Examination Time

Psalms 26:2, “Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; Try my mind and my heart.”

When we were in school, we would take tests and quizzes that would have options “A”, “B”, “C”, or “D”. We would use different processes to narrow down the choices. Process of elimination. Guessing game. Always choose “C”. Now when it comes to our souls, there is also an examination time.

Examine me, O Lord. An examination is an up-close look into someone or something. When we ask God to look into us, He will give us a thorough look over and will not hold back on His assessment. And we should want Him to do so. In order to see where we are with God, we need Him to be honest with us. Reveal the good and the bad. The righteous acts and the sinful ones. Like a doctor with a new patient, we get the “full-workup” from God.

Prove me. When something is proven, it is tested. It is taken to the limit. Like finding out the weight limit of a bridge, we are to ask God to show up what we can handle. We can handle a lot but when times get too tough, God will be there for us. When we bend, God is there. If we break, God is there. We can be proven if we truly want God to use us for His honor and glory.

Try my mind and my heart. The mind contains much more than the brain. This is about the soul. The heart is also a main part of the body. If someone puts their mind to something, they will do it. If someone is said to have “heart”, it means that they care about someone or something. God is concerned about our minds and our hearts. He wants us to be tried, proven and examined. He wants us to follow Him.

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for all that You have done for us. Help us to be tried and proven that we are followers of Yours. In the face of danger, let us show You that You are our God. We are Your people. Only You can examine and judge us. Only You are in control.

In Your name we pray,

Amen

Gird Up!

1 Peter 1:13, “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Every day that we live is a battle. Our hearts battles to pump blood to our entire bodies. Our lungs battle to give us air so that we stay alive. We are even in a spiritual battle to do what is right and not what is wrong. It is due to all these battles that we need to gird up!

Therefore gird up the loins of your mind. We, as Christians, need to get our minds right. We need to help those who are not Christ followers get their minds right too. Girding up our minds means that we need to assess what is right and wrong ahead of time, not waiting until the moment hits. We need to read our Bibles to know what is acceptable. We need to plug into the Holy Spirit so that we keep pointing Heaven-ward.

Be sober. If we take things or get involved with things that are mind altering, we can be compromised. This can lead to bad things happening. Sin often happens when we are attacked and let our guards down. If we stay sober, we make sure that our gates are up and nothing bad can get in. We need to stay aware of what can happen because it does not take much for our walls to fall when we are out of control. We can be our own worst enemies.

Rest your hope fully upon the grace God’s grace is enormous. It is more than enough for each and every person on Earth. We can rest in this grace because it is unfailing. It will never quit. It will never give up on us. We do not fight alone. God is there to help us fight that which is evil in our lives. He is there because He cares. All we have to do is call on His name. His grace means our salvation from sin. Our hope is not useless when it is grounded in God.

That is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ died on the cross for us. He reveals His love to us in this way. We have this revelation because God let us have it. He lets us have what we have because He is gracious. We deserve death; he gives us life. We deserve punishment; we get riches. We are vulnerable; God helps us gird up for battle. He is just like that in nature.

Heavenly Father,

You are far more gracious than we deserve You to be. We are grateful for the grace that You shower on us. Your eternal blessings are countless. We need You every day and You know this. you are our light. You are a warrior who not only stands by us but You take over and win the war for us. You are not just God; You are our friend.

In Your name we pray,

Amen

The Mind of God

Romans 11:34, “For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become His counselor?”

The brain is a complicated organ. It is capable of so many processes and able to hold so much information. The human mind is so complex and yet it is nothing compared to God’s. There is no end to the mind of God.

Who has known the mind of the Lord? There is no person on Earth that can fully know the mind of the Lord. God has existed since before the time of Earth, during the whole time Earth has existed, and will continue to exist well after Earth has been destroyed. That equates to a lot of information held considering He knows not only His thoughts but holds unto everything from every single person that has ever existed from the first Adam to the last baby that has been born on Earth. That is an unfathomable amount of information to be held. Yet, only God can do this. His plans are only known by us if He wants us to know them. This is how our God operates.

Who has become His counselor? There is no person on Earth that counsel God. God does not need to ask for assistance from anyone as this would mean that God does not know what He is doing. God is always in control. He is perfect. God is the counselor for others, not the other way around. When God created the whole universe, He did not ask for help. He did it all on His own. In fact, every decision that God has made has been perfect and done on His own. The mind of God is perfect, sinless, and in control.

