We've all heard the phrase, "a mind is a terrible thing to waste." While this phrase is not necessarily referring to spiritual things, the human mind is the bridge that connects the reality of God's will to our human experience. We will NEVER operate in the will of God, the reality of God, with a mind FULL of earthly things. I am convinced this is the area all of us struggle in the most. The world is full of ungodliness bombarding our eyes, ears and thinking everyday and the impact on our thought life can be detrimental to the manner in which we perceive and do the will of God. God's will is eternal and is not perceived by the natural man fixated on temporal things. God's will requires spiritual accuity to perceive, embrace and accomplish. It requires a mind-full of heaven's revelation, God's thoughts, God's ways.
THE CONFLICT
The flesh, or the carnal fallen nature of man NEVER desires to do the will of God. For this reason we must die to the flesh and its desires daily by allowing the Holy Spirit inside of us to rule our hearts and our minds (Gal. 5:17). The battle between our fallen nature and our spiritual man is ever raging but the key to victory is actually quite simple. Perhaps too simple because it does not require our strength nor power. It doesn't even require our intellect. It only requires our surrender. Usually in a battle the one that surrenders loses the battle but in God's kingdom the victor is the one that surrenders to the ONE WHO HAS ALREADY WON THE BATTLE. Jesus has won the battle for our future - for our eternal destiny. However, for many, surrender is actually most difficult for two reasons: surrender is very difficult for those who want to live life their way and not God's way - they simply refuse to submit to the will of God, and secondly, surrender is often hard for those who desire to live life God's way but are so conditioned to accomplishing things in their own strength that surrender seems too easy. Surrender does not mean that we are exempt from all effort, it just means OUR EFFORT APART FROM HIM ACCOMPLISHES NOTHING. Jesus said it this way, "if you abide in me and I in you, you will bear MUCH fruit, but apart from me you CAN DO NOTHING (Jn. 15:5). Therefore, surrender is to acknowlege that
His way is the best way for me. I don't know about you but I have failed multiple times in my life doing "life" my way only to come to the same conclusion each time - God's way is the ONLY way that works. When we learn to surrender our heart to God and guard it with ALL DILIGENCE (Pr. 4:23) and renew our minds to the will of God daily then alignment with the will of God comes naturally or rather "supernaturally" (Rm. 12:1-2). King Solomon was right when he wrote "as a man thinks.....so is he" (Pr. 23:7).
God wants us to think His thoughts, know His ways and do His will accomplishing all He has purposed for us even before we were formed in our mothers womb (Jer. 1:5).
There is probably not a more practical illustation in scripture of the battle between the flesh and the spirit, the will of man vs. the will of God than in the Matthew 16 narrative with Jesus and His disciples:
From that time forth Jesus began to show his disciples how that he must go to Jerusalem, and
suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and raised from the
dead on the third day. Then Peter took him (Jesus) and began to rebuke him saying, Be it far
from thee, Lord; this shall not be unto thee. BUT he (Jesus) turned and said unto Peter, Get
thee behind me Satan, you are an offense to me: for you are not MINDFUL of the things of
God, but those things that are of men (Matt. 16:22-23).
Notice the intensity of Jesus' rebuke of Peter when Peter spoke in opposition to the perfect will of God. Obviously, Peter's flesh was in opposition to the will of God. In His rebuke, Jesus called Peter, Satan, because Peter was allowing his earthly way of thinking to impede his understanding of and alignment with the will of God. Satan, the arch enemy of the Most High God, who was expelled from heaven because of his rebellion against God, is an opportunist, always searching for a vessel to accomplish his will through. Satan loves a human mind full of earthly things and void of the word of God. Satan thrives in darkness, in the shadows of doubt, unbelief and lies and a mind full of earthly things is the perfect environment for Satan to sow his seeds. Once Satan finds such a vessel all he needs is for the same vessel to speak and act accordingly. Remember, "as a man thinks - SO IS HE." Satan knows this all too well so he works diligently to influence our thought life in order to influence our words and actions. When thoughts are set in motion through words and actions then results will follow. For example, what if Jesus had entertained Peter's rebuke of Him when Peter said, "no Lord, this shall not be." In context Jesus was referring to the Cross and Peter, speaking with a MIND-FULL of earthly things rejected the Cross as the will of God for Jesus. Thank God, Jesus DID NOT LISTEN TO PETER, but instead, Jesus rebuked Satan, who was the source of Peter's misguided revelation. Likewise, we must do the same. When Satan comes to plant lies, unbelief and deception in our minds, we must actively guard and rebuke Satans's efforts, and better yet, FILL OUR MINDS with God's word leaving Satan little room for planting. So the three keys to winning the conflict is (1) surrender to the will of God, (2) guard your heart and mind with ALL DILIGENCE, and (3) fill your mind with God's word, God's thoughts.
