Set Your Mind On God

John chapter 10. The Lord is speaking. Says in verse 1: "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, same as the thief and a robber. Who enters by the door as the Shepherd of the sheep, to him the door keeper opens. And the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings them out, his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will, and by no means, follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of a stranger."

One more two-verse passage from Second Thessalonians chapter 2. Paul writing: "This is now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, in our gathering together to him, we ask you to not be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as it is from us, as though the day of Christ had come."

For a little while today, I failed to preach on this New Year's service: "To Set Your Mind on God." Set your mind on God. You may be seated. Thank you for worshiping today.

He was hailed — Hale's Brilliant Minds of the 20th century. The word genius gets thrown around a lot, but in his case it was an understatement. His thesis on the dynamics of human conflict would revolutionize economic theory, and eventually win him a Nobel Prize. He did this work at the age when many people are still trying to figure out how to move away and out of Mom and Dad's house. Before he was out of his 20s, he was a distinguished professor at MIT. But at the height of his career, John Nash suffered a breakdown. He interrupted a lecture to announce that he was on the cover of Life magazine, disguised as the Pope. He claimed that foreign governments were communicating with him through media. He suspected every man that wore a red tie was a part of the Communist Party. Paranoid delusion is one of the most difficult forms to treat in all of psychopathic therapy. He saw people. He heard voices in his head. It's well documented that he realized it was not real, what was taking place. But they played on his darkest fears. And when he listened to him, they destroyed his life. His relationships distorted his precepts, made him obsessive and irrational and terrified. He was able to learn, over time, the art of discernment. And he learned to test the voices, to try to discover which ones were false and which ones were real, which ones were in reality. He learned not to do what they requested. And while never completely freed from his illness, he discovered that over time, their hold on his mind could be greatly weakened. John Nash experienced a revolution of the mind. And eventually he learned how to go forward in life. He is quoted as saying this: that we all hear voices; we just have to learn which ones to listen to. Something powerful in that statement: that we all hear voices.

Two people can suffer from the very same diagnosis. One becomes bitter and despairing, while the other holds on to hope and encourages people around him. The diagnosis is the same. The difference is what they have their mind set on. Two people can live and have the same meager financial resources. One of them is consumed by envy and discontent. The other is radiant with gratitude and thankfulness for what they do have, and what they are blessed with. Their net worth is the same, but the difference is what they have their mind set on. Two people live in the same universe where God is always present. One of them decides that in every thought, and every intent, that there is no room for God whatsoever. The other says, "Always before me, I have set You, O Lord." God's offer of availability is exactly the same. The difference is what their mind is set on.

The mind is an instrument, very powerful, staggering with potential. But his potential is not measured by IQ, our academic degrees, regardless of what society tries to tell. This, here's the deal, here's the truth, this is a reality: we all hear voices. We all hear voices. Admitting so doesn't mean you're crazy or delusional. There are voices inside of you, always present, that we're tuning into. Sometimes they're just thoughts. Sometimes they're simply voices that are in my head. Some of them are distorted. Many of them are destructive. They speak to me thoughts of envy and resentment and fear and pride and lusts. Some of them are healthy and strong, and they speak words of love and truth and encouragement. And the ones I listen to shape my life, and they make me who I am. And what my mind is set on has the ability to determine where my destiny is going to be. And I've come here today, on this very first Sunday of 2020, 2023, to tell you: it matters what voice you're listening to. It matters what your mind is set on. It's not good to just go idly by, and let anything into your head, and entertain every thought. But there are some things you need to turn off, and there are some things you need to, to turn into. And I'm here to say, if you want to start this year off right, it matters what your mind is set on. There's one voice above all voices that we are instructed to call and listen to. Jesus said that he is the Good Shepherd, that his sheep follow his voice because they know it. They know what it sounds like. They know what it, what it is when he speaks. They'll never follow a stranger. In fact, this word that I just read to you says they will run away from the stranger, because they're not familiar with that voice.

Oh, I'm worried about some, then they're in this present day, they've become so familiar with voices that they should not be acquainted with. And they're comfortable with their surroundings, and things that are destructive, and have no purpose, and have no meaning, and have no reason to be in your life, other than to destroy what God's trying to do. And it's something that I want to bring attention to, because I'm afraid some of us are far too comfortable with the wrong voices in our life.

