Month: May 2024

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.”  Romans 8:5 (NLT)

Have you ever felt like you are a hostage to your thoughts? Maybe you just can’t get a thought out of your mind. Or you often find yourself doing things you don’t want to do. You knowingly engage in self-defeating behavior. You know something is not good for you, but you do it anyway.

Romans 7:23 says, “I see a different law at work in my body—a law that fights against the law which my mind approves of. It makes me a prisoner to the law of sin which is at work in my body” (GNT).

Because of your sinful nature, you think of yourself and your wants more than what God wants. It’s a battle in your mind, and you’re losing it. Your old nature—who  you were before Jesus changed your life—is not your friend. It is the source of all your self-defeating habits that tend to take you down.

Do you want to break those habits and have more control over the way you think?

Then you need to hear and understand this truth: You don’t have to believe everything you think.

Your mind lies to you all the time. Just because you think something is true doesn’t make it true. Just because you feel something is true doesn’t make it true. Your mind and your emotions often lie to you. Part of spiritual growth—becoming more like Jesus—is learning to know the difference between thoughts that are true and those that are not.

One of the most important disciplines you can build in life is to challenge your own thoughts. Say to yourself, “I know what I’m thinking, but is that really true?”

No matter how far you go in your spiritual walk, your old, sinful nature will keep trying to take control of your thoughts. You have to learn to question your thoughts, not just one time but throughout your day and throughout your life!

When you start to think nobody likes you, ask yourself if that’s really true. If you think it’s never going to get better, ask yourself if it’s true. When you think your life is worthless, question what Satan is trying convince you of. Then, remember what you know from God’s Word to be true.

The Bible teaches, “Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit” (Romans 8:5 NLT).

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”  Matthew 5:44 (GNT)

To think like Jesus means to be willing to forgive the people who have hurt you.

Even on the cross, Jesus forgave. In Luke 23:34 he says of the people who tortured and hung him there, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (NIV).

Who has hurt you the most in life? Who are you holding a grudge against? What pain are you holding on to because you cannot forgive?

When you hold on to hurt, you’re really only hurting yourself. You need to forgive the person, not because they deserve it but because God has forgiven you, and he expects you to do the same for others. You forgive because you don’t want your pain to turn into bitterness and resentment. Being unforgiving is like drinking poison and hoping it hurts the other person.

Jesus always forgives, but he never stops with just forgiveness. He gives a radical example when he says, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44 GNT).

It is not enough to just forgive. God wants you to learn to respond to evil with good and bless those who have hurt you. He wants you to pray for their good.

Why would you do that? Because thinking like Jesus is the healthiest, happiest, and most healing way to live.

If you have the mind of the world, you’re only going to live in the pain of past hurt.

When you have the mind of Christ, you are free to forgive and bless. You’re free to move forward with your life, secure in your salvation and hope for the future.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“No one can serve two masters.”  Luke 16:13 (NIV)

When you’re always worried about what other people think of you, you can’t be what God wants you to be. But when you learn to think like Jesus, you won’t worry about pleasing everyone. Jesus had the right focus. He was only concerned with pleasing God.

Jesus was never manipulated by crowds or by the approval or disapproval of anybody else. He lived for an audience of one: “I try to please the One who sent me” (John 5:30 NCV). When you have the mind of Christ, that’s what you do too.

Wouldn’t it simplify your life to live for an audience of one? If God likes what you’re doing, then you know you’re doing the right thing.

God says in Matthew 3:17, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (NIV). Jesus was obviously doing it right.

The truth is, you can’t please everybody. Even God can’t please everybody! When someone prays for it to be sunny, somebody else is praying for it to rain. Somebody is praying for their team to do well, and someone else wants the opposing team to win. You can’t please everybody.

Luke 16:13 says, “No one can serve two masters” (NIV).

You have to decide whose approval you’re going to seek—God’s approval or other people’s approval. Are you going to live for what other people think or what God thinks?

When you’re always looking for validation from other people, it means you don’t really realize who you are. You don’t understand what God made you to do, and you don’t believe that he is always with you.

Jesus never let someone else’s approval or a fear of rejection control him. He wasn’t out to win a popularity contest. He didn’t need other people’s opinions to validate himself.

When you have the mind of Christ, you will be so secure in your identity, your purpose, and God’s presence in your life that you won’t need to look to other people for approval.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“I am not really alone, because the Father is with me.”  John 16:32 (GNT)

Having the mind of Christ means always being aware that God is with you.

We see this in the life of Jesus. Jesus lived in the presence of God and stayed connected to the favor of God. No matter how busy he was, he stayed in tune with the Father. Jesus said, “I am not really alone, because the Father is with me” (John 16:32 GNT).

This is why the greatest antidote to loneliness is thinking like Jesus. When you have the mind of Christ, you’ll be able, like him, to say, “I’m not alone because I know the Father is always with me.” When we feel alone, it’s often the result of not living with the mind of Christ—we’re not aware of God’s constant care.

How can you always stay aware of God’s constant care? One way is through prayer. Jesus made prayer a daily habit: “Jesus would often go to some place where he could be alone and pray” (Luke 5:16 CEV).

Notice this verse says that Jesus often slipped away so he could pray. You can’t just do that every now and then if you want to have the mind of Christ. Jesus’ prayer life was continual. He made it the priority of his life to be with his Father. It was a habit.

Do you stop and pray throughout the day? Do you think your day would go better if you developed this habit? If Jesus felt the need to slip away and pray throughout his day, then think about how much more we need it!

When you don’t take the time to talk with God, you miss the gifts of God. It’s not God’s will for you to be too busy for him. In fact, you’ll get more done in every area of your life if you take the time to stop and pray.

That doesn’t seem like it should work. If you’re always stopping to pray, how are you going to get more done? When you pray, you’re taking time to let God’s Spirit remind you what your purpose is. Then you’re able to focus your mind and heart on what matters most.

Jesus Christ knew who he was and what his purpose was. He was always aware of God’s presence. When you get the mind of Christ, you’ll have those things, too, and you’ll always be aware that God is with you.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.”  Acts 3:19 (NIV)

Somewhere along the way, “repent” became a negative word.

When many people hear that word, they think of a guy holding a sign on the corner telling people to “turn or burn” because the end is near.

But the world’s idea of what it means to repent is totally wrong. “Repent” is actually the most positive, transforming word in the world.

The word “repent” just means you change your mind. It’s not when you stop doing bad things—that’s the result of repentance. Repentance simply means you used to think one way and now you think another way.

You used to think guilty thoughts, and now you think forgiven thoughts. You used to think damnation and discouragement, and now you think peace. You used to think selfishness, and now you think of others first. You used to think ambitiously, and now you think about how to serve. You think about God as he really is—a kind and loving Father. You think about yourself as God sees you—with value and purpose. You think about what really has meaning in life.

Repentance is when you start rethinking your life in order to match how Jesus thinks. When you repent and turn from darkness to light, it’s not about not getting to do the things you want to do anymore. It’s about doing only the things that matter because your mind is set on what’s most important. It’s the most positive change in the world.

Do you need some refreshment? Do you need to recover from life’s hurts and be revived after loss or failure? Then you only need to repent. When you do, you’ll come into God’s presence and experience real joy and peace.