Part 1 of 2
There is a common word that describes
who we are as people, “me”! Regardless on our geographical location and
cultural upbringing all of mankind is dominated by the flesh and their desires.
So much of any given day is all about what can “I” get out of it. Everything
about our days from the minute we wake up to the time we shut our eyes is
driven by the intent to nourish our bodies; we wash, eat, brush our teeth, take
supplements to nurture our energy levels, and the list goes on, which can get
rather tedious; nevertheless we are creatures of habit and do what needs to be
done. But above all we have the need to please, not others but ourselves. This
is a part of our natural makeups and this is rather unappealing when we see
ourselves for who we are. To allow someone to have something at our expense is
extremely foreign to our natures. However, the Lord Jesus broke the shackles of
this vicious cycle. The Christian now has the ability to arm themselves with
the mind of Christ as it is freely available to the believer, and there is a
storeroom of grace freely available for the humble from which we are able to draw
from.
A man coverts his neighbours goods, it
begins with a thought, but when that idea is allowed to germinate it has the potential
of death. In other words if it is fed and it then becomes an intention this is
where sin is most destructive. Not only does the man injury his own soul but it
has an effect on those around him and sometimes it can have a very serious
blowout. In fact this is what sent Jesus to the cross, the breach of mankind’s sin
against God.
A man robs a bank with a loaded gun,
he panics shooting a bystander who was minding her own business, who that
morning had just pack three lunchboxes for her darlings which she did
habitually and always with a smile on her face imagining her youngest daughters
smile when she saw her surprized that was tucked inside her sandwich wrapper. A
lively connection shared only by mother and daughter. Would tomorrow share a similar
grin, for she now lay on her back with blood gashing from her side where the
bullet had pierced the lower side of her left lung? The bystanders witnessed her
fighting for life with a distinctive gargling sound that no one could miss as
blood began to fill her lungs and then once the fight subsided with a single
kick she was gone. There would be no surprize nor a smile on Rachel's face tomorrow
and all because a man had a covetous thought that grew into an intention.
Sin affects all and it cannot be
ignored. Only the blind and the fool cannot see the gravity of a thought that
spirals out of control into an intention and when it is fully grown it brings
forth death, not only in this life but the one to come. Did you know that we
are unable to differentiate between thoughts and intentions in ourselves
because we are so engulf with “self”. Our sinful nature has taken care of that;
“For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want,
but I do the very thing I hate.” (Romans 7:15) - It is only the Spirit of
God that has this ability to arrest a thought so without His direction in our lives
we will never be able to bring our thoughts captive. Paul later goes on to say;
“Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin
that dwells within me.” (Romans 7:20)
The struggle we have is
to accept our realities and then to seek out God’s forgiveness and get on with “His
Production”. Without owning our sin and finding repentance because
of it we will only ever be swallowed up by it; amazingly once that realisation has
kicked into gear our minds will be filled with faith which then kicks into another gear,
helping us realise the power of the Spirit of God and this is not observed from
a distance but we see Him as One who sticks closer than a brother. The goodness
of God who can fathom it!
“For
the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And
no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes
of him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:12-13)
Why
is there so much devastation in our world today, for that exact reason; peoples
thoughts are driven to intentions which has raped so many parts of the world.
Poverty is on the up and there are people starving. Examine the timeline by
traveling back in history and it will be obvious that someone somewhere decided
to act on a thought which would leave a wave of destruction in its path. But
before we begin to excuse ourselves we need to understand that we were amongst
that number, sinful individuals who gave no thought to God and His purposes; self
preservation dominating by a life of covetousness prior to salvation. We are
not exempt for our sinful actions, we all far short of the glory of God. Even
though individuals like Job, Noah and Daniel put the world to shame with their
righteous conduct, God has concluded all under sin; so before we start playing “the
I am good card” we must understand this truth; “as
it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one
seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no
one does good, not even one."” (Romans 3:10-12)
With
this understood and now numbered amongst the Children of God we now have His Spirit who
guides us throughout the day, but we still face a day filled with unwelcomed
thoughts, considerations that often repulses us, I know that I have many of
those thoughts on a daily basis but its what we do with each and every
individual thought that is important. We have one of two options; resist the
temptation or act upon the thought, driving it into an intention that cannot be
stopped when fully grown which will bring forth death if repentance is not
actualised. It is part of sins power and its curse.
In
the Garden of Gethsemane the man Jesus resisted unto the point of sweating droplets of blood,
striving against sin as it waged war on his soul; whatever thoughts travelled
through his mind, I can of a certainty say none of them where driven to intent,
praise God for that.
Here is how I have come to understand
the psyche of the way we are captivated by our own sinful natures and how it is
impossible for God to be privy to that deception for He is righteousness personified. It is who He is. And yet whilst we were still
sinners (in a state of hopelessness) Christ died for the ungodly, wow! I hope
the gravity of this merciful act is understood by all. It is needful for us to
understand the depths of what God was willing to do in silencing Satan and freeing
the sinner. “Jesus in my place”, what mercy on display!
Signing off
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