Make Up Your Mind!

Are we using our mouth and authority in Conquering or Complicating? Confessing or Complaining? Declaring or Destroying? Or As God Put it, “LIFE or DEATH? What are we CHOOSING by our thoughts and words? What paradigms are we allowing to run in the hard-drive of our mental domain?

It is high time that we paid attention to what we think about on a daily basis, and that we brought it into line with the Word of God! Most of us have a basic “belief” in what we know about the Word. Few practice even that limited knowledge in their daily existence. It is more like a “get out of jail free card” that we pull out when we get ourselves into scrapes with bad decisions.

Most of us never realize that we can change the course of our lives by simply letting the Spirit of God teach us how to change our mind – and to make better decisions! It is high time that we learned how to make up our minds! Most of us humans tend to exist in this dichotomous dilemma of dual-mindedness – staggering between the problem and the solution, like a drunkard who has lost his way.

We weave in and out of fact and truth like one who is too drunk to drive this thing. And many of us are “drunk”, that is, we have become mentally unstable, on the confusion of our times, the philosophies and ideologies of the fallen human nature – also known as “the World”. Though we all know, or should know, that these ideologies are anti-God, and will war with His Word and His Spirit within us – we still can not seem to decide what we really believe.

The result is that we've become stuck in a yo-yo type of existence, trying to consolidate fact and truth. But they rarely match, since fact is based on our mere five-senses existence, and truth is based on a timeless, eternal reality which ultimately transcends this existence – if we allow it to. We have that kind of authority. But we can also prevent its work. Sad but true.

The point that I am making is that we must distinguish between fact and truth, and vote with truth no matter what fact may be saying! For example, the fact is that we will suffer affliction and tribulation in this process called life. The Truth is, however, that we have been given everything we will need to overcome each one of those challenges! The fact is that on this planet the deck is stacked against us, especially if we choose to serve the God of Life. BUT the Truth is that this same God of Life has commanded Life in Abundance for those who make that choice – and we will come out with the winning hand every time! Hallelujah! I am beginning to have a deep affinity for His Truth!

See what I mean? Perspective makes all the difference in whether we are winning or losing. But that perspective is determined by what we really believe – and what we believe is determined by what we choose to think about, meditate on or obsess over! If we believe, for example, that, “It is what it is”, then we will enter into a pathetic apathy that will inevitably paralyze our problem solving capacities. If we believe, however, that “It will be what I declare it to be, by virtue of the Authority bestowed upon me by the Anointed One”, then we become game changers, and war winners!

As you were growing up, it is likely that your Mother issued the command, “Go make up your bed!”. Of course this is assuming that you were fortunate enough to have a bed and not fortunate enough to have a maid (or one of those mothers who did everything because she was a neat freak)! What did she mean by “make your bed”? Did she mean that you should cosmically reproduce that item from scratch and recreate its molecular structure every day? No! Though that would be awesomely cool! But in reality she simply meant that you needed to put the bed-clothes in order. Straighten and tuck in the sheets, adjust the blankets and pillows until it looks orderly and pleasant – she wanted you to restore order from the chaos produced by the previous night's sleeping process.

“Making up one's mind” is a similar exercise. Just as the bed needs reordering each morning, our “mind”, which encompasses our prevailing mental state, also requires daily diligence to restore the correct, God given, order. An order which is predicated upon His Truth! We humans tend to wander around blindly in some imaginary gray area between His Truth and our perceived “reality” instead of staying unswervingly within the Light of His life-restoring boundaries of Truth.

But how easily we forget that our fleshly perceptions are limited to this temporal realm, while His perspective of Truth eternally transcends this lowly state of affairs. In HIM – that is, with His care, guidance and supervision - we can become the “captains of our own fate” and the “designers of our own destiny”. But on our own we are mere pawns of our mortal enemy! Without His Truth we are boats in an unfriendly sea, with no compass, rudder or mast! We were designed to live within eternal parameters, and we can not do so without His Truth to navigate by.

But it is so easy to lose sight of His Truth! There is so much twisted information out there! And when we do loosen our grasp on truth, we also lose touch with His Spirit, and there goes the fruit - Love, Joy, Peace, Gentleness, Goodness, Kindness, Humility, Faithfulness and Self-Control – right out of some unknown window! Without the aid of His Spirit in our lives our minds become a high traffic zone of anxiety, annoyance, conflict and confusion in which chaos reigns and death wreaks havoc. We become double-minded, and as James puts it, “...unstable in all our ways.” This deftly describes the rampant mental illness which stalks this nation and threatens the very fabric of peaceable society!

The characteristics listed above as “the fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22-23) describe the very nature and character of God (who is said to BE Love) to which we are being transformed (by His loving, attentive Spirit which leads us into all Truth).