Jesus said he's the Good Shepherd. We have to learn to program our minds to be constantly receiving a divine channel, and learn how to filter out the junk of this world. What I feed my mind determines what I'm going to be in life. What I feed my mind shapes who I will be. And we must believe that God desires to speak to you in 2023. Do you believe that? Do you believe that God desires to speak to you in your life every day? Do you believe that? Do you really believe that? I'm not just saying that so that I'll move on to the next point, but I need to know that you believe that God Almighty, the one who spoke the world into existence, who said everything in place around us, and everything we know — that same God desires to talk with you on an intimate level, every day of your life. Do you believe that?

We have to settle some things in our mind, that God's doing something here. We are January 1st, 2023, and I believe it's important to set ourselves up for success. It's always interesting to reflect back on what we're going to do as a year ends and a year begins. We, all of us, at one point or another — I'm sure — have thought about the ending of a year in the upcoming of a new year. For some, we pencil down goals, and we set, uh, resolutions that we're going to do. It's always, what I feel like is a little bit funny sometimes, to hear what people say their New Year's resolution is. Studies have shown that most New Year's resolutions, by the time January 15th rolls around, have already been abandoned. 15 days in, people like, "It's too much. It's too hard. I give up." I hope that's not how our relationship with God turns out to be. If we want to be successful in 2023 — and by successful, I mean in every area of your life — does anybody in here want to be successful in 2023? It's not a trick question. Anybody want to be successful? I don't know about you. If I'd shoot my hand up — did anybody want to be a failure? No. You want to be successful. Anybody want to be successful in 2023? Okay, if you raise your hand, then you need to settle this in your heart and your mind. Here's the truth: God wants to speak to you. God wants to speak to you. The author of life desires to commune with you, desires to tell you what his plan and his purpose is for your life. And if you want to be successful, I would, I would encourage you, I would implore you, to tune in to what his Spirit's trying to say. Because one thing I know for sure: God's will will always be done. And if you can discover what his will, and plan, and purpose is for your life, then you're on a winning team. You have a success already mapped out and laid out for you in your life.

If we're going to be in personal relationship with people, it requires that we pay attention. There has to be two-way communication. Even the most uncommutative husband grunts every once in a while. Otherwise, it's just the monologue. It's not a relationship. But the God I speak of here, on this first day of the year, does more than just grunt. God desires to be with you every day. Even in a purely human level, being with someone is never purely physical. Two people can occupy the exact same space in the same room, but if one of them is sleeping, or is in a coma, or perhaps tuned into a, to a bowl game, and not really paying attention, they're not really with each other. Being with another person requires what may be called interactive awareness: that I am aware that you are with me, and that the things that you say are influencing me, and the things that I say are influencing you. Our thoughts, our feelings, what's going on inside of each other, we interact. Because we are finite beings. We have our bodies, and we possess inside of them. And because we are finite, we do not have direct access to each other's thoughts. Now, there are people that we can be closer to. I've been married for 23 years, and I usually have a pretty good understanding of what's going on in Chastity's mind. Usually, I have a pretty good idea. There are moments when I get a curveball. Every now and then. But usually, because she's the person that I'm the closest to in this world — because of that. But I still don't know every thought that's in her mind. She doesn't know every thought that's in my mind, because we're, we're finite. We don't have that ability. God, however, is different. God is infinite, rather than finite. So he's able to guide our thoughts directly. He can speak to us through scripture. He can also use other people around us in our lives to talk to us. He has direct access, and he can plant a thought in our minds, anytime, anywhere. That's why it's important that you know his voice, because he's not the only one there. Thoughts come to us. Sometimes it's fleshly thought. Sometimes it's things that are — there are temptations around us. As anybody besides me willing to admit that sometimes you have crazy thoughts? You've heard me say this before. There are times when I'm mowing my yard, the dumbest stuff in the world comes to me, while I'm living in circles out in the front yard, mowing grass. I don't know why, but there's something about being on that lawnmower draws out the crazy inside of my head. Maybe it's the vibrations. Maybe it's the home of the motor. I don't know. But things come to my mind, and oftentimes they're out there, going, "Why in the world are you thinking about — their, their thoughts that come in." But do I allow them access to stay? Do I give them the liberty to be there, for me to dwell on them? And there are times, without any hesitation or reservation, I know without any doubt, God is speaking to me in my mind. He is placing something there, and I need to pay attention. Because God's able to do that anytime and anywhere. In other words, it is possible that any given thought that runs through my mind could have been guided there by God. Am I easily dismissing those things, or am I allowing other thoughts to occupy space where God belongs? That means that, that at any given moment, God can divinely interrupt your day with something very powerful, if you're willing to listen to. That — is anybody besides me experienced one of those moments before? When, out of nowhere, God spoke a divine word right into your mind, right into your spirit, and you knew without any doubt, it's God speaking to me right now? I'm thankful that he's that way, that he's a personal God, willing to meet me where I'm at, to come down to my level and say, "Kevin, I have something this special just for you. I want you to think about today." But I have to be willing to tune into it.

