Hey friend, I want to ask you where the state of your mind is right now. Do things feel clear and controlled or do they feel somewhat chaotic or even overwhelming? Do you feel connected to God in your life right now or does he feel distant? I seriously want you to take a moment to reflect on where your mind is as of today in your life. And before I move on with this video on some key points of what has helped me to get to a state of mentality now where I'm confident and I feel clear with God after struggling for years with mental issues, anxiety, depression, panic attacks.
I want to make clear two non-negotiable truths. Number one is that a mind on Christ is a life that is controlled, peaceful, and clear. And I think I can even switch that around and say that A life that is controlled, peaceful, and clear is evidence of a mind that is constantly on Christ. And secondly, if God feels distant to you right now, He's not the one that moved. Yo, what is good my people?
It's your boy PB. I've been a full-time consecrator and entrepreneur for about the last five years. Now, this video, this is going to be something special. Because this morning and last night, I was reflecting on how much progress that God has allowed me to have in regards to my mentality.
I'm telling you that I used to struggle so much in my teenage years and my early adult years and I just got in the state of gratefulness this morning just reflecting on how much how far God has taken me. That gave me the inspiration to make this video and in processing and thinking and scripting and also praying over the topic of this video man I brought myself to tears I don't know if you can already tell that my eyes are red so I hope I can keep myself together for the rest of this video but I was able to pinpoint a couple of key verses that have helped me and that I realize that are so impactful in regards to keeping your mind on Christ and taking control of your mind because it is so important. So I have a lot of different Bible verses that we're going to be going through today that are going to paint the picture and they have helped me so much. And I know, I know truly without a doubt, these words breed life and they will help you too.
So I think first it's extremely important to understand the value and the significance of our heart posture in our mind. So first verse comes out of Proverbs 4, verse 23, and it says, Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flows the springs of life. What does that even mean? What does it mean to keep your heart with all vigilance? First of all, let's read the definition of vigilance.
The action or state of keeping careful watch for possible danger or difficulties. So actually proactively keeping watch on what is dangerous to your heart. And it says keep your heart in a different. translation, it says, guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.
So what does it mean to even guard your heart and why should we do that, right? That takes me to Romans 12 verse 2, which says, 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. So being able to discern the will of God, which like I said earlier, is clarity.
So when you Don't conform to the world when you protect your heart from the dangers. And I'm going to list out what those dangers are. When you protect your heart, guard your heart, you actively do that with vigilance, with power, with intention and discipline.
Then you will have a clear perspective on what God wants for you in this life. What God is saying is good. What is bad?
Whether God is telling you to go to college or to not go to college and pick up a job or pick up a trade. Whether he's telling you to use your talent of art or singing or dance. These type of things, in essence, the wisdom.
of God will be shown to you when you don't conform to this world and you keep your heart with all vigilance. So I want to go deeper into how to actually do this. How do we transform our mind so we understand now that the Bible says that from our heart flows the springs of life, from our heart it determines the course of our life.
So Romans 13 14 says, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires. I was writing in my journal the other day and I was writing to myself and I asked myself how deep my commitment is to the Lord to eradicate sin from my life. Now, obviously, I believe that if we have any sense of God's spirit inside of us, we understand that sin is bad. We know that the consequences affect us and it hurts God. And a lot of us, we hate sin.
But yet, why do some of us, so many of us still commit sin even when we know we hate doing it? And I realized that my commitment to God is shown in how disciplined I am to cut out the triggers that lead to sin. Unfollowing that girl on Instagram that you know you imagine about.
have thought you shouldn't. Deleting the Instagram app altogether if that's what's leading you into sin. Deleting TikTok, not watching that show or that movie, not listening to those songs, not hanging out with those friends. How far are you willing to go to cut out those triggers?
Make no provisions for the flesh. Make no pathway for the flesh to gratify its desires. And it's so hard because we have to be extremely self-conscious all the time. We have to know our flesh, this body, this embodiment of dust that we're dwelling in, understand his desires, and actively go against that according to the spirit that God has put inside of us.
And that's what I think causes so much overthinking for us because we constantly have this battle of flesh and spirit. We don't know whose is who sometimes. Sometimes we don't know who's in control. And that's why it says in Proverbs that a man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without its walls. At that time, when you don't have control over yourself and you're just constantly standing in the divide between flesh and spirit, you are literally vulnerable to any attack that could happen to you, to any influence.
