Thank you for joining us for week 7 of our study on the names of God —LORD, I Want to Know You.
Assignment: Read Chapter 12. Complete the questions found on pages 119-125.
Our Name of God this Week: Jehovah Mekoddishkem —The Lord Who Sanctifies You
Jehovah — The Existing One or Lord. The chief meaning of Jehovah is derived from the Hebrew word “havah” meaning “to be” or “to exist.” It also suggests “to become” or specifically “to become known” — this name denotes our God as the One who reveals Himself unceasingly.
Mekoddishkem — Mekoddishkem derives from the Hebrew word qâdash meaning “sanctify,” “holy,” or “dedicate.” Sanctification is the separation of an object or person to the dedication of the Holy. When the two words are combined – Jehovah Mekoddishkem – it can be translated as “The Lord who sets you apart.”
Read Exodus 31.
Sanctification — God’s redemption of our lives is not the end. “Once God’s people are redeemed, as seen in Exodus, they are to move on to sanctification, as seen in Leviticus.” —Kay Arthur, Lord, I Want to Know You
We are to live fully for God, set apart and completely devoted to Him! In essence, sanctification is the process of becoming more like Jesus in our thoughts, attitudes and actions. It’s a lifelong process. It’s not one we accomplish on our own. Thankfully the Lord is Jehovah Jireh, The Lord Who Provides, and He provides all we need to live in godliness and holiness. But we have a part to play. Many times in my own life, my thoughts and attitude do not reflect Jesus, but rather my own selfish desires and fears. Life can be so busy, distracting and overwhelming that it’s easy to allow it to rule our thoughts and attitudes instead of Jesus. So when my attitude and actions look more like the flesh than Jesus, it’s obvious I’m in need of an attitude adjustment. Today, I’d like to share with you three habits we can cultivate in our lives to change our thoughts, attitudes and actions.
Three Habits of a Sound Mind
Three habits we can cultivate in our lives to help us change our mindset and attitude, to develop a sound mind, and to walk confidently and courageously in Christ reflecting Him to those around us.
For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and a sound mind. —2 Tim. 1:7
sound mind – sophronizo – to make sound, to restore to ones senses, curb the mind, curbing ones desires and impulses; from sozo – to save, restore, deliver and phren – to rein in (the mind), diaphragm, heart, fig. feelings.
#1 A Steadfast Mind
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock. —Isaiah 26:3
stayed on – samak – to lean or lay upon, to sustain, refresh, revive; to support, sustain; to place or lay something upon anything, so that it may rest upon and be supported by it.
When my mind is stayed on God, I am continually seeking to focus on Him — look back at the definition for the word in the original language — to lean up, to rest and be supported by something. When I “stay” my mind upon Him, I’m focusing on who He is and what He has done. I’m leaning heavily into His presence as I pour my heart out to Him and surrender my situation to Him. Instead of leaning upon my own strengths and abilities, I’m acknowledging that I can’t do it all and be all. That I need Him! That I’m dependent upon Him, not only for my very life and breath, but for His wisdom, guidance, power and presence in this situation. But we also see in this verse that we must trust Him.
trust – batah – to be confident or sure, to trust in; to be secure
The opposite of a steadfast mind is described perfectly in James 1:8, “…he is a double- minded man, unstable in all his ways.”
double-minded – dipsychos – vacillating, wavering, divided in interest
unstable – akatastatos – unstable, inconstant, restless
James is talking about someone who seeks God, asks for wisdom and guidance and yet does not trust God. He does not ask in faith, believing and trusting God. He is not leaning upon God. He’s taking it back into his own hands and finds himself wavering, divided in interest, unstable, restless. If we are going to cultivate a steadfast mind, we must couple our leaning upon and resting in God with trust —believing in God’s power to act.
Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. —John 14:1
It’s so easy to get caught up and whisked away in the flurry of activities and demands that my day holds. A steadfast mind is something I must intentionally choose to focus on and cultivate. And I love how God sends the messy, hard and overwhelming things into our lives to focus us back on His presence. When my mind is stayed on Him, I experience His perfect peace. He restores, revives and sustains me.
