Power of a changed mind Part 2

4. It is the mind the devil deceives.

2 Corinthians 11:3

But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be

corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ (Emphasis added)

Why would the devil want to deceive people?

a) It only the word that can save the soul

James 1:21
... therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. (Emphasis added)

b) Every blessing is connected to doing the word!

Failure to do the word = self deception

James 1:22

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves

Word doers have 100% results.

James 1:25
... but he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. (Emphasis added)

Journey to the top begins from obedience!

Deuteronomy 28:1-2

Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, To observe carefully all his commandments which i command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God (Emphasis added)

c) Success and prosperity are in obeying the word

  
Joshua 1:8

this Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. (Emphasis added)

d) To ignore the law of seed time and harvest

Genesis 8:22
"while the earth remains,
 seedtime and harvest,
 cold and heat,
 winter and summer,
 and day and night
 shall not cease." (Emphasis added)

There are certain deceptions that have been blinding people from the beginning of time. They are deceptions since they go against the Word of God! See if these sound familiar:

• People get deceived that what they sow does not matter!

Galatians 6:7
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap (Emphasis added)

• People get deceived that we can receive without giving!

Luke 6:38

Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” (Emphasis added)

•  People get deceived that God cannot be taken too seriously!

Numbers 23:19
“God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that he should repent. Has He said, and will he not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? (Emphasis added)

e) Our relationships affect our souls

1 Corinthians 15:33

Do not be deceived: “evil company corrupts good habits.” (Emphasis added)

Romans 8:31-35

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the Love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? (Emphasis added)

It is clear that we need to note and avoid certain company. Apostle Paul speaks further on this:

Romans 16:17
Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. (Emphasis added)

Besides noting and avoiding, we should also reject a divisive man!

Titus 3:10-11

Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition, knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned. (Emphasis added)

Do not think these things are new, they have been with us since the early church. This is what Apostle John was warning against.

3 John 9-10

I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us. Therefore, if I come, I will call to mind his deeds which he does, prating against us with malicious words. And not content with that, he himself does not receive the brethren, and forbids those who wish to, putting them out of the church. (Emphasis added)

If you think that everyone in the church is a saint, then you are being deceived. Watch this:

Jude 1:4, 8, 10-11

4 for certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.... 8 likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. 10 but these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves. Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. (Emphasis added)

What drives such people? Self-centeredness and the spirit of complaining.

Jude 1:16-19

These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage.  But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts.  These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the spirit. (Emphasis added)

   
This should not at all surprise us, as it is one of the many signs of the end times, as Paul said.

2 Timothy 3:1-9
But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,  having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith;  but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.

e.  Complaining does not change anything

Philippians 2:14-16

Do all things without complaining and disputing,  that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that i may rejoice in the day of Christ that i have not run in vain or labored in vain. (Emphasis added)

Contrary to this, God calls us to:

Psalms 100 
Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness; come before His presence with singing. Know that the Lord, He is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His Name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.

Our responsibility, therefore, is to:

Philippians 4:6
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Emphasis added)

Who do people complain against?

Every complain is an attack on the personality and the character of  God! Moses knew this, which is why he was grieved every time the children of Israel complained and murmured. 

Exodus 16:8

Also Moses said, “this shall be seen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to the full; for the Lord hears your complaints which you make against Him. And what are we? Your complaints are not against us but against the Lord.” (Emphasis added)

  

What people do not know is that complaining robs people their destiny.

Numbers 14:27-30

How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who complain against me? I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make against Me. Say to them, ‘as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘just as you have spoken in my hearing, so I will do to you: the carcasses of you who have complained against me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above. Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in. (Emphasis added)

Note: A promise that was over 430 years plus was thwarted by a lifestyle of complaining. Every time you complain you are cutting yourself from your God given promises!

What is the source of all complains?



• Selfishness
 
• Immaturity 
• Ignorance 
• Unbelief   
• Pride

• Attitude
• 
Ungratefulness

a. Selfishness

People who are self-centered complain the most. 