BUILDING HIS KINGDOM
A person with a HEART SURRENDERED to the will of God and a MIND-FULL of the word of God is the building materials of the kingdom of God in the earth. God uses surrendered, ordinary people to overthrow the gates of hell and invoke His glory in the earth. Just prior to Peter's rebuke for comments proceeding from a MIND FULL of earthly things was perhaps Peter's most affirming moment with Christ:
And Jesus asked His disciples, who do you say that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said
You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed
are you, Simon Barjona; for flesh and blood (natural) has not revealed it unto you, but my
Father which is in heaven (spiritual). And I say to you, That you are Peter, and upon this
rock I will build my church; AND the gates of hell SHALL NOT PREVAIL against it (His
church).
Unlike Peter's rebuke from Christ, Peter, in this discourse, receives perhaps the greatest boost of affirmation of his lifetime. When Jesus says your blessed then your blessed! Not bad when God in the flesh affirms who you are and your purpose in the earth. How would you like that personal prophesy? Jesus just commended Peter for his spiritual accuity and willingness to open his heart and mind to revelation from heaven. By the way, Jesus never said that heavenly revelation was for Peter only - no it is for all of us who are spritually minded and led by the Spirit of God (1 Cor. 2:9-12.) Shortly after this moment of divine affirmation, Peter found himself in a place of contradiction. In one instance he is commended for receiving heavenly revelation and in the next he is rebuked for receiving and speaking NOT SO HEAVENLY REVELATION. If not careful we are just like Peter - a walking contradiction. Fortunately, Peter learned from his mistakes and became exactly what Jesus said he would be -a rock, a building block of the early church. Peter became the man Jesus prophesied because HE LEARNED FROM HIS MISTAKES AND GOT HIS MIND FULL OF HEAVENLY THINGS.
Wisdom from above is ours if we will only seek and ask God for it. In James 1:5, the apostle writes that God not only gives us wisdom when we ask but James assures us that God WILL NOT WITHHOLD IT. The Greek word for 'wisdom' here means to perceive and see AS GOD SEES. In other words, God wants to share his perspective with us in order to help us align with His will. When we see as God sees - we will do as God does. Jesus said in John 5:30, I only DO WHAT I SEE MY FATHER DO. I believe Peter learned from his experience that day with Jesus and I believe he became one of the great leaders of the early church as a result.
GOOD SUCCESS
There are only a bajillion interpretations of what constitutes success. Some interpret success as the accumulation of great wealth, for others it is a place or position of power and influence, while for others it may be fame and peer acknowledgment; however, it is quite possible to have success but not GOOD SUCCESS. The difference is good success is God success and God success, which may include some, all or none of the above, requires a heart surrendered to the will of God and a MIND FULL of the word (ways) of God. The road to GOOD SUCCESS is one way and best illustrated in the life of Joshua, the young leader of Israel who led God's people into the land of promise:
Only be strong and courageous, that you may observe and do according to all the law (God's
word), which Moses my servant commanded you: do not turn from those instructions to the
right or to the left, that wherever you go you WILL PROSPER. This book of the law (God's
instructions) shall not depart out of your mouth (in other words, "dont stop speaking and
talking God's word); BUT MEDITATE (keep your MIND FULL) day and night so that you
will know and do all the will of God; for then you will make your way prosperous and
have GOOD SUCCESS (Joshua 1:1-9)
If you read the remainder of the Book of Joshua you will know that Joshua was very success and did achieve GOOD SUCCESS. Joshua's secret to leadership success was two fold: (1) He surrendered to the will of God and (2) He kept His MIND FULL of heavenly things. In God's instructions to Joshua were "instructions" to MEDITATE on the instructions. Meditate means to actively rehearse, keep before your eyes, FILL YOUR THOUGHTS WITH. Let's put all that together.
So God was telling Joshua, the key to GOOD SUCCESS is to "actively rehearse, keep as the center of your focus and fill your thoughts" with my instructions and the resutls will be perfect execution.
As a results Joshua's leadership accomplishments were nothing short of miraculous, even the sun stood still for a day at his request. There are not too many leadership books, quotes, and tools that reduce GOOD SUCCESS down to just two things.This is God's way, it's very simple, but also very adversive to the way of the world. Unfortunately, many of us miss God's way on our lifelong pursuit of yet another man's wisdom and way to success, but even if we find it, is it GOOD SUCCESS -is it God success?
Want good success? GET YOUR MIND-FULL.