We need to recognize that we cannot control God's speaking. There's much about God speaking that's still a mystery to me. One thing I know for sure is, there is no exact formula for how it works. I cannot control God's communicating with me. I, I can go things that I know that I have access to, like his word. It's there. He speaks to me through his word. He speaks to me through teaching. He speaks to me through preaching. He speaks to me through other people. But, but there are other ways that God uses to speak to us, and I can't control those. I cannot force God to speak through my, through my piety, my sincerity, or my hard work. I cannot force God to, to, to guide me in any given moment. But I can tune in to what he's trying to do, and allow him to guide me. I can't force it, but I can tune into it. Or — are you picking up what I'm saying here? I, I can't — I can't look. My — we're going to start a fast tomorrow. And it's something I need to know about fasting. Fasting is not us strong-arming God into doing something we want. All right? If that's why you're — is that, if that's what you're going to try to do starting tomorrow, I'm here to tell you, you're just going to waste your time and be really hungry. Fasting is bringing my flesh into submission. Fasting hurts, and it's no fun, and we don't like it, because it goes counter to what our flesh desires to do. Mark my word: everybody's bringing donuts this week to work. Everybody's going to invite you to lunch this week to work. You're going to get free coupons that will expire in one day this week. That's what happens when you fast. You're going to be hiding. You're going to smell where people went to lunch. But we have to learn how to get my flesh quiet, so that I can tune into what God's trying to tell me. I have to learn again, bring my flesh down. I have to learn to push some staves, some things away out of my life, because there's too much distraction, and too much noise all around me. I cannot force God to give me guidance, but I can tune in, because he's always trying to guide me.

There may be a reason for, for, for often times why God remains silent. Wednesday night, I preached about that: what do you do with the silence of God? If you were not here, I'd encourage you to go back this past Wednesday night, and to listen to that message. What do you do? What do you do when God doesn't speak back, when he remains silent on the subject? First, you go to his word. God's silence does not mean God is absent. He is surely capable of making himself understood when he has directions to give. So if we cannot force God speaking — and it's not wise to try — there are things we can do to make our minds increasingly receptive to his presence in our thoughts. Every thought holds a promise of carrying me into God's presence. Every thought has the possibility of carrying me into God's presence. God is never more than one single thought away. Even if I haven't thought about him for days, even if it's been years since I've thought about him, I can be immersed, and get past myself, and be in his presence, by just simply knowing and acknowledging that he is there. He is everywhere. There's no place you can go that God's not there. There is no place you can go that God's not there. You don't have to drive somewhere to get there. You don't have to fly somewhere to get there. He's just there. But what happens is, we get so distracted. And we get so consumed with self, and other things that are around us, and our problems, and our struggles, and our — and all the issues are there. I'm not saying that you can't be aware of those things, but you need to be more aware than, in the middle of my trial, my God's still here. Then in the middle of my circumstances, my God's still here. In the middle of what's going on around me, I may not like any of it, but what I know to be true: God is still here with me in this moment, in time.

If we're careful, we can learn to recognize his voice. But the kind of thoughts that come from God are those that are in line with the fruit of his Spirit. They move us towards love, and joy, and peace, and patience. And when we learn that, there are other thoughts that are not likely to be God speaking. For instance, nowhere in the Bible does it say, "And then God worried." Nowhere, not one instance in this holy book that he has blessed us with, does it ever say God woke up anxious. That God was uncertain. That he was unsure. So here's what I know: when I have anxious thoughts, when I'm, when I'm unsure about something, those are not God's thoughts. Well, I'm trying to help somebody right now, because I know that there is more than one individual in this place who struggles with anxiety. That when those anxious thoughts come in, you need to learn how to evaluate where it is, and what is it there for, and know that those things don't come from God. Sometimes you got to talk your way through this. And I'm not trying to downplay anxiety. I'm not trying to downplay the depression, or — that's all real stuff. I know it's real. It's there. But I'm trying to tell you that even in the midst of that going on, God's still present. And sometimes you need to acknowledge and identify what the thought is that's not from God. "Because that's an anxious thought. So God, where are you? I don't want to dwell on my anxious thought. I want to know, God, what you have to say for me in this moment. I don't want to get caught on the negative. But God, because I know you're not over there, God, you've got something good for me. And you seem to be quiet. Fill out the spirit, and figure out where he is." I need to be quite confident, and so do you, that my thoughts can move me forward, and out of that paralyzing anxiety, I can push forward. I'm going to say again: I'm not saying this is the, the one-size-fit-all recipe for how you never have to deal with anxiety and depression. I am telling you this: God's still there.

