Part 5, 2026, The Year of Our Lord

Part 5, 2026, The Year Of Our Lord

Tuesday February 3, 2026

GOAL: Quick Recognition

Our goal today is to help us recognize quickly when our flesh wants to kick in.  

Hebrews 3:1-2,5-6 NLT And so, dear brothers and sisters who belong to God and are partners with those called to heaven, think carefully about this Jesus whom we declare to be God's messenger and High Priest. [2] For he was faithful to God, who appointed him, just as Moses served faithfully when he was entrusted with God's entire house.

[5] Moses was certainly faithful in God's house as a servant. His work was an illustration of the truths God would reveal later. [6] But Christ, as the Son, is in charge of God's entire house. And we are God's house, if we keep our courage and remain confident in our hope in Christ.

1 Corinthians 4:2 NKJV Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.

• The Empire Mindset is selfishness, while the mindset of God’s Kingdom is faithfulness.  

When we boil it down, the enemy of faithfulness is selfishness. 

To be faithful we have to look out for another’s interest, while selfishness is looking out for our own interests alone. 

So in a very real sense, carnality is selfishness. 

If you are selfish, it will be difficult for you to be faithful, be it as an employer or as an employee, in your marriage, as a parent, as a pastor, as a congregant, as a friend, etc.

2 Corinthians 5:15 ESV and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

Philippians 2:3-5 NKJV Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. [4] Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. [5] Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,

We can all take a quick self-test by asking ourselves the question, “Am I being selfish or am I being faithful?” 

To make it easy for us to answer that question, two follow up questions might be helpful?

When a request is made, a faithful person is always seeking, “How can I be a blessing?” while the selfish person is always thinking “What is in it for me?” 

If you find yourself asking the second question first and more frequently than the first question, you should recognize that as a symptom and ask for God’s help. Often, your situation may be used as justification for first thinking, “Why should I help? What’s in it for me?” The real danger is that unless we recognize it and ask for God’s help, even after our situation has been changed for the better, we will still hold on to and walk with that mindset.

A sneaky way this mindset creeps into our lives is when we are on the receiving end of selfishness by others. Their selfish actions will hurt, especially, when we have treated them with kindness and even made sacrifices for them. This can cause a mindshift in us to become selfish too, not realizing that in so doing we have simply become like them. Hurt people hurt people.  That is the goal of wickedness… wickedness hurts so that we can also become wicked and hurt others who in turn hurts others and on and on.  

We need the help of God to remain Christlike and thereby break the hurt-cycle. We cannot do it by our own strength. For instance, many who were hurt in a particular way by their parents vow to never hurt their own children. But unless they seek God's help, they often end up hurting their own children in a different way. 

• Empire Mindset vs. Kingdom Mindset to Success

James 4:1-5 NKJV Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? [2] You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have, because you do not ask. [3] You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. [4] Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. [5] Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously"?

The Empire Mindset asserts its will and goes to war to advance its course. It recognizes no permanent authority above itself. It is proud at its core. Its pride is not always obvious. When its position is weak, it makes a pretence of submission, and bids its time, watching for an opportune time to rebel. 

The empire mindset makes a lot of sense. To the carnal mind, it is logical. Among us, believers in Christ, it is sad to observe that it has become so ingrained into our thinking we do not even realize how much it shapes our perspectives, and behaviors. 
We accept as truth such expressions as  “survival of the fittest”;  “win by any means necessary”; “the end justifies the means”; “a man's has got to do what a man’s has got to do”; “success at all costs”; “I am the captain of my own soul”;...
The Empire Mindset is pervasive. It appears to be the way the world runs. Those who do not understand this are called wishful thinkers. 
Against this backdrop, the Kingdom Mindset is radical. It is gentle and submits to the will of the One who was and is and will always be above it. 

1 Peter 2:25 NKJV For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

• The Kingdom mindset humbly submits, even to the point of  giving up its rights.

1 Corinthians 6:5-7 NKJV I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren? [6] But brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers! [7] Now therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated?

Ephesians 5:20-21 NKJV giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, [21] submitting to one another in the fear of God.
Philippians 2:5-8 NKJV Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, [6] who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, [7] but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. [8] And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.