Metamorphosis of the Soul

I get such a kick out of God’s creation.  Some creatures truly astound me.  The butterfly is one of them. Seriously, how on earth could a lowly insect with up to 16 legs go through a “metamorphic” process to emerge the most breathtaking creature that can now fly? Yet, when I think about the transformation this caterpillar must go through to become this free-flying butterfly, I can easily visualize a similar metamorphosis of the soul for us as humans. As unbelievers we can be compared to the caterpillar, and as Christians, as we continually surrender our lives to the Lord, it is as if we can be compared to the new creature—the butterfly. But, it all begins with faith. The caterpillar must have instinctively had faith that something better was waiting for him. He didn’t want to spend the rest of his life crawling around on his belly. So, he began the process of spinning himself into a chrysalis where he would remain and undergo a radical transformation. Likewise, we need faith to begin our journey with God too. In God’s infinite wisdom, He placed an instinctive need and desire in all humans to seek after Him. There is a void in our hearts that simply cannot be satisfied with anything or anyone else. Furthermore, we will not experience this full life until we fill it with His Presence.

Faith is the root of the Christian life. It is a confident belief and trust that God exists; that His only Son, Jesus Christ, came to earth as a baby, lived, suffered, and died for our sins. This faith gives us hope to live our earthly lives, often times filled with tragedy and heartache, with perseverance, knowing that one day we shall receive eternal life with our Father. This faith allows us to live in this sin-filled world and be a light unto the darkness, not succuming  under it. In the Bible, faith is defined as “being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). “And without faith it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and rewards those who earnestly seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).  Ironically, faith is something that God Himself imparts to us. His righteousness imparts to all people the ability to believe that He is God and that He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to save us. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:16-17).

We have been given the ability to believe; however, we are the ones who must put our faith in Jesus Christ.  This is something God will never force us to do. Sometimes, however, God allows us to get to the end of ourselves. In other words, although He doesn’t cause hardships, He allows the natural consequences of life, which includes the choices we make, to bring us to a place of desperation where there is nothing else to do but “look up.” This is the place of utter neediness and the place of surrender.  We surrender our hearts and our lives to a holy God who is and remains Sovereign.  We finally recognize that we are NOT in control, and this brings us to the perfect place where God works the most incredible miracles in our lives. When we turn to Him with childlike faith asking Him to help us in our distress, He performs the most radical surgery in our hearts.  He turns our hearts of stone into hearts that long to believe and love Him.  This isn’t an instantaneous thing.  Rather, it is a processing of surrendering our desires and turning our lives over to the One who knows and loves us the most. 

Believe me, there is work involved in this process.  This is what I call proactive faith.  Faith always requires action—it is not passive—idly sitting by doing nothing and expecting God to do it all. Our job is to seek after God with all of our heart, soul, and mind. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8). His job is to transform our hearts.  And He will! The more we seek after Him through prayer, immersing ourselves in the Bible, and fellowshipping with other believers, the more radically He transforms us.  We slowly begin to change on the inside—comparatively like a butterfly going through a metamorphosis. “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18). Sometimes we will not even be aware of how much we are changing, but eventually we will notice that we have been transformed on a deeper level. Maybe the same TV shows we used to watch appall us now, or when we hear the Lord’s name being spoken in vain, we cringe. And, we may even notice our own language beginning to “clean up.”  Others, too, will notice that we are different.  Those who are going through their own spiritual transformation will understand and applaud you.  Those who are not will question what happened to the “old” you.

Again, I can’t think of a better analogic comparison than that of the caterpillar that once crawled around on the floor, eventually spinning itself into a cocoon, and then emerging a beautiful new creature—a butterfly! And now for Butterfly Metamorphosis 101: Did you know that once inside its cocoon, a caterpillar changes into a pupa and slowly digests itself from the inside out, causing its body to die? During this partial death, some of the caterpillar's old tissues are salvaged to form new ones, and this remnant of cells is used to create a new body. Using its digestive juices, the caterpillar turns his old larval body into food which he uses to rebuild its new body. Eventually he is ready to emerge from his cocoon and then begins the process of pushing on the walls of the shell until it breaks open.  And we all know just how beautiful he is when he emerges with strikingly colorful, iridescent and patterned wings!

