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Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Colossians 3:2
The human mind is an amazing thing. Even the most complex computer can’t stand up against the power our minds have! The way you think about yourself can influence how you walk, how you react to adversity and can even have an impact on your health. The way you think about your relationships can have an effect on whether that relationship will be strong or disastrous.
The Apostle Paul tells us to keep our minds on Heavenly things, not on earthly things. Perhaps it would be helpful to take just a few minutes to think about what that really means.
First of all, heavenly things has to do with how God looks at you. You are his most prized creation. There isn’t a single part of His creation that he is more interested in than you. YOU are His Plan A.
On earth you are a number. Your value is measured by your work habits, your job, your weight, your past and your beauty. Currently one of the most popular shows on TV is American Idol. The show is a perfect example of what we hold in high esteem: our personal ability. It’s great to see people be able to ‘show off’ their talents, but don’t forget that those talents were given by God whether He is acknowledged or not and God has given you everything you need to be EXACTLY as He wants you to be.
Secondly look at how heavenly relationships work. Our Heavenly Father loves you so much He gave all He had, through His Son Jesus, to give you life! There is nothing you can do to earn that love, keep that love or destroy that love. GOD LOVES YOU. He wants nothing more than to walk through every day with you, listen to you, hold you and tenderly remind you of His love. He expects nothing in return.
Even the best earthly relationships depend on a mutual giving and taking. Most relationships are built to some degree on what I can get for me. We are compared, judged and measured by our ability to perform at a certain level. Relationships fail because one or more of the parties involved have failed to measure up to the others’ expectation.
Focusing on Jesus may not change the pain you encounter in life but it can will change how you react to it. As you go through your day today, remember that in God’s eyes you are not in competition. He doesn’t require anything from you except that you love Him. Don’t let the attitudes of this world program your mind for failure. The things you think about in relationships and about yourself will affect how you respond when earthly things go wrong.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus, there are so many things that keep me from looking to you. Help me to see myself as you see me and not as the world sees me. Empower me to believe, really believe that you have my very best in mind. Help me focus on your unending love during today’s struggles. Amen.
When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?” “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied. “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours–otherwise not.” 2 Kings 2:9-10
The Old Testament prophet Elisha had watched his teacher, Elijah, perform many miracles. Now it was time for Elijah to be taken up into heaven. Three times Elijah told his student to stay behind as he continued his journey. Three times Elisha refused to listen.
Finally, Elijah asked Elisha what he wanted to have as a gift before Elijah was taken up into heaven. Imagine that! Elisha knew the power that Elijah had. He could have asked for anything, but Elisha didn’t ask for power, honor, prestige or any other earthly thing. He asked for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit.
The word ‘spirit’ refers to that inner passion to know God and follow Him more closely. Of all the things he could have asked for Elisha wanted to feel the passion for God, the faith and the wisdom that he’d seen in his master. He wanted to be used of God in even mightier ways than Elijah, but for God’s glory not his. What a bold statement. Elisha wasn’t afraid to ask God for the best!
There is a lesson to be learned by Elisha’s courage. He knew that once the inner quality of life was established the external results would follow. He was persistent in pursing the best God had to give him. External results don’t necessarily mean fame and fortune but it does mean seeing our lives and the lives of others changed for eternity.
None of us should ever be afraid to ask God to give us His absolute best! As Christ followers don’t be afraid to ask God to do mighty things in your life. As His child, He wants you to be all you can be. We tend to measure our ‘success’ or ‘abilities’ by things that others can see, but God looks on the heart.
PRAYER: Father God, I ask that you would help me to have the courage to seek your absolute best in my life. Help me to see myself as you see me, to put aside my own feelings of inadequacy and to forgive myself and others so that you can use me however you see fit. Amen.
