YEARS AGO, I ATTENDED A SEMINAR AND THE PRESENTER ASKED A VERY
PERTINENT QUESTION: "WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT YOU?"
IT WAS MOST INTERESTING TO LISTEN TO THE RESPONSES OF THOSE IN
ATTENDANCE. HE THEN DECLARED: "YOUR RESPONSES WERE ABOUT A C+!
THE AUDIENCE GROANED! HE THEN WENT ON REVEAL THE ANSWER:
"THE WAY WE THINK"! MOST
CHRISTIANS RESPOND TO THIS QUESTION WITH: "THAT I BELIEVE IN JESUS
CHRIST AND AM BORN AGAIN"! AS WE STOPPED TO MEDITATE ON HIS
DECLARATION, WE WOULD HAVE TO AGREE THAT OUR THINKING AFFECTS EVERYTHING WE THINK, SAY, AND DO!
HAVE YOU EVER HEARD IT SAID, "THE BATTLE BEGINS IN THE
MIND?" REMEMBER, YOUR MIND IS NOT “BORN AGAIN”! THEREIN LIES THE BATTLE BETWEEN THE FLESH-MAN
AND THE SPIRIT-MAN!
TRAGICALLY, MOST PEOPLE HAVE NO CLUE THAT “THE WAY WE THINK” IS
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT US”! TAKE A MOMENT, TO “THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU FIND YOURSELF
THINKING ABOUT MOST OF THE TIME.” TRY ASKING YOUR FRIENDS THIS QUESTION AND
LISTEN TO THEIR RESPONSES!
CONSIDER THOSE THOUGHTS THAT SO OFTEN “BEGUILE” YOU WHICH RESULT IN
FEAR/ FRETTING... THE WAY WE
THINK OBVIOUSLY RELATES TO WHAT WE
ARE THINKING AND ULTIMATELY THE WAY WE ACT – THE GOOD, BAD, AND THE UGLY!
FRETTING IS THAT WHICH STEMS FROM FEAR…FOR FEAR IS THE PEG WHICH FRETTING HANGS ON! BE SET FREE FROM FEAR, AND FRETTING HAS NO
PLACE TO HANG ITS HAT!
WE COULD GO ON AND ON CONSIDERING THE RAMIFICATIONS
CONCERNING THE WAY WE THINK! ARE OUR THOUGHTS FOCUSED ON HIS PROMISES, AND THE POSITIVE UPLIFTING FACTS THAT WE WHO ARE
BORN AGAIN ARE CHILDREN OF THE LIVING GOD, REDEEMED BY THE LORD JESUS CHRIST,
AND THAT “HE WILL NEVER LEAVE US NOR FORSAKE US.” OR HOW ABOUT THE NEGATIVE
AND DESTRUCTIVE “STINKING THINKING” SYNDRONE THAT CRIPPLES US – “I AM TOO
STUPID, NO ONE LOVES ME.” AS ONE CHRISTIAN FRIEND DECLARED: ‘I WILL NEVER GET
THROUGH THIS THAT IS GOING ON IN MY LIFE, I THINK ABOUT SUICIDE JUST ABOUT EVER
DAY!’ OR GOD CAN’T LOVE A PERSON LIKE ME, I WILL NEVER MARRY, I AM TOO FAT/SKINNY,
IAM FULL OF UNFORGIVENESS, ANGER, DEPRESSION, HOPELESSNESS, WOE IS ME, I AM
SUCH A FAILURE, ETC. ETC.! AND JUST WHO MIGHT BE THE INSTIGATOR OF SUCH
NEGATIVE AND DANGEROUS THINKING? COULD WELL BE THE "DECEIVER",
BUT ALSO OUR VERY OWN FLESH! EVER HEARD THE EXPRESSION “I AM MY OWN WORST
ENEMY”?
