Preparing Your Mind (Tuesdays with Tata Classic)

Good morning, my friend. I hope you're doing well. It's Dr. Lee Warren here

with another episode of Tuesdays with Tata.

I'm so excited for this talk. We had an incredible talk about the importance

of being ready, preparing your mind for what's coming.

Tata's got some great words for us. And I just want to give you this one disclaimer.

I quoted what I thought was St. Francis of Assisi. Actually,

Lisa came into the rescue. you.

I thought it was R.C. Sproul or Spurgeon that said, he said,

always preach the gospel and if necessary, use words.

This old famous quote, I thought it was Sproul or Spurgeon. It turns out to

be attributed to St. Francis of Assisi.

But after we recorded this, we discovered that that quote may actually not have been said by anybody.

It may just be urban legend. So if I misquoted something that's not really real, I'm sorry about that.

Maybe it was St. Francis of us this here, maybe not. But nevertheless,

it's a good quote. You'll hear it in the context of the episode.

We all have colds. There's some coughing.

There's some sneezing. There's some background noise. We did our best,

but this episode is worth it.

So endeavor to persevere through it. We have a great talk about being ready,

getting your mind ready for the things that are to come.

Friend, there's some big stuff happening in the world and you need to be ready

for the traumas and tragedies and massive things, the cultural shifts,

the massive things that are coming and we can be ready to change our minds and

change our lives. And there's good news.

But before we get to Tuesdays with Tata, I just have one question for you.

Hey, are you ready to change your life? If the answer is yes, there's only one rule.

You have to change your mind first. And my friend, there's a place where the

neuroscience of how your mind works smashes together with faith and everything

starts to make sense. Are you ready to change your life?

Well, this is the place. Self-Brain Surgery School.

I'm Dr. Lee Warren and this is where we go deep into how we're wired,

take control of our thinking and find real hope.

This is where we learn to become healthier, feel better and be happier.

This is where we leave the past behind and transform our minds.

This is where we start today. Are you ready? This is your podcast.

This is your place. This is your time, my friend. Let's get after it.

Music.

Well, friend, we're back. We're here on the riverside on a Sunday afternoon.

Well, I guess if it's Sunday afternoon, that can only mean one thing.

It's Tuesdays with Tata. Yes.

Thank you. You're ready to get after it. Yes, I am.

I apologize. My voice is not back. Lisa and I have had some sort of horrible

virus, and somehow Tata managed to be spared from it. Yeah, I'm blessed and highly favored.

We had the stomach issues prior to that, so we took turns with that,

I think. It's been a few months of somebody being sick almost all the time in our house.

But we're getting through it. It's going to be okay. So apologize for any creakiness

in my voice. Maybe a sneeze here and there. We'll edit that out.

We'll go from there. So what are we going to talk about today,

Tata? 1 Peter 1.13. 1 Peter 1.13.

Which is a very, very thought-provoking verse.

But in the King James Version it says gird up the loins of your mind.

Gird up the loins of your mind, that's right.

And apparently I said out loud, what does that mean?

I've always wondered what that meant. I had some vague knowledge of it and some

vague understanding of it.

And then Lisa sent me a screenshot of the Hebrew definition of the word. It's girdle.

Yeah. it means gird up

and an interesting part of it is and

understanding this is that when you

have the girdle tightened

that means you're ready you're ready to serve or you're ready for action but

if it's loose you're resting or you're lazy so one of the things that Peter

is stressing here is don't be lazy or don't be at rest That's right. Be mindful.

That's right, I brought it to your attention because I love the idea that it's not just Paul.

And Jesus that are telling us about being ready with our minds and preparing

our minds for action. But Peter gets in on the action as well.

And he says this curious phrase about girding up the loins of your mind.

I thought that was an interesting play on the metaphor of preparing yourself.

So there's an interesting passage back in 1 Kings 1846.

Because as you said, when we talked about this the other day,

that phrase, gird up your loins, shows up throughout the Bible.

And almost comedically in 1 Kings 18, 46, when Elijah has to run to go outrun

the prophet to get to Jezreel, he girds up his loins.

In the days back when you had the flowing robes, you couldn't really run.

And so if you wanted to run, you had to gather your robes up and tuck everything in.

That's right. It was unlawful to expose your legs.

That's right. So he had to prepare himself for action by getting his clothes.

And he had to defeat his clothing so he wouldn't be tripping and falling and hindering himself.