She was thinking to herself, “If I can just put a finger on his robe, I’ll get well.” Jesus turned – caught her at it. Then he reassured her: “Courage, daughter. You took a risk of faith, and now you’re well.” The woman was well from then on. Matthew 9:21-22
It had been twelve long agonizing years. Nothing the doctors could do to help. In her day medicine was far less effective than it is today. Not only was there physical fatigue from the constant blood loss, there was the religious and social stigma as well. She may as well have been a leper! According to the Law she was unclean.
We only know her as the woman ‘with the issue of the blood’! A few short verses and she’s gone. Just a blip on the screen of Scripture. But there is something that I admire about her and that is her tenacity. I’m not sure many of us can really comprehend the social, emotional, spiritual and of course physical struggle this woman must have endured throughout those 12 years.
It would have been easy to give up. No one would have blamed her if she had turned into an angry, bitter woman, yet we see none of that. It would have been completely understandable if she’d turned her back on God in anger for the ‘injustice’ that fell upon her.
Something drove her to that street that day. Something deep down inside her never let her give up hope that someday, somehow God would heal her. That’s courage. That is quiet strength. The refusal to let anything keep us from pursuing God’s best for us, even when all the odds seem stacked against us.
Don’t give up. John Eldredge talks about ‘the great wound’ as being that event or events in our past that have hurt us deeply and can keep us from trusting God completely. Just as He did with this woman, Jesus has come to heal the wound that each of us bears. By His touch the wound can be healed.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus. I thank you that you know the pain that I’ve been bearing for so long. I thank you that even during those times when I feel all alone you are there, waiting for me to come into your arms. I reach out to you today. I touch the fringes of your robe and ask you to heal me. I love you. Thank you for loving me. Amen
“Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, the pour new wine in to new wineskins, and both are preserved.” Matthew 5:17
Ok. I admit it. Change comes hard for me. I like consistency. I like to know things will be the same for me today and tomorrow and the next year! Familiarity breeds comfort. But, alas, familiarity can also breed boredom! A life of ‘same-ness’ oozes boredom and stagnancy.
When Jesus came on the scene in Israel, the religious community was pretty comfy. The Priests and Pharisees had put together a secure list of do’s and don’ts so that everyone would know exactly what was expected of them and of how God would act in each situation. The people knew who to be with, when do be with them, what to do when they were with them and where to go. It was a pretty safe, sterile environment. Comfy. But it was also empty.
Then Jesus came along and ‘messed everything up’! Things changed when He entered a town, talked and ate with sinners and broke the rules about the Sabbath. The old ways wouldn’t work anymore. The rules mad had made up would be replaces by relationship. RELATIONSHIP TRUMPS RULES EVERY TIME!
One day, Jesus was confronted about his radical ways. He reminded those in attendance about the ‘rule of the wineskins’. The rule of the wineskins went like this. Wineskins were made of leather. When the wineskin was new and supple it would expand as the wine fermented, thus preserving both the leather and the wine.
Putting ‘new wine’ into an old wineskin was a recipe for disaster. As the wine fermented it would expand against the brittle walls of the old leather and cause it to burst. Both the wine and the wineskin were ruined!
When we ask Jesus Christ into our lives He makes everything new. He’s the ‘new wine’, we are the new wineskin. We are new creatures. As new creations we don’t need to operate under the old system of guilt, shame and feeling like we are failures. We can leave all that behind and move on to the great things God has in store for us.
It’s time for new thinking. It’s time to dream big. This new way of thinking starts by realizing who we are. We are children of the Heavenly Father, the King of the universe and He has new, exciting plans for each of us. You are loved by Him more than anything, just because you are who you are.
Our Heavenly Father has given us everything we need to succeed. Success God’s way isn’t measured the same way the world measures success. Success God’s way is on the inside. It’s the contentment we feel knowing who we are. It’s the peace and joy we feel as a result of our salvation and relationship with Him.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus, Thank you for showing us a life without limits. Forgive me for my lack of belief in your desire and ability to empower me to live life to the fullest. Help me to live daily in your peace. Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 