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for having the control of the whole universe. We are truly blessed that we serve You because You are perfect and You know us. You are not distant. You stay close to us because You know how much we need You. You created us with a mind like Yours on a much finite level. You provide us with the information that we need when we need it. You are truly a glorious and magnificent God.

In Your name we pray,

Amen

No Other Mind

Galatians 5:10, “I have confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will have no other mind; but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is.”

The brain is a complicated organ.  It is capable of doing so much, in control of so much.  When the brain is not functioning properly, the body does not function properly.  Wires get crossed, thoughts get lost, and other parts miss information.  A mind set on God, though, is like no other mind.

I have confidence in you.  At this point, Paul had confidence in the Christians of Galatia.  We should also have confidence in other.  We should be able to lean on others for help and support.  People should be willing to help other people because we are living in the same world.  If we can help others, we should do it.

In the Lord.  Paul also had confidence in God as we should, too.  We can have confidence in God because He will never let us down.  He, unlike people, cannot sin.  He does not break promises.  God is the Creator of the world, so we can trust that He can take care of us and know what we need.

You will have no other mind.  The mind that we have is our own, but was created by God.  We are given a mind that can make decisions that lead to God or away from God.  Paul wanted and we should want to have no other mind than one that goes to God.  Our mind should be focused on God alone as He is our source of all life.  Our mind should think about God when wake up and when we go to bed.  We need to think about Him all throughout the day as well as we should not be without God in our decisions.

He who troubles you.  There will always be people who will try to distract from what we should be doing.  Get us to take our focus off of God.  Get us to forget about God.  Get us to focus on ourselves more and more.  We should attempt to avoid people who are trying to force us to sin.  We all sin and that is life, but people who want us to deliberately go against God are not our friends.  We do, however, need to love them and pray for them, that they change their ways.

Shall bear his judgement.  Those that do lead others astray will answer for that.  They will be judged for their own sins.  God does not like when His children are misled.  He does not like sin at all.  We all will answer for our sins that we have committed.  We should not sin needlessly just because.  We should do all that we can to come close to God and avoid what is wrong.

Whoever he is.  We all are that person that can be troubling to God.  We all act selfish sometimes.  We all have a level of pride in ourselves that goes beyond what it should.  It is hard to not do things we shouldn’t.  Thankfully, God provides a way for us to be forgiven from our sins.  Not that we can sin more, but that when we sin, we are not held burdened by them.  When sin is removed, we have our mind focused more and more on God alone.

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for all the blessings that You shower on us daily.  You love us so much.  Thank You for taking away the power of sin.  We need You every day.  Help us to not lead others astray.  We love You and wish to always strive for a mind like Yours.

In Your name we pray,

Amen

No Divisions Among You

1 Corinthians 1:10, “Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.”

Division in mathematics is the act of splitting numbers into equal parts.  According to Merriam-Webster, division is defined as something that divides, separates, or marks off.  In the United States, there is a lot of division going on.  There are those that favor the President and those that do not.  Those that are in support of certain laws and those that are opposed.  That is what makes this country what it is.  Division in a church; however, is bad.  Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States quoted the Bible in a famous speech when he said “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”  The church also cannot stand with division.  There should be no divisions among you.

Paul’s plead.  Paul was a very passionate missionary who at times, wore his emotions on his sleeve, so to speak.  In this case, he was begging the Corinthian Christians to listen to him.  He had a message for them from God and he wanted them to listen.  These words were not his but God working through him.

By the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Paul was careful to give credit where credit was due.  He did not want the credit because what happened was not because of Paul, but of God.  In fact, Paul would not have been Paul the missionary with Jesus coming and saving him.  Paul would have still been Saul, the accuser and murderer.  Saul, the non-Christ follower, locking up followers of Jesus.  We all have a story prior to coming to Jesus.  Without Jesus, we all would be lost.

All speak the same thing.  Paul wanted the believers to all speak the same words as to not have confusion.  The message of Jesus was told one way and it needed to stay that way.  No modifications.  No additions.  No deletions.  Paul wanted each and every one of them to be reading from the same page in the same book.  There is a problem when some interrupt a text one way and others another way.  Then there is confusion when it is told to others.  Some may even be led astray due to misinterpretations.