This “metamorphic” process is exactly what happens to us as we seek after the Lord with all of our hearts. We cocoon ourselves when we spend time with the Lord in worship and the study of His Word. When we fellowship with other believers, when we sit still in the Lord’s Presence.  It is the Holy Spirit who transforms our souls, and it is what He does best!  Left to our own strength we could never be “good enough” and would never emerge a new creation. Yet, the closer we draw to Jesus, the more the Holy Spirit is able to work in our lives. This, as mentioned before, is a process. (This is no different than the caterpillar that remains in the cocoon for quite a while). That is why believers still sin. Others who judge and criticize them do so unwisely, because walking in the Christian life is a day by day choice.  We are all “works in progress,” and will continue to make mistakes, lose our temper, and sin. However, because the Spirit lives in our hearts, He will convict us of our sin. Quick repentance follows because we will not like how we feel.  We know that our sin has grieved the Holy Spirit who lives within us. As we confess our sins and ask for His help in avoiding sin, we are restored to our Holy Father.  Sin will become less alluring to us as the Spirit continues to deepen our faith and draw us closer to the heart of God. We emerge as new creations in Christ. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).  This is all such a marvelous mystery.

The beautiful irony is that God knows us so intimately and loves us so immensely that He allows certain trials and tests to come our way in order to deepen our faith.  Simply put, He loves us too much to leave us the way we are. But these hardships are never to harm us…only to teach us to depend on Him and grow spiritually.  Trials have a way of doing that like nothing else.  Ask any strong Christian how they became so grounded in the Lord, and they will, no doubt, talk about some deep trials and struggles they had to face and go through. These struggles brought them to a place of surrender as they relied on Him to deepen their faith and trust in an unseen God; and, how they would never, ever turn back to their old ways!  I am one of them.

It is important to remember that we are not justified or made right with God by “observing the law”, but by faith alone in Jesus Christ (Galatians 2:15). In the Bible, the Galatians were confused as they believed that they received the God’s Spirit by simply observing the law. “Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing—if it really was for nothing? Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you eard?” (Galatians 3:3-5). It goes on to say that Abraham believed God and that his faith was credited to him as righteousness. Likewise, we who believe, are credited as righteous through our faith in Jesus Christ. “The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles (all non-Jews) by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you.’  So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith” (Galatians 3:8-9). 

That is such good news for us because we could never observe the law perfectly anyway.  Jesus took care of that for us when He suffered and died on the cross for our sins. He took on the penalty for our sins through His precious blood. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.’ He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit” (Galatians 3:13-14). But be warned—that does not give us license to sin because He took care of it for us.  We should strive to live a sinless life, and with the Holy Spirit’s help, we are empowered turn from sin. “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness” (2 Peter 1:3). 

More good news—we can escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.  If we add to our faith goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, kindness, and love, and if we continue to increase these qualities through the help of the Holy Spirit, God’s Word promises that we will not be ineffective and unproductive in our knowledge of the Lord, Jesus Christ.  We do not have to be slaves to sin. “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” (Galations 5:1).

Throughout God’s Word, we are given precious promises from the Lord Himself that encourage and motivate us to godly living.  One of the promises I treasure the most comes from 2 Peter 1:10-11, “For if you do these things you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”  I can almost imagine the scene.  Jesus welcoming me into His loving arms and eternal Kingdom forever.  No matter what has happened in my life, all the hardships I have endured and all the pain that I have suffered, will have been worth it all.  To know that my life counted for something bigger, including all of its sorrows and disappointments; to know that I am His, and that I will live forever with Jesus….well, nothing on earth could ever compare to this immense joy!

Sacrifice of Praise

Can I be so bold as to say that I believe, we as Christians, tend to be a little lackluster when it comes to offering God the sacrifice of praise?  I don’t know why that is.  We certainly don’t hold back when it comes to requesting prayer, and biblically speaking, God tells us to come to Him with our requests. We all know that prayer moves the mighty Hand of God. But should we really expect Him to exclusively grant all our requests?  Could it be that at times He withholds answering our prayers because there is something we are failing to do? Now, we’ve all been taught that God always answers our prayers.  Sometimes with a “yes”, sometimes with a “no”, and sometimes with a “wait.”  In reality, God does not need us to do anything in order for Him to answer our prayers.  The sheer essence of praying to God is for our benefit, not God’s.  It is so that we will develop a relationship with God and learn to depend on Him. In the process, our faith grows exponentially when we experience the God of the universe stooping down to help us in our time of need. We are filled with awe and thanksgiving for how He has answered our prayers, and then we go on to our next set of prayer requests. While there is nothing wrong with requesting help from our heavenly Father, lately I have been feeling like something is missing during my prayer life. Prayer is more than just requesting things from God, isn’t it?