I'm coming up against something right now, and I just feel this in my spirit. I got to push in here a little bit. Let's — depression doesn't have to be crippling. Anxiety does not have to prevent you from what God wants to be. In the name of Jesus, I rebuke that life. Huh? I rebuked that lie. My God is more than able to bring you through whatever negative thought is holding you back. He is more than able. You have to figure out how to tune into that voice, and tune out the record that's causing you negative thoughts. Lean in and say, "God, I can't feel you right now. I need some direction. I know this is the truth: God, you are here. So wherever you are, I'm going to feel that until I find you." In this month, somebody needs to do a little bit more searching around. Because I promise you, if you search, you will find him. Seek, and you shall find. Knocking, it shall be open unto you. In 2023, we need to say yes when he speaks. We need to say yes when he speaks. Well, I feel a boldness coming over me. Fall forward: you need to say yes when he speaks, and quit allowing fear to hold you back.

You know what I love about God? I love that our God — he's a big God, and that he has big ideas. And they are bigger than me. But here's a reality: I can't allow myself to simply be limited, because I can't comprehend what God's going to do. Here's the truth, you ready? God's always going to call you into something bigger than you. If you can do it by yourself, you don't need God. Therefore, God wouldn't call you to do that. God's always going to call you to a place where you're going to have to turn around, say, "There's no way I can do that." And he's going to say, "I know. But I'm here." Somebody needs to say yes in 2023 to that big idea that God's planting inside, and quit coming up with excuses for why it can't happen. I'm here to tell you: say yes to what God wants to do. For some of you, it's going to be a job change. For some of you, it's going to be a ministry change. For some of you, it's going to be — it's going to be reaching out to your friends and your neighbors and your co-workers in a way that you never dreamed. I'm here to say: say yes to what God's wanting to do this year.

Her mind becomes a little more receptive each time we tune into the voice. I've used this example before, but it's just funny and hits close to home, because it's, it's my story. When I first started dating Chasity — this is back before cell phones. This was back when we only had pagers. We called them beepers. "I'm going to be 47, 11 days, to go with me." Actually, I said something that was not completely accurate. We had phones, but they didn't fit in your pocket. They were called bag phones, because it was in a bag, and you had to plug it into what we called the cigarette lighter. I know that's a term that's gone by too. That's like, you know, you want to — a generation, give them a manual transmission, and give them a key that they have to unlock the door of the car to. Y'all remember when we had two keys for every car? Yeah, yeah. You had one for the door only, and then one for the ignition. I don't know why they did that. I don't know why it took them so long to figure out you could do it all with one key. But that's the world we grew up in. My wife, her house she grew up, and they had two phone lines. They had a phone line for upstairs, for Chastity and Josh. And they had the downstairs line. Then I want to call Chastity, I'd call, and sometimes her mother would pick the phone up. Now, here's the deal: we were the beginnings of our relationship, okay? And believe it or not, during that time, sometimes their voice would be familiar. So Beverly would pick the phone up, and she'd go, "Hello." And be like, "Hey, babe." And she say, "Hey." And then, you know, another sinister two would come in. And all of a sudden, he would click in, like, "Wait a minute, this isn't Chastity. This is Beverly." Because there had not been enough time to develop our relationship, to the point where I could pick up. Now, now I know distinctly the difference, or two, because of the relationship passed. Now, what I'm saying — same with God. The more you learn to listen, and the more you learn to trust, and the more time you spend with him — it's just like that verse I read to you in John chapter 10: "My sheep know my voice. They won't listen to another's voice. They'll run away from it." But you can only run away from what you know. That's not the right voice. That's the right voice.

