A Consecrated Mind – Part 3

A Consecrated Mind – Part 3

By Pastor Gary Wayne

Recently, I have been enjoying listening to “The Pause” app by John Eldredge.
I have been talking about consecrating our mind to God.
Two weeks ago, we talked about consecrating my interpretation of the events in my life.
Last week, we delt with not allowing our minds to speculate about events.

Rom.8:6 “…letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.” (NLT)
Rom.12:2 “Let God transform you into a new person by helping you change the way you think.” (NLT)
2Cor.10:5 “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (NIV)

Today, I want to look at how to break the power of core lies that may be controlling our lives.

Text: John 8:31-32, Psalms 51:6, 10, 16-17
Ver.6 inward parts, hidden part – other translations – inner most being.
The Hebrew wording means something like - secret, closed up, hidden, the "shut" place or the "locked" place.

If I hold to something that is not truth, where is that located in me?
We all have beliefs deep within us which we might not be conscious of, but which control our lives nonetheless.

An important part is for us to allow Holy Spirit to shine His truth on those hidden, secret, closed up places and let us see anything I am holding on to that is actually a core lie that battles God’s truth.

I want to look at how to uncover those places and replace them with truth.

Joh.8:31-32 “If you abide in My word …” NKJV “If you hold to my teaching…” NIV
The word Jesus chooses for “hold” is a word which means to dwell in, make our home within.
Earlier in John the disciples asked Jesus where He lives – same word.

What does it mean to abide - live in His word?

So what’s our game plan?
First, we simply pay attention to where our thoughts have already begun to wander. Where have your thoughts been going lately? This morning?

Even now as I’m speaking let’s ask Holy Spirit – Where have my thought been wandering?” Where have I been worrying or speculating about the future?

Next, we invite the Holy Spirit to search our thoughts and reveal the lies we are living by.

We are not trying to uncover everything at once, but to take it in God’s timing as He reveals core roots that are not from Him.
We simply ask the Holy Spirit to reveal what He wants to reveal today.

Ps 139:23-24 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me,…” (NKJV)
NIV “… test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me…”

Holy Spirit, reveal to me the agreements I have been making with lies in my life.
Show me, Lord, either the lies which I’ve been entertaining recently, or show me the lies which have their roots deep in my past.

There are many ways to surface these lies. Simply notice – what do you say to yourself when things go badly? When you get mad?
And what do you say to yourself when you make a mistake, mess things up, when you feel like you’ve failed?

Or what do you say to yourself when you see yourself in the mirror? Do you see yourself as God describes you, or in light of your failures and flaws?

In order to break free, we renounce (reject, surrender) these lies. We break agreements with them. Take them one by one.

Holy Spirit, come help me do this.
Lord, I renounce these lies. I break my agreement with them.
I remove them from my life – thinking – vocabulary.

This practice of asking the Spirit to reveal the agreements we are making with the lies of our enemy is something you can do often, especially when you find yourself struggling in a particular relationship or temptation.

Father I consecrate my mind to You.
I give You my thoughts, my focus, and attention.
I give you my memory and recall, my understanding and imagination.
“Search me, God, and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”