Can it be that our minds are forever focusing on the difficult life issues that continually surround us?  Everywhere you look there are hurting, dying, and lost people. Just watch the news and you’ll get a mega dose of hard core reality. Ironically, very seldom do the media have any “good” news to report.  It’s not that there is no good news—they just choose not to share it with the rest of us. For some reason, it’s the bad stuff that grabs our attention. God offers us a solution as to what we should and should not allow in our minds.  “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” Philippians 4:8. This admonition enables us to not continually focus on the negative around us; however, when it comes to controlling our thought life, it can still be very difficult. We don’t need to listen to “bad” news to have “bad” or “negative” thoughts.  Through spiritual maturity and discipline we may learn how to hold our tongues, but the battle over the mind wages on.  Have you ever paid close attention to the meaning of 1 Corinthians 2:16? It says, “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.” How can we possibly have the mind of Christ when our flesh and the evil one continually war against us in our private thought life?  You know, that part of you that no one else can see.  Sure, we can look pretty “holy” on the outside, and through practice we can learn to control what we say or how we say it, but taming the mind is an entirely different matter.

I recently read something in my daily devotional, Jesus Calling by Sarah Young that resonated with me. It was simple, yet profound. Why had I not thought about this before?  Written from God’s perspective it said, “Let me control your mind. The mind is the most restless, unruly part of mankind. Long after you have learned the discipline of holding your tongue, your thoughts defy your will and set themselves up against me.”  Wow! How very true. It went on to say that God risked all by granting us the freedom to think for ourselves, and this is what sets us apart from animals and robots. We are made in the image of God, precariously close to deity.  Wow, again!  Do you get that? We are close to deity!!!  That must be true or God wouldn’t have said, “But you have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16). The reading ended with an exhortation to open ourselves to God’s radiant presence, letting His light permeate our thinking.

“Ok, Lord.  I want to do this.  I belong to you and you know I love you.  But I struggle here.  Just today I had thoughts that I know were not of you. There were unkind toward someone else, and I was instantly convicted by the Holy Spirit.” Then, I remembered this devotional reading and I immediately asked for forgiveness. This time I went a step further and asked God to control my mind.  I felt better after confessing my sin.  I reasoned if only I can take captive all the negative thoughts that whirl around in my head occupying needless space, I know God will help me to have the mind of Christ.  How?  Well, I wasn’t sure, but He is God, after all.

Interestingly, God wasn’t finished dealing with me on this topic just yet. He wanted to make sure that I fully understood. Then something beautiful happened during prayer time with my ladies’ leadership group.  God gave me revelation as to “how” He would control my mind. Although He surely didn’t need any assistance from me, He would require my activate participation in this process.  After our group openly shared our hearts and prayer requests, we began to pray as we always do. We lifted up our requests to the God who can do exceedingly more than we can ever imagine, but before long, the requests began to turn into praises. One by one, praises were being offered to the Lord.  Praises for the small, seemingly insignificant things, and praises for the big things He has done amongst our group. In the midst of the heavy burdens that we were carrying for ourselves, our families, and our friends, our time of prayer turned into a wonderful time of praise and thanksgiving. My emotions completely took over and it wasn’t long before the tears began to flow. The Spirit-filled prayer was so beautiful and pure. Innately, I sensed that this is precisely what was missing from my prayer life and what God longs to hear from all of His children. He already knows our every need, and He promises not to withhold any good thing from us, but He also delights in hearing our thanksgiving and heartfelt acknowledge-ment that we believe He is God; that we believe He is good; and, that we know with full certainty He is faithful, regardless of the pain and the circumstances we may find ourselves in.  In fact, if we don’t offer Him praise, even the rocks will cry out! (When the Pharisees in the crowd ordered Jesus to rebuke his disciples for praising Him, he replied, “If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out” Luke 19:40). Have you ever considered a bunch of rocks crying out praises to God?  If we don’t do it, they will! Goodness gracious, may we never allow inanimate objects to come to life to praise Him, when we have been made in the very image of God. We are the ones who should be shouting from the rooftops with praises to our King!

