FIGHTING EVERYDAY the old self and winning. Amen!

Double-Mindedness 
By Bishop Jimmie Warren

My dear brothers and sisters this double-mindedness is one of our worse enemies and so after reading this please pray for a clear mind and be assured of what you know about God's word and where you stand in your relationship with God our Father Yahweh. Amen!

We are to be of one mind and one heart to the Lord God.  All the believers were one in heart and mind......(ACTS 4:32)

“ If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding a fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. (James 1:5-8)

God hates double-minded people, someone who can’t make up his mind or who keeps having more than one way of thinking all the time. He says “ I wish you were cold or Hot but because you are neither I spewed you out of my mouth.”
 “ I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!
So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”
( Rev 3:15-16)

How many of you have had this problem or are still fighting with it (double thinking)?
 I can think back to my youth where I remember fighting with my mind on what I know I should do and thinking of what I should not be doing. Are you one of these types of people?
 
Red Skeleton a very funny comedian of the fifties and sixties used to do an act abut a little boy who would always say “If I dude it, I’ll get a whipping, Oh well, I dude it anyway” The little boy was always getting into trouble. Everyone would laugh at the little boy’s way of thinking. Why? 
I think because most of us have all thought the same way when we where young, right?

When was the last time that you did something bad, knowing you shouldn’t even be thinking that way? When was the last time you did something and right away your mind said you know this is wrong, then you do it anyway? 

What about the last time when you where watching T V. As you were cruising the channels, you stopped on a half-naked girl who was wearing a very small bathing suit. She is young and showing off more skin than she should be, but there you are staring at her body way, way too long. 

As a Christian man, your mind says don’t stay on this channel it will make you lust. You say to yourself, “ It is just a TV show, and you are just admiring the beauty of the young tight body of the girl on the screen right?”. So You tell yourself  “I’m a mature adult, I’ll just watch a little while” and all the while your mind is telling you to change the channel, Actually it is the Holy Spirit telling you to not look, so you are not guilty of lusting after the young girl you do not even know! 
Your mind says you should not be watching this kind of show.  Jesus said to look upon a woman is to commit adultery " You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.'
But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ( Matthew 5:27-28)  This is only one example of being double-minded. 

You get the picture, I hope? 

Maybe you are out having a nice evening dinner with a cocktail or two, here is another example of being double-minded. This is your physical mind fighting your spiritual mind, You are feeling the effects of the second drink so you think I should not have another drink because I have to drive. But your good old brain says, I want to feel good so you have another. And so, You tell yourself, “ I don’t drink or go out much so I think I’ll have just one or two more to celebrate being out and feeling good.   Are you starting to see what is happening here?
Hasn’t something like this happened to any of you? 

All of a sudden you are drunk and if you are lucky there is someone there to drive you home. BAM! You have done it again, you have let your good judgment slide and followed your human nature side of your mind which has to lead you into Sin. You knew you should not have had those extra drinks, but, you did it anyway. Is this hitting a little to close to home for some of you?

I hope so many of you know this is true even if you say it or not?

Be on guard watch everything you say or do for you and I will all be judged on what we do and this is a big one what we think?
Yes, we must all repent every day because we fall so short of being like Yeshua who will judge us!

We have to fight this kind of thinking all the time and it is hard, isn’t it? 
I have cried out many times for God to help me fight these kinds of stupid things but, it takes training from the Holy Spirit to be of strong Godly character. How many of you, if you are honest about it,  have had or still have these kinds of problems? 

Here is another example: How many times have you gone to fast in your car trying to hurry up someplace, kidding yourself all the while, that it’s alright because you are hurrying to go do something for a good reason. Maybe you’re on your way to church and you are late for whatever reason, so you justify your wrong by speeding. Then you see the RED LIGHTS in your mirror and you get pulled over and are given a speeding ticket. You are mad because you got a ticket for speeding doing something good, but you still broke the laws man has set for the good of all 

You think I don’t deserve this but, in your mind you know you should not have been speeding, No matter what your intentions where. You knew in the back of your mind that you where doing wrong but, you just sluff it off and sped down the street. 

