What's On Your Mind?

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. -

The mind is a very complex part of our being. It is the control center of our decision making, plays a part in the functioning of our body, and is more powerful than most of us realize. Most of our minds are cluttered with useless information. This information causes us to stress, brings deterioration to our bodies, and we end up losing sight of our visions, dreams, and waste precious time on things of no value.

I was posed with a question today as I was thinking to myself in the car, "How much time do you spend focusing on things that are unfruitful?"

To be honest with myself, I had to admit that I spend a lot of time thinking about what I'm not doing right and where I think I should be, rather than thinking about what I can do to get to where I want to be and then allowing my actions to follow suit.

I think about how I wish I was a more effective minister of the gospel, rather than pray more, meditate on the Word more, and spend more time in worship doing things that will make me more effective. I spend time thinking about being single, how I'd like to be married and have children and sometimes wonder who my wife might be, rather than take advantage of the freedom I have being a single man and preparing my mind to be a Godly husband. Finances, work, the cares of this world, are all fighting for my attention. But how do I get things right?

Some people say you need to clear your mind and free it from those things that bring stress. That might work temporarily, but that doesn't make these issues disappear. The Bible says that we are to meditate on the Word day and night and we will have good success. Paul wrote that we should take no thought for anything, don't worry or be anxious, but instead make our requests known to God with prayer, supplication and thanksgiving and the peace of God will rest upon our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. In another passage he says to cast down every thought that tries to exalt itself against the knowledge of God. So here I am, facing an answer I already know. Make my requests known, don't worry, focus on God's Word and not the issues, and I will have peace. But knowing and doing are two different things.

God once told me, "Stop thinking so much, and instead pray within your mind and talk to me about what your thinking about and I will take care of you." This was 3 years ago, and did I listen? Not as much as I should have. And right this moment God is bringing these things back to my remembrance so that I can begin to implement what He has instructed me to do.

Think about the Word, pray rather than worry, and focus on glorifying Christ.

This is my slogan for 2009.

A Sweet Smelling Fragrance

Philippians 4: Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.

The Philippian church was Paul’s joy and his crown. I believe one of the reasons for this was their faithfulness in giving. They were the only church who communicated with Paul regarding giving and receiving while he was traveling and were very generous in taking care of Paul’s needs. (Verses 14-17) They bore fruits of generosity and compassion that the other churches which Paul established did not exhibit at that time. He took joy in their example and the love that they showed him. They were his crown, his prize, his ornament, his honor. He took pleasure in partaking of their love, and because of this, he released a supernatural blessing upon them: “my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Verse 19) Because of their unselfishness in meeting his needs, he proclaimed that all of their needs would be met by God Himself! There was a condition in this – because of their charity and the manner in which the Philippians gave, whatever need they had was now met by the God of the universe. Their giving was a sacrifice, which was accepted by God, releasing a sweet smelling odor and was pleasing to God – this was because they gave in love to His servant Paul who was in need. (Verse 18) God will supply all of our needs as well when we follow the example of the Philippian church and sacrifice for the needs of others. The riches of God are stored up in the glory of God and we are able to receive them through Jesus Christ, our mediator, high priest and redeemer.

Our needs are met when we glorify God in our mortal bodies. One way to do this is by displaying the fruits of the Spirit in our giving.

Experiencing the Glory of God

Click the play button below to listen to the track:

Intellectualizing the Gospel

During a casual conversation with a prophet I met at a church I was visiting, he told me that in order for me to truly experience God the way I desire I would have to throw all logic out of the window and trust Him alone. This was in 2005 and 3 years later I still struggle in this area. The Bible says that knowledge puffs up, that Israel continues to fall short because they are ever learning but never coming into the knowledge of the Truth, but does this mean that knowledge is a bad thing? The LORD said through Hosea that His people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. Solomon said that the fear of God is the beginning of knowledge. In fact the Bible talks much about the importance of acquiring and maintaining knowledge. The first two scriptures are merely warnings that while obtaining knowledge is to be desired, there is a tendency to trust in the actual knowledge itself rather than the giver of knowledge. All true objective knowledge is designed to point to the cross of Jesus Christ and not to individual man.

One of the issues that Jesus had with the Pharisees of His day was not that they were ignorant of the law, but that they misused their knowledge of the law for deceitful gain and in doing so were unable to receive the very Giver of the law manifested in human flesh, Jesus Christ, the Messiah Himself.

Today the church is full of men and women possessing great knowledge, yet just as the Pharisees they are also full of pride. There are many great theologians who are able to intellectualize the gospel in laymens terms to the point that even a baby would be able to understand the basic fundamentals of the Christian faith. Yet despite the great head knowledge of scripture, some have no real relationship with God. Some of these people are actually holding on to a form of godliness yet deny the power of God therein. The fruits of the Spirit are often missing from their life, and the joy and liberty of the gospel are far from being experienced. How do I know this? Well there are times when I have fallen and sometimes still fall into the temptation of intellectualizing God out of the gospel. Caught up in revelation, I have oftentimes failed to walk in the very revelation I have been entrusted with. Humility is something I try to maintain, but in times past I have found myself constantly casting down prideful thoughts.

