2 Corinthians 10:4-6
New King James Version (NKJV)
4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.
Allow me to be honest with you. For years I considered my thought life to be my own and that it was my actions that mattered. I didn't think a person could really control the thoughts that came into their mind and as long as you didn't act on them that you were OK. Matter of fact it seems that I heard it many times as I was growing up "it's your actions that count". Well maybe with man that is true but with God it is a different matter altogether. You see the part of us that is going to live with God for all eternity is not man at all but our spirit that was created in God's image and must be allowed to have total control over our life. Scripture tells us that flesh and blood will not inherit the kingdom of God. You say but this is an impossible task and I will echo that too but here's what Jesus had to say;
Matthew 5:20
New King James Version (NKJV)
20 For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
Mark 10:25
New King James Version (NKJV)
25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
His disciples were dismayed at that statement and ask Him "if that is the case then who can be saved"? His answer;
Mark 10:27
New King James Version (NKJV)
27 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.”
What I'm talking about here in nitty gritty worldly terms could be called "where the rubber meets the road of our Christian life and witness. Either you got it or you don't and sooner or later it will be revealed.
Mark 4:22
New King James Version (NKJV)
22 For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light.
Now before you give up, staggered by the impossibility of it all I will attempt to lay out the path for you according to scripture but also my experience. First of all I would never try to point the way if I had not already walked the path myself and I will be perfectly honest, it is a difficult path but not an impossible one and ever so worth the effort.
There are so many professing Christians that talk the talk but can't or don't walk the walk.
They are long on words but short on power. The Apostle Paul seemed to think that power was more important than words.
1 Corinthians 2:4
New King James Version (NKJV)
4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
1 Corinthians 4:19
New King James Version (NKJV)
19 But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord wills, and I will know, not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power.
1 Corinthians 4:20
New King James Version (NKJV)
20 For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power.
Please, I am not writing this to judge or condemn anyone. I feel very sorry for the bulk of Christianity today because these things are not being taught. Some would say well if we don't know then we can't be held accountable to which I must answer "yes you will be because you have been given the written Word of God" and if you would spend the time to study it combined with sincere prayer then the Holy Spirit would reveal these things to you.
John 16:12-14
New King James Version (NKJV)
12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.
The scripture states that "He Who began a good work in you will continue it until the day of Christ". Which means that it was the work of Christ to save you and He is still at work to form you into His image. The real question is whether we will cooperate or not. We still have a freewill and unless we are willing to give it up for the greater treasures of knowing Him and being known by Him then we may end up being passed by in the end.
Jesus came to earth to live as a man and to prove that man empowered by the Holy Spirit could live a life of perfection wholly pleasing to God. His death and resurrection then made that same life possible for every living human being alive then or to be born throughout the remainder of the earth age. The acceptance of what He did for us immediately sets us free from the power of the devil and sets us into God's kingdom and then the battle begins. We have actually been given a brand new life and that life is supernatural in nature because it is the very life of Christ empowered by the very same Holy Spirit that was Christ's strength and comfort during His life on earth. Some would say but Christ was perfect and that is true but He was perfect because He was totally submitted to the Father and therefore never quenched or grieved the Holy Spirit Who was the source of His power and perfection. My point here is that whatever Christ could do we can do because His Spirit will empower us if we are willing and will seek Him. This is not conjecture but scriptural truth.
Philippians 4:13
New King James Version (NKJV)
13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
There are steps to be taken that are crucial to success and I will lay them out as best I can. To say that exactly the same steps are what each person must do would be wrong because all of us are different and the degree of our problems vary but these are general guidelines and I believe they are essential in their basis.
1. You need to be really ready to change, ready to give up your thought life to be purified by the Holy Spirit. You need to come to the place that you literally hate the things you think. No smoker can ever quit until he is no longer in love with smoking or gets any pleasure from it because his heart will continue to cling to the habit even though his body is trying to cast it off. After all what does a few moments of fantasy thinking hurt? If you loath it you will find a way to reject it.