Hey, see, we got to be careful. Because we're living in a world today that's a without-God mindset. Hey, they're doing everything without God. You know, they'll pay lip service to God. You know, they'll give a acknowledgment every now and then. You know, you'll see this. You'll see this in sporting events. You know, "To God be the glory." And I'm not dismissing — so please don't think I'm just being a stick in the mud. But the Bible says that we can judge by the fruit we see people bear. And I think there's the acknowledgment of God. There's nothing wrong with acknowledging God. But are they really listening to the voice of God? Do they have a mindset of God? I don't — I'm not seeing that. And I'm worried. I gotta — I come in here on this first Sunday to preach something I feel is very important, that, that we, we got to be careful. Because what I'm seeing take place, in this, in this, this world where God's not a part of our mind — that we can no longer be by ourself. We have no — we have no attention span for it. Because here's what happens is, in the quiet, when the mind begins to reveal itself — remember getting in trouble? And some of, some of us, his parents, we did this. So I, we tell a child, "Look, if you don't do what you're supposed to do, I'm gonna go put you in timeout." You know, as adults, I'm like, "I want a timeout. Please, please put me in timeout." Yeah, and nap time. Both of those things, as adults — why did they have to do this? Kid wasted on kids, nap time and timeouts. Adults need those. But what happens when the kid — you know, you, you, if you have a, if you have a three-year-old, and you say, "I'm gonna put you in timeout for five minutes," they lose their mind. Foreign. One of the worst places to go is a place called solitary confinement. Why is it? Why is it the worst place to go? Because when you go there, there's absolutely nothing there. It's a room in you, and you're stuck with your thoughts. See, what happens is, we don't like being with our thoughts. Not really. We struggle with it. So we try to fill it up with things that can take our time, to get our attention. I mean, and we fill our minds up with all kind of stuff to distract. And because turning inward, we have to face a reality of some stuff that's been left undone.

Let me ask you a question here. Look, this is a good first Sunday of the year. Let's start off right. Everybody want to be good, right? We ain't even day 15, so everybody — every, every resolution is still good, I hope. All right? We're only, we're only a few hours in. I hope everybody's still keeping them. All right, so I hope honesty is one of your new, New Year's resolutions. All right, here we go. Let me ask you this question: How many of you, when you pull up and you catch a red light, you have to open your phone up and check social media? Thank you, Savannah. Yeah, yeah. I mean, you think about — you can't even manage that one and a half to two and a half minutes of a red light without — you can't — you don't want it. How many of you refuse to ride in a car? I'm not — you don't have to raise your hands, I'm just a provoking thought. Thank you, Savannah from Enos. But nobody else has to raise your hand. I just want you to think: For how many of you cannot be in the car without some kind of noise going on? How many of you can't be in your house or your apartment without some kind of noise? Because there's something about that quiet, you don't like it. It's uncomfortable. Because in the quiet, you have to deal with things. Stuff comes to you. You got to address the issues of the hair. That's why people fill themselves up with all mean things. That's why they're so consumed. That's why they consent, literally, and watch TV. And you ask them, "Are you happy with the TV watch? Now is really boring." "Well, then why did you watch it?" "Well, there's nothing else to do." Because not necessarily they, they come in there, but they fill our stuff up. People are genuinely free from solitude. That's why media ends up being so attractive, because it distracts us. But in the long run, it makes our minds much weaker. You don't believe — you don't believe this to be true? Here's a test for you. I want you to go back to about 1900, 1850, and just get a book, or read letters from that error. And just see how stupid we are right now. Anybody know what I'm talking about? Just go back in there and look. They, they were — the language is so rich, and there was so much depth there. The sin was still there. There was stuff that was going on. But there was nowhere near the distraction that we faced today. I'm telling you, our enemies on an agenda to hijack our minds. And he's doing a really good job of it. He's making us to where we know — I mean, how many computer programs? I get so frustrated, because this stupid iPad, when I type on it now, it tries to autofill my sentences. "I don't want you to autofill my sentence. I can think by myself. I know what next word is. And it happened to be that word, so I'll hit tab." But it makes me mad. And all these things are there, to be more convenient. But at the same time, I feel like all we have become is simple, marching in line. "Where are we going?" "I don't know, but I just marching in line with everybody else." And the whole time, God's screaming, "I have a plan for you, and it's not that direction." And I'm trying to wake the church up in 2023, and say, you need to set your mind on God, and figure out where those distractions are, and get rid of them. And it's going to hurt, and it's going to be painful. But I promise you, you're going to be happy in the end.

