Your Mind Is Lying To You | Transitions | Part 3 | Jerry Flowers

Hello church family. You are about to tap into part three of our transition sermon series. We're speaking around this thought from this subject: Your mind is lying to you. It's possible that as you're in transition, your mind is telling you thoughts that's actually wounding your perspective. Tapping in.

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Now, I'm excited about this particular revelation that I'm going to share with you on today. I've been just all week long, this has been just germinating and brewing in my heart. I've been reflecting on what God has been doing in this transition series. Has it been blessing anybody so far? We're just in part three. And I was reflecting on what God did last Sunday. And I've been preaching with every fiber in my being. I preach every sermon like it's my last sermon because one day it will be. And I've been partnering with the Holy Spirit to strive to get us to be a people who number one refuse to die in the middle. Anybody there? I refuse to die in places I'm supposed to pass through. I refuse to die in the wilderness. Every kingdom door that God has ordained for me to walk into, I'm going to walk into it. And every door that the Lord has shut, I'm going to trust his protection.

That's the first thing. And the second thing, I've been striving to the best of my capability and partnering with the Holy Spirit to get us to be people who stop undervaluing the middle. Stop undervaluing the wilderness. Stop undervaluing when you are experiencing a layover season. That's when you have departed from a place, but you have yet to board your connecting flights. And if you're like me, I don't like layovers. Anybody? Y'all don't like layovers. I get on the plane, I want to just get there. But God does wonders in the middle. Because even in the middle, his presence is never missing. Even when there is a appearing delay, God's plan is never dormant because he does wonders in the middle.

And I was reflecting on Joshua chapter 8. Uh, I feel like this just came to me after the sermon. Joshua chapter 8. You remember last Sunday when we were speaking about how the children of Israel were crossing the Jordan and about to go into the promised land and the Levitical priests were holding this ark of the covenant. I want you to see it again. The Levitical priests, they had a requirement. They have to hold the ark of the covenant, which is symbolic of the presence of God. And they're holding it not at the front. They're not holding it at the back. They're holding it in the middle. And I was speaking about, man, this just shows the true heart of a shepherd, the true heart of a pastor. Is I love to see you transition. I love to see you get to your promise. I love to see you become. And I was speaking about how heavy it must have been, 'cause this wasn't five or six people. This was a nation. How heavy it must have been. And as I was speaking to another brother, he told me, "Yeah, it's heavy, but they were carrying his presence." And this is what I desire and this is what you should desire. I may be uncomfortable, but I'm carrying his presence. I may not like my situation, but I'm carrying his presence. You may not even like your job, but you carrying his presence in your home. Peace should reside there because you're carrying his presence.

And then I started to do a little research. I considered when Isaiah went to King went to Hezekiah and told him, "Listen, bro, you going to die. This sickness is going to lead to death. So get your house in order 'cause you're going to die." And so I read it in 2 Kings chapter 20. I want you to see this verse two. It says, 'Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, Now, oh Lord, please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart and have done what is good in your sight." And Hezekiah wept bitterly. Watch the text. And before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, out of the middle court, the middle, the middle. So before he leaves the middle, the word of the Lord came to him because God does wonders in the middle.

I'm gonna keep going. I considered in Matthew 18:20 when Jesus was telling his disciples, "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I will also be in the midst of them." Mist derives from the word middle. In the Greek is immaco. So I'm not the best at math. Like I told you many times before, I still have never used algebra 1, algebra 2, AP calculus. I've never used that demonic statistics. I haven't used any of it yet. But if I look around the room and do some math, I see that there are more than two or three people in the room. So that means that God immo, God is in the midst of his people. Every single time we gather, we shall be jubilant because he immeo, God is in the midst of us. And far be it from us to be a church where there's kabad on the doorpost. The Lord has departed from here. No, we want the Lord here.

And I kept on studying and I considered our salvation portrait. And I noticed that Jesus when he died, he wasn't on the left cross. He wasn't on the right cross, but he was redeeming mankind in the middle. He was making a publical spectacle in the middle. He was transitioning us from death to life in the middle. He was making it known that now we can be shifted from objects of wrath to now adopted sons and daughters of the king. And he was doing all of this in the middle. Somebody say, "I'm in the middle." I'm in the middle. I'm in the middle.

Transition and interwoven. All throughout the fabric of scripture, I see divine transitions. Give you episode after episode from first kings, 1st Samuel chapter 16 to 2 Samuel chapter 5. Speaking of David, we see a divine transition. He shifts from shepherd fields to royal halls, from obscurity to authority, from tending sheep to leading a nation. Because our God operates with divine, y'all talk to me, transitions. More Bible. Ruth chapter 2 to Ruth chapter 4. Ruth went gleaning in the field to later in the next season being the wife to the owner of the field where she was working in, is now working for her because our God is a God of transitions. More Bible. John 11:14 to John 11:44 when Lazarus was dead in one verse, and then Lazarus is raised from the dead in another verse because our God operates with divine, y'all talk to me, transitions.

And if that's not enough, consider Jesus who went from being crucified, from being crushed, mutilated, and mocked to transitioning by raising on the third day with all power in his hand. Conquered the grave, has the keys of hell and of death, ascended into glory, filled us with the Holy Spirit, left us truth to build his church, and he sits on the right side of God the Father, interceding for all the saints. And the story's not done. The king is coming back. The king is coming back. And every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Can we give a God praise that he's God of the middle?

