GIRD UP THE LOINS OF YOUR MIND

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
(1Peter 1:3-7)

Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
(1Peter 1:13)

In Bible times, the people of the east wore long robes.

When they prepared to depart on a journey, or were awaiting to act at any moment for a particular duty, they had to gird up their robes.
They would bring their robes close together, to free them to be able to act.
The robes would otherwise be a hindrance to them.
Peter speaks here of girding up the loins of our minds.
Our minds can be hindrance to us when troubles come.
And we need to take control of our minds and not let them run amuck.

Peter spoke about a fantastic hope that Christians have in Christ.

We're born again by God.
He has begotten us again.
That speaks of being born again.
And the way God did this is by the work of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
You're not born again from the work of any other religious leader or spiritual figure in the history of the entire world.
The resurrection of Jesus is the only means by which God can cause one to be born again.
And that obviously demands your faith in that alone.

Jesus was firstborn from the dead.

That means that He was the first human being to begin the new race of people, just as Adam was the first human being to begin what is now the old human race.
Its old because sin messed it up, and God had to start over.
But I am glad that the manner in which God started over was not by wiping us all out.
He gave us the chance to get out of Adam's race and get into Christ's.

So Jesus' resurrection made it possible for us to be born again.

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
(1Corinthians 15:22)

Peter said we are kept by the power of God for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Those believers were under a lot of persecution, and God was going to deliver them from it all very soon.
But all of us go through various struggles and problems.
And Peter said that we might be going through heaviness and manifold temptations.
But yet we can rejoice!

He is saying that we need to rejoice and stay encouraged.

Rejoice for a reason.
He lists that reason as: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ

When we go through trials, our faith is being put through the wringer.

Any trouble is a trial of your faith.
Any trouble.
And we are either going to come out on top of things when the trial is over or we are going to be defeated in that trial.
But Peter is telling us that the end result is up to ourselves.
And he is saying that the key to coming out on top and seeing the trial of our faith is found unto praise and honour when Jesus appears is to rejoice.

There is something about JOY.

The joy of the Lord is our strength.
This statement is repeated in hymns and choruses and sermons all the time.
But it actually means that having joy of the Lord is having strength to get through any hardship that comes your way.
And Peter is saying that when hard times come, we can have the joy of the Lord.
ANY OF US CAN!

He is telling us to rejoice and have joy of the Lord so that the trial we are going through will bring us honor and praise.

Christ will praise us.
Not as one praises a God.
But He will honour us.
He will say ""Well done, good and faithful servant."

God wants to honour us after we go through a trial.

Even though we are in heaviness, Peter told us to rejoice so that we will be honoured when the trial is over.

Faith is very precious.
Its more precious than gold.

And the trial of our faith is more precious than the purging of gold.
And it is a shame when we are discouraged and lose our faith.
Church, don't lose faith!

I am not talking about positive thinking that naturally carries you through.

I am talking about faith thinking.
Peter said that a miracle happens when we hold on to faith.
When your faith is on trial, it is being tested.
Will your faith fail or will your faith pass the test?
If you rejoice, then your faith is strong and your faith will pass the test.
Every struggle is a test of your faith.
Will you remain SPIRITUAL in all of this or cast away any thoughts of God and lose?
Being spiritual in this is simply handling the situation by applying the things of the Bible to your life.

Its amazing that people can attend churches so many times, and yet never handle everyday lives by applying what the bible says to them.

If you're going through a trial, then your faith is being tested.

And you can choose to deal with it the way the Bible tells you to, or forget anything to do with God and deal with it just like someone who doesn't even know God would deal with it.
But I want to inform you that you can win.
Your faith can succeed!

Rejoicing goes hand in hand with faith.

Exactly how does rejoicing have to do with faith?
Faith believes the Bible.
And if we believe that there is honour and praise at the appearing of Jesus after our trial, we will rejoice because we look forward to receiving that praise and honour.
Sinners might not give two hoots about what God thinks, but believers do!
Keep God in your mind.

Peter says that God's power will actually KEEP US or PROTECT US through our faith.

"Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: "
We rejoice because testing our faith is far more precious than refining gold, and it will cause us to receive praise and honour when Christ appears.

Our faith allows God to protect us.

It kicks His power into action for our lives in way to protect us or keep us or preserve us for the deliverance that is on its way!

Then Peter speaks about Old Testament prophets who knew all about this great work of God that was still to come in their day.

They knew about it, but it was not for their day.
They inquired about it and rejoiced in its coming.
And angels desire to understand this as well.
Peter is trying to tell us that we need to really appreciate what we have now.
We're not waiting for these things to come like the prophets of old did.
We're not angels who can only investigate it from the outside.
Angels rejoice at one soul repenting and love to minister to us who are heirs of salvation.
But they cannot experience this.
We can!
IF ANGELS AND OLD TESTAMENT PROPHETS WERE SO FASCINATED WITH ALL OF THIS, WE SHOULD TAKE A LESSON AND TRULY Y SEEK TO MORE PERFECTLY UNDERSTAND THESE BLESSINGS.

And then Peter says this:

Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
(1Peter 1:13-15)

In other words...