And then the same phrase appears in Job 38 when God says to Job,

gird up your loins and I will question you.

That's right. That's always been kind of daunting to me.

Job's been questioning God and then God says, gird up your loins like a man

and I will question you and you will answer me.

So again, this This metaphor, getting yourself ready for something.

So what's the context here that Peter's giving us in the passage here?

Well, what I'm looking at is the English Standard Version.

And the translation of it fits in my mind.

And this translation, it says, therefore. And the therefore is therefore because

of all the things that he's already said.

Amazing how often we come back to that, doesn't it? That's right.

What's that therefore, therefore? Therefore, and this is,

ESV, therefore preparing your minds for action,

prepare your minds for action and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on

the grace that has been brought to you, the grace that will be brought to you

at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

And that's what the whole point that Peter's making here is that be ready.

Because it's going to happen.

And it's going to happen soon.

That's right. And the world will end and judgment will begin.

And so the whole point that Peter's making here is be mindful of what's happening

and understand what's happening. Be sober-minded.

Be sincere about it. That's right.

Be prepared. Be concerned about it. Be prepared and be ready to attack,

to be ready for that day, whatever that day comes.

My dad is a gifted public speaker, Tata. And when I was a little boy,

he would always teach me and my brother how to how to give a talk.

Like if he wanted to give a devotional in church or if he wanted to preach or

if he wanted to give just a convincing talk at school or in our business,

he wanted us to know how to do that.

And and one of the principles that my dad taught me about giving a speech is

that he had three elements.

You tell him what you're going to tell him. That's right. And then you tell

him and then you tell him what you told him.

That's right. And I find it interesting here, Peter, in his little book here,

five chapters in 1 Peter, in 1 Peter 1, he says, gird up the loins of your mind.

Get your mind ready. Be alert and be sober and be ready because we're in a day.

He was saying, we're in a day when there's a lot of spiritual warfare and things happening.

And I think if Peter were here today, he would tell us the same thing.

Absolutely. We're in a time when it's time to get after it.

It's not time to be letting your mind wander. or it's time to be preparing your mind.

And that principle that my dad taught me of telling them what you're going to

tell them and then wrapping it up by telling them what you told them,

he comes back around to it in 1 Peter 3 at the end.

He says, in the middle.

Rather, he says, even if you should suffer for what is right, you're blessed.

Do not fear their threats. Do not be frightened. But in your hearts, revere Christ as Lord.

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason

for the hope that you have.

He's saying, get your mind ready for what you're going to do when you have an

opportunity to share with someone why you have this hope.

Why do you have the hope? And then so he tells us at the start.

He tells us in the middle, and he gets down to 1 Peter 5, and he says the same thing.

Be alert. This is 1 Peter 5, 8. Be alert. That's right.

And of sober mind, your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion,

looking for someone to devour.

Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of

believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of suffering.

As you mentioned that verse last week.

Yes. So here he is. Peter's given us the principles that my dad taught me 2,000 years later.

That's right. Tell them what you're going to tell them. That's right.

And then tell them what you told them.

And friend, there must be a reason that the Apostle Peter, the rock that Jesus

said we're going to build this church on, there must be a reason that he wants

you to know that you need to get your mind ready.

Because what's your friend Dr. Warren always say? You can't change your life

until you change your mind, right? That's right, yes.

And you have to do it today. but but the hope the

other thing is that one of the things that we have

a tendency to do is we get lazy yeah and we rest yes and when we do that we

lower our guard but Satan is at work all the time yes he is and he appears when

you're not looking for him he appears when I'm praying and.

And interrupts the prayer. And sometimes I forget my place.

That's right. Because he is not willing that any of us would worship God or

be at peace because we have salvation in Jesus' name.

The whole point there is we have to be vigilant, on guard.

So when we're in that kind of position and in that kind of posture, we're always on alert.

Yeah. And we're thinking.

And the only way that I know how to do that is get in the Word. Yeah.

Stay in the Word. That's right. Reinforce yourself in the Word.

That's right. And friends, if you haven't read 1 Peter or any of the writings

of 1 Peter or 2 Peter, I encourage you to do that.

Every time I read it, I see something that I didn't see before.

That's right. But the thing that I keep coming back to is being ready.

Because what does that say when you're ready? When you're ready to go, you have peace.

And you have a quiet spirit.

You're not anxious. You're not overwhelmed by trials and tribulations that come your way.

