Bible Study Notes:

Jill - Sounds good, OldTimer, for a minute today I was ready to just give up

I know what you mean Jill, the enemy has been on my back BIG time - just blew a THIRD hard drive on my computer. But in Jesus we ARE victorious and I REFUSE to accept defeat in Jesus Name!!!

Rolling Thunder - look out....mortar incoming OT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jill we walk by FAITH not by sight, in times when we don't FEEL God's presence, that's when faith kicks in and says: The Word says that God is always thinking of me, He knows the number of hairs on my head. I WILL NOT be dismayed or discouraged in Jesus Name!

For several weeks, we've been looking at the mind of Christ as a spiritual weapon. First of all we discussed the place of suffering in the Christian life. Our attitude to suffering makes us realize that it is necessary to perfect or mature our faith, and sooner or later in the Christian life we will face some suffering.

We learned that suffering is not a sign of failure or lack of God's love, but a GIFT given to help us grow. We also found that suffering is an outcome of the Christian life because we have an enemy who seeks to use suffering to destroy us.

Revr_Dust - suffering is a badge of honor, look at Job, he suffered without sin and look how many have been helped and how God has been glorified.

And we looked at the life of Christ, who is our example, and saw that He actually learned obedience through the things He suffered.

Another attribute of suffering is that it cleanses us from sin teaching us the consequences of following our lusts - and no longer live for them, but seek to live for the will of God.

Then we began to talk about ARMING ourselves with Weapon #15 The Mind of Christ: 1 Peter 4:1 Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, ARM YOURSELVES ALSO WITH THE SAME ATTITUDE, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin.

Lena - What does it mean if you don’t suffer much Old Timer?

Lena, well I'd rejoice! LOL We don't have to SEEK suffering, Lena, it comes of itself. But when we DO suffer, we need to ask God what lessons should we learn from it.

zedman - (((((((Good question lena,,, suffering is not what we look for ,,,,it is what we endure

If we arm ourselves with the attitude, mind, understanding, manner of thinking and feeling that Jesus had, we will be victorious over the enemy of our souls. If we are ARMED to expect suffering, we will receive it with rejoicing, knowing all of the good character traits that it is developing in us.

Lena - Old Timer. I guess I should be Thankful.

Besides suffering, there are several other components that the Holy Spirit has testified as being part of the mind of Christ. They are humility, sacrificial love, acceptance, submission to the Father's will, unlimited intellect, and power, dominion over sin and authority over the devil. We'll look at each one in depth.

We spent nearly 2 sessions discussing humility. Humility is part of having the mind or attitude of Christ: Philippians 2:3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.

Pilgrim - in Lk 21:19 KJV, Jesus Says, "In you patience [endurance] possess ["win"] ye your souls!"

We learned that the opposite of humility is selfish ambition or vain conceit. A person who is walking in selfish ambition will do whatever it takes to get to the top, no matter who he/she has to step on and hurt.

A person filled with vain conceit wants the praise and honor and glory whether they deserve it or earn it or not. They want the "high place" and are never willing to take a place lower than they esteem themselves worthy of.

Lena - What should we do if we find that after a year of searching God we feel still that we have Greed, selfishness, pride...

Ah Lena, I've been searching for God and with God and through God for 40 years and am not perfect yet! Be obedient to what you know to do and be patient as Jesus transforms you into His image.

Humility means to have a humble opinion of one's self, a deep sense of one's (moral) littleness, modesty, humility, and lowliness of mind. It doesn't mean to think NOTHING of yourselves, as if you are a lowly worm or piece of dirt.

God considers us worthy of His grace, time and attention. and has given us all the measure of faith. But don't think of yourselves MORE HIGHLY than you ought to. Be sober in your judgements of who you are in God's kingdom.

We discussed the fact the God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. Humility begins with a decision, "God I WILL submit to you". As you will yourself to submit to God, and to the godly leadership He has placed you under, you will develop that humble, submissive spirit that is of great worth in God's sight. However, if you are proud and rebellious, God will OPPOSE all you do. What a frightening thought!

Jesus was humble and not only did He not think of Himself more highly than He ought, He deliberately took a lower position in order to bring us salvation. He did not grasp at equality with God - he "made himself nothing" and took on the form of a servant to bring us salvation.

And this is the same attitude we should ARM ourselves with. We should be willing servants of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, willing to associate with those of "low repute", willing to "roll up our sleeves and get our hands dirty" if necessary, and willing to give up our pride and self-respect to win someone to Christ.

