Trusting God: Renewing Minds for Abundant Blessings
Summary
### Summary
Good morning, New Creation Church! Today, we delved into the story of Isaac from Genesis 26, where he faced a famine and was instructed by God to stay in the land He had placed him. Despite the unfavorable conditions, Isaac planted crops and reaped a hundredfold because he trusted in God's provision. This story serves as a powerful reminder that God's ways often defy human logic, but His plans are always for our good. We discussed how increase, whether financial, spiritual, or relational, is meant to expand our influence and bring glory to God.
We also explored the parable of the new wine and old wineskins from Luke 5:36-39. Jesus used this parable to illustrate the necessity of a new perspective and a renewed mind. Just as old wineskins cannot hold new wine, our old ways of thinking cannot contain the new life and blessings God wants to pour into us. We must be willing to let go of our old perspectives and embrace the new ones that align with God's Word.
We all have a pair of "glasses" through which we view the world, shaped by our experiences and upbringing. However, God calls us to renew our minds and see things from His perspective. This involves soaking in the Word of God and allowing the Holy Spirit to anoint us, much like how old wineskins are renewed with water and oil.
We concluded with a call to action: to trust God fully, even when circumstances seem dire, and to allow Him to renew our minds and perspectives. We also had a time of prayer for healing, emphasizing that God is still in the business of miracles and that our faith in His promises can bring about real change.
### Key Takeaways
1. Trust in God's Provision: Isaac's story teaches us that God's instructions may sometimes seem illogical, especially in times of scarcity or difficulty. However, trusting and obeying God can lead to miraculous provision and blessings beyond our understanding. Just as Isaac reaped a hundredfold in a famine, we too can experience God's abundant provision when we follow His guidance. [07:38]
2. Renew Your Mind: The parable of the new wine and old wineskins emphasizes the need for a renewed mind. Our old ways of thinking cannot contain the new life and blessings God wants to give us. We must be willing to let go of outdated perspectives and embrace the new ones that align with God's Word. This renewal is a continuous process that requires soaking in the Word and being anointed by the Holy Spirit. [41:25]
3. Perspective Shapes Reality: The way we view ourselves, others, and God significantly impacts our lives. If we see ourselves through the lens of God's Word, we will live in the fullness of His promises. Conversely, if we view life through a worldly perspective, we limit what God can do through us. Renewing our mind involves changing our "glasses" to see life from God's perspective. [47:14]
4. The Power of Meditation: True transformation comes from meditating on God's Word. Just as cows chew their cud multiple times, we must repeatedly ponder and internalize Scripture. This practice reshapes our thinking and aligns our lives with God's truth. Regular meditation on the Word is essential for spiritual growth and overcoming life's challenges. [56:59]
5. Faith in Action: Healing and miracles are still available to us today through faith in Jesus Christ. Whether it's physical healing or a change in circumstances, our faith activates God's power. We must speak to our "mountains" with authority and thank God for His healing and provision, trusting that He is faithful to His promises. [01:24:20]
### YouTube Chapters
[0:00] - Welcome
[07:38] - Isaac's Story: Trusting in God's Provision
[08:58] - Planting in Famine: A Lesson in Faith
[10:18] - The Purpose of Increase
[11:44] - Prayer for Tithes and Offerings
[32:01] - Worship: The Name of Jesus
[34:47] - Parable of the New Wine and Old Wineskins
[36:18] - The Story of Blue Jeans and Patches
[38:49] - Understanding Wineskins
[41:25] - Renewing Our Minds
[47:14] - Perspective Shapes Reality
[55:44] - Two Ways People Change
[56:59] - The Power of Meditation
[01:00:00] - Making Wineskins New Again
[01:24:20] - Faith in Action: Healing and Miracles
[01:36:13] - Closing Remarks and Prayer
Study Guide
### Bible Reading
1. Genesis 26:1-2, 12-13 (NIV)
> "Now there was a famine in the land—besides the previous famine in Abraham’s time—and Isaac went to Abimelek king of the Philistines in Gerar. The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, 'Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live.' ... Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the Lord blessed him. The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy."
