"Introduction"

INTRODUCTION
          “I’m losing my mind!” We generally speak the phrase when the cares and stresses of the world are driving us absolutely bonkers. One particularly stressful situation or one particularly stressful person may be the culprit of our craziness. We cannot think straight. We do not feel right. We do not act right.
Notice the words think, feel, and act. What part of our “being” do we associate with each one? In our culture most would connect think with the brain, feel with the heart or conscious, and act with our soul or will. In this series I will attempt to show how we can “renew” our minds and thus begin to think straight, feel right, and act right.
So, if you feel down or depressed or melancholy at times…if you feel hopeless or confused…if you find yourself thinking evil and unholy and destructive thoughts…if you live with continual anxiety or fear…if you at times make poor decisions…if you do things you really do not want to do…if you live in fear…if your beliefs do not line up with those in the Bible which causes you cognitive dissonance (stress over conflicting beliefs)…then these messages are for you.
 
SIMILAR WORDS
          The Bible uses several words to convey similar (yet sometimes distinct) meanings closely associated with the mind. These include the word “mind’ but also words such as heart, flesh, will, conscious, spirit (small “s”), flesh, belly, reason, understanding, feelings, and plans.
          In our culture we generally associate feelings and emotions and compassion and love and motivation with the heart while comprehension, planning, reason, and world view are more associated with the mind. This sometimes causes people to say such things as: “I know it in my mind, but I need to get it deep down into my heart” or “You are making a decision based solely on your heart and feelings…you need to think about it.”
          Notice that in our culture’s present usage of the terms, heart and/or mind are usually considered essential to any decision or action. In other words, we make decisions or determine upon a particular course of action because either we think we should or because we feel that it is right. The Hebrews (the Old Testament people of God) did not have such a fine distinction between the two. They viewed the person as more holistic, that is, as one whole without distinct separation. Even in the New Testament where we see several different terms used to describe our thoughts, feelings, and actions, the terms oftentimes overlap.
          I do not want to get caught up in a game of semantics (word games). So, rather than making this so complicated, I will follow the Hebrew perspective and combine all of the above into one whole. I do this for ease of discussion and also due to the fact that we perhaps tend to separate them too easily when they would be more properly viewed as one.
In other words, our thinking cannot be separated from our feelings. Our rationale cannot be separated from our compassion or zeal. Our understanding and emotions cannot be separated from our decisions or actions. When all is said and done, I am one whole person who combines many elements to become “who I am.” So, oftentimes when I use the term “mind,” I am referring to our thought life, decision making, rationale, feelings, motivation, will, conscious, and so forth…the entire package.
 
LOSING OUR MINDS AND GAINING HIS
          So in every other instant (except this one) if you were accused of “losing your mind,” you would consider it an insult. In this case, “losing our minds” is our goal. I want to get out of my mind and into God’s mind. I have never in my life observed such confusion in the world regarding basic human truth, morals, and judgment. It is an epidemic. We so desperately need to get out of our minds and into the mind of Christ.
          Is it possible to possess the mind of Christ?
            1 Corinthians 2:16 (NIV) - for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord
    so as to instruct him?”  But we have the mind of Christ.
            Philippians 2:5 – “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”
So, obviously, we can have the mind of Christ which is the mind of God.