Your mind is the doorway to your soul – does it carry in poison, or perfume?
JESUS - - - He created the stars – He hung on a cross – He abides within me.
Do you ever take time to ponder, consider, meditate on WHO He is, ALL He is? As I was getting washed this morning, I was thinking about stewardship of my aging, decaying body because it is God’s temple. No matter its condition I am responsible for wise care of whatever health God gives me as time passes. Then this thought came - - - Meditation is Medication for (Joshua 1:8) my soul and spirit, and therefore is stewardship of my faculties. What do you think?
Be constantly renewed in the (Ephesians 4:23) spirit of your mind. Why? See the progression of thought. A thought leads to feelings which lead to acts, which lead to habits, which lead to character, which leads to destiny. As a man thinks (Proverbs 23:7) so is he. You are what you think. Is that what you really want to be? Your mind is the driver of all your words, deeds and attitudes. Your mind is the doorway to your soul – does it carry in poison, or perfume? I think the strongest barrier against sin and temptation is not striving, not prayer because that is concentrating on what we want to be rid of, but absolute love for Jesus. To love Him so supremely that the thought of hurting Him by disobedience is too painful to contemplate. What do you think?
Oswald Chambers – points out that “we can develop a commercial aspect to our Christianity. Like Peter (Mark 10:28) we have left all and followed Thee – implying – so what are we going to get? Someone says. I am going to give myself to God because I want to be clean, filled with the Holy Spirit and be able to say – this is what God has done for me. There is a lot of commercial self-interest in that. To give up anything in order to get something from God is not abandonment. Real abandonment is a personal, sovereign, preference for Jesus Christ Himself”.
Analyze your love for Jesus, as I’m now doing and pondering. If God cut off all our privileges, benefits, blessings, conveniences and comforts, would we still love Him just for Himself? Just for love of You, Jesus. What do you think?
Dr. D. Jeremiah said “he and his wife had visited the prison in Rome (2 Timothy 4) where Paul had been. The opening was like a man-hole cover. The prisoner was lowered into the dungeon below by ropes under his arms, when his feet touched the floor the ropes were pulled up. There was a straw mat to sleep on and no sanitation. The conditions were horrific and there were hordes of rats. Some prisoners were eaten by rats. There was little food and the numerous rats usually won the fight for it.
Most of his clothes were taken and Paul (2 Timothy 4:13) was cold in that damp, dark dungeon. His associates were in distant places and Paul was lonely - - old, cold and lonely. But what he wanted most of all, his greatest personal desire was for the Scriptures. It is considered by historians that Alexander could have been the one who betrayed him to Rome so that he was arrested again under Nero”.
Knowing that execution by beheading was just days away, what was Paul’s attitude about the whole painful situation and all his suffering? Listen to (2 Timothy 4:18) the glorious victory of the last words of his letter. To HIM be the glory for ever and ever! Do we need to take a critical look at our love for Jesus? Can we destroy the commercial give-to-get idea of abandoning and love Him for Himself alone? What do you think?
The abandonment of God was (John 3:16) that He so loved that He gave. Why? Not so He could get anything in return but to open the way for Him to continue to give abundantly, lavishly, unendingly. Do we need to take a much deeper look at the quality of our love for Jesus? (I know I do). What do you think? One meaning the dictionary gives for ABANDON is to yield oneself without restraint. I would like to add without conditions, without boundaries, without limits. To love Jesus so completely that abandonment means the total giving of myself to God without regard for the consequences. The possible consequences would not even come to mind because I would be wholly taken up with Him.
Let us remind ourselves again of what time is. Time is our God-given currency to invest during our life-span and there will be an accounting required in eternity concerning the investments we make during earth-time. What richer investment could we make than to use our currency to increase our knowledge of Jesus and deepen our personal precious, loving relationship with Him? Nothing can be compared to the priceless privilege, the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing intimacy with Him. Of course, I can’t accomplish this by my own effort. So I pray that the Holy Spirit will work in me. He must, in order to lead me to my goal of total abandonment to God, so that my greatest concern will be to discover more ways to express my love for Him.
Do we sometimes fear abandonment because we have no idea of what could be up ahead of us? I got some encouraging reminders in a sermon from a godly man who teaches at a Bible College and is a medical surgeon. (I didn’t catch his name) He pointed out that when we obey Jesus and get into the boat (Mark 4:35-37) the storm is not a factor. The reason Jesus went to the other side was that (Mark 5:2) they would be met by a demonized mad man who would come rushing at them from the tombs. Doesn’t sound like anything the disciples would enjoy – BUT – but Jesus transformed him into a missionary.
The result of Jesus going to the other side was that (Mark 7:31-37) when Jesus went to Decapolis the people welcomed Him and believed in His power because of the testimony of a former victim of Satan who had been transformed into more than a conqueror. I know something else that is also rock-solid truth. God has declared (Isaiah 46:9-11) the end from the beginning. God brings to pass, (Isaiah 45:21) at exactly the right time, what he planned long ago. The Lord planned long ago for you and me. Doesn’t that fill you with wonder?
The great Creator (John 1:3) became my Saviour (1Peter 1:18-19) and that meant that He would be (Isaiah 53:3) a MAN of sorrows, tears and agony. Could our poured-out love on Jesus be as fragrant to Him (John 12:3) as Mary’s very rare, very costly ointment of pure liquid nard? Is complete abandonment to God, not for what we get from Him, but because of love for Him, also very rare - - - maybe even more rare than Mary’s expensive perfume.
What Do You Think?