Because great honour and praise comes at the end of a trial from God.
Because God will protect us if we have faith in Him through the trial.
Because we have right now what prophets so desired to have and rejoiced to know it would one day come.
Because even supernatural angels are so fascinated with this whole issue.
GET HOLD OF YOUR THINKING AND YOUR MIND AND TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR THOUGHTS AND HOPE.

Gird up the loins of your mind, means to get hold of yourself and THINK ABOUT THIS.

To hope is to have faith.

Don't get discouraged.
Don't let your faith fail.
Keep your mind on the honour God will give you!
Keep your mind on

When we lose control, we carelessly forget about everything the Bible promised us.

We don't care about the Word.
We don't care about the praise and honour.
We simply let go of having control of our minds, and give in and scream.

The word of God is telling us that we don't have to lose control.

In fact it is saying we can control our minds, since it is telling us to do so!
God would not tell us to do something we do not have the ability to do.

When we don't make an effort to keep in mind that Jesus is coming...

We don't make an effort to keep in mind that our faith is being tested...
We don't make an effort to keep in mind that God can honour and praise us...
...we let go and go hog-wild in frenzy and worry and fear.

THE WAY TO KEEP CONTROL IN HARD TIMES IS TO REJOICE.

AND WE REJOICE BY LOOKING FORWARD TO THE BLESSINGS OF GOD.

Forgetting what is ahead of us will cause us to lose out in the battle.

Keeping your mind on what lies ahead will keep your faith strong.

And faith will cause God's power to keep you and protect you.

You gird your mind up and take control and think, "I cannot let go and give in to temptation to quit. I'll throw away the glory to come. I'll throw away the honour and praise of God to come!"

As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:
(1Peter 1:14-17)

Keep serving God.

When you refuse to quit and pack it all in, and remain faithful to God, you are passing your time in fear of God and keeping your lifestyle holy.
Having a holy conversation is keeping your lifestyle holy.
If you refuse to do what the world does and sin lie the world sins, you are living holy.
Stay holy.

David was discouraged many times.

I spoke about not getting discouraged.

But when you do get discouraged, you can still pull out of it and rejoice!

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? forever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me? Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death; Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved.
(Psalm 13:1-4)

We know God did not forget David.

Jesus said He'd never leave us nor forsake us.
But david was beaten down and discouraged.
He felt God forgot him.
He complained about being sad all the time.
How long will it go on?
How long will everything go badly?

But.....

When "BUT" is a good word.
So many times we hear someone lust off some good things about us, and the they say, "BUT".
And BUT is mostly a word we do not want to hear.

I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast labored, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
(Rev 2:2-4)

Nevertheless is another one of those BUT words.

I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth. But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.
(Rev 2:13-14)

However, BUT in David's case was a word that was a good word!

But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.
(Psalm 13:5-6)

David made a conscious effort to change his way of thinking.

He consciously stopped complaining about the bad things and made himself think of the good things God HAD DONE.
He said HE HAD TRUSTED IN GOD'S MERCY BEFORE.
If he did trusted before, then he can trust again now.
He made a decision to start to rejoice in God's salvation!
He had not been rejoicing, but he girded up the loins of his mind and said HE SHALL REJOICE.
He was not singing, but he made a decision to START SINGING, and said I WILL SING.
I WILL SING means you have not been singing recently.
And even though God did not at that moment deal bountifully with David, he got hold of his mind and said he will sing because in the past God certain had dealt bountifully with Him.

You have to pull your mind out of the rut of least resistance, and make yourself think faithfully.

That takes work.
Gird up the loins of your mind.
Make yourself recall the times of blessings.
The times of miracles.

You must willfully get out of your thinking of discouragement and get into the frame of mind of praise.

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.
(Psalm 43:5)

One woman was so defeated all the time because she actually made it her goal to see her husband and children saved.

She invited preachers to her home to influence them.
She constantly witnessed to them.
She prayed for them
But God will not defy a person's will.
No number of prayers will cause God to make anyone serve Him.
He did not MAKE Adam eat the fruit of life and stay from the forbidden fruit.
He did not MAKE you get saved.
Neither will He MAKE your loved ones get saved because of your prayers.
He can make life hard for them, or strongly let them know they need Him.
But He will not cross the line of them making their own decision.
If He did, what glory would their salvation bring to Him?

She wasted away in hopes of something she had no control over.

She was not a failed christian because her husband and children were not saved.
We all should pray for our loved ones to get saved.
But don't base your value of a Christian on whether or not they get saved.
THAT IS BEYOND YOUR CONTROL.

Pray and witness, but leave the SAVING UP TO GOD.
You cannot save anyone.

Most people who are depressed have hopes and goals that are beyond their range of control.

They hope for things to change that they simply cannot change.
Peter shows us what we are supposed to hope for and what we can control.
HOPE FOR GOD'S APPROVAL AND COMMENDATION OF YOU.
CONTROL YOUR MIND.
CAUSE YOURSELF TO REJOICE.
PULL YOURSELF OUT OF RUTS BY REMEMBERING THE GOOD THINGS AND WHAT GOD DID IN THE PAST.
AND GOD'S POWER WILL PROTECT YOU!