The testing that comes your way.

And the sorrow and the pain that you go through. That's right.

Momentarily, you'll be taken off your feet, but then you get back up.

That's right. You have a treatment plan.

That's right. You've got a plan. You're ready to implement it.

You've drilled it and prepped it, and you know where you're going to fall.

And when the hard things come, you know what promises you need.

You know, this idea of guarding your mind, Lisa and I were having a conversation the other day, Ta-Time.

It's been years, really, since I've mostly listened to Christian and worship music.

I made a decision a long time ago that for me, music is a gateway into my mind,

and I use it to fill my heart up with things that I can rely on and call back to mind.

Worship is one of those ways that I do that, as Tommy Walker would say.

But we were talking about an old song. I heard it on the radio or on the background

of a television show we were watching, this old song, You Light Up My Life.

Remember that song? Yes. And all the lyrics were there from my childhood when

I heard that song. I hadn't heard it in probably 30 years.

And I'm singing along with the song and it's a catchy tune, it's a great old song.

And one of the lines is, "'It can't be wrong when it feels so right.'" Yeah.

And I'm singing along and then I thought, wait, time out.

I just said in my mouth that it can't be wrong if it feels right. And that's not true.

That's right. And so what the point is this, not that there's anything wrong

with listening to secular music, but this goes right in line with what Peter's telling us.

Like, be careful what you put in your mind because you'll preach it to yourself as if it's true.

And here I was, me, Lee Warren, the mind guy, right? I'm singing out loud.

It can't be wrong if it feels so right.

And that's false doctrine. I mean, it's not a doctrine, but you see what I'm saying.

Like, it's so easy to let some idea slip into your mind from a book or a song

or a friend or a television show or even sometimes another Christian.

Like we've talked about before, when you go through something hard,

people try to comfort you.

Some of the things that they say are really bad theology.

That's right. Like God must have needed another angel or something like that.

That's right. You have to guard your mind is the point.

Not telling you to throw out all your CDs or if anybody even has CDs anymore.

I'm just saying be careful what you let into your mind. That's what Peter's

getting at here. That's correct.

And it's so easy to let it in. Just like the event that you described. That had to be easy.

But you were aware and alert enough in your own thinking to realize that's not

right. That's right. That's right.

And there's so many times that we think about, just as you said,

some of the people that have said things to us that they thought were comforting.

But one of the greatest comfort that I ever had that I had was when a guy came

to see me that didn't say much.

I remember some of the things that he said to me, but I don't recall him giving me platitudes.

Yeah, the people who show up and shut up, as John said.

Yes, that's right. But the whole point is that you can't be alert,

you can't be sober unless you're in the Word and that you understand.

And that's another thing that you have to do, in my mind, is that when you talk

to God, ask God to talk to you and help you understand.

That's right. And He will.

Yep. It will come to you. It may not come to you at the exact moment,

but it will come to you when you need it. That's right.

And so that's like putting on armor, the armor that the Apostle Paul was talking about. That's right.

Paul even talks about gird gird your loins with the truth, like gird yourself.

That's right. That's right. You prepare yourself.

And this is the thing that we have a tendency to forget, that we're in a battle.

We're in a battle for our soul. God wants us home, and Satan wants us to bow

down to him. That's right.

So that's a choice that you have to make. but the only way you can do that and

be fully prepared is you have to walk with God. That's right.

And you have to ask them to help you.

You have to ask for the Holy Spirit to help you and ask for Jesus to help you.

See Jesus did some of the things for us that it was impossible to do for us.

He loved us and He died for us.

That's right. I can't die for you and you can't die for me. That's right.

And have any hope of eternal life. That's right.

This battle metaphor, Ephesians 6, when Paul talks about the full armor of God,

again in the King James that phrase shows up where he says in verse 14,

stand therefore having your loins girt about you with truth.

So he's saying girt up your loins with truth. Like put things in your mind that are true.

Protect your mind from things that are not true because those things will crumble

and won't hold you up when the world starts to crumble around you,

when your faith is tested.

That's right. You have to have truth, and you have to have things that are right,

as Paul says again in Philippians 4.

This concept is important, and that's why Peter brings it to us three times in five chapters.

Gird up the loins of your mind. That's right. Be alert. Be vigilant.

Be sober-minded. Be careful what you think about. It's important.

The things that you think about become the ways that your life plays out. That's right.

