Are you taking his yoke?

 

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matt 11:28-30) 

The above verse is an interesting one. When Jesus discussed the subject of his Yoke, he was trying to draw an interesting analogy. During his time on earth, his society was one of an agricultural nature. As he mentioned the word "Yoke," his mind most likely drifted to a picture of two oxen united by a wooden yoke. 

As we previously discussed in our past studies, we discussed two types of Yokes-

• A Wooden Yoke---Wood is symbolic of the flesh. This Yoke was used for Oxen to plow the ground. (I Cor 3:11-15) 
• Iron Yoke--Used on POWs (Prisoners of War). Symbolic of Satanic Oppression and Slavery. It was an Iron Metal collar around the neck. God's power can break any yoke. (Isa 10:27)

In Matt 11:28-30, Jesus is inviting us to put on his Yoke. As we read on, he mentions the word soul. What is the soul? The soul involves the Mind, Will, and Emotions. Our minds need to be renewed into the pattern of Christ. The word says that we can have the mind of Christ!

Now let's address the Wooden Yoke and its symbolism. A wooden Yoke is our flesh. It will be with us until we die. Will we let us control us, or will we put it under the Spirit? Just as the Ox has another of his kind at his side bearing the burden, so is the Holy Spirit. 

The Holy Spirit is our helper. He will help you control the flesh to do God's will. God wants to take our wooden Yoke and make it his own. Praise God! For more on this and other exciting subjects, tune in to today's Bible Podcast. You are sure to be blessed. (Link provided below) God bless! 

https://bit.ly/42rSSQ3

Pastor's notes----02/23/2015

                                                 
                               

                                    The Enemy within
                               Image courtesy of pat138241 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net


                       I know what you are thinking when you see this picture above---Satan! Beloved, that is not who I am talking about. That picture should have your face in there. Why? Because what I am talking about is your flesh. We need to put things in proper perspective. Many Christians blame their sinful acts on the devil. In fact, a popular comedian invented the phrase--The devil made me do it. 
                 The fact of the matter is the devil is not forcing anyone to sin. Yes, the devil tempts us and works on our mind, but the true enemy is our flesh. I remember years ago, there was a Sci-Fi series called Star Trek. They had one great particular episode entitled--The enemy within. Captain Kirk was on a mission and he got zapped with a transponder and it split him up into two beings--One good and the other bad, 
                  The episode became interesting in that the evil twin started to cause confusion and tried to harm the people on the Star ship. Finally, the episode ends with the transponder ray restoring the two into one and we have a happy ending. The same is with us. When we do not renew the mind daily, the effects of sin takes over. Soon, before you know it the fleshly nature kicks in and we start acting carnal. 
               Friend, The flesh, in itself, is not bad. It is just its sinful nature. You can subjugate the enemy (Flesh) into doing God's will. The fact of the matter is simply this, when we got baptized in water, we buried the sinful fleshly nature. ( Col 2:12-13) Again, the problem is the unrenewed mind. It's effects will set the "Transponder rays of sin" into effect resurrecting the fleshly nature. We need to let the spirit man take control so that the flesh can merge into one under the dominion of Christ. 
               Consider this verse---"But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil" (Heb 5:14)  You can train your flesh to obey God's word, bury its sinful nature and have victory in your life. A one-time deal will not do. This has to be a daily walk with the Lord. That is why it is important to develop the mind of Christ in your life. The word Christ mean yoke breaking, burden removing power and it is in your mind, but you got to allow it to operate within you! (Phil 2:5) So, in this day, decide that you will allow the power of Christ to work inside of your mind. Take every thought captive and nip it in the bud, for then, you will enjoy God's best for your life. 

Prayer---Father God, thank you for speaking to me. Forgive me for being carnal-minded. In this day, I allow the mind of Christ to work in me. I declare that the old man is buried by baptism and that I walk in newness of life. I take every thought that is contrary to your word captive. I command my mind, desires, will and emotion to be in line with your word. I have the mind of Christ. His yoke breaking, burden removing power is in me and I walk in victory today! In Jesus name--Amen! 


                    

Dealing with frustration---Part II

 "  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do."    (Rom 7:19)

                           In our last study, we saw how frustrated the Apostle Paul was with his flesh. How he experienced failure and the solution God gave to him in Rom 7:25---With the mind he serves the law of God. That is a powerful statement. I believe that God at that moment showed him that he has the mind of Christ! We, also,saw how the word Christ is the yoke breaking, burden removing power of God. (Isa 10:27) So, think about it! Jesus is not only our Savior, but he was known to break yokes and lift burdens. It's the same association when you think of computers, the name Bill Gates comes to mind. 
                          My question to you is are you allowing this mind (Christ) to be in you? Brethren, we need to understand that God's blessing is not going to fall on you and presto you have the mind of Christ. We have to fight the fight of faith. God is not a Santa Claus and yes he has given us all things to enjoy but we have to do our part. There is an enemy called Satan and he uses the flesh and the world to stumble us.
                             Israel was given a land by God. It was their inheritance, but there were giants they had to fight against. Our flesh has enjoyed the past lifestyle and for some, it has been 20, 30 or 40 years---Do you think that living for Christ is going to be a walk in the park? Not without the anointing! We have to fight the good fight of faith. Let's look at the following---
          
  " Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ"  (II Cor 10:5)

                We have work to do. We need to monitor what goes through our mind and use our authority to cast down imaginations that are contrary to God's word. Binding and loosing is the key. We need to bind thoughts that are against God and put them under our feet. After that, we need to speak that word and chew on it. Loose the spirit and anointing in that word, only then will our minds be renewed and we will begin to develop the mind of Christ in us. God bless! 

Verses provided by Biblegateway