Chef Grant Achets opened his restaurant Alenia in Chicago after working for Thomas Keller of the French Laundry in California. At that time, the French Laundry was considered the best restaurant in the country. A meal there cost about $500 per person. When Grant opened Alenia in 2005, it was named best new restaurant in the country, but 2 years later he would experience something that would have destroyed most chefs. However, Grant didn’t let it stop him. What happened to him, that was so devastating? He was the head chef at the best new restaurant in America...but he had lost his sense of taste. He had developed cancer while he was building Alenia, and the experimental treatment that cured his cancer had taken away his ability to taste. But he didn’t give up. He was able to continue being a chef and leading his line cooks, because he realized all of the flavor profiles and the imagination for new dishes was located in his head...not his tongue. He understood that the knowledge and determination in his mind was more valuable than his physical ability to taste. He realized that he had to go head first into this situation. And that’s what he did. Have you realized or thought about the fact that you go “head first” everywhere you go. No matter where you find yourself, your mind went there first. Before you showed up here tonight, you had a thought about coming and then decided to act on it.
You see, The direction of your life is determined by your Attitude, your mindset, and your thoughts. That’s why God’s Word tells us that our life can be transformed by the renewing of our mind. Romans 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” The only thing that will change your actions is a changing of your mind about those actions. You will continue to be conformed or look and act like the world, until your mind is renewed. Look at what happened to Peter. Mark 8:31-33 “31 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” Why did Jesus rebuke him? Because his mind was on the wrong things. And why was that? Because that’s where Satan attacked him. An attack can come looking like a reasonable thought. If your life isn’t where you wanted it to be, it’s because your mind is focused on the wrong things. The word of God can shift your thoughts so you can start becoming who He created you to be. So, how do you start?
The first step is to repent. The word repent means to turn around and go the opposite direction. Repenting is much more than apologizing. You can say “God, I’m sorry I did that, please forgive me”, but that is not repentance, it’s just an apology. John the baptist didn’t say “Apologize, for the kingdom of heaven is near!” He said repent. Jesus didn’t say, “apologize for the kingdom of heaven is here!” He said repent. It’s not enough to just be sorry, we have to repent of being conformed to the way this world looks and acts. Which means to turn around and start walking towards the kingdom. The foundation of our life must be based on the kingdom principles that Jesus taught us. We are born fallen without a kingdom foundation. Everyone sees and does what’s right in their own eyes, because they have no foundational direction. As humanity, we long for things to be right, so in our ignorance, we try to fix things by using man made organizations, that are not part of the kingdom, but it doesn’t work. Religion doesn't work, community service doesn't work and government doesn't work to fix our foundation. Sin can only be fixed by repentance, because sin is a rebellion against God’s spiritual laws. In order to repent, you have to become aware of new information that causes u to change ur mind and go a different direction. We can only repent of something we are aware of. Our repentance is based on being aware of the kingdom way of living that Jesus taught. That is how you begin to renew your mind. By focusing your mind and meditating on the kingdom principles in the word, your spiritual eyes will open and you will begin to understand how to avoid breaking spiritual laws. Your mind is the key.
Your mind can only do two things. It can remember and it can imagine. Before we repent, we live from memory. Most Christians still Live from memory not imagination. Kingdom life requires imagination. To see the life that God wants for you...You have to go “head first”. When we came back from California I went back to living from my memory of Greenville life, but I should have been living in the new vision from God and understand that my new title of Pastor Randall was what God intended. I needed to walk away from creative director Randall. The enemy throws thoughts at us trying to get us to accept a lie about ourselves...about who we are. He has custom designed a snare that can easily trap us, and that’s why we need our own custom designed armor to prevent being caught by the enemies’ traps. Thankfully for us, God has provided the perfect custom designed armor for each of us. We find the list of what He has provided in the book of Ephesians, in the 6th chapter. Ephesians 6:10-17 “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
Each piece of the armor of God has a specific function. For the rest of our time tonight we are going to talk about the piece of armor that protects what we’ve been discussing. The Helmet of Salvation. I want to answer the question “Why do I need a helmet?” in three parts. Just like a physical helmet protects your brain, the spiritual helmet of salvation protects your mind and thoughts. The knowledge of our salvation, in our mind, assures us of our position as sons and daughters of the Father and of His protection from the lies of the enemy. How do you put on the helmet of salvation? You have to get up every day and put on your helmet by meditating on God’s Word and allowing Him to “protect” or guard your thoughts. Answer 1 - A Helmet will save your life. I haven’t been in ministry very long and so I’ve never been called to the hospital ER to pray with a family over a motorcycle accident. But I have friends who are pastors and they have told me the stories of what that scene looks like. They hear over and over about how they wish their loved one had been wearing a helmet. You see, here is the problem, we think we don’t need protection because...nothing is going to happen to us...and if it does, we can handle it. We believe we are self sufficient and don’t need help. But the reality of an accident is “when” not “if”. The accident is coming, and you need to be prepared for it.
The spiritual helmet of salvation will protect you from the reckless things you do...sin. Sin separates you from God, but the helmet that He provides keeps you protected from having that separation. And it will protect you from the reckless things other people around you do. Everyone is concerned about themselves and not paying attention to how their actions/words will affect you and the quality of your thought life. The Helmet Manufacturer is also the one who manufactured you and is the most qualified to know how to protect you. And since He made you, He knows how you were designed and where your areas of vulnerability are. Remember, your armor has been custom designed for you. 1 Samuel 17:38-39 (NLT) “Then Saul gave David his own armor —a bronze helmet and a coat of mail. 39 David put it on, strapped the sword over it, and took a step or two to see what it was like, for he had never worn such things before.”“I can’t go in these,” he protested to Saul. “I’m not used to them.” So David took them off again.” Saul’s armor wouldn’t work for David, because it was custom designed to protect Saul. It seemed like a good idea to let David use it, but it didn’t fit and just weighed David down. You have to put on your own armor, because it has been custom designed for you and only it can protect you from what you face every day. Everyone’s struggle is different. Your armor protects you from “The” sin which so easily snares you. Answer 2 - A Helmet is not just a hat.
A helmet isn’t just a covering...it’s not just a hat. But a lot of Christians think of it that way. They think of it as “the hat of Salvation, nothing more than a cover to protect from sunburn. Just a minor thing, and not really much of a life threatening issue. Remember: we think nothing is going to happen and even if it does, we can handle things. Reading a “verse of the day” email is good start, but it’s like putting on the hat of salvation or just using spiritual sunscreen. When what God said we needed was a helmet. A helmet that will protect from the big challenges. Sunscreen comes off after a little water gets on you. The same is true of spending only a minute reading one verse. As soon as a little offense washes over us, the light cover we had easily washes off. A hat isn’t meant to protect your brain. The Helmet of Salvation is more than just a hat or sunscreen. A helmet is worn for the protection of your brain, where your thoughts originate. Thoughts are where we can get wrecked the fastest. So protecting your head is vital to keeping reckless thoughts from wrecking your life. 2 Corinthians 10:5 (NKJV) “casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” It’s up to you. You have a choice every day to get up and put on the helmet, the cap, or just decide you don’t need any level of protection at all. Answer 3 - We need to increase our protection. It’s tough out in the world. Every day we face things that have the potential to wreck our lives. The main difference between being able to get back up and carry on, versus having permanent brain damage, is wearing your helmet.
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