And if you have peace with yourself and you have peace with God,

then you will have the kind of peace that no one can understand.

The peace that surpasses all knowledge. That's right.

But the main thing in that whole equation is having peace with God. That's right.

Now, does that mean that we are not sinners? No.

No. Does it mean that we still sin? No. That work will not be completed until

we face him. That's right.

And that's why we've talked about this before but the Lamb's book of life.

I pray that's where my name is.

I want my name in the book. Yep. In the books. You know it is.

You definitely want to know that. And so the point, and we have to keep driving

at this point because it's so important, is we have to be prepared mentally. Yep.

And I know, I know all the questions.

And I've said this before but one of the things that I said out loud not in

my house but it can be in your house and the question is what have you done

to prepare yourself for battle? That's right.

Because the battle you can't prepare me for the battle that I'm in.

That's right. Neither can I prepare you. That's right.

But what will happen though is people are watching us. That's right.

And actions speak louder than words. Yes, they do.

Someone said a long time ago, I know what you're saying, but I cannot hear you. I'm watching you.

And where we see that, evidence of that is with children. That's right. Little children.

Was it Spurgeon or Sproul maybe that said, always preach the gospel and if necessary use words?

Well, supposedly that was, well the name just flew out of my head.

It was not one of those guys. I don't know if it was Spurgeon or not,

but who originally said it.

But anyway, and that speaks volumes in itself.

And then what that reflects is being prepared. That's right. And being ready.

With how you live your life. And I was way off. I just Googled it.

It's not Spurgeon, and it's not Sproul. It's St. Francis of Assisi.

That's who I was going to say I was way off not even in the right century he

says preach the gospel at all times and if necessary use words because we're judged on how we live,

That's right. And if we live according to the way that God intends for us to

live, and the encouragement that we have is, again in 1 Peter 1.13,

set your hope fully,

on the grace. That's right.

That will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. That's right.

Amazing, amazing to be in that posture. That's right.

Well, I appreciate you taking this. This is one of those oddball assignments that I gave you.

I remember last year I said, let's talk about the, but what all were the ones

that I asked you to bring? The speckled bird.

Yeah, the great speckled bird. And the green grapes. We talked about the sour

grapes and the fathers eat sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge.

And then we talked about that strange phrase, saved to the uttermost.

Yes. And so those are three wonderful Tuesdays with Tata episodes where I gave

Tata an obscure scripture reference, and he had a whole sermon we worked out of it.

And this is another one. And I did it because Peter doesn't get the same credit

in the self-brain surgery theology world that I've made up as Paul does.

I talk about Paul all the time because Paul gives us so many places where he

just drills into the importance of mindset in just living this life and dealing

with these hard things that we have to face and bearing witness to it.

But Peter, he comes in strong. Well, he even mentioned, Peter even references

the Apostle Paul. That's right.

I encourage him with giving the same encouragement, but he also said many times

he's hard to understand.

Well, maybe that was his way of getting back because Paul withstood him to his face.

As I think about this, I know that he was an apostle. I know he was with Jesus.

And we know the story. We know that he denied him, but we know that Jesus welcomed him back.

Jesus said, you're a keeper. And I'm going to use you in my service.

And one of the things that always struck me about Peter was when Jesus said

to him that Satan had requested you he wanted to sift him like wheat but I have prayed for you,

when you come back pray for your brothers,

we did a Tuesdays with Tata about that verse too We did one on sifted like wheat,

now that I think about it.

I'll try to find those and put them in the show notes for you,

friend. But, you know, Tata,

if we're going to gird up our loins, the loins of our mind, to prepare for this fight,

this battle, and this opportunity we may have to share our faith with someone

and to withstand the wiles of the devil, when do we start? Let's start today. Let's do it.

Music.

Hey, thanks for listening. The Dr. Lee Warren Podcast is brought to you by my

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from trauma, tragedy, and other massive things.

It's available everywhere books are sold, and I narrated the audio books.

Hey, the theme music for the show is Get Up by my friend Tommy Walker,

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They are supplying worship resources for worshipers all over the world to worship

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And go to my website and sign up for the newsletter, Self-Brain Surgery,

every Sunday since 2014, helping people in all 50 states and 60-plus countries

around the world. I'm Dr.

Lee Warren, and I'll talk to you soon. Remember, friend, you can't change your

life until you change your mind. And the good news is you can start today.

Music.