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I don't know who you are. I don't know what you're going through. But right in the middle of it, I want you to remember that God never leaves you nor forsakes you. And this is prophetic for this house, for somebody listening to this message, for somebody watching online. You're in transition season. You're in transition season. And the Lord says, "I'm going to restore you. I'm going to renew you, but you must flush your mind out with the word." Hear me. Hear me. No longer does the Lord desire for his voice to be in competition with your mental narrative. Must transition. God, in this sacred moment, in this hour, we ask you to dwell amongst us and get some glory. Father, we pray that as we look back on the files of our life, we'll say that it was on this day, August the 24th, that I had an encounter that freed me on the inside. And Father, just like I prayed in private, I also declare it in public. All of this study means absolutely nothing if you aren't magnified and aren't glorified. We're asking that you join us. Anoint me as your oracle, the soundtrack, the PA system of heaven. And everyone who agrees with that prayer would just shout all over the room, amen. Amen. And amen.

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A popular passage of scripture, Romans chapter 12 verse 2, where the Apostle Paul tells us to do not be conformed to this world, but to be transformed how? By the renewing of your mind. Don't stop there. Why? So that you may test and discern. See, this is what I was trying to get us to understand in the clarity series. I was trying to get us to understand if your mind is not renewed, you can't even test, right? If your mind is not renewed, you can't even discern. All you can do is guess and be suspicious. Mind renewal is tied to transformation. So we must transition here. Everybody point at your mind. We must transition here if we want to experience transformation out here.

So as I was looking in the text and asking God, how do you want me to speak to your people? Came to me. The Lord wants us to be transformed. See, I think the church has done a great job teaching us how to shout. Shout like you lost your mind and your breakthrough. I think the church has done an excellent job telling you to shout, teaching us how to give, teaching us how to serve. All of those things are great, but that's not where the transformation is. Because you could be shouting and not transformed. You could be given and not transformed. You could be swerving, serving and not transformed. The transformation happens in the mind.

So, as we begin this sermonic presentation, I want to start by asking this question. A question that I want you to consider. It's about to get real real about the next 20 minutes. Are y'all ready? I want you to consider this question: How much has my mind and how much has the way I've been thinking been blocking my transformation? How much has your mind, the way you think, process been working against your transformation? How many blessings have you missed? How much joy have you not experienced? Rather, if it's just the joy of a new sunrise. Because for the believer, for the Christ follower, the disciple of Jesus, when you wake up in the morning, the first emotion you feel should not be anger for months. The first emotion that you feel should not be worry. Where did you get that from? The Bible. What should be the posture of the believer? This is the day that the Lord has made. Watch. I will rejoice and be glad in it. How much has your mind been working against your transformation? How many blessings are you missing? What joy of a new day are you not witnessing because of the way you've been thinking? What anxiety are you having because you are rehearsing disasters that never have been sent? How many nights have you gone sleepless because your mind is replaying pain? Your imagination is starting to conjure up and think about pain and imagining rejection and imagining worst case scenarios and imagining fear. You are inventing storms and they feel so real to you that they seem more real than the promises of God. How much has the way I've been thinking been getting in the way of my transformation?

Let's speak around this thought from this subject for part three of our transition series. Your mind is lying to you. Your mind is lying to you. Ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, my church family, please, please lean in. Right now is not a time to be distracted. Text them after church. Get off of Instagram, off of social media. If you're using your phone, let it be for notes and your Bible. Maybe put it on sleep mode just for a few moments. I want you fully undistracted. I want you to lean in because what I'm about to share with you, not only is prophetic, but it has the possibility to be the most pivotal sermon that somebody has ever heard. And I firmly believe this in my heart that this is possibly going to be one of the most pivotal installments in our transition series. Because transitions are not just about movement, they're about molding. It's not just about movement, it's about molding.

When the master potter has his hand on you. When our sovereign sculptor is shaping you and molding you and chiseling you and anointing you for the task that you're supposed to fulfill while you're here in time. When your season has repositioned, you can't trust the narrator in your head. Your mind can lie to you. I'm going to say it one more time for somebody in the back. When the master potter has his hand on you, when the sovereign sculptor is molding you, shaping you, and chiseling you, and anointing you for the task that you have been born to complete while you're here, this is why you still have a pulse. This is why you still have oxygen in your lungs because there's something you're supposed to fulfill in time. How else do you think you're going to hear "well done" if you didn't do anything well while you're here in time? What have you done well? "Well done, my good and faithful servant." What was well? What was done? And what did you serve faithfully?

When you find yourself in a season of repositioning, you can't trust the narrator in your head because your mind can lie to you. Your mind can lie to you. That's a b is be sure to never allow someone else's thoughts to become your meditation. I'm going to show that to you in scripture in just a few moments. Never allow somebody else's thoughts to become your meditation because if you do, you will end up adopting their thoughts as truth. This is so good, y'all. Never allow what they think, what culture thinks, what society thinks, what your mama and them think, what your friend thinks, what an ex thinks about you to become your meditations. And now you start to believe that is true. Negative. The devil is a liar. We believe Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Christ and Christ's teaching is the truth. Sound doctrine is true. The Rama word is true. The logos is true. The living word is true. That's what we believe is true. The Bible, the inspired breathed word of God, that's our highest authority. Not your comment in my comment section. Truth.

Hear me, church family. If your place transitions but your mind doesn't, if your season shifts but your mind doesn't, your mind will be imprisoned to a cell that your body walked out of. So you have a promised land address but an Egypt mindset. Your body is out of Egypt, but your mind is still serving Pharaoh. Your body is out of 2016, but your mind is still serving 2016. Your body is out of what happened in 1993, but your mind is still rehearsing what happened in 1993. Your body has transitioned from 2020 when we were going through a global pandemic, but your mind, your mind, your mind is still in the exact same place. So when God speaks to you, you can't hear him because you're thinking backwards when he's speaking forwards.