IS THIS THE WAY OUR GOD
ALMIGHTY WHO LOVES US SO VERY MUCH SEES
US? ABSOLUTELY NOT...HE SEES THOSE WHO ARE BELIEVERS THROUGH THE SHED BLOOD OF
JESUS CHRIST AS PERFECT,
EVEN THOUGH WE DON'T ACT LIKE IT ALL TOO OFTEN, SADLY. WE DO HAVE A CHOICE…CHOOSE
TO THINK THAT WHICH IS PLEASING TO THE LORD, OR THAT WHICH IS PLEASING TO OUR
FLESH!
WHEN WE ARE LIVING IN FEAR WHICH BIRTHS FRETTING, WORRY, AND ANXIETY,
WE HAVE TO ASK, “WHOSE SAND BOX ARE WE PLAYING IN AND WHAT MESSAGE ARE WE
SENDING TO OUR LORD GOD ALMIGHTY?” COULD IT BE: “I REALLY DON’T THINK I CAN TRUST YOU IN THIS MATTER, LORD, SO I AM
JUST GOING TO HAVE TO DEAL WITH IT MYSELF!”
JOSHUA GATHERED ALL THE
TRIBES OF ISRAEL AND ASKED THEM: “…CHOOSE THIS DAY WHOM YOU WILL SERVE”…ALMIGHTY
GOD, OR OTHER GODS? (JOSHUA 24:15) JOSHUA THEN DECLARED “AS FOR ME AND MY
HOUSE, WE WILL SERVE THE LORD.” (VERSE 15)
WHAT DO THE SCRIPTURES DECLARE CONCERNING FEAR/FRETTING?
“GOD HAS NOT GIVEN US THE SPIRIT OF FEAR; BUT
OF POWER, AND OF LOVE, AND OF A SOUND MIND.”
(2 TIMOTHY 1:7)
“ FOR YOU HAVE NOT
RECEIVED THE SPIRIT OF BONDAGE, AGAIN TO FEAR; BUT YOU HAVE RECEIVED THE SPIRIT
OF ADOPTION, WHEREBY WE CRY, ABBA FATHER.”
(ROMANS 8:15)
“THERE IS NO FEAR IN
LOVE; BUT PERFECT LOVE HAS CASTE OUT FEAR; BECAUSE FEAR HAS TORMENT. HE THAT FEARS IS NOT MADE PERFECT IN LOVE.” (I JOHN 4:18)
“IN RIGHTEOUSNESS
SHALL YOU BE ESTABLISHED: YOU SHALL BE FAR FROM OPPRESSION; FOR YOU SHALL NOT
FEAR; AND FROM TERROR; FOR IT WILL NOT COME NEAR YOU.” (ISAIAH 54:14)
“IN GOD HAVE I PUT MY
TRUST AND CONFENDENT RELIANCE; I WILL NOT BE AFRAID WHAT MAN CAN DO TO ME.” (PSALM 56:11) AMPLIFIED BIBLE
“DO NOT FRET.” PSALM 37:1
WE COULD GO ON AND ON CONSIDERING THE RAMIFICATIONS CONCERNING THE
WAY/WHAT WE THINK! MAY I SUGGEST THAT
YOU MAKE A LIST OF YOUR THINKING PATTERNS.
WHAT DOES YOUR LIST REVEAL…MORE POSITIVE, OR MORE NEGATIVE, OR SOME OF
BOTH?
ONCE YOU DETERMINE YOUR THINKING PATTERNS,
THEN WHAT? THE OBVIOUS STRATEGY IS TO TAKE THE RESULTS TO THE LORD, CONFESS THE
“STINKING THINKING” (SIN) AND ASK THE HOLY SPIRIT, WHO IS YOUR HELPER, TO
ASSIST YOU IN CONFESSING/REPENTING SO AS TO BE AN OVERCOMER FROM SUCH
HARMFUL/DEADLY THINKING! FOR THE
SCRIPTURE DECLARES: “YOU HAVE NOT BECAUSE YOU ASK NOT.” (JAMES 4:2)
BUT THANKFULLY, PAUL IN
ACTS 6-8, ADDRESSES THIS POWERFULLY! I RECOMMEND YOU SPEND TIME CAMPING IN
THESE CHAPTERS....SO ENCOURAGING FOR US ALL! THINK ON THESE SCRIPTURAL TRUTHS….COULD
WELL BRING VICTORY AND CHANGE YOUR LIFE FOR THE BETTER, TRULY!