2. Luke 5:36-39 (NIV)
> "He told them this parable: 'No one tears a piece out of a new garment to patch an old one. Otherwise, they will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for they say, "The old is better."'"
3. Romans 12:2 (NIV)
> "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."
### Observation Questions
1. What did God instruct Isaac to do during the famine, and what was the result of Isaac's obedience? ([07:38])
2. In the parable of the new wine and old wineskins, what happens when new wine is put into old wineskins? ([34:47])
3. According to Romans 12:2, what is the result of renewing our minds?
4. How does the sermon describe the process of renewing our minds using the analogy of old wineskins? ([01:00:00])
### Interpretation Questions
1. Why do you think God instructed Isaac to stay in a land experiencing famine rather than moving to a more prosperous area? ([07:38])
2. How does the parable of the new wine and old wineskins relate to the concept of renewing our minds? ([34:47])
3. What does it mean to "renew your mind" according to Romans 12:2, and how can this be applied in daily life?
4. How does the analogy of soaking old wineskins in water and oil relate to the process of spiritual renewal? ([01:00:00])
### Application Questions
1. Isaac trusted God’s provision even in a time of famine. Can you recall a time when you had to trust God despite difficult circumstances? How did it turn out? ([07:38])
2. The sermon mentioned that our perspectives are like "glasses" through which we view the world. What are some "old glasses" or perspectives you need to let go of to embrace God's new vision for your life? ([41:25])
3. Romans 12:2 talks about the transformation that comes from renewing our minds. What specific steps can you take this week to renew your mind through Scripture and prayer?
4. The sermon emphasized the importance of meditating on God's Word. What is one verse you can meditate on this week, and how will you incorporate it into your daily routine? ([56:59])
5. The sermon concluded with a call to trust God fully and allow Him to renew our minds. What is one area of your life where you need to trust God more? How can you take a step of faith in that area this week? ([01:17:28])
6. Healing and miracles were discussed as acts of faith. Is there a specific area in your life where you need healing or a miracle? How can you actively pray and trust God for that need? ([01:24:20])
7. The sermon mentioned the power of perspective in shaping our reality. How can you shift your perspective to align more closely with God's Word in your relationships, work, or personal challenges? ([47:14])
Devotional
Day 1: Trusting in God's Provision
Isaac's story in Genesis 26 is a powerful testament to the importance of trusting in God's provision, even when circumstances seem dire. During a time of famine, God instructed Isaac to stay in the land He had placed him, despite the unfavorable conditions. Isaac obeyed and planted crops, reaping a hundredfold because he trusted in God's promise. This narrative teaches us that God's ways often defy human logic, but His plans are always for our good. When we trust and obey God, even in times of scarcity or difficulty, we can experience miraculous provision and blessings beyond our understanding. Just as Isaac reaped abundantly in a famine, we too can witness God's abundant provision when we follow His guidance. [07:38]
Genesis 26:12-13 (ESV): "And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The Lord blessed him, and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy."
Reflection: Think of a current challenge or scarcity in your life. How can you trust God more fully in this situation, and what steps of obedience can you take today to align with His guidance?
Day 2: Renewing Your Mind
The parable of the new wine and old wineskins in Luke 5:36-39 illustrates the necessity of a renewed mind. Jesus explained that old wineskins cannot hold new wine, symbolizing that our old ways of thinking cannot contain the new life and blessings God wants to pour into us. To receive what God has for us, we must be willing to let go of outdated perspectives and embrace new ones that align with His Word. This renewal is a continuous process that involves soaking in the Word of God and allowing the Holy Spirit to transform our minds. By doing so, we prepare ourselves to receive and sustain the new life and blessings God intends for us. [41:25]
Romans 12:2 (ESV): "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."
Reflection: Identify an old perspective or mindset that you need to let go of. How can you actively renew your mind with God's Word today to embrace the new life He has for you?
Day 3: Perspective Shapes Reality
The way we view ourselves, others, and God significantly impacts our lives. If we see ourselves through the lens of God's Word, we will live in the fullness of His promises. Conversely, if we view life through a worldly perspective, we limit what God can do through us. Renewing our mind involves changing our "glasses" to see life from God's perspective. This shift in perspective allows us to align our thoughts and actions with God's truth, leading to a transformed life. By continually renewing our minds, we can experience the abundant life that God promises and become effective instruments of His will. [47:14]
Ephesians 4:23-24 (ESV): "And to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness."
