This is a self-assessment course. Did you measure up to "the mind of Christ" as exemplified above? Now dear reader let us not play with words written in the Bible because the phrases sound admirable and they may be ego boosting. Do you have the power to wear the mind of Christ as your crown?
Burning Men in Hell-fire
Matthew 18:11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. 12 How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? 13 And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. 14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
John 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
READ Luke 15:11-32
Luke 9:51 And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, 52 And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. 53 And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. 54 And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? 55 But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. 56 For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.
There are churches, preachers, religions and people everywhere who believe and want God to burn "sinners" with devils in final judgment with Lucifer and Babylon and their invisible family of demons. This is totally contrary to the "mind of the Father" in Luke 15. Preachers, churches, and most Christians think like the elder son, that vengeance, reprisal and bitterness is right and fair justice. They reject and object to the "thoughts of the Father". IT IS NOT FATHER'S WILL THAT ONE SHEEP SHOULD PERISH. Some also feel that those who reject Jesus and Christianity should be burned in hell-fire. What do you think of radical Islamic militants and right-wing fundamentalist Jews who all reject Christ? If you want them burned in hell, then "you do not know what spirit you are of". "The mind of Christ" suggests that such a mental conclusion is straight from the devil. So I say to all men everywhere, if you want any man judged and burned with devils for any reason ("SIN"), you CANNOT "put on the mind of Christ", Romans 8:18-23, 38,39. His thinking and his love is too HIGH for you. From Matthew 11:25-27, if you do not KNOW Jesus, get it out of your mind that you even qualify to "put on the mind of Christ". My original question applies here also, "Can you really put on the mind of Christ"? I think we all have something to think about. "Putting on the mind of Christ" is a Biblical phrase, which is so much deeper than you think!
GOOD NEWS, Inc.
From: "ourfamily1gn" <goodnewsinc@juno.com >
Date: Sat Dec 29, 2001 5:37 am
Subject: The Mind of Christ
The Mind of Christ
Jesus Christ himself had a "Head". It is because he did not "do his own thing" or think his own way. He always sought to follow Father's directions and adhere to Father's words. He thought Father's thoughts
and spoke Father's Words.
Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.
John 8:28 Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. 29 And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.
John 12:49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.
As you can see, Jesus did not "free lance" like earthly men are prone to do by thinking their own thoughts and speaking their own words.
Isaiah 58:13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: 14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
John 5:36 But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me. 37 And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. 38 And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.
You cannot "put on the mind of Christ", who is the Father Himself, if you do not know Him and cannot hear His voice. Jesus could see the Father and hear His voice at all times. That is how he was able to use the Father for his own Head. He thought Father's thoughts and followed Father's ways in all instances. If you have been taught that God does not speak to men in the way He spoke to the prophets, obviously you do not and have not heard Father's voice. You CANNOT "put on the mind of Christ"! As for man and his righteousness in the eyes of God, the following is written:
Psalm 14:2 The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. 3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. So if a man cannot hear Father, then He cannot follow Father's lead nor any commandment He might give at any moment. He cannot "put Father on his head". Father is the mind of Jesus!
Isaiah 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: 11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
Jesus just might be too big for arrogant self-assuming and self-righteous men to "put on"! You cannot presume about your capabilities without walking a mile or two in Jesus' shoes. I understand that all men have come "short of the glory" and our measure is beneath the "fullness of the stature of Christ".
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Matthew 11:25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. 26 Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. 27 All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.
Ephesians 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Let us eyeball Jesus and apply his thinking to recent events in our time. As we do this, think about your own thoughts on these matters and measure yourself against Jesus. He will be our measuring tape.
Falling Towers
READ Luke 13:1-5
The September 11 tragedy in Manhattan. Islamic militants exacted perverted revenge against the US for perceived crimes and brought down the WTC towers. You know your own personal reaction to this and your feelings about Osama bin Laden. Look above at how Jesus reacted in a "similar" situation to the wars and rumors of wars around him in his time. As you measure yourself please be advised that "there is not a word or thought in your heart that the Father does not know even before you think it"!
Psalm 139:1 O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. 2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. 3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. 4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. 5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.
Jesus would have responded similarly to you about the WTC disaster if he were living in our day just as he did in Luke 13. Now reader, how close are you to the fullness of the stature of Christ? How do you feel about Osama bin Laden? Do you have the mental fortitude to say, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do"? Are Jesus' shoes too big for you to walk in? Are his thoughts that much higher than your thoughts? If you cannot THINK AND DO like Jesus did, then you cannot put on His mind.
Sexual Trysts
READ John 8:3-12
President Clinton had his privacy invaded by a snoopy judge. He was pilloried by right-wing Republicans and self-righteous men all over this nation including Christian right-wingers. They proudly undressed this man publicly to ruin him and tried to impeach him. You were around during those recent events. What did you think? This is a self-assessment course. Did you measure up to "the mind of Christ" as exemplified above? Now dear reader let us not play with words written in the Bible because the phrases sound admirable and they may be ego boosting. Do you have the power to wear the mind of Christ as your crown?
Burning Men in Hell-fire
Matthew 18:11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. 12 How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? 13 And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. 14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
John 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
READ Luke 15:11-32
Luke 9:51 And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, 52 And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. 53 And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. 54 And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? 55 But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. 56 For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.
There are churches, preachers, religions and people everywhere who believe and want God to burn "sinners" with devils in final judgment with Lucifer and Babylon and their invisible family of demons. This is totally contrary to the "mind of the Father" in Luke 15. Preachers, churches, and most Christians think like the elder son, that vengeance, reprisal and bitterness is right and fair justice. They reject and object to the "thoughts of the Father". IT IS NOT FATHER'S WILL THAT ONE SHEEP SHOULD PERISH. Some also feel that those who reject Jesus and Christianity should be burned in hell-fire. What do you think of radical Islamic militants and right-wing fundamentalist Jews who all reject Christ? If you want them burned in hell, then "you do not know what spirit you are of". "The mind of Christ" suggests that such a mental conclusion is straight from the devil. So I say to all men everywhere, if you want any man judged and burned with devils for any reason ("SIN"), you CANNOT "put on the mind of Christ", Romans 8:18-23, 38,39. His thinking and his love is too HIGH for you. From Matthew 11:25-27, if you do not KNOW Jesus, get it out of your mind that you even qualify to "put on the mind of Christ". My original question applies here also, "Can you really put on the mind of Christ"? I think we all have something to think about. "Putting on the mind of Christ" is a Biblical phrase, which is so much deeper than you think!
GOOD NEWS, Inc.