THE ESSENCE OF THESE SCRIPTURES RESTS IN THE INCREDIBLE FREEING
TRUTH, “WE SIN, BUT WE ARE NOT SINNERS”! HOW MANY TIMES DO YOU HEAR A BELIEVER
DECLARE: “I CAN’T HELP IT, BECAUSE IT IS MY ‘SIN NATURE’ THAT IS AT WORK IN ME, THEREFORE I AM ITS SLAVE!” NONSENSE!
SUCH A STATEMENT REVEALS THE LACK OF TRULY NOT KNOWING GOD’S WORD, FOR AS PAUL
DECLARES IN ROMANS 6:18: “AND HAVING BEEN SET FREE FROM SIN, YOU BECAME SLAVES
OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.”
WHEN WE BECAME CHILDREN OF THE LIVING GOD THROUGH BELIEVING IN THE
LORD JESUS, SUCH AN ASSURANCE IS DECLARED IN 2 PETER 1: 3,4 “AS HIS DIVINE
POWER HAS GIVEN TO US ALL THINGS THAT PERTAIN
TO LIFE AND GODLINESS, THROUGH THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIM WHO CALLED US BY GLORY AND
VIRTUE, BY WHICH HAVE BEEN GIVEN TO US
EXCEEDINGLY GREAT AND PRECIOUS PROMISES,
THAT THROUGH THESE YOU MAY BE PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE, HAVING ESCAPED THE CORRUPTION THAT IS IN THE WORLD THROUGH LUST.”
TO REITERATE…WE DO NOT HAVE A SIN NATURE, BUT A DIVINE
NATURE, THANKFULLY! PLEASE DO NOT
ALLOW FELLOW BELIEVERS TO DECLARE SUCH A DISTORTION OF GOD’S TRUTHS!
DOES THIS GIVE US, THEN, LICENSE TO SIN? GOD FORBID!
PAUL, IN ROMANS 6:15 “WHAT THEN? SHALL WE SIN BECAUSE WE NOT UNDER
THE LAW BUT UNDER GRACE? CERTAINLY NOT!” AND IN CHAPTER 7 THE VERY ESSENCE OF
IT ALL IS DECLARED: “BUT NOW IT IS NO LONGER I WHO DO IT (SIN), BUT SIN THAT
DWELLS IN ME.” (7:17) AND TRAGICALLY, SIN WILL ALWAYS HARASS US BECAUSE OF THE
FLESH AND SATAN. NOTICE THE OPERATIVE
WORD “HARASS”, WHICH MEANS THAT IS ALL
THAT IT AMOUNTS TO, “HARASSMENT”!
KEEP IN MIND, SATAN CANNOT IN ANY WAY HAVE VICTORY OVER US UNLESS
GOD ALLOWS HIM. CONSIDER THE STORY OF JOB. TRAGICALLY, HOWEVER, OUR MINDS ARE INDEPENDANT
AGENTS – CALLED “FREE WILL” AND GOD WILL NOT VIOLATE OUR FREE WILL!WE HAVE A
CHOICE – LIVE IN THE MIND OF FEAR, FRET, WORRY, OR RESTING AND PATIENTLY TRUSTING
THE CARING SHEPHERD – OUR LORD GOD, “EL SHADDAI, THE MOST SUFFICIENT AND ALL
POWERFUL ONE!”