As I was driving home from the prayer meeting, God confirmed to my heart that He will partner with me in controlling my mind by using my sacrifice of praise. I felt strongly convicted that the next time I have a request, an urgent plea, or when something troubles me, I should pour out my heart to Him, but then I am to immediately offer up several praises concerning that particular request.  I was instantly reminded of a situation I was struggling with where my thought life certainly had a mind of its own. It’s not that I sinned outwardly by putting these thoughts into action, but I felt like I was sinning toward God just by having those unkind thoughts.  I asked God for help concerning that matter, but then I immediately offered up five praises concerning that very same matter. This was a simple exercise, but so relevant.  All of a sudden my prayer request didn’t seem so monumental or overwhelming to me. Instead, my mind focused on the blessings that had come as a result of this difficulty that God allowed me to go through. It felt like a “divine exchange” took place at that moment and I was able to look at my situation with the eyes of God.  I remembered Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

My impactful take away—I was reminded that good can come out of every single situation, but my perspective and attitude surrounding the difficulty is what must change. That must be how to work out our salvation with fear and trembling.  Simply grumbling about a difficulty will never give us the mind of Christ.  But offering it up to Him as a sacrifice of praise will allow God’s immeasurable grace to flood our souls with His peace as He imparts to us His “divine vision.” In collaborating with God through our heartfelt praises, our outlook will change as God meticulously begins the process of controlling our minds. Glory, Halleluiah! That is certainly something worth praising Him for!

“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.”  Psalm 150:6.

“Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name.” Hebrews 13:15

“Praise the Lord, O my soul. I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.”  Psalm 146:1-2

“How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!”  Psalm 147:1

“Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever. Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.”  Psalm 145:2-3

NO Fretting Allowed!

NO FRETTING

Fretting, worrying, complaining, striving, agonizing over—they all imply the same thing. And left to ourselves, every single one of us will engage in these undesirable attributes.  Not only do they sap our strength and make us feel terrible, they are in direct opposition to what God desires for us.  He wants us to trust Him and rest in His peace.  He wants us to commit all of our ways to Him and to wait patiently for His response.  When we commit our way to the Lord, He supernaturally imparts His peace to our troubled souls.  And yes, that is something we so desperately need.

I have been a Christian for quite some time now, but yet all too often I find myself slipping back into those old habits of fretting.  I commonly disguise this term by saying, “I’m not worrying, I’m just concerned over this matter.”  As if in some way being “concerned” sounds more pious and holy!  I mean, after all, I should know better. The Holy Spirit has recently given me direct revelation that all the “concerns” that I fret over are sinful and grieve Him.  It implies that I don’t fully trust God concerning my circumstances, and therefore, must fret over them.  Nothing could be farther from the truth! Not only is God sovereign over the entire universe, He is quite sovereign over every little detail of my life too!  Why would I ever doubt that?  I guess, in my frail human condition, I periodically need to be reminded. 

Once again, I was led to the Scriptures…specifically the promises contained therein that the Lord will never leave me nor forsake me, that He is my Rock, my Refuge, my shelter in the storm. That He loves me unconditionally and forgives me continuously. I praise God for His many unconditional and conditional promises because they truly bring me hope and deep peace. They allow me to rest in Him knowing that He will always be victorious.  When my focus is inward and not upward, I easily become overwhelmed.  When I am overwhelmed, I become consumed with myself, and when I am consumed with myself, I fail to see God’s hand working in my life.  Maybe just maybe He allows some of those difficulties to draw me closer to Himself.  To seek after Him more fervently while down in the valley. To experience His presence even in the trials and hardships of life. He truly is the Only answer to all of life and everything that concerns me.  I guess I just need reminders now and again. 

Even so, I am thankful that God so graciously grabs my attention, especially when I become fretful, because I have learned that in my own strength I will always falter.  When life becomes chaotic and my own strength wanes, it is then that I am always, always reminded to go back to the Source; the Living Water; the Bread of Life—Jesus.   Ahhh, and when I do, He always delivers.  I envision Him reaching out His loving hand for me to take ahold of, as He gently binds up my wounds with His heavenly salve.  He does not desire for me to be weary and heavy-laden.  “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28). As I come to Him unloading all my burdens, I am reminded that He alone is the great Burden-bearer.  Only His shoulders are strong enough to carry all that concerns me.  Under the crushing weight of my own cross, I only stumble and fall.  But when Jesus walks alongside me, helping me to carry my cross, my burdens become lighter. I am reminded of the One who walks with me, carrying me, comforting me, guiding me, and ministering to my weary soul.  I am filled with new strength and vigor for the journey ahead.