Precisely what Paul was getting at when he warns the church in Ephesians 4:17: "Let's, uh, say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind." They're locked up in death-producing thoughts. The ultimate outcome of such living, Paul talks about, Romans 1:28: "And as even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient." That's the world we're in today. It's a world we're living today. It's the depth of human misery and pain, and God's just — and because we're not allowed — I said that right, we're not allowed to think. When we do, we're questioning our own identity. Now, this didn't happen by accident. This was calculated. There had been a plan. And the enemy's crafty, and he's willing to play the long game. He's willing to be patient. He's willing to be subtle. He's willing to sneak in. And he's willing to say, "Well, if I can ever get them to think about something else, if I can ever get into — they're no longer tuning." This is not a new trick. This goes back to Genesis 3, when the enemy slipped in and he said, "Did God say?" And, "Can I distract you? Have you seen this fruit? Hey, think about what he did." And Eve looks at it. And she's seen it was good. Or go back and look at it. Go back. I want you to go back, Genesis 3, on your own time — not right now, because I'm preaching — and you look. It doesn't make sense, the wording there, because it says, "And she's seen that the fruit was good for knowledge." I've never looked at a piece of fruit and said, "I bet I'll be smarter when I eat that." Because the enemy, he started sewing stuff in there, a little at a time, a lot of the time. What was he doing? "I'm trying to distract you. I can't be big. If I go big, you'll resist it. But I can go subtle. I can go soft. I get a little — think about where we are."

I know. I know I'm getting older. I know I'm turning into the cranky old guy, because I'm gonna be 47 in a few days. But look, look, this isn't the world I grew up in. This isn't the country I grew up in. We're now, we're living in a post-Christian society, where people don't, they don't know about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Hey, they don't know about that. They don't, they don't know what they learn, the stories. And if that's you, I'm not, I'm not meaning you to make you feel bad at all. I'm not. Because God is here to help. But what I'm trying to make a point in the sermon is to say, the enemy has slowly rocked us to sleep. He is slowly and subtly entertained us to death, subtly. And it's all on the surface. None of it looks bad. It's like, "Oh yeah, that's not — oh, that's interesting. I like that." Before you know it, we've gotten to the point where we're questioning who we are. How has this happened, where you don't know if you're a boy or a girl? How has this happened? How has this happened, where I'm confused on so many levels about — where I'm gonna tell you what's happened is, your mind is no longer set on God. Left to yourself, you'll completely and utterly erode away to nothing. No morality. No sinner. Nothing's there. You'll always follow an appetite. And the enemy's really good about throwing little snacks out along the way, saying, "Look like this. Try this. See this. View this. Do this." And the problem is, it's like most junk food: it's never really satisfying to the end. It tastes good for a moment, but in a few minutes it leaves you feeling hollow and bad about yourself. So you go to try to find something else, and something else, and something else. And before long, you're like, "I don't know how I arrived here. I don't know how I got in this shape. I don't know how I got addicted. I don't know how I got bound." I'll tell you what happened: you quit focusing on God.

What are you set in your mind on? Romans 12 and 2: "And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed." How? "By the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is good and acceptable in the perfect will of God." Don't be conform to this world. I, I, I've preached it, and taught him many times. But it's a good point. I can't just simply keep our arms length from the world, okay? I can't — Wes, come here. I can't. It doesn't work that way. Here's the deal: we go back, and we're going to go over here to the, to the right, you know. You go back in time, and you look when things — they seem to have more morality, and stuff was there. And the world is here, and the church is here. The World, Church. And I'm keeping my arms linked from the world. I feel good, like, "I'm not in the world. I'm not — I'm staying separate. I'm not — I have to live in the world, but I'm not of the world." We're gonna do that. But here's the deal: the world kept drifting. The world kept moving. And as long as I'm just keeping an arm's length, guess what? I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm drifting. I'm moving too. So I can't just be satisfied with, "I'm, I'm not like — I'm not in the world. I'm, I'm keeping my distance from the world." You can't do that. Because the world's not going to stop drifting. Right? Thank you. At some point, you got to grab a hold of something that doesn't change. And that even if the world starts moving, I'm like, "Huh. I can't — it may be going away, but I'm anchored into something over here. Because this word says the Lord does not change. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever, regardless of what goes on in this world. I'm rooted and anchored in something that's not going to move. And it may be inconvenient sometimes, and they make, make fun of you sometimes. But I'm here to tell you, when it's all said and done, we're going to be judged by this immovable word."

So I got to set my mind on him. Only God can help us in this. Paul wrote to Timothy, in Second Timothy 1-7: "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a down mind." Not a crazy mind. I know where all this stuff's going on now. But there's all these voices going on. I'm confused. I don't know where I am. I know who I am. I don't know what I belong to. No, no, it's not what Paul talking to young Timothy. "Hey, I'm going to tell you, God doesn't do that. If that's what you're going on, then you need — if you can't find out and figure out where the God's voice is, where it is in there, and tune back into that, listen to what he's trying to tell you."