BUT HAVE NO FEAR, FOR WHAT DOES JAMES WHO WAS ADDRESSING JEWISH
CHRISTIANS IN JAMES1:2-4 DECLARE:
“CONSIDER IT
WHOLLY JOYFUL, MY BRETHREN, WHENEVER YOU ARE ENVELOPED IN OR
ENCOUNTER TRIALS OF ANY SORT, OR FALL INTO VARIOUS TEMPTATIONS. (A TRIAL/ATTACK
OF ANY SORT. NOT NECESSARILY TEMPTATION TO SIN)
BE ASSURED AND
UNDERSTAND THAT THE TRIALS AND PROVING OF YOUR FAITH BRINGS OUT ENDURANCE, AND
STEADFASTNESS AND PATIENCE.
BUT LET
ENDURANCE AND STEADFASTNESS AND PATIENCE HAVE FULL PLAY AND DO A THOROUGH WORK
SO THAT YOU MAY BE [PEOPLE] PERFECTLY AND FULLY DEVELOPED (WITH NO DEFECTS),
LACKING NOTHING.” (AMPLIFIED BIBLE)
THAT BEING THE CASE, HOW DO WE DEAL WITH SIN THAT DWELLS IN OUR
FLESH AND HOW DO WE GAIN VICTORY OVER OUR FLESH AND THE ATTACKS OF THE ENEMY? THANKFULLY, THE LORD HAS PROVIDED HIS
CHILDREN A “SIN CLEANSING” STRATEGY WHICH IS FOUND IN 1 JOHN 1:9 “IF WE CONFESS OUR SIN, HE IS FAITHFUL
AND JUST TO FORGIVE US OUR SINS AND LEAD US IN PATHS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS”. AND ALSO BY GETTING TO KNOW OUR TRIUNE GOD, AND
HOW DO WE GET TO REALLY KNOW OUR TRIUNE GOD…THROUGH HIS WORD, BY HIS WAYS AND BY
HIS ACTS. ISRAEL WANTED TO KNOW HIS
“ACTS”, BUT MOSES WANTED TO KNOW HIS “WAYS”!
CONCERNING OUR THINKING, HOW MANY TIMES DO I HEAR THE
RESPONSE:.."I CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT HOW I THINK"! MY RESPONSE
IS WITH A QUESTION: "WOULD YOU EVER THINK ABOUT ROBBING A BANK"? THEY
QUICKLY WOULD DECLARE: "OF COURSE NOT...I WOULD NEVER THINK ABOUT DOING SUCH A THING"! REALLY? THEN YOU DO HAVE CONTROL
OVER THE WAY/WHAT YOU THINK! THUS I HAVE MADE MY POINT. OF COURSE WE HAVE
CONTROL OF WAY/WHAT WE THINK!
RECENTLY, AS WE WERE CLOSING OUR EVENING PRAYER, AS IS OUR
PRACTICE TO ASK THE HOLY SPIRIT: "WHAT IS ON YOUR HEART FOR US
TONIGHT?" HE SPOKE THESE WORDS:"MIND THE GATE"!
OBVIOUSLY THAT GAVE US PAUSE FOR THOUGHT! WHAT COULD THIS POSSIBLY MEAN? WE
KNOW THAT THE LORD COMMANDS US "BUT BE DOERS OF THE WORD, AND NOT HEARERS
OF THE WORD ONLY, DECEIVING YOURSELVES". (JAMES 1:22)
AS WE CONSIDERED THIS THAT HE DECLARED, WE REALIZED THERE ARE MANY
"GATES" FOR US TO MIND! THE FEAR/FRET/WORRY GATE, THE HEART GATE, THE
EAR/EYE GATE, THE MOUTH GATE, THE ANGER GATE…ALL THE GATES WHICH ALLOW SIN TO
ENTER IN, EVEN IF WE OPEN THEM EVEN A “SMIDGIN”!
