of Christ. Paul wrote, We have the mind
of Christ (I Corinthians 2:16). The mind of
Christ is our heritage. When Jesus spilled His
blood at Calvary, He made that mind available
to every child of God.
When Jesus was on Earth, He had a human
mind; but it was filled with divine ingredients.
He proved it was an all-conquering, victorious
mind; yet it was also a completely selfless
mind. Jesus was always ready and willing to
accomplish the whole will of God regardless
of the price He had to pay.
Paul rebuked the members of the Corinthian
church for not taking on the mind of Christ
and growing up to be spiritual adults. And I,
brethren, could not speak unto you as unto
spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto
babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk,
and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not
able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is
among you envying, and strife, and divisions,
are ye not carnal, and walk as men
(I Corinthians 3:1–3)? The meat of the Word
provides a person with the strength, power
and spiritual maturity to walk, talk and act like
Jesus.
People who are full of envy and strife, cause
division, gossip and backbite have carnal
minds. They are unable to take in and process
the meat of God’s Word, so it does not
do them any good or give them any power
from On High. They are spiritual babes who
can only take in the milk of the Word; so they
are helpless, weak and always trying to draw
attention to themselves. They think the world
revolves around them when their world should
revolve around Jesus Christ and the cross He
has ordained them to carry for His name’s
sake.
Self Can’t Carry Your Cross
When you walk in the will of God, there
will be times when He will call on you to do
things that, in the human, you do not want to
do. He may call you to sacrifice in ways that
will cause suffering in your life so souls can
be won. He may call you to enter into a fiery
furnace of trials and persecutions or to walk a
deep valley for His honor and glory.
You will never be able to carry the cross
of the Lord without first denying self. Many
people have tried to do that, but it only made
them miserable; and eventually, they had to
decide between the two. That is why Jesus
declared, No servant can serve two masters:
for either he will hate the one, and love the
other; or else he will hold to the one, and
despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and
mammon (Luke 16:13).
Many Christians today are carrying the
devil’s cross without realizing it. They are
weighed down with unnecessary burdens that
are not God’s will. How many times do you
let the devil torment you with depression and
oppression? Or perhaps you allow fear to get
inside and rob you of Heaven’s blessings. The
devil has no right to lay his cross on the shoulders
of a child of God, and that includes his
cross of sickness and disease. When you carry
the cross God ordains for you, He will give
you the grace and strength you need to carry it
for His honor and glory.
God gets no glory from mind battles. The
Bible says, Casting down imaginations,
and every high thing that exalteth itself
against the knowledge of God, and bringing
into captivity every thought to the obedience
of Christ (II Corinthians 10:5). For
God hath not given us the spirit of fear;
but of power, and of love, and of a sound
mind (II Timothy 1:7).
God also gets no glory from diseases and
afflictions; He receives glory when people are
healed. The prayer of faith shall save the
sick, and the Lord shall raise him up (James
5:15). They shall lay hands on the sick, and
they shall recover (Mark 16:18).
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/ErnestAngleyMinistries