Humility is used as a defense weapon and protects us from such things as rebellion, pride, and envy, and also from inferiority, weakness, and self-hate. To know WHO you are in Jesus and to abide there brings GREAT peace to your heart!

Being humble before God is a source of great spiritual power in offensive warfare. As we yield to God in obedience, and draw closer to Him, we are increasingly empowered against the wiles and stratagems of the enemy.

Now the information about suffering and humility that we've covered may not seem too exciting to you, but the devil has fought these studies like never before. I sense a real victory ahead!!!! GET READY FOR GLORY!!!

Then we spoke about another attitude that Jesus had: sacrificial love. He manifested His love for us by dying on the cross for our sins, and when we show love we demonstrate that we are children of God.

This sacrificial love is a defense against many things: offenses, bitterness and hatred. It is also an offensive spiritual weapon. As this love extends itself out to the lost, it re-captures them from the dominion of darkness, and opens them up to be able to receive God's love and forgiveness.

Now we are up to date with our review and will look at another part of the Mind of Christ. Along with an attitude of obedience in suffering, humility and sacrificial love, the Lord Jesus Christ has an attitude of acceptance. The GOOD news about the gospel is that it is INCLUSIVE rather than exclusive. That is, Jesus is seeking the lost, seeking to INCLUDE everyone possible, Jesus is NOT looking for excuses to kick people OUT of the kingdom of God.

So who can receive eternal life?

Diamond Lady - old timer... the Mind of Christ has always been a neat thing for me to think upon....the phase itself is almost over whelming!!
guitarman524 - everyone that believes
Lena - How do we truly love our neighbor and those we don’t know?
HWB - Anyone who believes in HIM.... :-)
Diamond Lady - anyone can receive eternal life to those what ask and receive Jesus as Lord and savior

AMEN! Everyone that believes, whoever chooses to believe. Lena, that's a good question - and the answer is the kind of love - agape - that is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. This love transforms us into loving neighbors.

Lena - because I have been praying for God to change me so my love will grow.
Diamond Lady - old timer.... just a question about your last statement.... does it transform us... or do we willingly choose to operate in that love and the more we do... the more it manifest its self???

A little of both, I think DL! The Holy Spirit pours the love forth in our hearts and as we willingly walk in that love, the move love we can contain and also share.

hopin - but doesn’t the devil believe in him too, so that means he has eternal life?

hopin, good question. The devil believes that Jesus exists, BUT he doesn't believe IN Him, hasn't repented of his sin, and doesn't obey Jesus.

hopin - is there a difference?

Yes, hopin, believing IN Jesus is more than just mental agreement that He exists. It is repenting, turning from your old life of sin, and turning towards Jesus and living your life FOR Him. The devil doesn't do that!

WHOEVER believes IN HIM is NOT condemned - WHOEVER is saved. One lesson the church needs to learn today is acceptance. Jesus said that WHOEVER will may come to Him for salvation. WHOEVER includes people that you and I may not like, may find offensive, may disagree with, and may wish lived on another planet.

hopin - funny oldtimer yep another planet-have lots to send there,ha

NOW HOPIN!!! I didn't say you COULD! LOL But we need to put away these bogus attitudes, and see beyond the surface to the men and women for whom Christ died. Since He invites and accepts WHOEVER will, we must be prepared to accept WHOEVER, whether we like them or not. So another aspect of the mind of Christ is ACCEPTANCE.

Lena - Here is a big question. If our friends say the Lords name in vain should we tell them not to, or just leave them because they wont listen anyway, and will make fun of you?

We are ACCEPTED in the beloved! What makes us acceptable and accepted in the beloved company of the saints? God does, by regeneration of our human spirits and adoption in His family. Now if God has adopted your brother and sister, and if they are believers in Christ He has, who are you to reject them?

You're accepted, I'm accepted, WHOEVER believes IN JESUS is accepted in the beloved family of God.

hopin - do you have to like them too? though

Well hopin, sometimes that's not easy! But often God uses the things we dislike in others to polish us. Like gemstones in the rough, we need quite a lot of polishing to really shine!

Now Paul doesn't reveal what these two women were squabbling about. It apparently wasn't a concrete point of doctrine, or Paul would have pointed out which doctrine was correct. Whatever the argument was, 2,000 years later, their "claim to fame" was that they were fussing and fighting with each other! I certainly wouldn't want to be remembered for THAT, would you?

