Hey y'all! It's been awhile, but lets just drive right into things!!
Lately, I've been experiencing a new level of intimacy with our creator, which has yielded a joyful spirit, a full heart and a peaceful mind. It's new, it's exciting, and makes me want to jump around like a little kid in praise.
This season I'm in didn't appear out of nowhere, although it almost feels like it, but rather is the fruit of seeking God in the midst of desert seasons, seasons of doubt, seasons of pain, all of which were and are seasons of God uses to lead us out of sin and into life with Him. I wanted to talk about several verses that came to heart when thinking of how best I could describe the process and foundation of walking in a life full of such joy.
Our fellowship with God enables us to claim our victory over the evil one. The victory is already ours, because Jesus is ours and we are eternally His. The only thing standing between us and the victory we have in Jesus is our mind. Which is a powerful concept to grasp. Where does sin begin, where did it begin? In our hearts, our thoughts. Our thoughts lead our actions, and our actions yield our reality. Proverbs 4:23 (GNT) says " Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts", while the NIV version reads, "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." The same concept is found in both versions - be mindful of your thoughts and the condition of your heart, because the reality of your life is determined by it.
God desires for us to have joy, to experience and have life in the fullest. In order for us to claim and have that, He wants us to be mindful of the condition of our hearts and the patterns of our mind.
We are lovingly commanded in Romans 12:2 (NLT), "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect".
This leads into 1 John 2 (MSG), where John is writing to believers in Asia Minor, assuring them of the certainty of their faith and to refute heretically doctrines teaching that Jesus was not fully human and fully divine. In this, he writes about the condition of the human heart, as well as on the point that a relationship with Jesus is should remain our primary focus.
In verses 15-17, John urges believers not to love the world's ways, to not love the world's goods. Simply, John reminds and encourages believers to not prioritize the world as their first love. We're reminded here of the truth that love for the world squeezes out love for the Father. That's an intense statement, and one that (from experience) can say couldn't be more true. The patterns of our world tend to provoke selfish desires (here we could play devils advocate and go into a conversation about "what about the people that aren't Christians and dedicate their lives to fighting poverty and helping others - but in that we must remember that we are created in the image of God, and any selfless desire points back to Him. We are sinful, He is sinless. Even the best desires of our hearts when out of relationship with HIm fall short. But, that's a discussion for another time. I digress.)
What John is saying here is that in the lifestyle of this world, we concentrate on happiness and what we can attain to experience it. He goes on to say, " Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important--has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity."
I think these verses are amazing. We can become so easily distracted by what we want rather than by what we need. We may want a more renowned position at our job, but all we need is a job. We may want fancier apartment in a better location, when what we need and have is a decent place to live. We tend to want the next best thing. In the human heart, the grass tends to be greener on the other side, when in reality all we need to do is water the lawn of our life. CHEESY. I know. But, it helps paint the picture so go with it.
What we need to realize is what we want and what we need are two different mindsets, and only one of them is going to satisfy the condition of our soul. Until what we want is sourced from what we need, we will always be dissatisfied.
In fellowship with Jesus, in knowledge of our Father, our soul has what it needs. It's a matter of making sure that it remains our first love and continues to be what we desire first in this world; that He continues to be what we want. Matthew 6:25-34 is a good passage to reference, but I want to concentrate on verse 33 " But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."
It's a misconception by some Christians, prosperity gospel really, that this verse refers to a relationship with the Father that revolves around us, one that will provide blessings of material possessions and blessings for us if only we live a "good Christian life" (which in itself is an oxymoron - the reason we are Christians is because we were not "good" - Jesus alludes to this concept of human self-righteousness and the concept of goodness in Luke 18;19) - OMG, run on sentence -
In reality this verse is stating that in Him, our soul and our lives are provided for. That in Him we have more than we could ever need, we are eternally satisfied.
