"Your Life is a Reflection of What’s in your Mind."
by Frank Schaefer

Keywords: Ascension of the Lord, Mind over Matter, I think, therefore I am

Scriptures: Luke 24:44-53, Col 3:2, Rom 8:6, Rom 12:2
PowerPoint:  Ascension
Closing Song: You Say by Lauren Daigle (with lyrics)

Luke 24:44-53: Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you--that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.“

Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.“

Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God.

In today’s Scripture lessons, the apostle Paul is saying in so many words: Your life is a reflection of what’s in your mind. So renew your mind! And Jesus is showing us what the renewal of the mind might look like. Luke 24:45 reads: “Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures.”

How did Jesus open their minds? By explaining the Scriptures.
Remember, before Jesus opened their minds, the disciples were timid, fearful, and locked themselves behind closed doors for fear that they, too, would be crucified as known followers of Jesus. Once, Jesus opened their minds, sometime between the Ascension and Pentecost, everything changed.

Remember, the disciples went out into the streets of Jerusalem and started sharing the Good News of Jesus. Even after they experienced a backlash, when the authorities started to incarcerate and kill the disciples, they continued to spread the news. After their minds had been opened, their lives were changed forever. The disciples are a living example of how what’s in your mind determines your life, how you live and who you are.

The apostle Paul says in Romans 12:2: “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.” Renewal of your mind changes everything! It will make you able to make smart, wise decisions, which in turn, determine how you live and what you stand for.

Well, you may say, easier said than done; how can I just renew my mind? How can I just switch off my anxieties, my worries, how can I just forgive and forget what happened to me? How can I find a positive attitude? I would like to, but I find myself unable to do so.

One problem we have is that we see our life worse than what it is. Somehow, we need to start seeing our life better than what it is—we need to start factoring in the potential. Instead of wallowing in our misery, we need to take care of your wounds, dress them up and let them heal. If we keep complaining, keep being negative and if we keep feeling sorry for ourselves it’s like picking at the scabs of a healing wound. We have got to find a positive angle.

But, how can we actually do that? How do we get over stuff? How do we find a positive attitude?

You may have heard of Helen Keller, an American author and activist who became blind and deaf as a toddler due to a disease. She received a special education in order to be able to communicate with the outside world, starting at age 6. This is what she said:

“Although the world is full of suffering; it is full also of the overcoming of it.”
Bad things happen in life, and they have already happened to you. There is nothing you can do to change that fact. However, there are many examples of overcoming all around us. There is no life form -- plant, animal, or human – that doesn’t experience problems. In order to survive, all of life, including us, need to find solutions. Problem-solving is a huge part of life. And when pushed into a corner, humans turn out to be incredible problem solvers who overcome incredible odds at times.

So, the good news is that problems can be solved, and for almost every problem there is a solution. This isn’t to say the emotional turmoil disappears once a problem is solved. Emotional scars are as real as physical scars. In fact, emotional scars can take a very long time to heal.

One practical way of mind-renewal is to adopt a different kind of relationship with your emotional scars – a positive label. In this regard, Karen Salmansohn, a bestselling author and a regular columnist for Oprah, CNN, Psychology Today, said this:
 

“We’ve all been hurt in some way. Don’t think of the marks left behind as scars. View them as tattoos to wear with pride, reminders of your strength and growth.”
This reminds me of a scene from the movie Jaws: It showed what appeared to be some kind of contest when these fishermen uncovered body parts to show off their scars in order to see who had survived the biggest and scariest attack. They were proud of their scars because they were survivors. They stared death in the face, they got hurt, but they lived to tell the story.

That’s how we should treat emotional scars as well according to Karen Salmansohn. Show your emotional scars off, use them to teach others to let the world know: I survived this, and if I did, so can you! Wear these scars like tattoos, I like that!

As Christians, we have another powerful way of allowing God to renew our minds. Because our God is a God of love, compassion and positivity, when we’re down, God lifts our spirit, when we feel guilt, God forgives, when we feel we’re worthless, God says: no, you are a VIP! When we feel alone and betrayed, God says: you are loved, and you are not alone!



Lauren Daigle in her song: “You Say” puts it like this:

You say I am loved when I can't feel a thing
You say I am strong when I think I am weak
And you say I am held when I am falling short And when I don't belong,
You say I am Yours ….And I believe!