Taffi Dollar - How to be Well Adjusted Without Even Thinking About It - Part 1
Look with me in your Bibles at Romans chapter 12. Wanna look at the message translation. Verse 2, Romans chapter 12. If you would, just kinda read along with me. I wanna read this verse. So it says, «So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday ordinary life (your sleeping, eating, going-to-work and walking-around) and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing that you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking».
This morning, I wanna talk about being «Well-Adjusted Without Even Thinking». Well Adjusted Without Even Thinking. Because I want us to begin to understand that in this day and time in which we live, there is a tendency for each and every one of us to think that it is optional to renew our minds. And I don’t know about you, and as I become more acquainted with the Lord and my walk with the Lord, I understand that it’s really for my benefit; it’s not for God’s benefit to renew the mind. It’s not that he gets more out of it, but we cannot not afford to renew our mind. This is a luxury that we must begin to pursue because without it, we cannot begin to do the things that God wants done in the earth.
So he says, and he talks about this process here in Romans chapter 12. You know, we’ve, as a ministry I’ve heard so much about renewing the mind for so many years, for decades, the importance of it. These Scriptures here, Romans chapter 12, how it’s a process. It’s not an event. It’s not a one-time thing. And so this morning, I want us to remind ourselves that we do not become so accustomed and well-adjusted to the world’s way of doing things, that we aren’t even thinking anymore. Because we have become so enamored with everything that’s going on in the world today. We’ve come so adapted to and conformed to, to the point that the Scripture says that we are not even using the mind that God wants to use in the earth. The fact that he wants us to be different from the world, to be separate from the world, and not to blend in with the world.
So again, he says, «Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking». And that should arrest us this morning in areas of our life and areas maybe of our business. Areas of our work, areas of how we raise our families, areas of our marriage, areas of our relationship, that we can become so accustomed to the culture and the world that we aren’t even thinking about God’s way of doing things. So that’s why Dr. Dollar started months ago about how God’s ways are the better ways. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, and so we must begin to pursue the thoughts of God, because otherwise the enemy wants us to be entertained by his thoughts.
So he says in the rest of this verse, «Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what God wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you». So I want us to look at something this morning as it relates to the culture of this world. I was lookin' at some things on last evening and the Lord put this on my heart. Some of the well-adjusted customs of the world, the culture of the world, even as it relates to business. Some of the culture that we don’t wanna become so well-adjusted to such as getting others to do the work and taking the credit. Getting others to do the word and you take the credit.
Think of this one. There’re so many as it relates to some of the things that I want us to be in, even as it relates to being in leadership, being a leader, being in business, in different areas of life. These are some of the laws of power. Let’s see. Make your victims feel smarter than you so they drop their guard. Don’t dirty your hands; get others to do your work. How many of you’ve heard of that? Not dirtying your own hands because we know that is counter intuitive to Jesus’s way and how Jesus led through servanthood; Jesus modeled service. He says the greatest of these is the person who’s willing to serve. He modeled it by washing the disciples' feet. He allowed the women to minister to him. He was very inclusive with the things that God had placed on his life to do. But at the same time, he didn’t exclude women.
But under the law, there were things that women were not allowed to do, but yet we see how he was able to empower and call the women at the well, and having the longest private conversation with her, and the woman with the oil, and the alabaster box. And so, we have to begin to understand that we cannot become so well-adjusted to the world’s way of doing things. Like the Scripture says, without even thinking, because that’s what the world says. Dog, he eat. It’s a dog eat world. Every man for themselves. By any means necessary. Get all you can get and can all you can can, and get all you can… it’s just amazing to me that if we’re not cognizant of what the Scripture says and what the truth of the Word is, we can begin to think the same way.
So we cannot afford the luxury of entertaining thoughts about us that God doesn’t think about us. We cannot decide not to bring all thoughts into captivity to Christ. Because other words, we have to ask ourselves why are we here. God doesn’t need another one of us to begin to do the things of the world. But we’re here to be the light, here to be the salt, here to make the difference, here to stand out, here to not blend in and become so adjusted to the world’s way of thinking and allowing it to drag us down to its level of immaturity. Amen?
So I like what Jesus said in John chapter 14 verse 30. Jesus says, «The enemy has no power over me». Look at this. He says, in the Amplified, he says, «I will not talk with you much more, for the prince,» referring to the enemy, Satan; he says, «the ruler of the world is coming and he has no claim on Me». You know why? Because Jesus had the mind of God. He didn’t become well-adjusted to the culture that was around him to drag him down into becoming a part of it. So he says, «The enemy has no claim, the prince of the world, he has no claim on Me». In fact, he says he has «nothing, nothing in common with Me; there is nothing in Me that belongs to him, and he has no power over Me». Say that with me, «He has no power over me».
And so, the enemy, as we talked about last week, is the fact that he began to have authority in the Garden of Eden because he came and talked to Eve, and when he talked to Eve, he came through suggestions. He came through the eyes, he came through the mind, and as a result, he had authority there and was given authority by them. And so, as a result, we know all the things that happened and the things that shifted as a result. And so, because of Jesus coming, Jesus took back that authority that Satan stole, and he took it back and then he said, «I give it back to you».
So you get to choose what you wanna do. You get to choose life or death. You are a free moral agent. You get to decide what you wanna think on. You get to decide whether you’re gonna believe the Word of God or whether you’re gonna believe the lies of the devil. You get to choose the things concerning your life, and he since then and gives us a hint: choose life! So that we can begin to prove the good, the acceptable, the perfect will of God versus allowing it to drag us down through the world’s way of doing things to its level of immaturity. So say that with me again, «Satan has no power over me». The moment we entertain the enemy’s lies, we actually war against the very purposes of God in our life. The moment we entertain his lies, we war against the purposes of God in our life. When we dwell on or when we feed on those things that are to contrary to the Word of God.