When God is present in the mind, it begins to flow with a new kind of thought. When you make a home in your heart for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, you become deliberate also in your mind to accept the new things that God's going to bring in. And it may be contrary — in fact, most often it's going to go contrary to what the world says is right, and what the world says is normal. But I'm here to tell you: I'm not here to please the world. I'm not here to make you happy. I'm here to make it to heaven. I'm hearing about the king. It's about the king and the kingdom. The king and the kingdom. The king and the kingdom. And everything I do in my life has to be about the king and the kingdom.

Paul puts it like this in Philippians 4, verse 8: "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true — those sort of things are noble — whatever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things of a good report, if there's any virtue, if there's anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things." Paul tells you how to dress it. You got to figure out what you're thinking about. And if it didn't come into that list, you need to stop thinking that. We often want to be able to, to hear guidance from God, but it's important decisions, such as who I'm going to marry, or what job I'm going to take, and if I need to move over here, go to this school. But we also reserve the right to feed our minds of whatever junk comes along. Hmm. I find that interesting. "I'll tune in and listen just a little bit." I'm telling you, there's some things you just don't need to click. You don't need to take the click bait. The events we attend, the material we read, the music we listen to, the images we watch, the conversations we hold, the daydreams we entertain — they're shaping our minds. And ultimately, our shaped minds are receptive, and become deaf towards the voice of God. He's not going to fight you. He's wanting you to choose him, to willingly say, "I'm going to tune these things out. I'm going to push these things aside, because they're not productive. They're not good."

Paul says to the Church of Corinth that we take every thought captive and bring it into obedience. Look, I, I wish I could control the crazy, random, stupid stuff that goes on in my head. I can't control it when it comes in, but I can control whether or not I dwell on it. That's why he says you got taken captive. He comes in, he's like, "No, no, no, you know place here. I don't care however you need to do that." If you've got to sit around at work sometimes — if that works for you, then get it out of your head. Don't give place for the enemy to keep the seed planted.

What's your mindset on? You gotta learn how to lean into what God has going, to learn to listen. If we're serious about interactive, and being aware of God, it means that we have to spend some time listening for him. You got to get away sometimes, and have some quiet, and be okay with it. Samuel's prayer to God was, "Speak, Lord, your servant is listening." But I'm afraid, far too often, our prayer is, "Listen, God, your servant speaking." He — he knows. Jesus said, "Don't, don't spend a lot of time on your list. I know your list." Now, I'm not saying you can't have a prayer list. Bring those in. I have my list. Everybody's got a list. Raise your hand. Yeah, we all got a prayer list. But don't let that be the sum total of your prayer. Get your list over. Once you get it, set it to the side, and be like Samuel, and say, "I am here, Lord. I'm here. I'm listening for whatever you want to say." And I'm here to tell you, he's probably not going to respond in the first 33 and a half seconds. I'm going to go on a limb: you're probably, in that quiet time, going to have a crazy random thought coming to your head. That doesn't mean you're not going to make it to heaven. Guess what? I have crazy random thoughts during my prayer time, too. Sometimes it's things I forgot to do. Anybody ever have that happen to you when you pray? Guess what I learned to do: I have a notepad, a handy dandy notebook, and I write it down. And then I put it over there, and I say, "God, forgive me for the interruption, but I'm back." I know I'm being a little funny, but I'm making a point: that if you want an excuse, it's easy to find one. If you, if you want one — yeah, you can find one all day long. If I'm telling you, you are without excuse to tune into the voice of God. Listening can involve a variety of practices: reading, solitude, silence, conversations. It can be the beauty of nature. Listening to, to a worship song. Perhaps the oldest and most powerful practice is simply meditating on the word of God. Just opening up scripture, and let it sit there for just a minute. Just, just maybe read the same verse two or three times, to get your head around, and close your eyes from it, think about it, and just see. Because here's what I know: he'll speak to you. Scripture has a lot to say about meditating. You know, Psalm 16:8: "I have said the Lord always before me, because he is at my right hand, and I shall not be moved." Perhaps the best one that I love, verse, Isaiah 26, verse number 3: "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind..." I'm getting ready to close. But here's the deal. Here's — I, I need you to, to walk away with this today: you have to set your mind on God. It's, it's day number one of 2023. Here's the deal: none of us can go back and do anything about 2022. It's gone. Forever gone. We don't get it back. When that clock ticked over, it was gone. What we have now is a brand new year, brand new day in the new year. Here we are. What are you going to set your mind on?

