Take a moment and close your eyes. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you something you need to change your mind about.

If you closed your eyes and asked the Holy Spirit to show you what you need to change your mind about, what do you see? What do you hear?
What do you need to change your mind about?
Is it a person?
Is it a mind set?
Is it unforgiveness? Bitterness? Trust?

The summer of 2007 I went to a youth camp in Destin Florida. It was awesome. But on the first day of the camp, I got into a fight with a guy by the name of Chance. We were rough housing, it got out of hand and I got hit. I snapped. I went after this guy. Thankfully our camp leaders were able to break us up before anything bad happened. But I remember my Youth Pastor sitting me down, and asking me a question, “what do you need to change to not be so angry all the time?”

Well that week I found it. I needed Jesus. I wasn’t at peace. I was able to find freedom.

So today, my question is, what do you need to change?

This is one thing that having daily relationship with the Christ and being led by the Holy Spirit will cause in you. We become incredibly aware of what we need to change our mind about.

Now, some of you might be saying, I don’t know if the Holy Spirit is prompting me on the daily. Well let me put it like this, if temptation knocks and we fall, there is something we can change. And the Bible is clear about temptation, God won’t let us be tempted beyond our ability because He is faithful.

1st Corinthians 10:13
13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

There is no temptation towards any sin that is uncommon. Whatever you are walking through, people around you are walking through it as well, and some have already been able to get to the other side of it and they are there to help. Know that you are not in this alone, reach out and find people to help you walk through it.

Proverbs 11:14
14 Where there is sno guidance, a people falls,
sbut in an abundance of counselors there is safety.

If we want to effectively change our mind we need people.

What ever you are facing, God is going to provide you a way out. Thats where change comes into play. If we have been dealing with the same issue for years and haven’t changed our approach we are operating in the definition of insanity. Doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result. The promise of the scripture is that “he wont let you be tempted beyond your ability.” That doesn’t mean you won’t be broken, that doesn’t mean it won’t hurt, but if you are willing to embrace God’s plan for you, you will overcome.

So, lets think back on this last week.

I can see a few situations where I could’ve responded better or followed Christ more effectively than what I did, but as they say hindsight is 20/20. If I really begin to think of the situations, there is a moment right before I jumped head first into allowing the flesh to win that the Holy Spirit was trying to get my attention.

Where are my hotheads at? Right before we just let the anger fly, there is a moment where the Holy Spirit is trying to get us to walk in self control. That moment of second guessing yourself.

Thats the Holy Spirit helping you realize you need to change your mind.

What do you need to change your mind about?

Unforgiveness? Anger? Resentment? Empathy? Or lack of Empathy? We all have these little things that bother us, but why? Why do we let these little things spoil are day?

Song of Solomon has a scripture that says, Song of Solomon 2:15 “Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom.”

Do you ever feel like you are walking in the fruit of the spirit and then something happens and now everything is just spoiled. Are you going through out your day allowing little foxes to destroy the fruit of the Holy Spirit working in your life?
A lot of times its not the boulders that destroy us, its the pebble that trips us up.

Thats something we need to change our mind about. We need to change how we look at situations that don’t go our way.

We can be having such a great day, week, or month but then all of a sudden we have a bad interaction at work and it takes the day. Or we come across someone that we restored relationship with, but then something happens and we revert to old thinking and we go on the defensive. Someone pulls out in front of you and is driving insanely slow. And it just gets you frustrated.

We let little foxes like attitudes, tone, traffic, and other things to drive us crazy and make us lead our lives with emotion rather than the Holy Spirit. We let a bad 5 minutes ruin a whole 24 hours.

So, what do you need to change your mind about?

Maybe a better question is, what’s keeping you from moving the Kingdom forward?

All of these little moments that begin to unravel the work of the Holy Spirit in your life are geared to make you take your eyes off Christ. Pastor Jason says this a lot, “The devil isn’t looking for open doors, he is looking for unlocked ones.”

If he can get us distracted then we stop moving the Kingdom forward in the purpose that God has for us.

What would change in your daily life if you started asking the question, “Is this moving the Kingdom forward?”

When God wants you to change your mind on something, its for your benefit but its also for the benefit of others.

What would happen in your family if you decided to lead with grace instead of vengeance? You didn’t have to get even with the family member that did you wrong. What if you decided to put up healthy boundaries instead of living life out of obligation to someone or something? What if you decided to forgive instead of hold a grudge. What if you decided to put others before yourself no matter what?