[Music] Talk Holy Spirit. You've walked out of Egypt. That's slavery before Christ. BC days. But your mind is still serving Pharaoh. You're still thinking about what Pharaoh did. You're still thinking about Pharaoh's parties. You're still like Pharaoh type men. You still like Pharaoh type women. We in the house. You still like Pharaoh's attraction, but you're craving, I want the Lord. Why do you think the Apostle Paul says in Romans 8:7, he says, "The carnal mind is enmity against God." For it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. Yes, sir. So, he's saying a mind that is governed by the flesh, a mind that is not renewed, that's hostile to God, it's an enemy to God. Just think about this, church family. Your mind is God's enemy.

In the text, your mind, I want to do it, but your mind won't let me. I'm calling you to it, but your mind won't let me. Here it is. You're calling the devil a liar, but treating me like I'm one. You're saying the devil is a defeated foe, but you're thinking like a defeated foe. I'm trying to get you to think higher. I tell you prophetically, many of us, you not dealing with many demons. You're dealing with mental dialogues. And your mind is given CPR to pain. Your mind is given CPR to doubt. Your mind is given CPR to fear. As though the text does not tell us that God has not given us the spirit of fear, but a power, love, and a sound mind. Your mind is given CPR to worry. As though Jesus didn't tell us in Matthew chapter 6, don't worry. In fact, look to the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap nor gather in barns, but yet your heavenly Father provides for them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Do you not know that every single strand of hair on your head, they're all numbered? And even if you're bald, every pore that hair used to grow out of, they're all numbered. You being evil, if your child asked for a fish, would you give him a snake? You being evil, if you wouldn't give your child wicked things, how much more does your heavenly Father know the things that you need, and he will give them to you. Don't worry about what you're going to wear, what you're going to drink, or what's going to happen. And then Jesus said, "The pagans worry about stuff like that." Are you claiming kingdom but thinking pagan? It's what Jesus says. The pagans think like that. What is he saying? People who don't know Aba, think like that. People who don't have no relationship, think like that. People who don't know I run everything, think like that. People who don't recognize the earth, heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool, think like that. People who don't recognize that I am the author and finisher of your faith, they think like that. People who don't recognize that I've already worked together a plan for you, think like that. People who don't recognize that I could restore unto you the year the caterpillar has stolen, think like that. But sons don't, daughters don't.

You're not dealing with many demons. You're dealing with mental dialogues. Many of us, the suffering that we have, it's not springing forth in your reality. It festers in your mind. It's festering in your mental loops. It's festering in what you keep rehearsing. It's festering in the movie trailers that you're creating in your own head. Some of us deserve Oscars, y'all. We could produce some award-winning movies. You have pre-planned clapbacks from arguments that will never happen. Y'all laughing. I'm so serious. You have gotten agitated and irritated about what you should have said if you could relive it again and have it saved in your frontal lobe so that if they bring it back up, you already know what to say. Am I telling the truth? It festers in your mind. It festers due to the unknown and the uncertainties of a transition season. Not recognizing that uncertainty is God's spiritual dumbbell. That's how he gives your faith some muscle. Y'all missed it. Y'all missed it. Uncertainty. That's God's spiritual dumbbell. That's how he gives your faith some muscle. See, spiritual maturity and deep roots in Yahweh don't blossom from certain seasons. Certainty never stretched anybody's faith. Certainty never made you grow up in God. The only thing that you're certain is that Jesus is Lord. But certainty didn't stretch your faith. But it's the crossroads of the unknown. It's the crossroads of not knowing how this is going to turn out. That's what makes your trust buff. Can I get everybody just do this? I know you might bump your neighbor, but you want your faith buff. You didn't do it right there. Right here, I'm looking at your glass. You didn't do it. You want your faith buff. Then you're saying, "God, give me some uncertainty." You want your trust buff? God, give me some uncertainty. It wasn't until I didn't know how this was going to turn out that God showed that he's a God that knows how to make a way out of no way. He uses uncertainty to make your faith buff. It wasn't until I didn't know what was going to happen and I didn't know if this was going to rob me of my peace that I learned that he is Jehovah Shalama, Jehovah Shalom, God my peace, who knows how to give me peace that surpasses all my understanding. It took uncertainty for God to give my faith some muscle. I had no idea when I felt overlooked, when I felt unheard, when I felt God wasn't answering my prayers and wondering, does he hear me? Then one day the phone rang. Then one day the opportunity happened. Then one day the realtor called and said, "Pastor, we have a tour of a building that we want you to walk into and now we about to walk in and own that building in just a few more months." It took that uncertainty for me to be reminded that he's eligible.

[Applause] You want to grow. Can God trust you with uncertainty? It was it was when I didn't pick the fight, but the fight picked me, and I still walked out victorious, that I learned that he's Jehovah Nissi, God, my banner. It took uncertainty to give faith some muscle. Now I understand why he refers to himself as the I am that I am. Because whatever situation you need me to be, I am. You need peace, I am that too. You need joy, I am that too. You need gladness, I am that too. You need clarity, I am that too. You need wisdom, I am that too. Can we pause real quick and just thank God that whatever we need, he is better than drugs, he is better than a dopamine hit, he is better than a high, he is. But it was the uncertainty that gave my faith and will give your faith some muscle, muscle. Most of our suffering does not spring forth in our present reality. Wow. It festers in your mind. In your mind. What I'm looping and what I'm replaying. And somebody may be like, "Y'all, my struggle is real. You don't understand. This ain't just festering in here. The struggle is real." And even if it is, I want you to see what the writer of Hebrews says. Hebrews 12:4. He says, "In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood." You ain't dying. Your will is dying. See, we're soft in America. Yeah. We get upset off of comments, off of unfollows, off reviews. In other parts of the world, they're dying for Christ. And you're getting upset about heat or it's uncomfortable. It's a little crowded. When we have tortured for Christ stories of when a child is watching his father be killed and the father, the child is saying, "Dad, don't renounce Jesus. Don't renounce Jesus." Chopping his finger off. "Don't renounce Jesus." Chopping his tongue out. "Don't renounce Jesus." And we get mad over a review. Want to give your faith some muscle.