My — ask a question, okay? Because here's the deal: I'm gonna let you in a little something. Our past reveals secrets. As the great prophet Jason Huckabee said one time, "Time's a tattletale." It is. "Time's a tattletale," both for the good and the bad. When, when in, in, in, in Matthew or Mark — Mark 10, Matthew 20 — the fig tree: Jesus walks by, he — and it says it wasn't the season for figs, but he goes wanting a fig. And it wasn't no fig there. And it says he cursed the tree. And then it goes to the temple. And then they come back, and his disciples are like, "Whoa, this tree is dead." In fact, the word says it was dried from the roots up. Which is interesting, because normally when things start to die, it starts from the top down. That's another Bible study for another day. But they marveled. And Jesus says, "Why are you marveling at this? If you have faith, you can say this to me about, and remove the cast of the sea. You never happened." See, he's letting the guys know that what you see is representative of power that is there. That your past has secrets in it that can help you in your future.

Holy Ghost moving right now. Uh, anybody, anybody here in this room, in 2022, last year, the year we just came through — anybody this past year, God showed up and answered a prayer for you? Stand on your feet if God answered a prayer for you in 2022, and just stay standing, okay? If you didn't answer for your prayer, don't lie, let's keep your seat. Now look around for this. Thank you for standing. But look around right now. Look around right now. Look around at answered prayers. Look around. Because this is what I know: he's the same yesterday, today, and forever. Thank you. You can be seated. If God performed — if you had a serious, now, I mean, it could be a toe eight, because sometimes a tow eight can be a big deal. But I'm talking, you, you had a serious need in your body, and you prayed, and God touched you, did a miracle in your body. I want you to stand your feet. Look at this. Look. Keep standing just for a second. Look, look around you. Just take a peek. Just spin around right here. Look, look. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. Thank you, thank you. Be seated.

Here's, here's, here's where I'm going with this. All right? I, I, I don't know what 2023 has in store. I don't — am I afraid? No, I'm not afraid. Because I know who holds my tomorrows. All right? Do I know everything's gonna happen? No, I don't have a clue about everything is going to happen. But I know this: he has been good. I have no doubt to think he's not going to continue to be good. He has answered prayers. I have no doubt to think that he's not going to continue to answer prayers. He has worked miracles and lives. I have no doubt to think he's not going to continue to work miracles in my life. So you don't know how I feel about 23. It's going to be a year where prayers are going to be answered. It's going to be a year when miracles are going to happen. It's going to be here where lives are going to be changed. Am I excited? You bet I'm excited. I'm over the moon about what God's going to do. Because he's a good, and he's the faithful, and he's a righteous God. But I know this to be true: I have to keep my mind set on him.

All right, stay with me today. They're getting ready to sing, and the Salters open. Because I think there's something powerful about starting off day number one of a year, and asking God, "Help me keep my mind set on you. Help me keep my mind set on you, God. For you have been good. I have no reason to doubt you're not going to continue to be good." So, as I say this closing prayer, I invite each and every one of you that want to, to come down around this altar area, down here. Say, "Is there something special about this carpet, or something?" No. It's the same carpets back there. But this is what I know: there's something about, when I physically step out and acknowledge, "God, you're going to do something. I'm moving forward to what you have for me." So I don't know what you want. But if I was you, I would just be willing to step out and say, "23 is going to be the best year I've ever lived. 23 is going to be the year the everything that has been stolen is going to be restored back. 23 is going to be the year where I'm going to claim the miraculous in my life. Where God's going to set my ministry in places it's never been before. God's going to do things. God's going to reach my family. God's going to restore. God's going to heal. God's going to feel." If that's you, if that's your desire, then fill up. Push your way in. I would be like that woman who had an issue of blood. I wouldn't let anybody keep me from getting up here, because God's gonna do something special.

Jesus, we love you. We thank you, God, for your promises that you keep. For your word, your truth. Thank you for your spirit that's moving in this place. God, I pray, as we start this first day off in 23, so that we can set our minds on you, that we could come to an understanding, God, that you have a plan, and a purpose, and a will, for every man, woman, and child that is here today. God, let us trust you like never before. Let us quiet out the noise, so we can tune into the voice. God, do what you do best. You make broken things beautiful. In Jesus' name.