If we fret and place all of our focus inwardly, we will lose out on the joy of the journey. We became saddled with confusion and doubt as to any future outcome.  But the secret things belong to the Lord. And the future is the “secret” things.  If we could just learn to walk with the Lord, step by step, day by day, not being so concerned about what has not yet even occurred, what peace would invade our souls!  Why, we don’t even know if we will be here to witness all of our deepest fears and concerns!  Jesus reminds us that we are but a mist that is here for a little while and then is gone.  Why do we waste such precious time fretting and worrying about something that may not even happen? Why do we become so consumed with ourselves?  When we do, we are not able to help advance the kingdom of God.  I cannot help but think that the Lord is grieved when all of our focus becomes inward.  After all, as Christians, the ultimate goal of our existence is to bring glory to God.  How much glory can we bring to God when we doubt, fret, and are overcome with concern only for ourselves? Now, I am not implying that we don’t have legitimate cares and burdens that we carry.  It is what we do with those burdens that matters.  Do we complain and grumble and run to the phone?  Or, do we take all of our burdens to the throne?  “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life” (Philippians 2:14-16).

Jesus told us we would have troubles in this world but we are to take heart for He has overcome the world.  “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). I believe one of the best things we can do after we pour out our hearts to God and lay all of our worries at His feet, is to leave them there.  That’s right.  Once we give them to God, leave them there and don’t pick them up again.  When the urge to fret comes again, and believe me, it will—immediately talk to God, reminding Him you believe that He is sovereign over your circumstances, and thanking Him in advance for working all things out for your good.  “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).  By continually rehearsing the same prayers over and over again, we sound like a broken record. Worst of all, our attitude indicates that we don’t believe God heard us the first time around.  Instead of repeating the same requests continuously, can we start to praise God for the answers we know are already on the way?  We may not see them with our physical eyes yet, but that doesn’t mean God isn’t working.  In fact, He is always working behind the scenes.  We just don’t “see” because we are looking for tangible evidence.  But God often works in very intangible ways.  We can’t see what is going on in our loved one’s hearts, but that doesn’t mean God isn’t at work.  We may not see the outcome we desire, but that doesn’t mean God isn’t working overtime to prepare others and us to receive His answer. Let us do what we can do—pray, trust, and believe, and leave the ultimate outcome with God.  He is not powerless, and nothing is too difficult for Him.  

Our responsibility is to stay closely connected to God, stop fretting, and start believing. Yes, even in the seemingly impossible circumstances. For truly nothing is impossible with God. “What is impossible with men is possible with God” (Luke 18:27). He longs to bless His children, to reveal His glory in and through our lives, and to answer our requests.  We must never forget to trust Him, commit our ways to Him, and delight ourselves in the Lord.  And when we can do that with abandoned hearts, guess what?  He will give us the desires of our heart.  And maybe that desire is nothing more than a peace that surpasses all understanding, and a willingness to carry our cross, our burdens, with the greatest Burden-bearer of all—Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Be still and know that I am God.  Psalm 46:10

Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.  Psalm 37:3-4

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.  John 14:27

Mind over Matter?

Our thoughts are extremely powerful and have the amazing ability to determine our outlook on life. Our thoughts can be optimistic or pessimistic in nature. They can bring healing and peace, or confusion and discord.  In one of my college Business classes, I learned of an interesting phenomenon referred to as the Pygmalian Effect, or self-fulfilling prophecy.  In essence, it means that we believe certain things about ourselves, and the statements we make and beliefs we hold on to actually can alter our actions, thereby coming true. If we say, “I’m probably going to have a lousy day today,” we may inadvertently alter our actions so that such a prediction is fulfilled.  It may be an unconscious gesture, yet it seems to become our reality just by our thinking and saying it. Another person might espouse a self-fulfilling prophecy in a positive way by stating, “Today I’m going to have a great day,” and thereby may unconsciously act in ways that will actually make this prediction come true.  What I find very interesting is that even the Bible concurs. Proverbs 23:7 says, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.”