 Jude 1:16-19

These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage.  But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: How they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts.  These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit. (Emphasis added)

These are people who have not realised that they are dead to self, or are not walking according to their newly achieved status once they accept Christ. Therefore, they continue to walk according to the flesh. 

Galatians 5:24-25
... and those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  ²⁵ if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Selfishness is what lead to an attack on a worshipper, during the times of Jesus:

Mark 14:4-5

But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, “why was this fragrant oil wasted? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they criticized her sharply. (Emphasis added)

As Christians, we have a golden rule that, if applied by everyone, would put to death every form of selfishness in us:

Philippians 2:2-4
Fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.  Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. (Emphasis added)

 b. Immaturity

Numbers 14:1-4

So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “if only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?”  So they said to one another, “let us select a leader and return to Egypt.” (Emphasis added)

This is a story of the Israelites, how they reacted when they heard the news from the 10 spies. Here are a few things to learn from them:

• What they heard from the 10 spies influenced their emotions, and thus creating a worldview that never existed.

Numbers 14:1
“so all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night" (Emphasis added)

This is a lesson to us to watch out what / who you listen to. Words influences your emotions, thus determining your decisions and actions. This is why we are told that faith comes by hearing, and by hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17). Whatever you keep listening to will give you faith in the subject of the message. This is why Jesus said:

Mark 4:24

Then he said to them, “take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given." (Emphasis added)

And again,

Luke 8:18

Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him.” (Emphasis added)

• Complains blinded them enough to cherish the same Egypt they cried to come out!

Exodus 3:9

Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. (Emphasis added)

Complains caused individuals to forget the promises and desire the past! What caused this? It is the fear of the unknown. This is the same thing that happens to us when we fear the unknown and thus are hesitant to take risks, we end up desiring where we have come from, with the deception that the past we know of is better than the future we do not know about. 

• Complaining is a spirit and it is contagious

The whole congregation was influenced by 10 people.

• Majority does not signify truth

10 spies gave evil report which brought destruction to them and that of the Israelites.

c. Ignorance

If the devil does not deceive you, he will make you ignorant.

Hosea 4:6
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. (Emphasis added)

It is interesting to know that ignorance is displayed in complaining. Watch this:

Jude:8, 10-11

Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries... but these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves. Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the Rebellion of Korah. (Emphasis added)

Way of Cain: Envying and killing his brother because of God accepting his sacrifice.

Error of Balaam: Attempting to curse what God has blessed.

Perished in the rebellion of Korah: Standing against a God-established leadership.

Here are some notable areas that manifest ignorance:

• Ignorance of the system of the kingdom

How does the kingdom operate?

1. Through planting seeds.
2. Created to fulfill a purpose

1. Planting seeds

Mark 4:26-29

And he said, “the kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how.

For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” (Emphasis added)

Seeds are guaranteed to grow!

Mark 4:30-32

Then he said, “to what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it?  It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; But when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade.” (Emphasis added)

No matter how long it might take, seeds are guaranteed to grow, under the right conditions. 

2. Created to fullfill a purpose!

Ephesians 2:10

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Emphasis added)

With time, we have become ignorant of something called ownership! Take a look at this:

Ownership of the earth

Psalms 24:1-2
the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness , the world and those who dwell therein. For He has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the waters. (Emphasis added)

It may seem obvious to say so, but just for the records, God is not in need!

Psalms 50:10-12

for every beast of the forest is Mine,
 and the cattle on a thousand hills. 
I know all the birds of the mountains, 
and the wild beasts of the field are Mine. “If I were hungry, I would not tell you; for the world is mine, and all its fullness. (Emphasis added)

Besides, God owns silver and gold...

Haggai 2:8

the silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the Lord of Hosts. (Emphasis added)

You may have known all that, but did you also know that you are not your own?

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit Who is in you, Whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. (Emphasis added)

More so, your gift (s) are not your own!