His heart is steady; he will not be afraid… —Psalm 112:8
#2 A Renewed Mind
How many times have you been watching that commercial on TV and suddenly realize you need what they have to offer, and you don’t know why it didn’t occur to you before now?
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.—Romans 12:2
renewal – anakainosis – a renewing or renovation which makes a person different than in the past; a renewal, renovation, complete change for the better.
Romans 12:1-2 offer us two options when it comes to what influences our mindset and attitude. We are either conforming to the ways of the world or we are transformed by renewing our minds. Conformity in the verse is a word that means to conform one’s mind and character to a same pattern, to masquerade. We are bombarded with thousands of messages from the world every day regarding how we should live, think and act. It’s hard not to be influenced, especially when those doing the promoting are experts in their fields. They know how to get our attention and motivate us to respond.
But the world and its ways go beyond commercial advertising, the enemy of our souls knows what buttons to push in our lives. His one goal: to get us to doubt God’s character. We must renew our minds in truth constantly, daily, even hourly. We need to remind ourselves of the truth of who God is, what He had done and His desires and His purpose for our lives. God uses His Word and His Spirit living in us to renew our minds and transform us more and more each day into one who reflects Christ Jesus in our thoughts, attitudes and actions.
Four Words for “RENEW” in the NT as relates to the mind:
Titus 3:5 – renewed by the Holy Spirit – “anakainosis” – a renewing or renovation which makes a person different than in the past; a renewal, renovation, complete change for the better. (a complete change for the better effected by the Holy Spirit)
2 Cor 4:16 – renewed in our inner man – “anakainoo” – to cause to grow up; to make new; changed into a new kind of life as opposed to the former corrupt state; new strength & vigor
Eph 4:23 – renewed in the spirit of our minds – “ananeoo” – to make new again; the divine influences by which the temperament or disposition of the mind is affected; correcting, elevating, ennobling and filling the mind with peace and joy. Through the influence of the Holy Spirit, Christians have the same disposition and frame of mind with Christ.
Col 3:10 – renewed in knowledge – “anakainoo” – to cause to grow up; to make new; according to the image of our Creator- a knowledge that accurately reflects Christ “epignosis” – precise and correct knowledge.
A renewed mind is one that is saturated with the Word of God and controlled by the Spirit of God.
#3 A Fixed & Captivated Mind
captivate – to attract and hold the attraction or interest; to influence or dominate
Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. —Hebrews 12:2
fixed – aphorao – to consider attentively, to turn the eyes away from other things and fix them on something.
I love this word in the original language. It’s so intentional. When we fix our eyes on Jesus, we have to take our eyes off other things. We take our attention off that situation that is creating the fear, worry and anxiousness and we look to Jesus. We fix our attention on Him. We rest in His presence.
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.—2 Corinthians 4:16-18
look to – blepo – to turn the eyes to anything:to look at, look upon, gaze at.
What are these “unseen” things that we are to turn to, look at and gaze upon? They are the things that are eternal —the character and nature of God. When we find ourselves overwhelmed by fear of the unknown or uncertain, we can renew our minds by focusing on and rehearsing the character of God —who He is and what He has done.
We demolish arguments and every high-minded thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to obey Christ. —2 Corinthians 10:5
taking captive – aichmalotizo – to make captive, bring into captivity, metaphorically, to capture one’s mind.
When we find our minds divided, distracted and doubting due to fear, we counter this by taking captive our thoughts and centering them on the nature and character of our faithful God. When those thoughts surface that tend to make you fearful and doubt God’s character, fix them on Jesus. Focus on who He is and who you are in Him! When our thoughts are fixed on and captivated with Jesus, it changes our perspective and gives us a confident and courageous mind that is characterized by peace, joy, confidence, security, contentment and freedom.
A sound mind is steadfast, renewed day by day in God’s Word, captivated by Jesus and controlled by the Holy Spirit.
©2014 Get Real, susancady.com