Let this mind be in you! (08-Sept)

Verses for the day:

• Phil 2:5
• (KJV) – Let this mind be in you which was in Christ
• (NIV) Your attitude should be the same as Christ
• 1 Peter 2:21 …just as Christ suffered, He is your example, follow in his steps… (v23) He left his case in the hands of God. Eph 5:1 Imitate God in everything you do

Introduction

We have enjoyed watching our grandchildren grow. We appreciated how their parents (our kids) are raising them and seeking to train them up to follow God and live pleasing to Him. But, it has also been fun to watch how much they imitate their parents. Sometimes they are almost like a voice recorder. Dad says something, and a few minutes later you hear the same words coming out of our grandsons mouth.

We have also noticed from our time doing orientation, that how the parents are doing with their transition and adjustment will be reflected in their kids. If mom and dad are struggling, we see the kids struggle. If mom and dad are taking things in stride, and embracing the change and the new environment, the children do much better at adjusting also. They have the same attitude as their parents.

Devotional

In Phil 2:5 we are instructed to take on the same attitude of Jesus. I another passage (Rom 5:1) we are told to imitate God in everything we do. So, what was Jesus attitude? What was his thinking? And what should we be imitating?

Continuing on in Phil 2:6-8 show what Jesus mindset was. Jesus chose to live in complete dependence on His Father.

• he gave up his divine privilege
• he took the humble position
• he humbled himself in obedience

In the gospel of John we see this lived out also

• John 5:19 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.
• John 5:30 “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.
• John 14:9-11 Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.

This was what Paul meant when he said, “Let this mind be in you!” The will of God, overrides our will! Jesus was declaring;

• Your will overrides at every point my convenience.
• Your will overrides at every point my comfort.
• Your will overrides at every point my satisfaction.

How could Jesus live with that attitude? Because He lived for something greater than his own convenience, comfort and satisfaction. He was living for God’s will!

Hebrews 12:2 says, For the joy that was set before him He endured the cross.

Phil 2:10 Paul said the result of Jesus mindset was, “That every tongue (in heaven and on earth and under the earth) will declare Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God (Phil 2:10-11)

The joy set before Him was that all across the world, people would be reconciled to God on the basis of the death of Jesus Christ as their substitute. This is what satisfied him beyond the cross and all the agony of the cross was he looked down

When Jesus chose to leave his case in his Father’s hand (1 Peter 2:23), God took care of the rest Phil 2:9-11

• God elevated him
• God gave him the name above all others
• God brought every knee to bow, and every tongue to confess Jesus is Lord

Once you and I have this mind, this attitude, we will no longer depend on our own resources but depend on the indwelling spirit of Jesus Christ to work. When we live in obedience to him, and take our agenda from him, every other issue becomes, God did, God did, God works in your life.

Then, as you look back, you will say, look what God did. Look how God led, look how God directed. And you will see his fingerprints all over your life. You will be living in the image and likeness of your Father. But if you never settle that issue, you’ll never know that. If you never settle this, you’ll never live with a sense of confidence, no matter what happens today.