26 September 2021
Two-Minute Features | 03 October 2021 | 19 September 2021

Combating the Mental Sins, Part 2 (TMF:1710)

Friday, October 01, 2021
Peace to Live By: Combating the Mental Sins, Part 2 (TMF:1710) - Daniel Litton
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       “But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on… for a helmet the hope of salvation” (1 Thessalonians 5:8, ESV). A helmet, obvious, protects the head. We might say it protects the mind. And what does the helmet represent? It represents hope. It is hope for salvation, that is, salvation from the enemy. So, the helmet that Paul talks about is hope that we will be preserved from our enemies, Satan and his demonic forces. However, Paul says one key thing here. And let’s not miss it. He says we have to “put on” the helmet. In other words, it’s a choice we make. He have to decide to be hopeful, and being hopeful will help us think correctly. Being full of hope in our minds, then, we find we are full of faith. Jesus stressed during his earthly ministry that his disciples should use, and live by, faith. Thus, a mind full of faith is one that sees everything in life, everything from day to day, with hope-filled eyeglasses on.

Combating the Mental Sins, Part 1 (TMF:1709)

Thursday, September 30, 2021
Peace to Live By: Combating the Mental Sins, Part 1 (TMF:1709) - Daniel Litton
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       Not only will it not make us happy, but really it comes down to being sin for us. Certain sins are present in Christian communities that I think oftentimes are just accepted as okay in being practiced, like gossiping for instance, and I think the mental sins fall right in line with this. Second, how do we combat these types of thinking patterns in our minds? How do we get the life and peace Paul talks about here? In other words, what is the best combat for all types of incorrect thinking? Well, I want us to grab a verse by Paul from 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. There, he said, “But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on… for a helmet the hope of salvation” (verse 8). A helmet, obvious, protects the head. We might say it protects the mind. And what does the helmet represent? It represents hope. It is hope for salvation, that is, salvation from the enemy.

What It Means to Set the Mind of the Flesh (TMF:1708)

Wednesday, September 29, 2021
Peace to Live By: What It Means to Set the Mind of the Flesh (TMF:1708) - Daniel Litton
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       First, I want us to consider what setting our minds on the things of the flesh entails. Now, many might say, “I don’t think that really needs explanation.” But really, I think it does because setting our minds of the flesh is just not doing the obvious wrongs. It’s not just thinking lustful thoughts, or being angry at people, or focusing on worldly, trivial things. There’s much more to setting our minds on the flesh than those kinds of things. The core fundamental to this is really that if any thought we are thinking in our minds is causing us distress than we shouldn’t be continuing to think about those thoughts. Those thoughts are producing death in us. Various kinds of lines of thought can cause this for us, things like worrying, stressing out, being full of fear, dreading different kinds of things, and thoughts like these. Believe it or not, this type of thinking is not what we are supposed to be doing. Jesus wouldn’t have done it, and so we shouldn’t be thinking like this, setting our minds on the flesh.

Success Comes Back to the Mind, Part 2 (TMF:1707)

Tuesday, September 28, 2021
Peace to Live By: Success Comes Back to the Mind, Part 2 (TMF:1707) - Daniel Litton
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       I believe that if we can master our minds, then we can master everything. If we want to be successful in life, I think it all comes back to our minds, to what we think about. As many of you know, I love to study American history. I’ve been reading a book recently George Washington’s time from 1783 right after the Revolution to 1789 right before he become President, and what he was doing during this time. You really don’t hear a lot about it, and man it’s interesting stuff. Nevertheless, I bring this up because I came across a quote that Washington had written to his mother in 1787. Washington was writing his mother who had been complaining about this and that, and he said to her, “happiness depends more upon the internal frame of a persons mind than on the externals in the world” (as cited in Larson, pg. 96, 2014). And man, is that true. Washington understood the importance of the mind, and how we think.

Reference

Larson, Edward J. (2014). The Return of George Washington: Uniting the States, 1783-1789. Sydney, AU: HarperCollins.

Success Comes Back to the Mind, Part 1 (TMF:1706)

Monday, September 27, 2021
Peace to Live By: Success Comes Back to the Mind, Part 1 (TMF:1706) - Daniel Litton
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       God doesn’t give us extra grace in advance, but he gives us what we need right now only. This is walking according to the Spirit. We walk according to the flesh at the moment we try to do things how we want to do them, when we want to do them, in trying to work ahead. Verse 5: “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:5-8, ESV). Paul is moving into one of my personal favorite subjects, which is the mind. I love learning about the mind. And I am so glad he put this section here. Understanding the mind is so necessary for us. I believe that if we can master our minds, then we can master everything. If we want to be successful in life, I think it all comes back to our minds, to what we think about.