Proverbs of a 40 yr. old man

The alienated mind. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. Amen. Without God in our lives our minds become depraved and starved for meaning and purpose. Amazing how our hearts are connected to our minds. For as a man thinks in his heart, so he is. So many people think it is foolish to acknowledge God, so He abandons them to their foolish thinking and lets them do things that should never be done. Their lives become full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. They know God has said that anyone who acts this way deserves to die. But they keep on doing evil things, and they even encourage others to do them. The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness. The mind that is focused on this world is withering away with the world's desires. Letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. Don't be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think. Let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Then you will know how to do everything that is good and pleasing to him. The LORD Jesus has given us a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind. Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure. But nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, because their minds and consciences are corrupted. So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. The alienated mind becomes an enemy of God and a friend to this world. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. Yes, we need the mind of Christ so that we can have the heart of Christ. Living out his law of love so we can have perfect peace a chaotic world. Thank you, Jesus! You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!