No divisions among you.  Nothing can destroy a church faster than division.  It usually starts as a rumor.  That rumor gets spread and then sides are created.  Those that believe it and those that do not.  This creates a rift in the congregation and even makes it so that people leave the church to find a new one or none at all.  This does not build up the kingdom of God.  This causes people to go against God and sin.  Division is like a sickness that spreads through a town.  One person gets sick and give it to 2 people.  2 turns into 4 and 4 turns into 8.  It multiples until the whole town is sick.  When there is division, it makes for a sick church and a sick church is not beneficial to a community.

Perfectly joined together.  On the opposite side of division is a perfect union.  The people of the church are all on one vision.  One accord with God.  No one is trying to believe something outside of the Bible.  All acting as one person.  That is how a church should operate.  From the lead pastor to the newest member, there needs to be solidarity.  This is how community is established, fellowship is strengthened, and the kingdom of God is added to.

Same mind and same judgment.  A church can have many members but should only have one mind and one discernment.  There is only one Bible and that Bible is the Word of God.  It should be followed as an instruction manual is followed.  Step by step, line by line.  Churches that start preaching outside of the Bible come to their own demise.  Churches that stop following God become clubs that are more for get-togethers to feel good than to be for healing and restoration.  One collective mind is not something that happens overnight.  It takes time and dedication to get to a point to have everyone working in step.  Division does not help this.  It only makes it worse.

Division is the opposite of multiplication in mathematics.  With the kingdom of God in mind, division should be the last thing on our minds.  We should be trying to multiply the saved, not dividing them and subtracting them from the kingdom.  God wants us to come to Him and praise Him and worship Him.  We need to avoid division and if you are in a church with division currently, I ask that you do not make the problem worse.  There is healing needed and that comes from God alone.

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for what You do for us.  There is so much division in the world.  I ask that You unite us together as believers in You.  We all serve the same God in You.  We should not let anything come between us and You.  I ask that You break those idols and divisions that occur.  I ask that You mend relationships and churches worldwide so that Your message rings true and clear.  Help us to stop the fighting and fight for the kingdom of You instead of against it.  You are in control and we are not.  Help us to give all we can to You.

In Your name we pray,

Amen

Heaven in Mind

Colossians 3:2, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.”

In the grand scheme of things, we really do not spend much time on Earth.  For some, they only spend 20-some years and then die.  Some spend 100-plus years and then die.  In the end, though, everyone dies.  When one dies, they go to an eternal state.  They then stay in this state for the rest of time.  It would make sense to spend more time focusing on the next life than this one.  We should keep Heaven in mind, as Earth passes away.

We are to set our minds on things above.  In the grand scope of time, our time in Heaven will be infinitely longer than our time on Earth.  All our accomplishments on Earth will go away.  All the money that we amassed will go to others.  All that we have done will be forgotten.  What will not be forgotten is how we lived our life.

The things on this Earth are nothing compared to what God has to offer.  God has the wealth of Heaven that we can have if we will only deny the world’s goods and accept His.  This seems simple but it can be so easy to get wrapped up in what the Earth has.  Money, power, fame, travel, and goods.  All these things can drag someone down a hole that can be hard to get out of.  What God has to offer does not satisfy someone with instant gratification.  We have to wait to get what God has to offer.

So the question is: are we willing to wait and have what God offers or do we want everything now and lose out on what God has to offer?  In light of eternity, choose God and His rewards.  How do we choose His rewards?  We accept His Son, Jesus, as Lord and Savior of our lives.  We accept Him because He died for all the wrong that we have done.  We accept Him because only He can save us and give us the key to Heaven.  Without Jesus, we do not have access to God.  No access to God, no access to the rewards that God has for us.  There is no point to have everything in the world.  We should only focus on God.  Focus on God and the reward that we can have when we go to God.  Keep Heaven in mind always.

Heavenly Father,

Thank You that You will reward us for a life lived for You.  When we deny the world, we can have You.  We do not have to do anything else to be with You after we die.  All we have to do is be saved from our sins.  Thank You for sending Jesus to die for us.  Thank You for having Him be the key that we need to open the door to You.  We can have You because of Him.  We owe all to Jesus.

In Your name we pray,

Amen

Body Dead, Spirit Alive

Romans 8:10, “And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.”

Each and every person are made up of three parts: body, mind, and soul.  The body is the physical part of the person.  The mind refers to the mental part of the body.  The soul is that part of the mind that refers to the spiritual aspect.  After this life, the body and the mind die off.  The soul is what is left.  When the body is dead, the spirit is alive.  The question is where?