As I told us in part one of our transitions series, I said transitions always invite another level of warfare. Fresh season provokes a fresh fight. And I felt this so firmly in prayer as I was engaged in sermon prep this week that the Holy Spirit was putting this on my heart: Teach my people, partner with me and teach my people how to renew their mind so that they could discern warfare from a wound in their mind that they're causing due to what they're rehearsing. I want my people to be free. They want transformation. But it happens in the mind. The devil doesn't have to bind you when your mind is already doing that. The enemy doesn't have to chain your movement. Your triggers will do that. Oh, I'm about to get in trouble. Your triggers will do that. What is that? Triggers are unresolved parts of you that spread to the way you think due to somebody you haven't forgiven or yourself that you haven't forgave. And triggers have the power to vandalize your witness. All you have to do is be triggered. Your witness is out the window. Jesus who? Disciple where? Follower of Christ where? Kingdom representative where? All you have to do is be triggered and you might get cursed out, knocked out, left out because triggers bring out parts of yourself that conversion hasn't reached yet. Healing hasn't reached yet. The gospel hasn't reached yet. That's why on Sunday we give you gospel. On Wednesday, we give you discipleship. And on Thursday, we give you therapy because we want to cater and edify your whole self. You got Bible, but your mind, sis. You know Bible, but your mind, sir. Triggers. Can I go a little deeper? If you don't allow God to renew your mind and heal you, your triggers can cause you to resist the potter's process. So when the potter calls you to a season of separation and places you in a pasture like he did David, when the potter calls you to a burning bush type of experience, when it's nobody else but just you and God because he wants to show himself to you, he wants to introduce himself to you and reveal your assignment. When he separates you, but you're triggered by being alone because of something called traumatic aloneness. You were a child and your mama left, your daddy left, and they didn't tell you what time they were going to be back. And you find yourself by yourself scared and wondering, are they going to show up again? Are they going to come back? And the sun starts rising and mama walks through the door and you're terrified. So now later at 30 and 40 years old, if God calls you to a wilderness, you're triggered because your mind is still reflecting on what she did. Your mind is still rehearsing on what they said. Your mind is still rehearsing about what that ex said about you. He calls you goofy and now you're trying to be all serious, not recognizing that he gave you a misdiagnosis and God could have wired for you to be goofy because he needs you to work in children's church.

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The carnal mind, please hear me family. I feel the Holy Spirit right now. The carnal mind is an enemy to God. And there's things that he wants to do, but your mind won't let him. The way you think won't let him. He can give you a good spouse, but your mind keeps thinking about bad experiences. And you can't fully appreciate what God has given you. Not because it's the devil, but it's because of your dialogues. Dialogues in your mind, in your head, and until we discern, this is powerful, y'all. Until we discern what is a satanic assault from an untreated scar, we'll keep fighting shadows and calling it warfare. We'll end up fighting people and calling them the devil, fighting regeneration and calling it the devil, fighting accountability and calling it hate because our minds have not been renewed. But I came here on today to help somebody to fight better. Hear me because you've been fighting in the wrong arena. Do you know how to fight in your mind? Because hear me. My renewal in healing is not just an avoidance. That don't work. I ain't going to think about that. I ain't going to think about that. Well, I ain't going to think about that. Has anybody tried it and that failed? Thank you. I'm not the only one. The rest of y'all great. My renewal doesn't happen by a list of dos and don'ts. Healing happens by replacing. So good, y'all. So, let me give you a homework assignment because we're students of the Bible. You find 10 scriptures. Call them your heart commandments. And you memorize them. So, every single time that thought comes to your mind, you have memorized that verse. Where'd you get that from? Jesus. When the devil was tempting him. And what did Jesus say? It is written. How are you gonna fight with your sword if you don't read it? How are you gonna fight with your sword if you don't know it? So he tells you you're no good. You start to believe you're no good versus if you replace it: I am the head and not the tail. I am above and not beneath. I am beautifully and wonderfully made. When I was in the womb, God was forming me and knitting me. Can you fight back? Healing of the mind isn't in avoidance. It's replacement. Replacement.

Here's a question that we need to ask ourselves to challenge our thoughts: Does this thought advance me towards the person God is calling me to be? Somebody say, "My mind." Does this thought compliment or help the person that God is calling for me to be? Every thought, hear me church family. Let me help you memorize. Make it modern. Every thought is an Uber. It takes you somewhere. Every thought takes you to depression because you can't feel what you don't think. Challenge you. If you think about something that you were having a whole lot of fun and a great time in your life, if I tell you to recall that time in your mind now, what were you thinking about? You really can't tell me because you're most free when you're not thinking. You're most oppressed when you're thinking a lot. Every thought is an Uber. It takes you somewhere. Now, you're not going to get to any destination if every Uber that pulls up to you says, "You need a ride." "No, I don't." "You need a ride." "No, I don't." "You need a ride here." "No, I don't." You saying, "No," but you're not transitioning. You're still in the same place. It's not until the Uber pulls up and says, "You need a ride." "No, I already have one." See, I already know that I am blessed and highly favored. I already know no weapon formed against me shall prosper. I already know that God has a plan for my life. I already know that his word never returns unto him void. I already know that I'm not a mistake. This is something I tell Melody all the time when we date. I take her out on dates and I say, "Listen, whatever daddy does, if he don't do that, I pray Jesus come back first. But if he don't do what daddy does, he's not an option. So if you tell Melody she's beautiful, my daddy already told me that. If you tell me I'm special, my daddy already told me that." See, some of us fall to wolves because we don't know what your daddy already told you. But they think I'm cute. They think I'm special. God already told you that.