Without that transformation we are left to live the other list in Galatians five (vs. 19-21), which lists the “deeds of the flesh”, which describes the default setting of the lower nature, the human character without God. We must be aware of this truth that man is a fallen creature. Meaning that unless he receives the redemption of the Anointed One, and the transforming work of the Truth as administered by the Spirit, he can not expect to live up to his potential glory in which God created him to live! We must not lose sight of the reality that no matter how well trained socially, or how altruistic one may be – eventually this darkness creeps out. It is the program which runs in our background.

We can escape that programming however, we can have that fleshly hard-drive wiped, and receive a new nature. Our responsibility in that process is to simply stay connected to the source of Life and Truth. We are commanded, for example, to take authority over our thought lives and to, “Think on These Things".

By which the writer of Philippians exhorts us, (Chapter four, verse eight and nine):
“8. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. 9. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”

If God has taken the time to give us parameters for our thoughts they must be important! And they are! The writer of Proverbs tells us (chapter twenty-three, verse seven);

“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he [in behavior—one who manipulates]. He says to you, “Eat and drink,” Yet his heart is not with you [but it is begrudging the cost].” That is the Amplified Study version. Which simply means that the thoughts we choose to cultivate – to pay attention to, so as to activate them in our lives – will rule, dominate, and eventually alter or create our existence.

Eliphaz, who is attempting to instruct Job at the time, informs us as well (in what is now chapter 22 of the book of Job);

"28"You will also decree a thing, and it will be established for you; And light will shine on your ways. 29"When you are cast down, you will speak with confidence, And the humble person He will save. 30"He will deliver one who is not innocent, And he will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands."

He is basically stating that, when we are God's, our words are charged with His power and authority. That is, when we live a life of obedience to God, He personally backs our statements with His creative power – to the extent that even those who are “getting it wrong” or “one who is not innocent” will be delivered through our righteousness or “cleanness”! Which means that if we can get control of this operation we can literally change our world! If we critiqued less, prayed more, and pronounced more blessing than cursing...etc. ...etc. .

So he is saying that we can have what we say, as the writer of the book of Mark confirms; (in what is now “chapter 11”)

“…23"Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. 24"Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you. 25"Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions.… “

Obviously our words count in a profoundly significant way! Will we get in step with His program of transformation and become world changers? Or will we stay in our religious ruts and become another sad statistic for Jesus?! We – the ones who consider ourselves to be “The Church”, “The Ecclesia” , “The Called Out Ones” - need to get a grip on what it is that we are called out of, and called out to! We need to be about our Father's business! But it won't come from dawdling about in our comfort zones of religious tradition. We are going to have to risk being different! We are going to have to trust more. We are going to have to pay attention to even our thoughts and motivations, and lend them to the intense inspection of HIS Spirit in our lives! He is seeking those who will worship Him in Spirit AND in Truth!

Yeshua outlines for us the kind of Character which we must cultivate to be able to access the life which He expected us to live, and the authority which He provided for us to embody - (in the book of Luke 6:44); subtitled, A Tree and its Fruit:

“43. "For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. 44. "For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. 45. "The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.”

The writer of Proverbs stated the same truth this way, (18:21) “…20. With the fruit of a man's mouth his stomach will be satisfied; He will be satisfied with the product of his lips. 21. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.”

And here are some other references to consider;

Matthew 12:37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."

Proverbs 10:19 Sin is not ended by multiplying words, but the prudent hold their tongues.

Proverbs 12:13 Evildoers are trapped by their sinful talk, and so the innocent escape trouble.

Proverbs 13:2 From the fruit of their lips people enjoy good things, but the unfaithful have an appetite for violence.

Proverbs 13:3 Those who guard their lips preserve their lives, but those who speak rashly will come to ruin.

Proverbs 21:23 Those who guard their mouths and their tongues keep themselves from calamity.

Isaiah 3:10 Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds.

Deeds are but the fruit of thought which have produced words, which have produced deeds – which will produce either life or death. “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.”

So just choosing to say the “right thing” when it feels good, is not enough. We must first have thought the right thing on a consistent basis, we must say – and then live - the right thing even when it does not feel good! Before we can expect to have authority any place else – whether it be over our home, our children, our government or demonic forces – we must first take complete authority and responsibility for our thoughts and words. For those are the building blocks with which our Faith must build.

We don't have to completely understand it, but we do have to line ourselves up with it! Understanding comes with wisdom, and wisdom is the reward to the obediently trusting ones. Those who trust become trustworthy. It is just how His method works. If we expect Yeshua's results, then we must adhere to His methodology. He is The Way – and there is no highway option! Yes folks, it is time we finally made up our mind! And then, if you haven't, go make your bed too!

Shalom Chavarim!

SCD 10/3/15