1 Peter 4:10 (NIV)

... each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. (Emphasis added)

• Ignorant of God’s plan 

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. (Emphasis added)

This is God’s word on the subject, from The Message translation: 

Jeremiah 29:10-11
“as soon as Babylon’s seventy years are up and not a day before, I’ll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what i’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. (Emphasis added)

God does not work arbitrarily. He has it all planned out, and knows what He is doing. All we have to know is that the plans He is working on are for our benefit, not harm. 

• Ignorant of God’s purpose

Job 42:2 (AMP)
I know that You can do all things, and that no thought or purpose of Yours can be restrained or thwarted. (Emphasis added)

Nothing and no one can hinder God's purpose from happening, as He has planned it.

• Ignorant of God’s process

Contrary to popular belief, God is interested with the process! Take a look at this:

1. God orders our steps

Psalms 37:23-24

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand. (Emphasis added)

What does ordered mean? According to the Thesaurus Dictionary, it means controlled, prearranged, and commanded. The above text implies that the steps of a good man are controlled, prearranged and commanded by the Lord!

2. All things work together for good

Romans 8:28

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. (Emphasis added)

Someone who totally understood this concept is Joseph (Genesis 37-50). Throughout his life, we see how God made everything work together for his good. He made the story of the pit turn into a good, his life at Potiphar's house turn to a good by blessing all the household for his sake, and finally his imprisonment for the good, which ended him up as the Governor over the land of Egypt. 

It is worth noting that no one can reverse God's doing:

Isaiah 43:13

Indeed before the day was, I am He; and there is no one who can deliver out of My hand; I work, and who will reverse it?” (Emphasis added)

• Ignorant of God’s promises

 2 Corinthians 1:20
For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in him Amen, to the glory of God through us. (Emphasis added)

With this in mind, let us look at a few promises of God, in several areas of life:

Provision

  
Philippians 4:19
And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Time and season

Ecclesiastes 3:1

To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: (Emphasis added)

Protection

Psalms 125:1-2
Those who trust in the Lord
 are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever.  As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people 
from this time forth and forever. (Emphasis added)

Favor

Psalms 5:12
For you, O Lord, will bless the righteous;
 with favor you will surround him as with a shield. (Emphasis added)

  

Love

Romans 8:38-39
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,  nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Emphasis added)

• Ignorant of God's order

a. Family

Marriage

Ephesians 5:31-33

For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”  This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. (Emphasis added)

Parent/ children

Ephesians 6:1-4
Children, obey your parents in the lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.” And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. (Emphasis added)

b. Church

It would be interesting to note that God has set the members!

1 corinthians 12:18-20, 26
But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.     And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. (Emphasis added)

c. Operations

1 Corinthians 12:28

And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. (Emphasis added)

d. Commitment to the family

Ephesians 2:19 (NLT)
So now you gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family.

e. Planted in the house

Psalms 92:13-14

Those who are planted in the house of the Lord
 shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing (Emphasis added)

f. Submission

Hebrews 13:17

Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you. (Emphasis added)

g. Honor

1 Timothy 5:17, 19 
17 Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine. 19 Do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses. (Emphasis added)

h. Ministry workers

1 Timothy 5:18

For the scripture says, “you shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,” and, “the laborer is worthy of his wages.” (Emphasis added)

  

i. God’s formula of feeding ministers.

Malachi 3:10
Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, 
and try me now in this,”
 says the Lord of Hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing
 that there will not be room enough to receive it. (Emphasis added)

Deuteronomy  14:27

You shall not forsake the Levite who is within your gates, for he has no part nor inheritance with you.

Romans 13:1-2

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.

j. Workplace

Ephesians 6:5-8
Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; not with eye service, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men,   knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. (Emphasis added)

1 Peter 2:18
Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh (Emphasis added)

k. Government

1 Peter 2:13-14
Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by Him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good.

l. Source of your help

Psalms 121:1-2
I will lift up my eyes to the hills — 
from whence comes my help?
 My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.

m. All things works together for good!

Romans 8:28

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (Emphasis added)



To be continued...


~ Apostle Dr. David Karanja.


Apostle Dr. David Karanja is the visionary of Africa Transformation Mission, a ministry under Christ Harvesters Ministries.