He Is Working; You Just Don’t Know How

Today, I am thinking of Naomi and cannot help but be glad that Ruth came into her life. Interestingly, Ruth was not even her own child but we probably would never have heard about her if Ruth did not enter her life. Her own children had all died. They died too early for her to reap the full benefits of having children. However, it was for one of them that Ruth came into her life and I guess this was God’s way of consoling her; no wonder the saying “the replacement is always better than the first”. I wonder if her children would have done all Ruth did for her and even put her in Christ lineage. The thing is, God works in mysterious ways and we must give Him room to do that which He does best. Most of the bible stories are nothing less than fascinating but someone paid the price for us to either be corrected or even encouraged by them. We must learn to wait patiently for God even when it looks hopeless because He is very often working to cause everything to work together for our good.

Hebrews 10: 36 “For you have need of patient endurance (to bear up under difficult circumstances without compromising), so that when you have carried out the will of God, you may receive and enjoy to the full what is promised.”

Ruth 1: 20 “Don’t call me Naomi, she responded. Instead, call me Mara, for The Almighty has made life very bitter for me. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me home empty. Why call Naomi when the Lord has caused me to suffer and the Almighty has sent such tragedy upon me.”

Naomi had become so bitter at her God that she had decided to alter the course of her destiny, by asking to be called “bitter”, to align it with the events of her life as she saw it then. What she did not realize was that she had enough time left on this side of eternity, for God to change her story and enter her name in this book that will be read as long as earth remains. In her opinion and to all intents and purposes, the best period of her life was over and there was nothing to live for anymore; but God was just beginning. There was no indication of an exciting future for her. She more or less returned home hopeless which is understandable given her circumstance; but she forgot that God is Himself, Life. Naomi must have loved and trusted God at one point otherwise her daughters in law would not have met with and fallen so deeply in love with her God that they wanted to serve Him but tragedies of her life had dulled her love.  Love is obviously more than a feeling; it is a commitment. True love endures all and is long suffering. It takes a commitment to see love through to the end inspite of all.

Revelation 21: 8 “But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshippers, and all lairs-their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

I wish God would always move just when we are about to give up but it is not always so. We can’t explain it either. I think it gets more complicated because He doesn’t tell you that He is working on “it”, not does He let you know that it will soon be over. God truly wants us to trust and love Him. Thank God for Ruth who trusted God enough to believe Him to the very end despite everything. It is worthy of note that Naomi went from that woman whose life drew others to God, to the woman who was so disappointed in life and frustrated with God that she complained to the point where she asked everyone to call her “bitter”. This is not unlike us when God seems to be looking the other way as terrible events unfold in lives. Sometimes, they happen so rapidly that it seems like God has set out to destroy one; but it is not so. Not only is He setting such persons up for great good, He is also preparing them to deal wisely in life.

1 Corinthians 10: 13 “The temptations in your life are no different from others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure.”

Sadly, complaining and murmuring against God is never a solution; instead it facilitates our disconnection from God. Though complaining may be instinctive sometimes, we must practice self-restraint at times like that seeking help from The Holy Spirit. God is not pleased with complainers and murmurers. Whilst it may not be unusual to get to that point where one is fed up; it is what we do when we get there that is most important. That is the point when one seeks help form The Holy Ghost like never before. Don’t try to do it yourself or in your strength which will fail you: we have no capacity in ourselves to carry the weight of life’s challenges. Life throws very hard punches sometimes and often when we are ill prepared, but God is never caught unawares. One day you will find that you came through it all and you are still standing.

God Already Took Care of It - Our Minds

No doubt, life has changed so much in my own lifetime. The changes are so significant that if I don’t, myself, make a number of changes I probably would not be able to survive. So, life is a lot different now from what it used to be. With all the civilization, what should have been an improvement on our lives appears to be more of a problem. It feels like hell unleashed demons like never before; and much more sophisticated ones too so that all the innovation meant to be a blessing seem to be destroying lives much faster than they are improving them. There is always one demon waiting to use that new idea against humanity. Yet, not one of these has taken God by surprise.

Isaiah 60: 2NKJV “For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; But the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you.”

Job 5: 12 – 14 “He frustrates the plans of schemers so the work of their hands will not succeed. He traps the wise in their own cleverness so their cunning schemes are thwarted. They find it is dark in the daytime and they grope at noon as if it were night.”

Truth is that many believers do not believe that God always knew that all of these would happen. We seem to think the devil takes God by surprise with his every act. Almost like God only starts putting His response together after every satanic attack: but that is not correct and it is sad that we don’t know better. It is sad not only because it belies God’s greatness, but also because that mindset would ensure that we never respond correctly the challenges. There is truly “nothing new under the sun”. God saw it before the beginning of time and already did all that is required to ensure satan is never the victor in any challenge we face. This truth must be real to us so we can live it. Sadly also, we often don’t even care to know Truth; we would rather that God does all the work, fixes the problem and we wake up to the solution. Unfortunately, it is not so. God completed His part, we must do ours. We always have a part to play and God has given us Help in the person of the Holy Ghost who is a very willing Helper.

Proverbs 25: 2 “It is God’s privilege to conceal things and the King’s privilege to discover them.”

Ephesians 1: 13 “And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago.”

As soon as we get born again, we are sealed with The Holy Spirit so that from the very beginning we have all the help we need to survive in this “tough world”. God immediately goes to work on our minds knowing that in a strange way, we fall or rise in our minds. In giving us The Holy Spirit, God is already working from the very beginning to ensure that our minds are kept very healthy setting the stage for our victory in every difficult situation. He then goes further to let us know how to work with the Holy Ghost so we can enjoy having His help fully. Straight up, one of the first things that happen in us after we get saved is soundness of mind which The Holy Spirit facilitates. Our minds are healed.

