How Are You Hearing? - Part Two

"Obedience to GOD indicates that we're listening to Him and that His words aren't falling on deaf ears."

As I was preparing to teach a Sunday School lesson last quarter, the text contained a scripture that taught me something very valuable. As I studied it out, I soon realized that it would be one of those never-to-be-forgotten moments in scripture. You know, those "ah-ha" moments, if you will, that radically shift your thinking about a word because NOW your understanding of it has been cemented by the Holy Spirit.

In Paul's epistle to the church at Philippi, he encouraged them to remain just as obedient in his absence as they were in his presence (Philippians 2:12). Below is that verse from The Message Remix Bible:

"What I'm getting at, friends, is that you should simply keep on doing what you've done from the beginning. When I was living among you, you lived in responsive obedience. Now that I'm separated from you, keep it up. Better yet, redouble your efforts. Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before GOD."

The King James translates the Greek word "hupakouo" (hoop-ak-oo'-o) as "obeyed" in this verse of scripture. Hupakouo means "to hear under" as a subordinate; by implication, to heed or conform to a command or authority. Therefore, it is safe to say that obedience is submissive hearing, in which the listener's response is totally predicated upon recognizing oneself as being under authority.

This totally revolutionized my understanding of obedience. It finally became clear to me why obedience to GOD is so important. Firstly, it indicates that we're listening to Him and that His words aren't falling on deaf ears. Secondly, it's evidence that we recognize GOD as our authority figure, not as our equal or subordinate. Thirdly, it shows GOD that we love Him indeed (according to John 14:23 and John 15:10), not just with words from our lips.

The same principle applies with our earthly relationships. Whether it be the parent-child relationship or the employer-employee relationship, obedience is about respecting the position of the authority figure. Where there's disobedience, there's clearly a misunderstanding of who's in charge. The disobedient party clearly sees him/herself as either the authority figure's equal or superior. If that weren't the case, then there would be no rebellion taking place.

Therefore, I encourage us all to look at the manifestations of rebellion in our lives in a different light. We must look beyond the actions and see the spirit at work behind the scenes motivating these actions. The power to attack the spirit of rebellion that's wrecking havoc in our relationship with GOD as well as our relationships with other people is already in our possession. We can not be afraid to have the tough conversations and ask ourselves and others, "Is there a problem here? Is there a misunderstanding of our respective roles and how we interact with each other?" It's taking these proactive steps under the guidance of the Holy Spirit that we're able to maintain control of our situations and exercise dominion in our environments as Kingdom citizens.

Let's pray:
Father, we Your children humbly come before You in complete and total submission to You. We're grateful to be called the children of the Most High GOD, and we appreciate Your hand of mercy upon each of us. Thank you for loving us beyond our faults, O GOD. Thank You for not dealing with us according to our sins and iniquities, but according to Your tender mercy and loving kindness shown ever so generously toward us.

Father, we ask now in the name of Jesus that You would open our ears that we may hear You clearly. Saturate our hearts, O GOD, with Your love that we might obey You instantly and without hesitation. For we believe wholeheartedly by faith and decree with our own mouths that it is so! Even now, we declare that our feet are bound to Your path of righteousness that we might walk blamelessly in Your way as never before. It is Your decree, O GOD, that our love for You be manifested in our obedience to You; and we submit ourselves wholly to the work of accomplishing that which pleases You.

Forgive us, Father, for our acts of disobedience, for we boldly come against the spirit of rebellion that arises in our hearts and causes us to sin against You. Our adversary, the devil, has no authority in our lives because we have been made free from the grip of sin and have been given the power to resist him, thereby causing him to flee from us. By the power of the Holy Ghost, we command every principality and power that opposes the Kingdom of Light to be cast out of the minds of GOD's people now into outermost darkness and dry places. For the precious, powerful shed blood of Jesus is against each and every one you cohorts of Satan!

And to the Most High King; the matchless, eternal magistrate of heaven, whose Kingdom is from everlasting to everlasting; to Him be all glory, honor, majesty, dominion and power. May Your name, great and sovereign GOD, be praised, exalted and extolled forever and ever. AMEN!

So, What Do YOU Think? -- Part Two

"So, for those among us who are grappling with ungodly or unhealthy self images, who gave this to you?"

So, back to our original thought: what do YOU think? A brother beloved in the LORD recently posted something on Facebook that got me to thinking about all of this--"Ask yourself: Who gave you this image of yourself? What do you expect for your life?" As he was sharing what his pastor had been teaching on Jeremiah 29:11, my mind started mining the database of Word within me and connecting this scripture with others of relevance. I went straight to the scripture that started this blog post (Proverbs 23:7) as well as the law of confession ("homologeo," which is to say what GOD has already said).