Reflection: How do you currently view a challenging situation in your life? What would it look like to see this situation from God's perspective, and how might that change your response?
Day 4: The Power of Meditation
True transformation comes from meditating on God's Word. Just as cows chew their cud multiple times, we must repeatedly ponder and internalize Scripture. This practice reshapes our thinking and aligns our lives with God's truth. Regular meditation on the Word is essential for spiritual growth and overcoming life's challenges. By continually reflecting on and applying God's Word, we allow it to permeate our hearts and minds, leading to lasting change and a deeper relationship with God. [56:59]
Joshua 1:8 (ESV): "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success."
Reflection: Choose a specific Scripture to meditate on today. How can you incorporate this practice into your daily routine to ensure God's Word continually shapes your thoughts and actions?
Day 5: Faith in Action
Healing and miracles are still available to us today through faith in Jesus Christ. Whether it's physical healing or a change in circumstances, our faith activates God's power. We must speak to our "mountains" with authority and thank God for His healing and provision, trusting that He is faithful to His promises. By putting our faith into action, we can experience God's miraculous intervention in our lives and witness His power at work. This involves not only believing in God's promises but also actively declaring and standing on them in faith. [01:24:20]
Mark 11:23-24 (ESV): "Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."
Reflection: Identify a "mountain" in your life that needs to be moved. How can you actively put your faith into action today by speaking to this mountain and trusting in God's promises?
Quotes
1. "Isaac was facing a famine. And in today's standard, that would look, let's see how to explain this, that would be like saying he's in a bad economy, right? How many of you have ever been in a bad economy? I think everyone in here has been through one. Maybe you're facing rampant inflation. Maybe there's just not enough money at the end of the month, you know what I mean? But Isaac was facing a situation where he would likely be struggling to make ends meet, and he was looking to everyone else around him, and he said, you know, if I go to Egypt, I'm going to be in a bad economy. And he said, over here, it'll be better. And God goes, no. Stay where I've put you. Stay where I've got you. Stay here. I've got you." [07:38] (38 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
2. "So, what is increase, right? Increase is always for the purpose of increasing influence, increasing our ability to influence the world around us, whether it's financial increase, spiritual increase, relational increase, all of those things. And as Christians, we're called to be the ones to have the answers that the world seeks. Remember how Solomon was king over Israel and all the people, you know, there was kings and queens that would come from all over, most notoriously the queen of Sheba. She traveled from a great distance to hear the wisdom of King Solomon so she could get the answers to her problems back home." [10:18] (43 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
3. "My question for you today, is it possible to look out at a barren field, to look out on a budget that doesn't make it to the end of the month and see something and say, my God is greater, my God is more. And if I do it his way, He'll actually supply all of my needs according to his glory in Christ Jesus. Tithes and Offerings is not about just money, but it's about your heart. Maybe your barren field looks different than mine. Maybe you're struggling with something financially, or maybe your heart isn't car just broke down or maybe you have family problems and you're like god i just need help with my family or you need a new job or whatever it is you can listen to god and if you actually follow his plan it's going to turn out better than you can imagine because he says i have more than you can hope think or even imagine for you." [10:18] (52 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
4. "The way we see ourselves is so important. I was listening to an interview with John Maxwell years ago, and he's kind of like the world-renowned expert on leadership. I think he's written almost 100 books now, which, that's a lot of books. And he was talking in this interview, and he said, he said, you know, you've heard it said that you take the five people who are closest to you in life, and that will determine your future. And he goes, well, you know, that's, that's kind of true, but not really. He said, then, recently, they've said that the, if you take the person you admire most, that inspires you the most, that you're connected with, that the most important person in your life, you'll live up to what they what they think of you. And he said, well, you know, that, that's more true, but that's actually not true either. He said, the most true thing I can say is, it's actually what you think the most important person in your life thinks about you, is how you'll, is the way you'll live your life." [49:58] (68 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