To be honest with yourself there was no excuse for watching the young girl on TV or for having the extra cocktails or for driving so fast that you got a ticket. But your double mind made excuse after excuse, didn’t it?  Most of the time we get ourselves into problems because we don’t keep our minds on God or think of others. 

Yes, I know it is impossible to be thinking about God all the time but, is it really?
If we are really living a Christian life like we are supposed to be doing, then we should be following Jesus’ example of praying all the time. Are praying at all maybe at church a little but not really?  If we are praying all the time then we are in our right mind, most of the time 
We should be praying when we get up in the morning, in the middle of the day, during dinner, and before we close our eyes at night. Amen!  We should be praying to God to help keep our minds in the right way of living. Jesus himself prayed every day... “ But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed ( Mark 1: 35 )  
So can’t We take the time out of our busy day and say a short prayer ever so often?

I have found when I wake up in the morning, even before my feet hit the floor, to ask God to lead my footsteps this day. I ask Him to help fill my mind with His will and show me what He wants me to do.  I ask God to help me fight my human nature of all wrong desires. Then I ask for his help to fight off thoughts coming into my mind from Satan. We all have to remember that we are not just fighting a physical fight but, that spirits and powers are out to destroy us. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

“ Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  ( Ephesians 6:10-13 )

Then I thank God for another day and that He sends Jesus back soon to set up the kingdom so we don’t have to fight this fight all the time. I keep asking for Help to get closer to Him and to be with me in where ever I go. I ask Him in whatever I say or do to have the Holy Spirit be with me in my mind. Yet a lot of the time I will let my stubborn side take control and inevitably I get into some kind of problem.

These are just a few examples of what I say to God, you have your own thoughts and prayer but, you get the big picture here, don’t you? 
You have to decide what kind of day you want and how you want to start it. We all full short of the Glory of God and will continually do so, until we are made perfect in God‘s Holy Kingdom. 

But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.
This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:21-24)

We all make mistakes and unfortunately we all still sin before God. Spiritually anyway!. Remember the words of Jesus “Even if you look on a woman you have lusted after her in your own heart and have committed adultery.”
If your mind thinks of doing wrong, whatever it may be, then in the spirit of the law you have SINNED before God. 

Yes, brethren, double-mindedness is an enemy we have to fight all our lives and with Satan throwing darts at us, it makes things a lot worse doesn’t it?  

“ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” ( Ephesians 6:14-18 )

The only way to overcome is by prayer and for the Holy Spirit to pray for us in our time of trials.  Maybe you remember the song “Precious Jesus Hold My Hand” and the words “I need thee every hour” Well, "Beloved most of us, need Him every second of our day, don’t we?

The song goes on with  “Precious Jesus hold my hand, lead me to the promised land” 
You see we need help to overcome our minds and Jesus is at the right hand of the Almighty telling Him “Father forgive them  for they know not what they do.... .”( Luke 23:33)

The only way to overcome being double-minded is to have Jesus in your mind all the time. Stop and take a break every time you can, ask yourself “if the Holy Spirit were here with me right now, would I be doing or thinking this or that“?

I find it very hard to do what I am telling you to do but, maybe you have better control. Maybe this article is for those who are having some of these same problems? All I know for sure is as a Christian we all have to be getting a lot closer to God to be of one mind and one heart, to be like Christ Jesus.

If we don’t overcome our double-minded ideas then we are losing the battle folks. 
Thank God for the blood of Jesus so we can come before Him every time we slip back into the old self. We can ask “ Father forgive my stupid thoughts, help me to overcome and be made a new being with you.  To be with you and your sweet son Jesus in your soon-coming kingdom. Forgive my double-minded thinking, make me yours and make me be of one heart and one mind to you till I am with you in your loving kingdom. Amen

I pray that this article will help others who are fighting the good fight. Let’s give thanks and love everyone, let’s all strive to get closer to God, for God really is the only answer to all our woes, the only ANSWER to end this world as we know it and renew everything in Spirit including our minds, Amen and Amen!
 In the holy name of YESHUA be of One mind with him and our father Yahweh!

Your fellow sinner and servant to our Lord Yeshua
Chaplain Jimmie