We are not to seek the Kingdom of God to get stuff, things, "blessings". God desires for us to seek Him and His kingdom first because in the Kingdom of God, in relationship with the Father, we have all that we need. In the moment(s) we He's all we need, He becomes all we want.
This leads into living deeply and it's importance. In John 24-25, John urges believers to, "Stay with what you heard from the beginning, the original message. Let it sink into your life. If what you heard from the beginning lives deeply in you, you will live deeply in both Son and Father. This is exactly what Christ promised: eternal life, real life!"
The word deeply as defined -
"To a thorough extent or profound degree: deeply pained; deeply committed."
Synonyms -
"Greatly, thoroughly, intensely"
On what level are we living and exploring our relationship with God? Are we dipping our toes in, splashing around a bit.. Are we wading, but when it starts to get to get deep, where we need to start putting in the extra effort or become uneasy we head back towards shore? Or do we have our scuba gear ready, swimming deeply our of curiosity and faith, pushing and challenging ourselves as we head into the unknown?
In verses 26-28 John goes onto say, "...Christ’s anointing teaches you the truth on everything you need to know about yourself and him, uncontaminated by a single lie. Live deeply in what you were taught. And now, children, stay with Christ. Live deeply in Christ. Then we’ll be ready for him when he appears, ready to receive him with open arms..."
Jesus knows us deeply. He loves us deeply. He desires to know us deeply on a mutual ground. A life lived deeply with Jesus facilitates the news patterns within our minds and new desires within our hearts. It is not in our of effort that we find life, but in faith as we learn to live deeply and understand that we are not only His beloved children, but are co-heirs with Him in His Kingdom on Earth and in Heaven.
Pslam 16:11 "You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."
Experiencing new levels of intimacy with our creator yields a joyful spirit, a full heart, peaceful mind and comes from obedience - the practice of such foundations. Reminding ourselves and seeking the amazingly personal love of Jesus for us everyday changes our hearts, renews our minds, and ultimately changes our lives.
This can all be summed up into one simple prayer -
Prayer: Jesus I need you, I love you, I want you. Amen.
Lately, I've been experiencing a new level of intimacy with our creator, which has yielded a joyful spirit, a full heart and a peaceful mind. It's new, it's exciting, and makes me want to jump around like a little kid in praise.
This season I'm in didn't appear out of nowhere, although it almost feels like it, but rather is the fruit of seeking God in the midst of desert seasons, seasons of doubt, seasons of pain, all of which were and are seasons of God uses to lead us out of sin and into life with Him. I wanted to talk about several verses that came to heart when thinking of how best I could describe the process and foundation of walking in a life full of such joy.
Our fellowship with God enables us to claim our victory over the evil one. The victory is already ours, because Jesus is ours and we are eternally His. The only thing standing between us and the victory we have in Jesus is our mind. Which is a powerful concept to grasp. Where does sin begin, where did it begin? In our hearts, our thoughts. Our thoughts lead our actions, and our actions yield our reality. Proverbs 4:23 (GNT) says " Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts", while the NIV version reads, "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." The same concept is found in both versions - be mindful of your thoughts and the condition of your heart, because the reality of your life is determined by it.
God desires for us to have joy, to experience and have life in the fullest. In order for us to claim and have that, He wants us to be mindful of the condition of our hearts and the patterns of our mind.
We are lovingly commanded in Romans 12:2 (NLT), "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect".
This leads into 1 John 2 (MSG), where John is writing to believers in Asia Minor, assuring them of the certainty of their faith and to refute heretically doctrines teaching that Jesus was not fully human and fully divine. In this, he writes about the condition of the human heart, as well as on the point that a relationship with Jesus is should remain our primary focus.