God has blessed us with an intellect and there is nothing wrong with using it! Just make sure that you stay humble and understand that you don’t know everything and always have the propensity of being wrong. A man always thinks he is right in his own eyes, and no matter what the issue, never lean on your own understanding. Instead trust in the LORD with all your heart and He will reveal the mysteries of the gospel to you, which in the end should humble you all the more.

in Spirit and in Truth

God is a Spirit; and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in Truth.
John 4:24

On my way to work this morning as I was praying and meditating on the Word, I began to think about what it truly means to worship God in Spirit and in Truth. Why did Jesus say specifically “Spirit and Truth”? It suddenly came to me that in order to worship God we must be led by both the Holy Spirit (Spirit) and the Word of God (Truth). Paul spoke about this in his 2 letters to the Corinthians. As most who are familiar with the Pauline Epistles know, the Corinthian church were a people who were very gifted spiritually. They operated prophetically, spoke in tongues, exhibited gifts of healing, and signs and wonders followed them. As a whole, their problem was that they were unbalanced. They began to focus more on the gifts than the Giver. I get the impression they sought the gifts of the Spirit of God, but forsook the proper study of the Word of God. Paul himself said to covet the gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. However he also said that he would rather speak 5 words of understanding than 5000 words in an unknown tongue. Yet Paul spoke in tongues more than them all AND he walked in a divine understanding of the Word. He was balanced.

So many times as Christians we walk imbalanced. Solomon wrote in Proverbs 11:1 that a false balance is an abomination to the LORD, but a just weight is His delight. When Jesus gave his instruction on how to worship God, he used the word “must” which actually made it a command. If we want to worship God we have no choice but to do it in Spirit and in Truth. We can’t focus so much on the Word that it becomes a dead letter. And we can’t focus so much on the gifts of the Spirit that we end up falling into witchcraft. We must be led by the Spirit and led by the Word; walk in the Spirit and walk according to the Word; pray in the Spirit and pray according to the Word. We must know the Spirit of Truth, as John puts it in John 16:13 along with the Word of Truth. I believe a reason why many have not and do not see the power of God working in their lives is because they are imbalanced. We (I say we to include myself) have yet to worship God the way that Jesus instructed. We have yet to surrender our body as a living sacrifice and give up everything for Jesus. We have yet to tap into the manifested glory of God and allow Him to reign in our lives to the point where people no longer see us, but Christ within us. We have yet to truly worship God. Worship is a lifestyle. It is a form of adoration and humility before our Creator. It is only in worship that we can develop an intimate relationship with the LORD. Anyone can praise God, but it takes a true son and daughter of the Most High to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.

Perfect Peace

God's perfect peace is amazing. So much so it is impossible to put into words. In the midst of trials and disappointment, I find myself in a state of constant peace that I have rarely experienced. It is almost as if I am aboard that boat on the raging sea with Jesus and his disciples (Mark 4:36:41), except the storm is in the form of trials, suffering, and rejection. Rather than be moved by the storm as the disciples were, I chose to call on Jesus, who said "Peace, be still." And what could have caused me to panic and doubt, instead elevated me to a place of perfect peace where my faith has multiplied to a level it has never been.

Even as I write this I am listening to a song called Peace by Othello. I am reminded of one of my favorite scriptures:

Philippians 4:6-7
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Being careful for nothing also means to be anxious for nothing and to take no thought for anything! For as Isaiah said in chapter 26 verse 3: "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." As we keep our mind on Christ we prove that we trust in Him. When we trust in the LORD with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding, God's peace will reign. That is why Paul wrote through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in the next verse of Phillipans 4 - "...whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." (verse 8) What we meditate on affects our very state of being. This is why we must meditate on the Word day and night. Not only does the Word of God bring renewal to our mind - but it also brings peace. The Word was with God, the Word was God, the Word became flesh in Jesus, and Jesus is our peace!

Ephesians 2:14 - "He is our peace"

Hold On... Be Strong....

I'm sitting here unable to sleep listening to a song off of Flame's new album called "Hold On, Be Strong". You can listen to it here:
Flame - Hold One Be Strong (select the song in the audio player and press play)

I have to admit that I'm not really feelin the rest of Flame's sample tracks, his style has changed up a little too much for me. But this song is my theme song right now. No matter what happens I have to hold on and be strong and fight for my joy cuz the joy of the LORD is my strength. God is processing me, sanctifying me, and I have to fight to persevere through the trials.

While I was on the phone with my pastor yesterday, he told me that the line between obedience and disobedience is choice. Sometimes I wish the choices of other people couldn't affect you - but I've learned an all encompassing fact - even though we have a sense of freewill God is still sovereign and in control of even our freewill and will work all things out for the good to those that love Him, those that prove that love by keeping His commandments. (Romans 8:28; John 14:15; John 14:21)