There is a question that is asked by many: is Christ in your life or not?  For some, they can answer this right away with a resounding “yes.”  There are still some that say “no.”  There are also some that this question is thought-provoking.  They have lived a good life and think they are safe and going to Heaven.  They are not sure why they would need Christ in them.  Not sure if this will help or not.  I am here to say that if Christ is not in you, you need to reevaluate your plan.  Jesus Christ is the Way to Heaven.  He is the key.

Due to sin, we are a ticking time-bomb waiting to go off.  Sin has deadened the body so that it breaks down and falls apart.  The very same dirt that we came from with the first Adam is what we return to.  Our bodies deteriorate.  Sin is a vicious disease and every single human on the face of the Earth has experienced it.  The physical body will always be in a state of decay.  No one stays perfect forever.

There is hope, though.  Even though the body will die, the spirit (soul) can live on forever with God.  This occurs through the righteousness of God.  God is perfect and in His perfection, He sent His Son.  His Son is also perfect and came to Earth in the form of a human.  As a human, He was still God and still human.  He did everything that a human could do except sin.  He lived His life and then it came time to die.  He would not die a natural death but, in fact, die the most horrible death that someone could die.  He did this for us.  Along with His death, He took on sin.  Not just a little sin, but all the sins of the world past, present and future.  The weight would have been immense.  Through His death, though, we have life.

Life does not mean that our physical bodies will go on forever.  Life means that after we die, we can be with God in Heaven.  How do we do that?  We invite Christ into our heart and life.  We have the Son of God living in us.  Only then can we be assured that we will go on well after our physical death.  We need Jesus.  We cannot do this on our own.  He is the Way and we need to follow the Way.  If the body is dead, the spirit can still go on in Heaven.  Just seek and ask Jesus in today!

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for the wonderful gift of salvation that You give to us.  It was not given without a cost.  It cost Your Son His life.  He did not stay dead, yet, the pain was intense and real.  He did this out of love.  Help us to show the same love that Your Son shows.  We have hope because of You.  Thank You for all that You do for us every day.

In Your name we pray,

Amen

Treat Others Better Than Self

Philippians 2:3, “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.”

Lou Holtz, the former football player and coach, is quoted as saying, “Do right. Do your best. Treat others as you want to be treated.”  These are great rules to live by.  The Bible takes it a step further though.  The Bible states that we are to treat others better than ourselves.

We are not to be selfish in anything.  Selfishness is a two-fold evil.  On the one hand, selfish behavior takes away from what another person could receive and the person that is selfish is punished for keeping what is not meant for them. When we have selfishness, we deny someone something that they could use.  God wants us to be selfless, like His Son Jesus.  Jesus lived a life on Earth that He did not have to, but did anyways.  Jesus died on a cross for sins He did not commit.  He was beaten for crimes He did not do.  Jesus did what He did out of love and selflessness.  Had He been selfish, we would not be saved and we would all be in Hell forever.

We are not to be conceited.  Conceited goes down the same road as vanity.  To be vain is to think that everything is about you and that you are better than everyone else.  This is, almost without saying, a sin.  Jesus was not vain or conceited because He always maintained a servant attitude.  Helping out others before He ever helped Himself.

Having lowliness of mind.  Our minds can take us on magical journeys where we think we are the best athlete, singer, dancer or something else.  More than likely, we are none of those things.  In lowliness, we do not strive to be the best for the wrong purpose.  We strive to be the best for the honor of God.  When Jesus was with His disciples, He took the time to minister to their needs before He took care of His needs.

Others better than self.  We should not withhold from our needs but we need to be mindful of others and have a servant’s heart.  If we do not care to our needs, we cannot help others, but we need to make sure that we do not only concern ourselves with ourselves.  Other people have needs.  Other people need to be cared for and that is what we should do.  God wants us to care for others; we should care for others.

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for caring for all our needs.  Help us to care for others like You care for us.  We all can be selfish and vain at times and please forgive us of these sins that we commit.  We ask for a spirit of selflessness and lowliness.  Help us to see opportunities to do things for others.

In Your name we pray,

Amen

Stand and Live

1 Thessalonians 3:8, “For now we live, if you stand fast in the Lord.”

Living is not living without Christ.  Going through the motions of a day is no way to truly live a life given by God.  When we live, we are to have God in mind in what we are to do.  This is why we stand and this is why we live.  Life for God and all that He does.