PSALM 118:19, 20 IS ANOTHER “GATE” WE MUST CONSIDER: “OPEN TO ME THE GATES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS; I
WILL GO THROUGH THEM AND I WILL PRAISE THE LORD. THIS IS THE GATE OF THE LORD,
THROUGH WHICH THE RIGHTEOUS SHALL ENTER.”
HERE IS A CASE OF OPENING
A GATE, NOT CLOSING THE GATE…THUS THE
GATE CAN SWING BOTH WAYS, THANKFULLY! WE
HAVE THE “WHERE WITH ALL” TO OPEN OR CLOSE THE GATES IN OUR LIVES, DO WE
NOT? HOW IS IT WITH YOU, DEAR
READER? ARE THERE ANY GATES YOU NEED TO
CLOSE OR ANY YOU NEED TO OPEN? I WOULD
ENCOURAGE YOU TO ASK THE HOLY SPIRIT IF THERE NEEDS TO BE SOME “GATE”
CHECKING! SOMETIMES WE ARE SO USED TO
KEEPING A GATE PART WAY OPEN OR OPEN ALL THE TIME, OR CLOSED PART WAY OR CLOSED ALL THE WAY ALL THE TIME!
HOW DOES THIS THAT WE HEARD THE HOLY SPIRIT COMMAND US - "MIND THE GATE" RELATE TO THE TOPIC
OF FRETTING, YOU MIGHT ASK?
JUST WHAT IS A "GATE"? IT IS THAT WHICH IS USED TO
KEEP SOMETHING IN OR SOMETHING OUT!
TIME TO EVALUATE OUR THINKING WITH: "THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU THINK
ABOUT"! HAVE YOU EVER CONSIDERED THIS? WOULD YOU MAKE ANY
CHANGES IN THE WAY YOU THINK? HOPEFULLY THAT WOULD BE A RESOUNDING - YES! YOU
MIGHT ALSO ASK...:"WHAT ARE THE RAMIFICATIONS CONCERNING THE WAY I
THINK"? WHAT WOULD MY SPIRITUAL BAROMETER READ REGARDING MY
FRETTING,WORRY-
ING, OR BEING ANXIOUS, ETC.?
READ ABOUT PETER AND HIS EXPERIENCE WITH A “GATE” (ACTS 12:3-19) IN RELATIONSHIP TO THIS BLOG ON
FEAR/FRETTING. CONSIDER THIS AS THE "MIND GATE"! FOR OUR
THINKING RESIDES IN THE MIND! REMEMBER, OUR MINDS ARE NOT “BORN AGAIN”! AND THUS
WE MUST GUARD OUR MIND GATE, DAY AND NIGHT, KEEPING IT CLOSED AND LOCKED AT ALL
COST, BEING ALWAYS ON GUARD IN KEEPING OUR MINDS FROM "LETTING IN"
THOUGHTS WHICH ARE DAMAGING/DANGEROUS/DESTRUCTIVE...ESPECIALLY VAIN
IMAGINATIONS,...THE "WHAT IF'S", IF YOU WILL, WHICH DEFINITELY CAUSES
ONE TO FEAR AND WHICH OPENS THE GATES
OF FRET, WORRY, ETC. WHICH THEN CAN RESULT IN MANY HARMFUL CONSEQUENCES.
IF GOD OPENED PETER’S PRISON GATE, WILL HE NOT OPEN YOUR PRISON
GATE?
WE MUST DISCIPLINE OUR MINDS TO LINE UP WITH GOD’S TRUTHS
AS IS WRITTEN IN JOHN 8:32, "AND YOU SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH AND
THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE"! AMEN?
* TO BE CONTINUED *
MAY I ENCOURAGE YOU TO BE LIKE THE BEREANS: “TO FIND OUT WHETHER
THESE THINGS WERE SO” (ACTS 17:11)
BE GLORIFIED, LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, THE ONLY ONE TRUE GOD, THE
GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB
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