The Mind of Christ

The word of my testimony today is 1 Cr 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.



More than a year ago I felt led to go to some one's house and just be friendly. The problem was that she lived on the other side of the river . Although long ago God had provided the residents of this great state that I live in the ability to build bridges that cross the river safely I was fearful of the traffic and fearful of the way the road made a curve at a decline.



So I ignored that unction from the Holy Spirit , then that same person called me and asked me to come to her house and help her , please." Ask someone else ", I said that day feeling that I had already been excused from going to her house because of my fear.



In the mean time , for about two years prior I had a very specific kind of prayer request. I had been very specifically asking for a house to clean that would pay a certain amount and be acceptable to my cleaning it on Mondays. I've been cleaning houses for 28 almost 29 years , I can tell you 75% of the people do not want their houses cleaned on a Monday. I have always put my lowest paying houses on Monday . But I wanted a high paying house on Monday and I knew that I had a special financial situation coming up so this was how I thought God might want to take care of it.



You probably already know what He did . The call for the house cleaning job came and sure enough , now I had to go across the river every Monday.



I went but the anxiety of doing it was more than I can explain. Just realize on Friday I started dreading Monday. However, I was a believer in living the word of my testimony back then . I knew that if I did not give up. If every Monday I drove down that freeway in morning traffic with His word in my heart one day I would do it without fear. I asked people to pray for me. I asked my pastor to pray for me . I was honest about my need. I began to find it easier to do. I stopped dreading Monday on Friday , first it was Saturday, then Sunday. Then Sunday night . At the worst part of the journey , I would pray out loud . One day as I was approaching the curve the Holy Spirit dropped into my mind , "I will keep at perfect peace ,whose mind is stayed on Me." I began praying that my mind would be stayed on Him. I had my word of testimony to live now and I stopped dreading Monday's and started praying that my mind would be stayed on Him.



Then things worked out so I could have a helper and I asked her to drive. A Christian friend and one who I'd shared my story with. Although I had overcome the fear , it was still there , so I felt that asking her to drive was okay. So she and I began to pray on our way to work. We were already prayer partners and we trust the HOLY SPIRIT to lead us as we pray. We've prayed for missionaries in Tibet to helping a child pass a spelling test. One time we were praying just as we were about to enter that curve and she prayed specifically about my fear . I can not remember her exact words but as she prayed I had a flash back of a child hood incident that had taken place in the car , in a sharp curve and decline and knew at that moment this is when that fear had been placed in my heart. Suddenly I saw that through my child hood understanding the curve , the decline held something to be dreaded for me. But as an adult I now saw these two things through adult eyes. The words ,"You are going to make me have a wreak ! " had been spoken to me , and like I had tried to explain to my friends all along , this had been my fear on the decline , that I would make someone have a wreak. Their comforting advice had always been, take it slow , just use wisdom. My response would be," you don't see, I am afraid if I go to slow on the freeway I will cause a wreak." This also was a sentence I had taken into my heart as truth by my driving instructor when learning how to drive.



This story is a classic example of how the word of testimony worked in my life . I feel it was very close to the story of David and Goliath. First David had a stone that knocked the giant down and then he took a sword and cut off the giants head.



Now plainly I see that the boldness that David had was not there in me at first , but slowly I began to trust that the Spirit of the LORD was upon me. Even believing that the Spirit of the LORD was upon me when I and my friend were praying together on the way to work that day. I want you to know even the cutting off the giants head with the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God did not happen just that quickly. I thought again and again about that flash back and asked the HOLY SPIRIT to process it in my mind. Slowly the strength from the HOLY SPIRIT has increased to the place it is today.

"The LORD will keep at perfect peace whose mind is stayed on HIM . " I also pray that I will have the mind of Christ and I believe with all my heart with the mind of Christ while driving down that curve and decline I will not go to slow and cause a wreak.



Even the best parents say things in a moment of fear and they do not know what impact it will have on their child. I have been thinking about how to teach children and babes in Christ about spiritual warfare . I can tell you from experience they do not need to hear , " I got a headache . It's spiritual warfare." If I feel I need to explain my headache as spiritual warfare I hope I will say something like this. "The enemy does not want me to think on God's word and so he is trying to distract me with this headache. However, I am learning how to think on God's word even when I have a headache , I am sure he will give up soon. " As I wrote that out I realised that I have become ready to accept the stone that knocks the giant to the ground . How about the sword of the Spirit ? Would that sound like ? " I have the mind of Christ, I will not be stopped by anything , if God wants me to do it, I will be there. " I wonder if I will remember that sometimes it takes a friend's prayer and a child hood flash back to accomplish what is hard for me to do ?