5. "The way we see ourselves, the way we see other people, the way we see God, and the way he sees us, the perspective we live by. If our eye is good, our whole body will be full of light. In the King James Version, I believe it says, if your eye is single, the whole body will be filled with light. If your eye is focused on one thing and one thing alone. In another part, in another place, Paul writes this. He says, no soldier enlists in war and looks back at civilian life. No soldier says, you know, I got to worry about myself. No, he is all in for the war. He's all in for the fight." [52:52] (46 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
6. "Turns out there's two ways that people change. They've shown that up until about 25 years old, you're still kind of like learning. Who you are, you're developing, you're becoming this person. You're trying to figure out what pair of glasses you're wearing. See, Theo, my son, he's two, almost two, and he does not have a pair of glasses yet. You know how I know that? It's because when he's walking along and he trips and he bumps his head on something, he's like, he stands up and he looks at me and he's like, did that hurt? Like, that's the look he gives me. He's like, did that hurt? And I go, no, you're fine. It's okay, buddy. And he's like, oh, you're fine. You're fine. You're fine. You're fine. Okay, well, I guess that didn't have to hurt then. And he gets up and walks on and I'm like, man, he just like knocked his noggin really hard. You guys have seen that, right? And then if on the other hand, he, you know, like walks into a table and just like completely beans himself, he'll stand up and he'll look at me and if I go, oh, buddy, I'm sorry, that probably hurt a lot. He'll go, and he'll cry because he's like, oh, okay, that one's supposed to hurt. I'll cry out that. He doesn't have a pair of glasses yet about how to think about things. He depends on me." [54:14] (70 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
7. "The word meditation actually is a word picture in the Jewish culture. It means to chew your cud. So for those of you who don't know, cows, what they'll do is they'll bend down, they'll eat some grass, they'll swallow it, and it'll go into their first stomach. And then they'll regurgitate it back up into their mouth later and chew it again. And then they'll swallow it again. And they'll do that over and over and over as it passes through. I think cows have like seven stomachs. Is that right? Four? Four stomachs. Okay. So I was a little overexcited. They have four stomachs. So they'll chew their cud three to four, maybe even five times before it passes all the way through their system. So that's what meditation is. And it's like, it takes time. It takes effort to be intentional about focusing on that." [56:59] (48 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
8. "The whole goal of the Bible is to get to know the one who wrote it, is to get to know the person of Jesus. 1017, it says this. It says, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. It doesn't say faith comes by the Word of God. What it actually says, put that verse back up there real quick, David. It says, faith comes by hearing, and hearing comes by the Word of God. So you get to know God. You know, you get the ability to hear God when you're in His Word. This is your lifeline. This is your grounding. This is your anchor of life. And when you're in the Word, then you get to hear Him. You get to learn how to hear and get to know God." [01:07:21] (46 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
9. "We can become new wineskins. God wants to make you new wineskins. He wants to give you a new perspective with which you live life. He wants you to see things from His perspective, from His point of view. He wants you to see things from His perspective. He wants you to see things from His perspective. There's a lot of people that could say, you know, man, we're in trouble. The world's just getting darker and darker. I don't think God sees that. I don't think God looks at the world and goes, oh man, it's getting darker and darker. What am I going to do? Oh me, oh my, what am I going to do? God's not up there doing that. God's up there going, ah, I know, I've got a plan because I've got a bride on the earth who's being refined and being reformed to look like me. And as we look like Him, as we walk like Him, as we walk like Him, as we walk like Him, as we walk like Him, as we love others around us like He loved them, we're going to begin to see a difference in life. He's just looking for somebody who's willing to actually trust Him fully." [01:10:19] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
10. "If anyone were to come after me, let him deny himself because you were never made for you in the first place. In Genesis, God made man in His image. And when I say man, I mean man and woman, both of us, mankind. God made man in His image. So our whole purpose, our destiny, our reason for being is to look like Him. That's why you have to deny yourself because you were never made for you in the first place. Then you have to take up your cross. What does that mean? What does that mean to take up your cross? means not to let sin against you produce sin within you, not to let what somebody else does to you determine your outcome, but instead let what somebody did for you determine your outcome. That the way we react should be the way He reacted." [01:11:52] (52 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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