In verses 15-17, John urges believers not to love the world's ways, to not love the world's goods. Simply, John reminds and encourages believers to not prioritize the world as their first love. We're reminded here of the truth that love for the world squeezes out love for the Father. That's an intense statement, and one that (from experience) can say couldn't be more true. The patterns of our world tend to provoke selfish desires (here we could play devils advocate and go into a conversation about "what about the people that aren't Christians and dedicate their lives to fighting poverty and helping others - but in that we must remember that we are created in the image of God, and any selfless desire points back to Him. We are sinful, He is sinless. Even the best desires of our hearts when out of relationship with HIm fall short. But, that's a discussion for another time. I digress.)
What John is saying here is that in the lifestyle of this world, we concentrate on happiness and what we can attain to experience it. He goes on to say, " Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important--has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity."
I think these verses are amazing. We can become so easily distracted by what we want rather than by what we need. We may want a more renowned position at our job, but all we need is a job. We may want fancier apartment in a better location, when what we need and have is a decent place to live. We tend to want the next best thing. In the human heart, the grass tends to be greener on the other side, when in reality all we need to do is water the lawn of our life. CHEESY. I know. But, it helps paint the picture so go with it.
What we need to realize is what we want and what we need are two different mindsets, and only one of them is going to satisfy the condition of our soul. Until what we want is sourced from what we need, we will always be dissatisfied.
In fellowship with Jesus, in knowledge of our Father, our soul has what it needs. It's a matter of making sure that it remains our first love and continues to be what we desire first in this world; that He continues to be what we want. Matthew 6:25-34 is a good passage to reference, but I want to concentrate on verse 33 " But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."
It's a misconception by some Christians, prosperity gospel really, that this verse refers to a relationship with the Father that revolves around us, one that will provide blessings of material possessions and blessings for us if only we live a "good Christian life" (which in itself is an oxymoron - the reason we are Christians is because we were not "good" - Jesus alludes to this concept of human self-righteousness and the concept of goodness in Luke 18;19) - OMG, run on sentence -
In reality this verse is stating that in Him, our soul and our lives are provided for. That in Him we have more than we could ever need, we are eternally satisfied.
We are not to seek the Kingdom of God to get stuff, things, "blessings". God desires for us to seek Him and His kingdom first because in the Kingdom of God, in relationship with the Father, we have all that we need. In the moment(s) we He's all we need, He becomes all we want.
This leads into living deeply and it's importance. In John 24-25, John urges believers to, "Stay with what you heard from the beginning, the original message. Let it sink into your life. If what you heard from the beginning lives deeply in you, you will live deeply in both Son and Father. This is exactly what Christ promised: eternal life, real life!"
The word deeply as defined -
"To a thorough extent or profound degree: deeply pained; deeply committed."
Synonyms -
"Greatly, thoroughly, intensely"
On what level are we living and exploring our relationship with God? Are we dipping our toes in, splashing around a bit.. Are we wading, but when it starts to get to get deep, where we need to start putting in the extra effort or become uneasy we head back towards shore? Or do we have our scuba gear ready, swimming deeply our of curiosity and faith, pushing and challenging ourselves as we head into the unknown?
In verses 26-28 John goes onto say, "...Christ’s anointing teaches you the truth on everything you need to know about yourself and him, uncontaminated by a single lie. Live deeply in what you were taught. And now, children, stay with Christ. Live deeply in Christ. Then we’ll be ready for him when he appears, ready to receive him with open arms..."
Jesus knows us deeply. He loves us deeply. He desires to know us deeply on a mutual ground. A life lived deeply with Jesus facilitates the news patterns within our minds and new desires within our hearts. It is not in our of effort that we find life, but in faith as we learn to live deeply and understand that we are not only His beloved children, but are co-heirs with Him in His Kingdom on Earth and in Heaven.
Pslam 16:11 "You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."
Experiencing new levels of intimacy with our creator yields a joyful spirit, a full heart, peaceful mind and comes from obedience - the practice of such foundations. Reminding ourselves and seeking the amazingly personal love of Jesus for us everyday changes our hearts, renews our minds, and ultimately changes our lives.
This can all be summed up into one simple prayer -
Prayer: Jesus I need you, I love you, I want you. Amen.