YOU WOULD BE MOVING THE Kingdom FORWARD.!

We cant move the Kingdom forward if we are simply taming bad behavior or reserving it for certain settings. We have to allow God to completely chisel it off of us. How can we do this? How can we make sure that this is God changing our heart instead of us modifying our behavior? Because the simple fact is, behavior modification has an expiration date, God-driven change doesn’t.

We have to make sure that our change is…

1. God Driven

To make sure the change is God driven we need to understand the truth. How do we know the change is coming from God without knowing His truth. How do we get that? Through the Word.

The Word of God is what we measure everything against. The world may say something is true, but what does the Bible say? A preacher may something is true, but what does the Bible say.

We have to stop having feelings-driven faith and start having truth-driven faith, faith that is based upon the Word of God.

Just because we feel that it’s truth doesn’t mean it is. Put what people say to the test against the truth of God. If it falls short of God’s truth than its a conformed feeling presented as truth.

Romans 12:2
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

We are not to conform to the world but rather put the world to the test through the truth of God.
What if the reason you haven’t changed your mind is because you have spent more time justifying feelings rather than testing the truth to discern the will of God?

We don’t just safeguard our mind with truth but we test everything against truth.

“I feel like this is the truth.” Are you basing you basing your life on what feels right or what God says is right?

How much of your life is driven by feeling? How many of your relationships are driven by feeling?

How would life be easier for you if you the simple change you made was that you were going to give people the benefit of doubt instead of letting your feelings be in the drivers seat? When you had a moment and responded in a way that you unintentionally made someone mad or hurt, you would want grace. Yet, we don’t have the best practice of giving people that benefit.

Jesus taught the people to love God with everything and love people with everything. We are good with the first one because we feel the assurance of God’s grace but what about people?
The direction isn’t love people you like, love people that agree with you, love people that live life the way you do. It is love people with everything. Yet, we get mad at grandma Betty going slow in the fast lane, we get mad because the person behind the counter at the restaurant isn’t as nice as we want them to be.
So is the problem that Jesus gave us an impossible direction? Or is the problem that we care more about our comfort over the people around us?Have we taken advantage of God’s grace by acting how we want and asking for forgiveness later?

I am bringing all of this up because the only way we can change any of this is through God driven change. You need the truth of God to shine on the lie of the enemy that we have believed so we can be changed.

Lets look at Acts Ch 9.

We get Saul, who will become Paul, on his way to Damascus with letters saying he can arrest and bind people.

Acts 9:1-19
1 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. 4 And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 5 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” 7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 8 Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

A key pice of information here, is that Saul was on His way to do what He thought was right. He thought the disciples were blasphemers.

How many of us are just acting out what we think is right? But Saul was stopping the work of God, how are we not, if we are placing a priority on our feelings over the change God wants to see?

On his way there the light came, what was His response? Who are you Lord? Saul knew enough to know that this experience from the jump was from God. Jesus told him what to do. And people led Him to where he was supposed to go.

2. Experience Tested

When we begin to change our mind, we are going to have opportunity to walk it out. You don’t know you’ve changed until you are put in a situation that you respond differently than you have before.

In Acts 10 we see the story Peter and Cornelius.
Cornelius had a vision and God told him to bring Peter to house. At the same time Peter is having his own vision

Acts 10:9-16
The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour[b] to pray. 10 And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance 11 and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. 12 In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. 13 And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” 14 But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” 15 And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” 16 This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.

The message God is sending here, is don’t call something unclean that I have made clean.” God was identifying that Peter need to change his mind about what he considered clean and unclean.

Acts 10:17-23
17 Now while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon's house, stood at the gate 18 and called out to ask whether Simon who was called Peter was lodging there. 19 And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you. 20 Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation,[c] for I have sent them.” 21 And Peter went down to the men and said, “I am the one you are looking for. What is the reason for your coming?” 22 And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say.” 23 So he invited them in to be his guests.The next day he rose and went away with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him. 24 And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. 26 But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Stand up; I too am a man.” 27 And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered. 28 And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. 29 So when I was sent for, I came without objection. I ask then why you sent for me.” 30 And Cornelius said, “Four days ago, about this hour, I was praying in my house at the ninth hour,[d] and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing 31 and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. 32 Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea.’ 33 So I sent for you at once, and you have been kind enough to come. Now therefore we are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord. 34 So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, 35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.
Peter was presented with a God-driven change. He was perplexed about it and then what happens? An opportunity for him to walk it out presents itself. God showed Peter what the problem was and Peter changed. And what happened? Cornelius whole home was able to come to the saving grace of God and then they were filled with the Holy Spirit .
The change the Holy Spirit is bringing attention too is because you need that change to fulfill the purpose God has for you.