You are a city left without its wall with no defenses. You are a human who can hear something and then it becomes your nature, becomes your character. You can watch something and then you embody it and you don't even know what is true when you're constantly dealing with just an influx of influence rather than guarding your heart with all vigilance. Colossians 3 verse 2 says, Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
So if you took your time of reflection and you realize you're at a state of life right now where your mind is constantly all over the place, think about it this way. Typically, when we have anxiety attacks, typically when we have those panic attacks, when we're nervous, when we're depressed, any type of negative thing, it's about things of this world. It's about things that we wish we were in control of, things that are not going our way.
We're anxious about, oh, Lord, am I going to have enough money to pay my rent? Am I ever going to end up in a relationship? Am I gonna ever get a car?
Are my parents ever gonna fix their relationship? Things of this world. And the Bible says that every good thing comes from above.
So when you think of good things, that's when you're thinking about things of God, like it says in this verse. Not thinking about the negative of every situation and always thinking about what is positive, what is honorable, as it says in the verse that I'm about to read. Philippians 4 verse 8 says, Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there's anything worthy of praise, think about these things. This is where you should stay your mind, where you should keep your mind and where it should remain at all times on things that are of God.
And what are the things of God? Things that like this verse says, true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent. And the support that Colossians 3 verse 5 says, put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you. Sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. These things are idolatry.
And I want to pause for a second on passion because I'm telling y'all this world continually tries to tell us that we should follow our dreams, follow our heart, follow our passions. But let me tell you that God does not owe you service of your passion. Just because you have a love for skateboarding or for dancing, God doesn't have to serve you success in that thing.
It's vice versa. The Bible says that we should commit our passions to the Lord, commit our desires to the Lord, and He is the one that will establish our steps. If you love skateboarding or dancing or art or music or videography or whatever it is, commit that to the Lord, understanding that in that commitment, it may mean that He may not fulfill your idea of success. He may say, oh, you love singing? Instead of you being some crazy Grammy award-winning artist, you're actually going to be a worship leader.
Or if you love dancing, you're not going to be someone that's on Dancing with the Stars or anything. You may be a praise dancer in your church. That's what committing your passions to the Lord is.
So many people get confused and therefore embody idolatry because we put our passion on this pedestal. We call our passion our calling when that's not true. God called us to love the Lord your God with all your heart, which means that you have to surrender your passions and love your neighbor as yourself.
That is your calling. Your calling is not a specific thing. Because let me ask you this.
Oh, man, I'm rambling now. But. I'm going in.
Let me ask you this. If your dream was to be a race car driver, right? You're a passionate to be race car driver.
You go around telling people that God called you to be a race car driver, and then you have some crazy accident. You become blind. What does that mean? Does that mean that God is not good?
That God lied? Does that mean that you did something wrong as to actually inhibit this pain on you to inflict blindness so that you now can't live your calling? Does that mean that your life is worthless now because you can't drive anymore? See, that's what happens when we set a heavenly appointment connected to an earthly passion.
There is no connect there. You are called to be obedient to whatever God calls you to do. And you do that by committing your passion. passions, committing everything that you have, this life, to the Lord for Him to establish your steps. Passion can be idolatry, and that is also a big reason as to why a lot of us have this mindset that is full of despair, that is all over the place.
We're so depressed because we see everyone in the world on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, people who are telling us, oh man, you got to get out of your nine-to-five job, you got to make all this money, if you do this you can make $10,000 in two minutes and everything and all this and all this confusion. If you live in America specifically, you know that it's true that we live in a consumer market. Everything is about getting the next car, getting the next house, getting the next clothes, the next bags, the next item, the next product, whatever it is.
And we keep our mind on these things and we try to then pull in God and make him obey our will and our desires. And that's completely contrary to what God says. This is idolatry. We are called to keep our mind on Christ and whatever he may have for us. This next verse I'm about to read is so powerful.
This is the prayer you ought to pray. And I I'm telling you, I was telling my girl the other day that I feel like that I've been surrounded by two groups of people in my life right now. And they're very distinct.
It's one group of people who recognize their sins. They understand the idea of denying yourself and picking up your cross daily. And they acknowledge that they are weak and through God, they are strong.