Paul's appeal to the Corinthians was to be in agreement, and without division, so that they could be perfectly united in mind and thought. There's nothing that scares the devil more than our unity! Jesus said that a house divided against itself CANNOT stand. We MUST seek unity and agreement with one another or the devil CAN and WILL devour us!

hopin - oh that would take but a miracle, eh we all agree, eh

Yes hopin, a miracle I'm praying for and working towards! Praise the Lord. I believe that we CAN agree over the Word and in the Spirit!

guitarman524 - Did Paul have any idea how hard that would be in 1999?
redeemed - the only way to unity is through the Spirit and Word of God  - as we are delivered of carnal ways and thoughts, we are joined in the Spirit

Amen redeemed! gman if you read the New Testament, you'll see they had a hard time with it too!

guitarman524 - I have and know it was hard then and probably always will be!
redeemed - that's true, we know that one day Jesus said we will all be one, but He will bring it to pass

As part arming ourselves with the mind of Christ, acceptance of one another is a powerful weapon against the enemy who delights in and labors for DIVISION. I think that one problem is that we are trying to perfect doctrine BEFORE accepting one another in love. WHOEVER believes IN JESUS is our brother and sister, and we need to remember that Christ died as much for him or her as He did for us.

guitarman524 - is agreeing to disagree ans still being friends, acceptance?
hopin - hey oletimer that’s one thing thinks I understand amen, ha

gman I think it's a very good starting point! Praise the Lord. So I can truly and deeply from the heart say I love you all even if we may not at times agree on doctrine!

redeemed - that is so true, old timer, I just went through two years of spiritual battle, severe spiritual warfare, because of misunderstanding and talking about each other among fellow believers; of course some of it may have been chastening from the Lord, I don't want to deny that or any wrongdoing on my part; but the gossip and talk was very damaging; and mainly lots of misunderstanding

Amen redeemed. Far too often our "discussions" become battles where we take sides and beat each other on the head with the Word of God! Beloved, this should not be!

redeemed - as we are filled with His Spirit, we will follow His ways
guitarman524 - But OT don't you think to often we get bogged down in doctrines and forget the real purpose is to Love Jesus!

Amen gman! to love Jesus AND one another!

redeemed - guitarman, that's true, but apostle Paul said doctrine was necessary, to guard from error

Redeemed, true, but remember that our teacher is the Holy Spirit, and when we argue to try to teach, it doesn't work!

We are all familiar with the agonizing prayer that Jesus prayed in Gethsemane as He faced the torture of death by crucifixion and the bearing away of our sins. Another attitude that Jesus had that we should have is complete submission to the Father's will.

Part of the prayer that the Lord taught us to pray in Matthew 6:10 says "your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." God doesn't have any problem with His will being done in heaven, it's earth that gives Him so much grief!

This is difficult for men and women any time, but particularly today with our culture of greed, ambition, and self-promotion. But Jesus did not for a second do His own will - He came to earth to do God's will and win our salvation.

Can you imagine what might have become of the plan of salvation if Jesus had not fully followed the Father's will?

Instead of reserving our ministry and calling for when we get old, or after we have accomplished our worldly goals, we should seek God's kingdom first and then God will add to us all we need and a lot that we don't really need, but that are the desires of our heart.

guitarman524 - amen OT
redeemed - that's true OT, we need to trust God more

So we've looked at Jesus' attitudes of obedience in suffering, humility, sacrificial love, acceptance, and a commitment to the Father's will. Also, the Lord Jesus Christ has unlimited intellect, and we have access to this Mind of Christ through the Holy Spirit.

The wisdom of God that Paul was talking about here is far above and beyond the wisdom of the world. It is given to us as we mature and grow in the knowledge and wisdom of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The world thinks that it is pretty smart doesn't it? And that the wisdom of the present time is far superior to all other ages. We do have a greater accumulation of facts than ever before, but are we truly wiser? Our crime rate is soaring, immorality is raging and people in general are more unhappy than ever before.

BEFORE TIME BEGAN, what a long time ago! God created the wisdom he has freely given us and kept it in secret, reserving it for us until now!

hopin - that is because too the world doesn’t know truth anymore either right-truth is always strong, no matter how weak it looks, and falsehood is always weak no matter how strong it looks

AMEN hopin! You got it sis!!!! We are told in another scripture that God has given us EVERYTHING that pertains to life and godliness. EVERYTHING we need to live a victorious life!

hopin - is that heaven oldtimer?

hopin, this is wisdom available to us here and now! In Heaven, we will "know even as we are known"! It's on THIS planet that we need God's wisdom to be victorious.

Now if the rulers of this age had understood God's wisdom - his plans and purposes, they would have never crucified Jesus! But they didn't seek God and HIS wisdom, they tried to figure it all out with their own little peaked heads!

