Living Hope Fellowship Church

PEACE OF MIND

Training Material

by Pastor Kevin Badgley

PEACE OF MIND

Preface

(peace for your mind)

          Isaiah 26:3 says, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”

          Philippians 2:5 says, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”  Jesus has a sound mind, and He can take over and replace yours with His.  Then you won’t be confused, or troubled, or doubtful, or fearful, or unbelieving.  However, you cannot be partakers of that which generates these things, and be a partaker of God at the same time.  You can’t serve two masters.

          If you get a little of God, and a little of the world, it will bring confusion.   It is all or nothing.

 PEACE OF MIND

by Pastor Kevin Badgley

          Isaiah 26:3 says, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” 

          What is your mind on most of the time?  Your mind, most of the time, is on your life.  That is where you abide, literally.  We have our minds on many things that do not bring us peace.  We need to realize that Jesus is the Prince of Peace.  The Word of God says in Isaiah 26:3, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”

          This world needs peace.  However, “peace at any cost” where compromises enter in is nothing more than a setup of the devil. 

          Philippians 4:7 says, “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” 

          The Bible says in Hebrews 12:14, “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:”  If you are a peaceful person it is not hard to walk in holiness, but if you are a war-torn individual, you get frustrated easily.  Then out of the abundance of your heart your mouth will speak.  Then trouble comes, and it breaks that union with God. When people enter a church house they should feel peace, instead of oppression and strife.   

          A person who is not peaceful is not Christ like.  If you want peace, you have to get your mind stayed on the Lord!  A young man came to me and said that he had received the Lord, and he had gone to the altar several times to make sure that it was good.  However, he said that he just couldn’t keep his mind on the Lord.  The Lord gave the answer right to me, and I asked him if he had a Bible.  He had one, but he did not read it very much.  The Bible says in Proverbs 13:13, “Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed. . . .” 

          You have to read the Word of God!  It is not an option; it’s not something you do just whenever you feel like it.  You must read the Word of God.  You might not be “academically inclined”, but if you seek the Lord with all your heart, He will make changes in you.  You may say, Can He teach me to read?  Yes, He sure can!  You may say that you are a simple person, but God can make you to understand the great depths of the Lord.  By the Holy Ghost He can even bring back the Word to your memory, according to John 14:26.

          Billions of dollars are spent on drugs, and most of those are sedatives, “calmer downers”.  Some people drink their drugs.  Alcohol is a sedative that calms the nerves.  A cigarette is a sedative that calms the nerves at least for a while.  These things do not bring peace.  The Bible teaches that if you are angry, frustrated, or nervous to get your mind stayed on the Lord.  How are you going to do that?  First you must be born again.  You can’t start the process in the middle of the stream.  A lot of people try to make Christian applications to a sinner life, but it doesn’t work that way.  You have to come to Christ.  The devil leaves, Christ comes in, and you begin a new walk.

          You have to have Jesus to walk like Jesus, and only God can give you power to do so.  You are so stressed out and tormented, because you have no peace.  It is not because you haven’t had a cigarette or a drink.  It is not because someone hasn’t given you a pep talk for your melancholy or a drug to keep you sane.  It is because your mind is not on Jesus Christ!        

          You may have had Jesus in days gone by, but where you are right now is what matters!  When the trumpet sounds, it does not matter where you were, or where you could have been, but where you are now.  We should live every moment as if the Lord could come at any time.  We can die at any time, and we want to hear Him say, “Enter in thou good and faithful servant”. 

          People get addicted to many things while trying to find peace.  Some people think that they can find peace and satisfaction in other people while others try to find peace in activities.  However, only the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, can bring true peace. 

          The leading sickness in the United States is not a physical problem; it is mental trouble.  More money is spent on drugs, treatments, and counseling because of mental trouble than any other thing in this country.  However, many infirmities in the physical body can be caused by the condition of the mind! 

          The mind can cause the physical body to break down, because the head is the ruler of the body.  Your body is in subjection to your head.  Your life is in subjection to your mind; the condition of your mind is who you are.  That is your soul manifesting.  Your mind is filled with your life and all the things that go on with and to your body and your surroundings.

          Therefore the condition of the mind is the most important thing you have, only after the condition of the heart, with which man believeth unto righteousness.  If your mind is messed up, yet you have a heart to believe, God can change your mind. 

          2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”  He is talking strictly to genuine Christians in this verse! 

          Some are scared of what they have to give up for God, but He always replaces it with something better.  The carnal mind is an enemy of God.  It is at war with God.  Romans 8:7 says, “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.”

          God won’t force you to do anything.  However, when you receive the mind of Christ, it is yielded to God and you can be subject to the law of God.  God hath given us a spirit of power, and of love, and of a sound mind!  A Christian without a sound mind is not a Christian! 

          A person who is unstable and double minded will never hear the trumpet sound.  The Bible says in James 1:8, “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”  If being double minded is enough to keep you out, what happens to the triple minded and worse?  A Christian can’t stay double minded but so long.  You can’t serve two masters.  You can’t go back and forth.  Matthew 6:22 says, “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.” 