And they're trying to follow God and trying to follow Jesus. And then this other group of people in my life who just seem to be completely gone in their ways, and they just don't even care, which, man, it's just mind-boggling because, like, they know I love the Lord, so why would they even be friends with me? But hey, that's an opportunity in itself. But for these people who are over here, I feel for you so heavily because I reside here as well. I get filled with so much shame at times because of my sins, and I start having these, this train of thought where I'm like, man, God, I don't even know if I'm Worthy to be making these YouTube videos about you and spreading your word.
Lord, I just feel like I'm doomed for disaster and destruction. Like I'm going to lose every good thing I have because Lord, I just keep falling, keep falling. But I'm telling you, if you are in this group where you recognize your sins and you truly love the Lord and you want to do what is right. If you sin five times in a day, ask the Lord for forgiveness six times and truly you will be forgiven. Don't let shame eat you up.
I say it all the time. The devil doesn't win when your flesh fails. The devil wins when your faith fails. He's trying to take your faith away from you.
I was just struggling today. I had an amazing morning. I went, I worked out and I was reflecting and I came back, took a nap and I started letting my mind get places.
And then I just started feeling so much shame for my sins. And at that moment, I had a decision. Who am I going to run to?
Am I going to stay to myself? Stay to my sin and allow the shame to eat me up? And then... I could literally feel almost physically God being further and further away, not because he was moving, but because I was retreating myself.
And I said, no, I went to my office. I prayed. I hopped in my devotion and I forced myself to keep my mind on Christ. And lo and behold, God has blessed me with this message and allowed me to speak this to you.
Praise the Lord. But I'm telling you, if you are in this group right here where you are seeking the Lord, be encouraged. Let your mind remain on Christ in all things. Don't.
ever cross over to that side. Don't ever go back because as long as you are pursuing Christ, he is there to receive you. He is always there to forgive you and to love you and to show you the way as long as you are being real with yourself. So anyways, I got distracted, but this verse I'm about to read Psalms.
What Psalms is it? Psalms 139 verses 23 through 24. And I ask, really ask you to pray this over your life. If you're not in the mindset right now, go and capture this verse for yourself through your own Bible and just pray this.
But this, man, search me, oh God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any grievous way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. Man, that prayer right there, if you just say that every morning, look, search me, oh God, and know my heart.
Giving full surrender to Christ to allow him to examine your heart, not protecting it, saying like, oh, I'm content in my ways. I've justified this. I've lived enough life and I know that this is what I like to do.
This is what I don't like to do. I don't want anyone to say anything about that. Search me, oh God, I give you full welcome into my heart. and know my heart try me and know my thoughts test me lord like i'm surrendering my life test me lord so i can be as pure as possible and see if there be any grievous way in me literally the psalmist here is asking the lord to do whatever is necessary take out anything that's going to keep him from growing in his relationship with Christ, man, and lead me in the way everlasting. Man, there's nothing more I can say than that.
It's not even me saying this. This is the Lord. I pray that you feel the Lord pursuing you through these words. If this is for you, I'm sure that you know it. I can't thank the Lord enough for where he has brought me in regards to my mentality.
I know where I used to be, and if you are anything near to where I used to be. Dog, I feel for you. I feel for you heavy.
And there is no solution other than the words of your creator. There is no other cop-out. There is nothing that would be fulfilling, nothing that can bring contentment, nothing that can break you out the chains of mental incarceration other than the words of your father, the one that loves you and committed to live the life that you are supposed to live and die to death. that you are supposed to die. Don't let this world deceive you.
Do not be deceived. Your heart, it's gonna try to lead you every which way and it's not gonna make any sense. The Lord establishes our steps. So how can we even understand that?
It says that in Proverbs, how can we understand this life that God is putting together? As I always say, I hope that this video encourages you. I hope that it challenges you.
I hope that you feel your Lord pursuing you. I love you very much. I hope that this, I really, really, really hope that this gets you through your next battle. I have nothing left to say. Please make sure to like, share this video, subscribe.
The comment section below is open. If you have anything you want to share, anything that touched you in this video or anything that's been pulling at your heart, that you're struggling with, leave it in the comment section below. Give an opportunity for a brother. who has experienced revival to come alongside you, pray with you, encourage you, connect with you, whatever it is, a brother or sister, the comment section down below is wide open for that purpose.
This is God's channel. I'm just a steward. I love y'all. I'll see y'all in the next video. Peace.