The God driven change in you will lead to experiencing restoration in others.

What restoration have the people around you not encountered yet because you haven’t allowed God to change your mind? How has the Kingdom not been moved forward for those people?

Change isn’t fun but the change the Holy Spirit is working in you will lead to people having relationship with Christ the way you do.

Peter was able to not just be changed but have that change tested through experience. That experience put to test if what God presented Him was actually changed or if he was going to idolize a thought process.

Let me be clear, I understand that we need to wrestle with certain things because they have been a part of us at a DNA level for so long, but God’s truth trumps all. When he speaks we should move. We need to be able to declare God’s Word over the lie that has been intertwined with us for so long. And when we do that, we will experience that change.

We know we need to change, we try to change but we cant change with out experiencing opportunities to see iff it has taken root. In order to change our minds our change needs to be

What do you need to change your mind about? Is it people that you have written off because you don’t like what they represent? Or maybe they hurt you and so they can have relationship with God and be changed but they need to stay away from you?

Your change needs to be…

3. Accountable

Remember what I said at the beginning of this message,
Proverbs 11:14
14 Where there is sno guidance, a people falls,
sbut in an abundance of counselors there is safety.

If we want to effectively change our mind we need people.

Change takes accountability. It takes people who know you to make sure that your are not simply walking out the change in a moment but living it.

Here is the issue with change, it hurts. Without people keeping us accountable we get to determine how much hurt we are willing to endure. We will unintentionally allow complacency to take ahold of us.

Change isn’t about being better than you were, it’s about becoming who God made you to be.

As we make progress there will be a temptation to look at how far you’ve come, which you should, celebrate it, but don’t fall into the trap that you have done enough.

Proverbs 1:32-33
32 For the simple are killed by their turning away,
and the complacency of fools destroys them;
33 but whoever listens to me will dwell secure
and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.

When we begin to measure how far we come, we lose focus of the change we need to make today. We grow complacent, we turn away from what God is doing in us. But when we listen we can dwell securely in Him.

Thats why having people with the 5 is so important!
5 Things:
Know YouKnow GodLove YouLove GodHave your best interest in mind
This what Paul and Peter were able to do for each other.
Galatians 2:11-14
11 But when Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him in public, because he was clearly wrong. 12 Before some men who had been sent by James arrived there, Peter had been eating with the Gentile believers. But after these men arrived, he drew back and would not eat with the Gentiles, because he was afraid of those who were in favor of circumcising them. 13 The other Jewish believers also started acting like cowards along with Peter; and even Barnabas was swept along by their cowardly action. 14 When I saw that they were not walking a straight path in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you have been living like a Gentile, not like a Jew. How, then, can you try to force Gentiles to live like Jews?”

Paul says it here:
“When I saw that they were not walking a straight path in line with the truth of the Gospel”

Who are your friends that when you are getting out of line they say something to you? That when you are allowing hurt and shame to creep back in that they take up a shield for you and fight with you?

We will lose the change that God has been driving in us if we try to do it on our own. Paul was willing to fight for his brothers in Christ and not let them go back on the change.

Surround yourself with people that will fight when you don’t realize you need too.

Proverbs 18:24
24 A man of many companions may come to ruin,
but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Do you need to change your mind about the people you surround yourself with?
Do you need God to show you that the people in your life, no matter what their title is, may not be the people that have your best interest in mind?

To bring today to a close, I want everyone right now to close your eyes.
I am going to ask the question that I have been asking since the beginning. What do you need to change your mind about?

Now open your eyes. Something popped into your head right now. Write it down.

This is the God driven change the Holy Spirit is leading you too. IT can be so many things. The change and steps God wants you to take will lead to the restoration you want to see.

God’s plan in purpose in you can be walked out but maybe you have to change your mind about what it looks like, the expectations you have placed on it, maybe you have even sniffled a gift because you feel like life is easier when you don’t operate in it.

But today is your opportunity to step into the light of Gods truth and find every spot the enemy has tried to hold you up.

Today is your day of restoration if you are willing to embrace the change like Saul, Peter, and Ananias.
With Ananias, God spoke to him but God also spoke to Saul/Paul that ananias would be coming.

Who has God said that you would be coming too but they are still waiting for you to change your mind?


Lets Pray.

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through this message?

How does he want you to respond?