          God has given us the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Galatians 4:6 says, “And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.”  God gives us a sound mind when we get saved, and if we stay saved, we won’t go crazy. 

          Isaiah 26:3 says, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”  Don’t let things divert your attention and mind away from the Lord!  We have things to do in our daily lives, so I’m not talking about crawling in a hole somewhere.  You can literally walk every day with your mind stayed on the Lord.  He is always there. 

          You won’t hear from the Lord unless the line is open.  Like the telephone, if it is not connected to that other party you are not going to hear from them.  Pick it up, hold on to it, and keep talking.  Keep your mind stayed on God, or you will miss out. 

          There are many tormented people, and the majority of their problems is with the mind.  Many would not be in the hospital if it were not for their mind troubling them!  The devil can hammer you mentally, saying that you aren’t even saved.  If you are genuinely saved, you know that is a lie, but if you consider it long enough, you start doubting God, and then a war is going on between your ears!  However, God fills people with the Holy Ghost, and He by-passes the mind!

          We have control over the vast majority of what we see, hear, and experience.  Consequently, we control the way we live.  The Bible says that without holiness no man will see the Lord, so our minds must be stayed on Him. 

          If you have been distracted, you need to get right back in.  There are people who actually think that you will go crazy if you think about God too much. However, thinking about God more can keep you from going crazy!  The world is diametrically opposed to God!  It is backwards to God, so after getting born again, you cannot stay on the same track as the world.

          Some say they are just a little nervous, not insane.  When a person cannot think straight, cannot think for themselves, and they cannot remember what they are saying while they are even saying it, it is insanity!  That means that the mind is going or has already gone.  God did not give you that, because God is not the author of confusion!  God is the author of peace.

          You are either going to have peace with God or confusion in the world.  If you dabble in the world, and you know it is not right, it starts affecting your peace, because condemnation comes in!  Elijah told the people in 1 Kings 18:21, “. . . How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. .  . .” 

          Matthew 5:48 says, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”  Yet, in the natural we think that no man is perfect, and nobody ever will be perfect.”  The first statement is true, but the second one is a lie from the pit!  We can be perfect, or God wouldn’t have said to be perfect!  We can live holy, or God wouldn’t have commanded us to walk holy! 

          Jesus is perfect, and if you let Him, He will fill you with the Spirit of God.  God wants to fulfill Christ’s life in you.  That is why you get baptized in the Holy Ghost.  What about people who have been filled with the Holy Ghost, and they aren’t perfect?  They aren’t your example!  Jesus is your example.  Besides, not everyone that says, “Lord, Lord,” belongs to God. 

          When you lay down to go to sleep, you might as well get up if God is dealing with you.  However, some people can’t go to sleep at night, because their mind won’t shut down.  Their body is aching, tired and worn out, but their mind is going constantly.  There is so much stuff to think about!  They think back to years ago, and then up to five minutes ago.  Then they go elsewhere and get into supposition, worry, and doubt. 

          The Word of God says that He will give you perfect peace if your mind is stayed on Him!  There is a war going on in your mind when your opinion changes in five minutes!  Our minds need to be stayed entirely on the Lord.  We know about the Lord, but knowing Him and having your mind stayed upon Him are two different things.  You live at home, but you don’t always stay at home!

          Jesus said in John 15:7, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”  You shall be healed.  You shall be delivered.  You shall have peace. 

          THINGS do not give you peace.  Some think marriage, or money, or deliverance from a certain affliction will give them peace.  Some say if their kids got saved they would have peace.  However, the Bible says the only way that you are going to have peace settled in your heart, calmness, and joy, is if your mind is on the Lord.  Don’t get your mind on the storm, or on what the devil says.  Concentrate on the Word of God. 

          People are always getting a quick fix, but God is eternal, and He wants to give you peace that passes all understanding.  That means that you can have peace in your mind, even without understanding it.

          Sometimes the Lord comes on me with great joy in a supernatural experience, but I didn’t get the joy until I had my mind stayed on Him.  I was seeking the Lord, and supernatural laughter just came right out of me, and I just had a ball!  It has happened at the pulpit and even at work one time.  I really had a time with that one! 

          God wants to bring joy, because the joy of the Lord is our strength!  You can’t have joy without peace, and you can’t have peace unless your mind is stayed on the Lord.  The devil will remind you of your problems, and even bring up the face of an enemy, but amazingly, it will not stop that supernatural joy and peace!

          God placed within you the sound mind of Christ, and if you will stay in it, other things will not affect you.  If your mind is continuously on your troubles, let God set you free, and then you will quit worrying!

          Prayer requests are needs that God turns into testimonies, because God fixes them.  Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”  The Bible says that all things, meaning the good and the bad work together for good to them who are called according to God’s purpose. 

          Therefore, if you are going through a hard time there is a reason.  Get your mind on the Lord, and be amazed how small the problem can get.  However, that makes some feel irresponsible, so they hurry up and get their mind off of the Lord, and become diligent worrying individuals again!  If you aren’t fretting over something, some people think you are a little touched in the head! 