2 Timothy 1: 7 “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity or cowardice or fear, but (He has given us a spirit) of power and of love and of sound judgment and personal discipline (abilities that result in a calm, well-balanced mind and self-control.”

 

God knows that a sound mind is required to live a successful life and the devil knows this too so he works assiduously to ruin our minds. The Word of God who is also Jesus Christ, is the biggest healer of the mind. The fact that life throws challenges at us is not surprising; we were warned from before the beginning of time: our challenge is with the health of our minds because that is the determinant of whether or not we will be taken down. God gave us a very healthy mind, we must work to ensure it remains so by ensuring its alignment with God’s truth. This is the real issue – are you allowing your mind that transformation? The world has always been known to have superficial values; but when one gets saved, to desire to retain the superficial values whilst yet seeking to grow in Christ leads would only lead to an unhealthy mind. Keep your mind healthy.

Romans 12: 2 “And do not be conformed to this world (and longer with its superficial values and customs), but be transformed and progressively changed (as you mature spiritually) by the renewing of your mind (focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes), so that you may prove (for yourselves) what the will of God is.

Jesus Christ Ought To Be Lord In Our Minds

It has been a while since I was here and not for the best of reasons. Thank you Pastor Yinka for that video. It helped me adjust my priorities. So, it is all about our minds today. It is now a fact that even believers suffer from medically diagnosed mind related issues. It really bothers me. If I seem a little worried, please bear with me especially since science does not have a solution to these issues which they only manage. It is time to return to The One who keeps our minds healthy and heals troubled minds too. As I write, I have on my mind, blood washed and tongue talking believers who have been delivered from the grip of death and are now enjoying eternal life in Christ Jesus. A people whose minds ought to be given to Jesus Christ and who enjoy the benefits of salvation. Since we are family, we are compelled to tell ourselves truth so that anyone who perchance has been trapped in their minds, may begin to enjoy the liberty that is in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 5: 1amp “It was for this freedom that Christ set us free (completely liberating);therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery (which you once removed.)

Salvation is much more than our spirit man receiving life. Whilst it is true that our spirit which was dead is made to live again by reason of our redemption, it is just the beginning of a lifelong process that impacts on our lives after we are done on earth. Our spirit is given life by The Spirit of God; that life then impacts our entire being including even our mortal bodies and mind, making major changes to the way we think. The decision to allow this kind of impact in our minds, is ours. It is only to the extent that we are open to the Holy Spirit that He would move in our lives, to change us. The plan of God is for Jesus Christ to take full charge in and of us, so that He is Lord in our lives. As we know, we are spirit, soul and body. The challenge we are often faced with is allowing the Spirit of God take charge of our minds thereby establishing Jesus as Lord at that level. Who or what ever possesses one’s mind is in control of the person notwithstanding the state of the person’s spirit. I have found that in the times that we are in, a lot of believers are very reluctant to allow the Spirit of God possess their minds and for various reasons. Unfortunately, unless or until that happens, the believer only received the power to become a son of God but is not and as such, is unable to exercise the rights.

John 1: 12 “But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.”

Romans 8: 14 “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.”

Galatians 4: 1 “Think of it this way, if a father dies and leaves an inheritance for his young children, those children are not much better off than slaves until they grow up, even though they actually own everything their father had.”

I wish it would be correct to say that we struggle with Christ ruling in our minds by His Spirit for very good reasons; but I have found that more often than not, it isn’t. It is often silly reasons like our strong desire to be perceived a certain way. We want to be considered “cool” by the world and yet we want to be believers. Carnality is not godliness. The two run as parallel lines and anyone attempting to merge them will only end up with a “situation”. God’s standard for greatness is not set by the world and vice versa and as we all know, God’s standard is better esteemed. As believers, we must open up our minds to the influence of God’s word working with the Holy Spirit. It is not possible to sincerely spend time with God whether in prayer or study of the Word and not be impacted by the word. Anyone who does these things sincerely will never remain the same as long as they are open to God. Indeed one of the things that would happen is strength will be released in such persons that enable them eject ungodly thoughts and ideas. Our “inner man” is as strengthened or weak as we allow. To strengthen one’s mind with the word of God increases His presence in us and darkness has no choice but to leave. It is always our decision and as often as we make decisions that align with God, we have a ready helper who will helps us ensure that we win.

Romans 8: 6 “So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.”

Ephesians 3: 16 – 17 “I pray that from his glorious unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.”

2 Timothy 1: 7 “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity or cowardice or fear, but (he has given us a spirit) of power and of love and of sound judgment and personal discipline (abilities that result in a calm, well-balanced mind and self-control.)”

Infact to deny Jesus ruler ship at this level of our being, is to reject Him and it won’t be long before a contrary spirit takes over. In truth, no matter how much we would like to lie to ourselves, no one is in charge of their own life. It is either God or satan; our best option is Jesus who is God. It is time to be deliberate about who we hand over authority over our minds to. It is one thing to “give our lives to Christ” and another to ensure that He is in charge of our minds. When Jesus is in charge, His Spirit is in control and strengthens us from deep within. He doesn’t make us timid and/or weak in our minds but He gives strength on the inside and soundness of mind. It is impossible for any mind yielded to Him to be emotional troubled. He doesn’t need help to heal a troubled mind; He is Himself, the healer. If only we would yield to Him.