Could this be the explanation why we are often our own worst enemy? Negative, untrue, self-talk programs us to believe what we think.  God tells us how much He loves us, yet we don’t receive His love because we believe we are unlovable. He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to forgive us for our sins and die in our place, yet we find it difficult to believe we are forgiven. He has given us the promised Holy Spirit to dwell in our hearts, empowering us to live godly lives while offering us guidance and compassion, yet we fail to draw on His power because we can’t physically see or hear Him.  Or, we fail to believe Him altogether because He doesn’t appear to be coming through for us in the way we expected. I think it is safe to say that our biggest obstacle will always be our “thinking.” If not filtered through God’s written Word, our thoughts will often be tainted and untrue. Isaiah 55:8-9 says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.  As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Only when we actively trust God and seek His truth with a humble and obedient heart can we get His perspective on our situation and wisdom for our journey. “Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Shifting gears just a little, let us discuss willpower vs. commitment with regard to our mind, thoughts and actions. Some people equate willpower as the driving force behind their thoughts and actions.  It is often referred to as the self-discipline, training and control of oneself, usually for self-improvement. Take weight loss, for example. It takes discipline and an enormous amount of self-control to begin an exercise program, limit caloric intake, and make lifestyle changes. While willpower initially motivates you to action, it alone is not enough to sustain your weight loss.  Spiritually speaking, willpower may be the discipline we need to begin reading our Bibles consistently or developing a regular prayer time, but if not backed by a sincere and personal commitment to God, we will find ourselves easily substituting our newly developed spiritual practices for the “busy” activities and demands that come our way.

I like to think of willpower  as running a sprint, whereas commitment is like running a marathon.  Our willpower will eventually fail us.  When the going gets tough, when disappointments come our way, or when we just don’t think we can make it through another day, our willpower will eventually fail us. Often we throw in the towel and give up altogether.  Commitment, on the other hand, is in it for the long haul.  It does not give up when life gets difficult. It does not surrender under pressure, but it moves steadily forward, even under opposition or great difficulty. It trusts. It believes. It perseveres. Its’ outlook remains positive even under adverse circumstances because it focuses on the promises of God.  “Yes, God is for me.  He will never leave nor forsake me. He loves me with an everlasting love, no matter how I may feel or what may be happening around me. He will use all of my trials for good.”

Galations 6:7-9 reminds us, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”  This principle is not only applied negatively, but also positively.  In the psychological sense, it is also referred to as the “law of attraction.” This law states that everything coming into your life is a result of what you have been attracting to your life by your thinking, saying, believing, and feeling. Picture your words and thoughts as magnets, and your emotions and feelings as super magnets. Everything around you, including all the negative thoughts you have complained about, you have attracted. Likewise, when you think positive thoughts, you are attracting similar thoughts to you.

Now, I’m not a “psychological” expert, but I know that I certainly don’t want negative thoughts attracted to me. I have learned over the years that my thoughts and feelings are extremely powerful and have the ability to bring confusion, doubt and despair or love, joy and peace into my life. Frankly, I prefer the latter. Therefore, it is imperative that I stop inward-thinking and make a shift to upward-thinking by refocusing on God. I need to replace my thoughts with His thoughts, and my ways with His ways. The best way I have found to do this is by reading and meditating on God’s Word. It is the ultimate truth that dispels the enemy’s attacks and lies. “God sanctifies us through His truth; His Word is truth” (John 17:17).  As Christians, we can have the mind of Christ.  God says so in His Word.  1 Corinthians 2:16, “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.” This is where true commitment will come in, because it will require that you consistently immerse yourself in God’s Word. As you faithfully do your part, God will impart His mind to you by the power of His Spirit as He speaks and equips you to receive the truth.

Remember, that our emotions and feelings are fickle, up and down like a wild roller coaster ride, and therefore, not reliable indicators of the truth.  These emotions and feelings can easily feed our thoughts with distorted truth. Their panic-driven sensationalism often invades our deepest core beliefs as they wreak havoc in our souls.  We must fight back with the Sword of the Spirit, for it alone is the truth that will set us free.  We cannot allow our fickle emotions and unreliable thoughts to run our life. They may make a wonderful caboose, but they certainly make a terrible engine!

 “For the Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

“Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed, says the Lord, who has compassion on you.” Isaiah 54:10