I highly recommend the book of Proverbs for everyday kinda living wisdom! If I had read and put it into practice, I would have made a WHOLE LOT LESS mistakes and caused myself a whole lot less grief!

hopin - ah yes but if you make less mistakes oletimer you would have NO CHARACTER, amen?

The concept of "revelation knowledge" is hard for us to grasp at first - that some things are only known by being revealed to us by God. Notice that this verse states this wisdom cannot be obtained through the senses - what we see or what we hear. This is quite a stumbling block to those who are sense oriented.

Like Thomas, they will believe if they SEE it first! Also note that it is something that you cannot obtain by merely thinking. This is a real stumbling block to the intellectual. They try to figure it all out logically - and get really "hung up" because you can't completely understand God with your mind alone.

BUT GOD HAS REVEALED IT TO US BY HIS SPIRIT. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. Revelation knowledge comes to our spirits by the Holy Spirit after we are born again.

Rolling Thunder - ...lean not to your own understanding and in all your ways acknowledge HIM

Until we are born again, we are spiritually dead. That is, the part of us that can know and communicate with God is deactivated, dead, unresponsive, deceased, etc. because of sin. We can't know God, talk to God, or understand God when our spiritual "knower" doesn't work!

Savior's Servant - my concordance says- Revelation- the act of making known or telling about
hopin - is revelation knowledge-knowledge of future? like a psychic?

NOT LIKE A PSYCHIC! at all. Sometimes God does give us knowledge of the future, but normally it is the ability to know and understand God in the here and now.

Psychics depend on the elemental or demonic spirits of the universe to obtain knowledge (that is, those that are not outright frauds). But revelation knowledge comes to us directly from God through the Holy Spirit.

hopin - so we can talk to dead?
Ready2Die - no, it is forbidden. If revelation knowledge does exist, do prophets still exist?

No hopin we can't. And neither can psychics -- the best they can do is get knowledge from demons. The dead don't talk TO US, no matter what movies you might have seen.

hopin - but you said deceased, dead, unresponsive

hopin, we have three parts: body, soul (mind, will and emotions) and spirit. Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden were completely alive in all three parts UNTIL they sinned. Then they died spiritually first, later died mentally and physically.

So we all inherit that sin nature, or spiritual death from Adam until we are born again, when our spirits are reborn and can commune with God our Father.

hopin - who died spirtiually? adam?

Yes Adam and Eve died spiritually FIRST, and we all inherited that spiritual death because we are all their children.

hopin – that’s until we say Jesus come right?
OlePappy - Jesus is the Salvation of our Spiritual death

Now the Holy Spirit knows God's thoughts, and searches them for the answers we need. Just like my spirit knows my thoughts, and when you ask a question, my spirit does a search for the answer.

If I don't have it in the ol' cranium, my spirit cries out to Abba Father for the answer, and the Holy Spirit searches for the answer and drops it into my spirit.

hopin - that’s cool, oletimer
OlePappy - like an Email from God, OT

Right OP! And sometimes the Holy Spirit will drop an answer into my spirit in an instant that literally takes me hours to get down on paper! Greatly increasing our intellect and understanding!

hopin - how do you know its the spirit? Giving the answers?

So we have the mind of Christ - we have access to His intellect through the Holy Spirit when we are born again - and it's called revelation knowledge, it comes by the Spirit, not by our senses or minds.

We should strive to have the same attitudes that Jesus had towards suffering, humility, sacrificial love, acceptance, and obedience to the Father's will. We should also rely on the MIND of Christ that is available to us by the Holy Spirit, as we follow Jesus and obey Him.

joyfulami - taking every thought captive, and making it obedient to Christ
Rolling Thunder - Hallelujah! {He shouts to the Lord}

Good point joyfulami! That is part of it also! Taking our false traditions and unwise thoughts under control of the Spirit!

So tapping into the mind of Christ through the Holy Spirit would be a defensive weapon because it would protect us against false doctrine and lying spirits. It would be an offensive weapon, as we "download" strategies and knowledge used to defeat the devil.

The limits are off! Through the Spirit, you can search the mind of Christ for WHATEVER you need! What an awesome gift!

joyfulami - imagine the Word as a sifter.......sift every thought and action thru it.............
HeavenBound - OldTimer, what do you mean by false traditions and unwise thoughts under control of the spirit?

HB, ANY thought that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, including lustful thoughts, as well as false doctrines, arguments, anything that rebels against or resists God.

HeavenBound - But give me an example of what you are meaning by false traditions?

One thing that Paul often discussed was legalism - teaching that you have to follow the law to be saved. Paul also talked about false religions that involved worship of angels and abuse of the body.