Now we live.  God is the give of life.  Ever since the very first person was put on Earth, God has been given life to people so that humans can reproduce.  God cares about each and every person that exists.  Each person is created uniquely and specially.  Each person is created in the image of God.  When we live, every day is a precious gift.  No day is guaranteed.  We can be alive one moment and dead the next.  In a moment, everything can change.  We should enjoy all the moments that we have here on planet Earth.

If we stand fast.  We are to stand for something.  That something needs to align with God and His plan.  We are to stand still and wait on God to work in our lives.  We can never be what God wants us to be if are not willing to stand with God.  God wants us to serve Him and be for Him.  In our own free will, we choose other things besides God.  We may not mean it.  We may not think about it.  God is a jealous God and wants our praise of Him.  We would have nothing without God so let us give Him the praise, glory and worship that He deserves.

In the Lord.  Life is life when it is in the Lord.  Look back on the people of the Bible that lived for God.  Abraham lived for God and was blessed with more children than He could count.  Noah lived for God and was saved from a flood.  David lived for God and became a great warrior and king.  Solomon lived for God and became the wisest man to live.  There are thousands of examples of people all throughout history who lived for God and were blessed because of it.  This is what it means to live in the Lord.  Caring more about what God thinks than what the world thinks.  Caring less about goods and more about God.  Caring about the Creator instead of creation.  Standing, living and caring for God.  It is our mission and it is how we are to be.  Standing and living.

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for the gift of being able to be standing and living for You.  We know that we cannot exist without You.  I pray that we all give You all the praise that You rightfully deserve.  You are here to bless us if we ask for it.  Help us to trust You more and more.  It is because of You that we can pray and live for You.

In Your name we pray,

Amen

All of One Mind

1 Peter 3:8, “Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous.”

The state of the world is this: not of one mind.  In a world where there should be tons of love, there is hate and ignorance.  There are glimmers of love here and there.  There are times of people joining together for a cause.  Most of the time, however, there are times where people want to do their own thing.  Be off on their own.  Not caring about others.  We need to all be of one mind

All of you be of one mind.  One mind means several minds all on the same page in the same book.  To go further, it means on the same word on the same line on the same page on the same book.  Every person should be able to accomplish this if all people involved are listening and relying fully on God.  God asks us to listen to Him and follow His instructions.  Being of one mind is much harder than it sounds and I do not want to sit here and say that it is easy.  It is impossible to follow God fully and he is perfect.

Having compassion for one another.  We are to have compassion for every person.  This does not just include people we like.  This includes the people that we do not typically associate with.  Think about this: Jesus did not just hang out with His disciples or religious people but sinners and tax collectors.  Jesus had compassion on all people because He loves all people.  We should also have compassion like Jesus had compassion.  Compassion for all.

Love as brothers.  Brothers will do anything for each others.  They will help each other out in times of need.  If one needs helps, the other will come to be there.  Whether it is actual brothers or people who are bonded by a trade, people will stick together and help each other.  Nothing speaks truer to this than when calamity befalls.  People band together behind causes and show so much love.

Be tenderhearted.  It is so easy in this world to be hard-hearted.  To be cynical and see the evil in everything.  To see something bad even in the most sincere opportunities.  We are not to be like this.  We are to be tenderhearted and kind.  Not everyone is out there to take advantage of us.  Not everyone out there is wanting to take our money.  There are honest people out there that need help.  We are to help everyone that we can, just as Christ helps us with all that He does.

Be courteous.  Courtesy is a lost art in this world.  Saying please, thank you, or excuse me/pardon me is lost on so many people.  There is so much rudeness that when someone is courteous, it comes off as weird.  This should not be weird.  When Jesus spoke to people, He did not come off as rude.  Even when Jesus knew what people were thinking about Him, He was still kind and courteous.  That did not mean that Jesus let people walk all over Him.  He was firm and authoritative.  Kind/courteous, yet firm/authoritative.

There as so many that try to do everything on their own.  The fact is, we cannot do anything on our own.  We need to allow God to take over.  We need to align our mind with God’s mind.  This will not happen over night.  This will happen when we work on following God.  We must get fully on board with God.

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for all that You do.  You give us life.  You give us love.  You give us everything.  Help us to be of one mind with You.  Help us to be kindhearted, courteous and loving.  We owe everything to You so let us give You all the praise and glory and credit.  I pray that we all come together in this world and work together.  Show love instead of hate.  Show kindness instead of anger.  Show courtesy instead rudeness.  Let the change in the world start with me.  Let us all do our part in Your name.

It is because of You that we can pray,

Amen