Now, 3 John verse 2, we’ve been reading that for a long time. It says, «Beloved, I would above all things that thou prosper and that you be in health, even as your soul,» what? «prospers». And so our soul health, the mind, the will, the emotions. He wants us to begin to renew it. He wants us to be new. He wants it to be a place where the enemy cannot have free course, where the enemy cannot drag us down, where the enemy has not caused us to not think about what his strategy is.
And so, in 2 Corinthians chapter 10, we’ve talked about strongholds last week, but for the sake of being on the same topic of being well-adjusted but not thinking, let’s look at this. 2 Corinthians chapter 10, and then we’re also gonna look at I think it’s 2 Corinthians chapter 2. But firstly, chapter 10 verse 5, he says, «Casting down», well, let’s back up a little bit. Verse 3: «For though we walk in the flesh, we do not,» what? «We do not war after the flesh».
That’s what the enemy wants us to do. He wants us to fight one another. The flesh is the unrenewed mind. It’s the mind that is not in line with the things of God, and so when we don’t renew our mind, we’re thinking that our enemy is our neighbor. We think our enemy is our boss. We think it’s the person who had a negative comment on social media. I’m tellin' y’all, we gotta stay out of those comments. Because the enemy, he hides behind all of that. So, why? He can distract us so that we can believe the lies. «Oh, they don’t like you. They’re tryin' to hold you back». «You’re not good enough. You don’t…» It’s just all these things that the enemy wants to entertain us with his lies. And so he says, «We do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God, the pulling down of strongholds;)» Pulling down of strongholds.
We talked about the stronghold is a place where the enemy hides. In the Old Testament and in the old ancient days, the armies and the battalions, what they would do is they would get behind a fortified place, a wall or castle or some place in order to begin to strategize. And so the enemy would not know that they were there. And so, it’s the same thing in this day and time, in this age in which we live, is that the enemy hides behind the lies. He wants us to believe the lies. He doesn’t want us to detect the things that he’s saying. He doesn’t want us to recognize that it’s him. He doesn’t want us to know that it’s really him and not other people. He wants us to fight with one another, to be contentious, to begin to entertain his thoughts and to cause his thoughts to get into our heart.
«You’re never good enough. You’re not good enough. That’s why this didn’t happen. You’re gonna be sick. You’re gonna be broke. You’re not gonna get promoted. You can’t go here. You can’t go there». And so, those things will begin to cause us to get into a place of receiving the strongholds, because little that we know, there’s something that’s called epigenetics. I’m not gon' go too far with it, but it’s the fact that things can easily be passed down from generation to generation, some people think through DNA but, you know, Jesus’s blood, his blood is so powerful that it’ll go to third and fourth generations and it’ll uproot all the mess from your DNA and cause it to do the things that the Word of God endeavors to do.
And so, the blood is powerful today. And so we have to begin to recognize that those imaginations that are contrary, that the Scripture says that «arguments, theories, reasonings, every proud and lofty thought that sets itself up against the knowledge of God,» he says «Bring it in to captivity. Bring it in to captivity to the obedience of Christ». I have to remind myself that Jesus has made provision for my protection. Jesus has made provision for my peace. Jesus has made provision for my life. We have to remind ourself for every area where the enemy may have come in in the past, maybe with some experience, some incident, some trauma or something, but I’m tellin' you, you gotta cover that thing with the Word of God. You’ve gotta begin to renew your life and renew your mind so that he cannot have a stronghold in your life.
So that he cannot begin to cause you to think less than what God’s plan is for your life. I remember when we were at 40,000 feet and one of the things that the pilot ran to the back and told us as that the landing gear on the plane would not come down. We’ve had so many plane incidents, but we’re here. Angels are still on the job. But my thoughts… So, I’m tellin' you, we just went to prayin'. We went to prayin' in tongues. When those thoughts start comin', you just got to begin. You might have to get some supersonic rifle speakin' in tongues, just begin to let it rip. We were, I mean, we landed there were emergency vehicles, ambulances, fire trucks, 'cause they didn’t know if we were gonna crash without the landing gear comin' down.
I remember when we were on our way to Australia and our engine went out, one of our engines went out on that, and we were over the water. Thank God for Jesus. When we were in London, I was leavin' a speakin' engagement over there at the church, and we got on the plane and we were getting ready to go back home, and then all of a sudden, the lights on the runway, something happened where the lights were not showing properly, and so it was the airport’s responsibility for what happened, but the pilot slammed on the brakes, and when he did the plan got damaged and just all kinds of stuff, and fuel began to leak, but you know what? God got us outta there and got us safely back home. But it’s the thoughts, because the enemy knows, «I can get her where her safety is concerned».
And so, what is it today that the enemy constantly is coming with you. Where is he coming with you with those thoughts to cause you to not trust God, to cause you to not believe God? Is it in your finances where you want to preserve yourself and take care of yourself, and do it yourself, and do it your way, because of what happened before, and so as a result, the enemy knows, «Oh, I can get them in the area of their finances. I can get them because, you know, they’re afraid that they won’t be able to provide, so what I’ll do is cause this situation to happen».
And he wants to begin to have this stronghold. He wants to begin to cause you to believe the lie and to become adjusted to the world’s way of thinking, not even thinking about what God has said concerning us, because we’ve gotten so adapted to the world’s way of thinking. So whatever the world says or whatever this person said, what they say is so. But God’s saying to us this morning to begin to realize that he wants our mind to be renewed so that we can prove acceptable in the perfect will of God concerning him.