          I want to be like Jesus, and I want God’s peace.  It is backward and upside down to the world, but that is all right, because in Acts 17:6 some other Christians were accused of turning the world upside down!

          Jesus said in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”  What He has is not going to be like the world!  Jesus kept peace even with what all He went through, and we are supposed to be like Him!

          God said in Isaiah 59:19, “So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.”  Believe God, and you will keep your mind.  Some pray and try to believe God, but they are watching for the devil at the back door, like God might miss something! 

          The mind, like the body, needs to be kept moving to keep it in shape.  Don’t let your mind become floating and dull.  Your mind should be filled with God! 

          How do I get things out of my mind?  Quit putting stuff in it!  If the devil puts it in there, then get away from the devil!  How?  Let me give you a little hint.  One of the greatest damning forces in our country is our television set.  Even the news media lies to us, thinking we are too stupid to know the difference, and can’t think for ourselves.

          In the beginning, Adam thought for himself.  The Bible says that God brought all the animals to Adam and set them before him.  This brilliant man called Adam named all the animals!  His mind was always on God!

          In a news media survey, ninety seven percent said they believed that they had a direct position and the right to change the thinking of the people that they were reporting to!  Have you ever noticed that second handed news sometimes is a shade inaccurate? 

          How dangerous it is for a preacher to preach and not be under the anointing, because it is a second hand opinion!  How dangerous it is for a Christian to spout scriptures if he has his own twisted way of thinking about it!  The person hearing it for the first time is going to get all messed up.  Then they have to unlearn the trash.  How much better it is if we will walk before the Lord in holiness and with a sound mind.  We can bring forth the truth in purity as God ordained it. 

          God says in His Word that He will keep you in perfect peace, so quit fretting!  You know, there was a leprosy denoted in the Bible as a “fretting leprosy”.  A lot of skin conditions are caused by pressure and stress.  Sometimes the body will react to what your mind is going through. 

          A sane mind is a controlled mind, and you can control your mind with God’s help.  Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” 

          It is much simpler to keep your mind on the Lord than it is all your troubles, because they increase.  You get to worrying about one, and you forget to worry about the other, and then another one pops up.  Then you start assuming things!  If the devil can divert your mind away from the Lord, you will not have God’s peace.

          1 Corinthians 2:16 says, “For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.”  When you got born again, the spirit of the devil left you, and the Spirit of Christ came in you.  The Spirit of Christ also holds the mind of Christ, so you have a sound mind already placed within you.  Continue to keep your mind stayed on the Lord, yielding over to Him.  Read the Kings James Version Bible.

          Put things in your mind that edify you as a Christian and that bring faith.  Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”  Don’t look at or listen to insanity or foolishness.  Don’t be a partaker of wickedness.  You must be converted, and walk in that which is holy!  YES, you will be changing your life style. Great!  That will bring revival!  1 John 4:4 says, “. . . greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”

            Romans 12:1-2 says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”         

          A person is transformed by the renewing of the mind.  Your mind is changed by faith in God, and as you keep it stayed on the Lord it brings about a conversion.  Peter was the most spastic of the disciples, and he is a classic case of most people.  However, after God got a hold of him, He could work through him.  God doesn’t wait until you get perfect before He starts.  If you just turn your face to serve the Living God, He will deal with you, encourage and bless you, and move in your life!

          When you are driving down the road you have to keep your eyes on the road.  It is amazing where you can go if you do not!  Generally, it will go where you are looking!  If you keep your mind stayed on the Lord, you will stay on the straight and narrow path!  If you get to looking to the left hand or to the right hand, you will have a wreck.  You decide what you want to do.

          Many in the church are on drugs in one form or another just because the mind is not stayed on the Lord.  The mind is on entertainment and carnality if it is not on the Lord.  What you put in is what comes out.  It drops down in your soul, and there is only so much that the Spirit of Christ can handle, because He is not interested in all of that.  There is a price to pay, but our God in heaven gives us power to become the Sons of God. 

          The Holy Ghost will help you keep your mind on God.  Romans 8:26-27 says, “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.  And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” 

          People are caught up with activities of the world, opinions, and diversions, but Jesus has a sound mind, and He thinks straight!  He can replace yours with His.  Then you won’t be confused, troubled, doubtful, fearful, or unbelieving.  However, you cannot be partaker of that which generates these things, and be a partaker of God at the same time.  You have to get rid of one or the other. 

          You can’t serve two masters.  If you get a little of God, and a little of the world, it will bring confusion.  It is all or nothing.  God has bought us with a price and we are not our own.  Let’s live for Him. 

CONTACT INFORMATION:

PASTOR KEVIN BADGLEY

LIVING HOPE FELLOWSHIP, P. O. BOX 111, GRAND CHAIN, IL  62941

CHURCH / FAX (618) 634-2541

E-mail  livinghope@hughes.net

www.livinghopefellowshipchurch.org

These condensed Bible studies have been published to help new Christians in their new walk with the Lord.  Kevin Badgley, the author, is the pastor of Living Hope Fellowship Church.

This is a Living Hope Fellowship publication.