[Applause] Ephesians 4:23: To be made new in the attitude of your what? minds and to put on the new self created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Isaiah 26:3: You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast. Why? Because they trust in you. I just gave you the whole cheat code. Your perfect peace. It's not that he's not the Prince of Peace. It's that you don't reflect on the Prince of Peace.

I want to show you three biblical episodes of how your mind can get you in trouble while you're in transition. 2 Samuel chapter 10 verse 1 it says, after this the king of the Ammonites died and Hanan his son reigned in his place. And David said, "I will deal loyally with Hanan the son of Nahash as his father dealt loyally with me." So David sent by his servants to console him concerning his father. And David's servants came into the land of the Ammonites. So simply put, his father died. David is sending him some condolences and says, "Hey, I'm going to be loyal to you just like your father was loyal to me." Watch this. But the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanan, their lord, "Do you think? Do you think?" Somebody say, "Mine." "Do you think because David has sent comforters to you that he is honoring your father? Has not David sent his servants to you to search the city and to spy it out and to overthrow it?" So they gave him a thought. Remember I told us never allow their thought to become your meditation. David has good intentions in his heart. But when you're grieving, there it is. When you're grieving, triggers. New position triggers. Now watch this. So Hanan took David's servants and shaved off half of the beard of each and cut off their garments in the middle at their hips and sent them away. So they messed up their lineup, cut their beard in half, cut it to where when they ride, you can see their butt. Okay, watch this. When it was told to David, he sent his men. He sent to meet them, for they were men and they were greatly ashamed. And the king said, "Remain at Jerusalem." I bet, bro. Remain at Jerusalem until your beards have grown and then return. Now, watch this. This is what overthinking does. When the Ammonites saw that they had become a stench to David, have you noticed that your mind is starting to cause things to stink yet? Okay, keep going. The Ammonites sent and hired more, the Beth-rehobites and the Syrians and Zoba, 20,000 foot soldiers. So, hold on. He's getting some soldiers ready. He's getting some soldiers ready. If you read verse seven, it says, "And when David heard it, he sent Joab and all the hosts of the mighty men." So, hold on. Your daddy dies. David is coming to send you some condolences. Somebody gives you a thought. You come in agreement with that thought. Now you in a real battle. This man's first decree as king was, let me take an L. David whooped them boys. It was like the first thing I'm going to do as king is I'm going to allow my mind to cause me to take a fight that never was going to be a fight. But because I allowed somebody else's mind to become my meditation, I'm fighting what would have been a friend. What would have been support, what would have helped me in the season of pain, I now have to fight them. Your mind is lying to you.

I want to give you a whole word. Whenever you're grieving, amplify your prayer life. Okay? Give you another example. This is after God rejected King Saul and he told Samuel, "Go to Jesse's house." Okay? I have a son there that I'm going to anoint king. And so, 1st Samuel chapter 16 verse 6. When they came, this is Samuel. When they came, he looked at Eliab and thought, "Surely the Lord's anointed is before him." But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or on his height of stature." Y'all missed it. He looked at Eliab and thought, "Wow, you just caught it." He looked at Eliab and thought, "Surely the Lord's anointed is before them." But the Lord said, "Do not look at the appearance or the height of his stature because I rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees. Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." So the prophet Samuel is a real prophet. He's a real one, but he's about to pick real wrong. We're not talking about somebody who doesn't walk with God. How are you a whole prophet and about to pick wrong? He thought. So I don't care how much Bible you read. I don't care how long you pray, your mind still can lie to you. Hear me. Hear me. Okay. The reason you have to amplify your prayer life when you're grieving is because your mind will make you date Eliab. Your mind, he thought, your mind will make you entertain Eliab. Your mind will cause for you to take counsel from Eliab. Whenever your heart is still tethered to the last season, it will make you elevate the wrong thing, crown the wrong king. This is why prayer is so needed because God corrected him. Cuz prayer is a place where your tears are interpreted, your wounds are ministered to, and discernment is recalibrated.

Can I give us a whole chart to help us? The mind lies most. I want you to see this chart. Three things. The mind lies most when you're grieving, leaving, or becoming. That's when you'll lie, that's when your mind will lie the most. When you are grieving, leaving, or becoming. When you are grieving, that's trauma. That's an ending or a disappointment. You're leaving a location, a relational status, or role. You're not serving that role anymore. The mind will begin to lie to you. When you're becoming, that's when you're detoxing, you're developing, or God has given you some form of influence. So, some may ask, how do you know that Samuel was grieving? Because you said grieving, leaving, and becoming. It's 'cause I read my Bible. 1st Samuel 15:35 says, "And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death. But Samuel grieved over Saul. And the Lord regretted that he made Saul king over Israel." I read that and that stung. I said, "Lord, please, I don't ever want you to regret that you called me to be a servant. I don't ever want you to regret that you called me to be a pastor." 1st Samuel 16:1. The Lord said to Samuel, "How long will you grieve over Saul since I have rejected him?" Can I give y'all a whole word? Some of us are crying over what God rejected. Yeah. I mean, you boohooing, that ugly cry, snotting and crying and not recognizing God's like, "How long you going to cry over what was never my will? It's not what you could have done. It's not if you would have did this better. It's not if you would have changed this. This was not my plan. I have rejected it." How long you going to cry over it? It happened. I understand that. It's over. Moses, my servant, is dead. How long you going to grieve? You go through every phase you need, boo hoo. But your phase shouldn't be a decade. Don't make what happened in a season a state. Better yet, don't yet don't let what happened in a season become your personality. You change your whole person because of what happened. Next time I open up, bro, going to be my autopsy. I ain't open up ever again. You opened up to Judas.