I truly believe that, just as GOD wants us to say what He's said in order to manifest His results, He also wants us to think what He thinks because it's already been established that we are our thoughts (Proverbs 23:7). As Kingdom citizens, our thoughts should NOT be governed by our five senses (the flesh) because we are NO LONGER of this world (Earth). Therefore, in order for us to think what GOD thinks, our thoughts must be governed by our spirit man, who yields to the indwelling Holy Spirit.

So, for those among us who are grappling with ungodly or unhealthy self images, who gave this to you? Was it the result of some incident years ago? Did you hear it from the mouth of a loved one? Could it be something you saw in your family's behavior? These are all things that were perceived by the flesh.

Now that you've been reconciled to the Kingdom of GOD, take on the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5; 1 Corinthians 2:16). GOD's thoughts towards you have already been established, according to Jeremiah 29:11. Therefore, by the power of the Holy Spirit, you can tap into GOD's thoughts toward you (see 1 Corinthians 2:9-16) and allow your soul (mind, will and emotions) to be governed by them, thereby influencing your expectations of GOD for your life.

Let's pray:
Father GOD, we come now as your children into your holy presence, giving you the glory and honor that is due Your name.  We thank you for giving us the mind of Christ.  We appreciate the guiding influence of Your Holy Spirit within us, and we yield to Him even now.  It is Your will, Father, that we be transformed by the renewing of our minds by Your Holy Word. And we bind our minds to Your Word, O GOD, and we command our minds to be loosed from the thoughts and perceptions that are inconsistent with Your Word.  Forgive us, Father, for embracing carnal thoughts and ideas.  Forgive us for doubting your thoughts towards us.  Protect us from the influence of our five senses, Father; and deliver us from the attempts of the enemy that cause us to doubt You and Your Word.  We declare victory now as we command our minds to think victoriously and our feet to walk in victory.  We receive newness of mind as we submit ourselves to the governing authority of Your Kingdom.  And now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise GOD; be all glory, honor, dominion and power forever and ever. AMEN!

So, What Do YOU Think? -- Part One

"Thinking of oneself as the collective result of life's experiences is an exercise of carnalmindedness."

Proverbs 23:7 says, "As a man thinketh, so is he." So, my question to you is, "WHAT are YOU thinking?" As a matter of fact, let me come a little bit closer to you: "What do YOU think about YOURSELF?"

Our lives are filled with incidents and accidents that, in more cases than we probably care to admit, have shaped how we see ourselves. In our minds, so many of us are victims of our circumstances because the "me" we see tends to be the one we've perceived through our five senses. And if we go ahead and admit it, over the years we've come to know and understand so much about ourselves in this fashion. But THIS IS NOT the will of GOD for us, His redeemed.

Thinking of oneself as the collective result of life's experiences is an exercise of CARNALMINDEDNESS, at best. It's worldly and doing so indicates that one is walking in the flesh. That's right: solely perceiving oneself--OR ANYTHING, for that matter--through the five senses is considered walking in the flesh.

GOD did not offer salvation to us just so we could die in hope that we will go to heaven. Heaven is a benefit of the new birth, the quickening of our dead spirits. Now that we've been made alive in the realm of the Spirit, that's the realm through which we are to perceive ALL things. It's no spooky, hocus pocus stuff: we've been designed to function in the spirit realm because WE ARE spirits.

We are spirits, who possess our souls (minds, will and emotions) and live in a body (flesh). This physical world in which we live (Earth) requires a body that experiences and makes sense of the environment around us through the five senses. From the time of our birth, we come to understand this environment through the sense faculties.

Now that we've been translated into the Kingdom of GOD's dear son, we can say that we're IN this world but not OF this world (see Colossians 1:13; John 8:23-24; John 18:36). We've actually experienced the resurrection within because our once dead spirit man has been raised to new life. And in accomplishing this, we've now been re-calibrated, if you will, when it comes to HOW we live. Before, we perceived everything by our senses (the flesh) and those perceptions governed our souls (minds, will and emotions). BUT NOW, we can perceive everything by the spirit (see 1 Corinthians 2:9-10), just as GOD does and created us to do, so that our souls (minds, will and emotions) would be governed by the Holy Spirit, who then would be able to govern our flesh.

Be sure to check out Part 2...