[Applause] [Music]

Your mind is lying to you. And on the flip side of this, you could be arrogant and your mind lies to you. Esther chapter 6:9, this is when King Xerxes, there was an assassination attempt on his life. And he started to think about, man, what ever happened to the person who saved me from being assassinated? Mordecai was the one that helped him. And so he was like, man, nothing ever happened to that dude who saved them boys from riding on me, man. I got to do something. I got to help him. And then the person who hates Mordecai, Haman, is walking towards Xerxes. So Xerxes is like, "Oh, there's Haman. Hey, I should ask him what I should do." So Esther chapter 6:9 says Esther 6:6 it says, when Haman entered, the king asked him, "What should be done for the man the king delights to honor?" Now Haman thought, you seen it, arrogance would do. Have you think all about you? Now Haman thought to himself, "Who is there that the king would rather honor than me? I'm about to tell him all types of stuff." So he told the king, "All right, man. Look, for the man the king delights to honor, have him bring a royal robe to have him bring a royal robe the king has worn and a horse the king has ridden and with the royal crest placed on his head." That ain't enough. Then let the robe and the horse be entrusted to the one the king, one of the king's most noble princes. Let the robe, let them robe the man the king delights to honor. And lead him on the horse through the city streets, proclaiming before him, this is what is done for the man the king delights to honor. King Xerxes is like, "Wow, that's a great idea." Verse 10, "Go at once," the king commanded Haman, "Get the robe and the horse and do just as you have suggested for Mordecai, the Jew who sits at the king's gate." Watch this. "And do not neglect anything." Keep that same energy, bro. That same energy that you are thinking about yourself, do it to the person you hate. That same energy. See, I never understood this. How is it you badmouth me out loud? Exactly. You badmouth me out loud, but you don't keep that same energy about all the good stuff I did. What about when I paid for your lunch? What about when I was there when she broke your heart? What about I was there when they kicked you out and you have no place to stay?

[Applause] He had a thought, but was wrong. Your mind could lie to you when you're grieving. Your mind could lie to you when you're leaving. Your mind can lie to you when you're becoming. And your mind most certainly lies to you when you're arrogant. Because he thought it was all about him when God was preparing something for Mordecai.

Can I get all of us to say this? Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, renew, renew, heal, heal, and detox my mind. Detox my mind. Fill me with your word. Fill me with your word. Not my worries. Not my worries. In Jesus name. In Jesus. One more time, say it loud. Everybody watching online, put it in rooms in all caps. Can I get all of us to say, "Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, renew, renew, heal, heal, and detox." And detox. "My mind." My mind. "Fill me with your word." Fill me with your word. "Not my worries." Not my worries. "In Jesus name." In Jesus name. Does anybody receive that? Amen.

So now I just want to give us some tangibles on how to actually do this. Okay? Because you must understand the mind doesn't just have a perspective. It has a position. Okay? This is how we call it a mindset. Your mind is positioned and set in a place. You know why people are bitter? Their mind is set on what happened. You know why you still feel something when you see them? Your mind is set. See, so you have a mindset. And that mindset is pregnant with emotions. So what your mind is set on, you start to physically feel. I have had conversations. This is how I knew I wasn't healed about something. I've had conversations where I'm explaining to Warren about something that's happening and I'm talking about this and then by the time I'm done with the conversation, I'm like, "Man, that was just shady, bro." You ever start to hear your heartbeat? I'm starting to get mad all over again. It's still there. It's still there. It's still there. And God wants us to be healed to such a degree that when we can see them or even see you. Say, "Well, you meant for evil, God meant for good." Hold on, I'm not done yet. Do you know you're really mature when you can say this? "Forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing." They didn't even know.

So the mind, first chart I'm going to give you. The mind, I said this, but I want us to see it and get it. The mind is soil. So you have the mind, you have planting, and you have watering. Okay? I really, really need us to view our minds like this. The mind is soil. This dirt outside this church right now does not care what seed I plant. Its job is to provide room and bore for it and then push the identity of that seed out. That's the job of dirt. It's the same job in your mind. Same job of of your mind. Whatever thought is a seed that gets planted in your mind when you meditate on it, that's watering it. When you're watering it, that's how it grows. So everybody say, "The mind is soil." The mind is soil. What I think about puts it in my mind. What I think about puts it in my mind. What I rehearse it waters it. What I rehearse it waters it. Okay. So always remember that every DM is a seed. Every Netflix show that you binge is a seed. Every hub that you deleted.

Your history from is a seed. Now every time you delete and go back, you're watering it. You're watering it. You're watering. You deleted the contact but not the text thread. So sometimes, oh, I'm on somebody's foot. I felt it. So sometimes you go back and look at the thread, watering it.

That's why sometimes you have to get off social media because sharing my memories waters it. And you have to be honest enough to say, "I'm not healed enough right now for that. I'm not healed enough to watch this right now. That still hurts." That's okay. You're human.

But are you taking the necessary precautions to observe and be careful who you let in your garden? That's your mind. Now, the process of mind renewal, I'll give you these points. We're going to break them down. The process of mind renewal is soil preparation, planting, watering, weeding, sunlight, time, and harvest. I want to help us. I can't stand sermons that preach about a problem but don't give you some tangible steps. Okay? Soil preparation, planting, watering, weeding, sunlight, time, and harvest. I don't know what happened. Just put it back up in a second. Just put up the regular chart. They were taking pictures. The regular chart. I want you to see all of it. Okay.

Soil preparation. I'm going to break each one of these down where we can get it. But first, I want to give you some scriptures where you can understand this. Okay? You need the Holy Spirit to do this. Discipline is not sacred or secular. It doesn't matter. A sinner could be disciplined. I'm not talking about discipline. I'm talking about renewal. Okay? You need the Holy Spirit for that. Bible all day. Titus chapter 3 verse 3. "For we ourselves were also once." We should all have a "also." We should also all have a "once." Nobody caught that. "We were all once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lust and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another, but with the kindness and the love of God our Savior towards man appeared. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us through the washing, watch the text, of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior." John 14:26. "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and bring to your what's that word? remembrance all things I have said to you." So the Holy Spirit is the one that does the regeneration. The Holy Spirit is the one that does the washing. The Holy Spirit is essential for transformation.

However, the Holy Spirit cannot bring back up to your remembrance what you have not memorized. I can't believe how many Christians have been saved for years and you never read the whole Bible at least once. If you knew, I understand. But you've been saved since 2015, ma'am. Bro, you've been saved since 2008 and you haven't read the whole Bible at least once. There is no way my father could die and my mom tell me he left me 66 letters he wants you to read and I don't go look for them. No way. I'll be searching for those letters. And do you think I would have to discipline myself to read what he wrote me? He says, "He left you some letters, son, and he wants you to read them. He got a lot of things in store for you. It's going to help you in life if you read all the stuff he left you." I'm going to read every day. Because if you're like me, when I don't read, I'm not the same. I feel like something's missing when I don't read. I'm more irritable when I don't read. I don't pray.

So, we must have the Holy Spirit. Number one, soil preparation. That's the break up of the ground. Simply put, you can't plant seeds in hard ground. Before God plants in you, he has to plow through you. So in transition, it may feel like a wrecking ball is hitting your life. That's good. That's God killing the ground. That's him getting the soil ready. Hosea chapter 10 verse 12. "Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground. For it is time to seek the Lord." That's the part. We've been lazy too long. It's time to seek the Lord. He's coming back. Will you come? Will you go with him? He's tilling the ground.

Number two, planting. This is the influence factor. Seeds are whatever we watch, whatever we hear, the conversations we entertain, and thoughts we rehearse. Okay? So, what goes in your head will show up in your harvest. "I don't know why I just keep cursing, man. Pastor, I'm trying so hard to keep to stop cursing people out, but man, when I get mad, all these words come to me." Listen at your playlist and tell me, are you paying $9.99 a month to get cursed out? I'm so serious. Seeds will always show up in your harvest. "You're so lustful. What are you planting?" That's the influence factor.

Number three, watering. That's the rehearsing and playing. Hear me, family. Whatever you revisit, whatever you meditate on, you're giving muscle to. Both faith and mental torment grow the same way. Faith and mental torment, they both grow the same way. Hearing and rehearsing. The more you play it, replay it, the deeper the roots. Romans chapter 10 verse 17. "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

Number four, weeding. This is the hard part right here, family. Weeding is the removal of distractions. It's when God removes and you partner with him, pointing out what needs to be removed, too. That's the need of the gardener because weeds choke growth. Weeds suffocate fruit. What is that? That's toxic relationships. Toxic thinking. You are tired because you watched a whole show. You had to see next episode. Not recognizing many of us are addicted to next episode, but you can't read a whole Bible plan. But you binged a whole series. It's not that you don't have time. You don't have desire.

This is why I need the Holy Spirit. Hear me. What's not pulled up pulls down. Whatever you don't allow the Lord to pull up will eventually pull down. Character down, begin to pull down joy. Matthew 13 verse 22. It's the parable that Christ gave that I mentioned when I was giving the parable series earlier this year. "Now he who received the seed among the thorns, he is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful." So it's not as though I'm not preaching and giving you the strategy. Are you applying it when you leave here?

Last three and we're done. Sunlight. Sunlight. Word play. That's the sun's presence. S.O.N. is spiritual photosynthesis. It's when what has been planted in your heart, when you allow God to shine on it and work on you, it begins to grow. You start to value Christ and value Christ's teachings. Your desire begins to change. You're like a pregnant woman. What you used to eat now makes you nauseous. Certain smells make you nauseous. You're like a pregnant woman. Your walk begins to change after you hit your second and third trimester, not because of legalism, but because you're carrying something. And everything around you begins to change because you're pregnant. You're like a pregnant woman. People can look at you and tell that you're carrying something, and sometimes they ask to touch it. So now people want to get in touch with you.

Number six, time. Growth doesn't happen overnight. The only thing that grows overnight is fungus. It's a mushroom. That's it. Takes time. It's always hidden before it's visible. Mark 4:28. "First the blade, then the ear, then the full grain." Time. This is the part where people don't like because I've never understood how is it you can have all that time in rebellion, but then you want God to rush during your renewal. You did your thing for 32 years. Got saved last weekend and you want God to do it now. See, that's the part we don't, we got to touch on that later because we don't like talking about the flushing part. We don't want to consider all the stuff that we did before we accepted Christ. Why else do you think the Lord says, "Remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth, so that you're not old dealing with all the stuff from the days of your youth."

Last point, the harvest. That's when reaping what you sowed is experienced. And if you don't like your harvest, change your seed. Change your seed. Gave you tangibles. Tangibles. Hear me. You don't arrive at the place you want to arrive at just because you desire to. Transformation happens right here in the mind. So, let's just be honest. Come on, bro. Let's just be honest. Nobody's judging just in this moment. If you know your mind has been affecting your transformation, just stand wherever you are. All over the building, upstairs, downstairs, overflow, it's almost the whole sanctuary. Your mind. Your mind. I don't understand. We're going to have to do a mind series, bro, because he says that's how you get transformed. Do you not understand? After you accept Christ as your Lord and Savior, the next important task is renewal of the mind. And that happens in discipleship. So you quoted the word, but you're not seeing fruit from the word. No transformation.

So, we what we want to pray right now is for God to flush our minds. No distractions. You're not going to look at me. Let's all just get our hearts in a posture of prayer. I told you the biggest conviction was, I don't know. Last year I said, I don't know if Christ came here, would he label this as a house of prayer? And that changed the way I preach and pastor. So we're always going to be a praying church. So in this moment, I want us to have hearts of prayer. Our hearts have been tilled. And Lord, forgive us and speak to us in Jesus name. So everyone, lay hands on your mind. Put your hands on your mind. And as we pray, let's just repeat that confession again. Repeat after me.

Holy Spirit, renew, heal, and detox my mind. Fill me with your word, not my worries. In Jesus name.

One more time. Holy Spirit, renew, heal, and detox my mind. Fill me with your word, not my worries. In Jesus name.

Now, Holy Spirit, we've given you access and we pray right now that every mental stronghold be torn down now in the name of Jesus. Father God, we pray that you literally wipe our mental rolodex and allow your Spirit to infiltrate the crevices of our mind and replace our thought processes with a thought process that reflects kingdom. God, we pray right now that you will just enter into every tormenting thought. We silence every tormenting voice. We cancel every spirit, every attack that tries to keep your people stuck. Every stronghold be torn down now in the name of Jesus. Every thought that keeps competing for your voice, God. Let it be eradicated now. Flush our system. Wipe our mental rolodex. Help us to now move from our mental torment and the residue of our thought process into mental transformation. Transform the way we think. God, help us to align our thought processes with the thought process of heaven. Tune us to the frequency of heaven. God, I pray right now that you literally change the channels in our minds. Help us to now eradicate and get rid of those things that compete for your voice, for your presence. Forgive us for the times that we place something else above your voice, that we've elevated our own thoughts, God. I hear you, Holy Spirit, over what you've said about us. Help us to be reminded of your word. Give us a desire for your presence in prayer. Give us a desire for us to seek after you with all of our hearts, God. I pray that you would just infiltrate our minds, God, and repair the thoughts that have been sabotaging our perspective. The things that have been keeping us stuck, every mental chain, let it be broken now in the name of Jesus. I pray for everything that's been competing just for your thoughts. We can't hear you because we keep replaying cycles. We keep replaying torment. We keep replaying heartbreak. God, we pray right now that you would heal our minds, God. Heal our minds in the name of Jesus. And every crack that the enemy has used to circle back and infiltrate our thought perspective, God, let this season of revolving doors be canceled now in the name of Jesus. That we would think on the pathway that you've called for us, and then we would be doing good, and then all of a sudden we would revert back. God, let us not revert back to the vomit of our mental tormenting past. Heal our minds, God. Heal our minds. And we pray a supernatural prayer right now for those of us who have an inability to connect with the power that you've placed on the inside of us, for us to think about ourselves in the way that you think about us. I pray against every self-sabotaging thought. I hear you, Holy Spirit. Every thought that keeps your people thinking that they are less than, we cancel it down in the name of Jesus. Every thought that keeps your people believing that they cannot accomplish what you have said about them because the demonic kingdom keeps reminding them of their past, we cancel it now in the name of Jesus. That there will be supernatural freedom. Freedom in the mindset, freedom in our mindsets, God, that you would break every yoke, loose every chain. We bind every demonic spirit in Jesus name. Help us to connect with what you said, that we would think on the level that you have set for us. We are seated in heavenly places. Help us to stop dumbing down our thoughts, that we will set our minds on things above.

As an act of faith, I just need you, even with your eyes closed, just lift your head up towards heaven. Gone are the days that you keep hanging your head in guilt, shame, and condemnation. Lift your head, O ye gates, and be lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord God, strong and mighty. The Lord God, mighty in battle. When he is fighting for you, if you just give him the mental space to step in and to heal the places in your mind that keep you stuck and broken. May this week that your mind will begin to be restored. That you would reconnect your thought process to think on heaven's plane. We thank you now for the power of the Holy Spirit infiltrating our minds.

And just say this as a declaration: "I will never think the same way again." See, you didn't say it like you believe it. You said it like you're going to go back to the same way of thinking. Last week, say it like you mean it: "I will never think the same way again in Jesus name." Somebody shout amen.

So, with our eyes closed, with our eyes closed, for those of you who are saying, "Listen, I'm here and I want to know this Jesus who gives me the power to get free from this mental torment. I want to know this Jesus who gives me the power to step into this freedom." And you're saying that, "I don't want to leave here without that power and access to the Holy Spirit." We're going to pray this prayer. And I want you to be honest with yourself to say, "I've known of Jesus, but now I really want to know him. I really want to walk with him. I really want to be in his presence and align my thought process to his." Just repeat after me.

Jesus, I need you.

Now say it like you mean it: Jesus, I need you. Come into my mind. Come into my heart and save my life. I believe that you died for me. I believe that you rose for me. And because you got up, I now have the power to get up out of mental torment, out of mental loops. And I can think in alignment with your word. I declare, I need a savior. So save me from myself. Save me from my sin. Save me from the mental torment that I have experienced so that I can walk in freedom and experience your power in the name of Jesus. Today I declare, I am yours in Jesus name. Somebody shout amen.

Now, if that's your first time praying that prayer, if that's your first time praying that prayer, accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior, let me see your hands. If that's your first time, I see hands. Can we celebrate with heaven? Oh, come on. Heaven is throwing a party for you. Heaven is throwing a party for you. Welcome home. If this is your first time accepting Jesus, I want you to text Fresh Start to the number on the screen because you were not created to do life in isolation.