2. If you don't loath it or see it as sin but feel that you should then pray and ask God to make you loath it because you want to please Him. Don't be surprised at what He takes you through to produce that feeling in you. He will never refuse to answer a prayer like that. What you must keep uppermost in mind is that whatever God demands He also will provide the way for us to fulfill that demand even if we're not willing but you sort of want to be willing then ask Him to make you willing. This is dangerous and much better if you can get yourself into that place because He will take you seriously and you never know what it will take to get you there.
3. As always the very best way to get in harmony with God and have your desires become His desires is to spend time with Him. Many people who do not have a good walk with God do not have a disciplined life. They are late to bed and late getting up and they never really have time to spend with the Lord in reading His Word nor to pray. In order to do this effectively one must have privacy and not be disturbed by anything. Early morning is the best time before the busyness of the day begins pressing in and it always does.
King David practiced that all his life.
Psalm 5:1-3
New King James Version (NKJV)
A Prayer for Guidance. A Psalm of David.
5 Give ear to my words, O Lord,Consider my meditation.2 Give heed to the voice of my cry,My King and my God,For to You I will pray.3 "My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord"; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up.
Psalm 63.1&2
New King James Version (NKJV)
O God, You are my God; "Early will I seek You";My soul thirsts for You;My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water.2 So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,To see Your power and Your glory.
4. Ask God to be your help. If you don't have faith to believe that He will then you have a more fundamental problem that must be dealt with. You simply don't know Him very well and there is only one solution for that and it is to spend more time with Him. You say "well I'm just too busy for that". Yes we are all to busy and all for the wrong reasons. What will it profit a man if he should gain the whole world but in the end lose his soul? There is really no valid effective argument that we will be able to give to God when we face Him in judgement. Consider the following verses.
2 Peter 1:3
New King James Version (NKJV)
3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,
Matthew 6:33
New King James Version (NKJV)
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
The first verse above states that He gives us everything we need for both life and for godliness. It does not say He gives us some things we need but all things.
Then the second verse again repeats it saying ALL things, not some things.
You say "but that hasn't been my experience" to which I will answer, but you haven't done your part. We have to come to realize what FIRST really means.
That means nothing else before ME. The first commandment of Exodus 20 is "Thou shalt have no other gods before ME." In reality if HE is not first in everything then we have other gods before Him and we will never be able to know the full height, depth, length and breadth of the love of God. Ephesians 3.17-19
Let's bring this down to an earthly level for a minute and consider this example.
A neighbor who has just purchased the house next to you and before moving in needs some renovation work done. Being new in town he asks you if you know if a certain contractor who's name appears in advertisements in the paper is a good and honest person who will do a good job and be trustworthy. This could go several ways. You may say "well I have heard that he is" which would be hearsay or you could say "I have heard some not so good things about him" which would also be hearsay and not necessarily true. Or you may say that I have had several things done by this person and found him to be trustworthy, honest and fair as well as a good craftsman, hire him you won't regret it. Now there's only one way that you could honestly tell your neighbor the last statement and that would be if it were true and you really did have extensive personal experience with him and found him to be even better than the stories about him. You may even be able so say that if there are any negative reports circulating about him that they simply cannot be true because I know him better than that. So the conclusion has to be that personal experience trumps hearsay. How many Christians conduct their life based on hearsay rather than personal daily experience with God?
The written Word of God is absolutely true but is only hearsay and powerless until you decide to own it by living it and experiencing it and then you will understand what real faith is. It is wrong to say that God wants to play a roll in your life but it is true to say that God wants to play the "only roll" in your life and if you allow it and hunger for it then you will discover what an awesome God He really is and why men like Abraham were willing to give everything they had up to follow Him including the sacrifice of his son.
5. Swallow your pride and freely admit that you are powerless within yourself to live a truly holy life and humbly come before the Lord and tell Him that you want to be an overcomer and bring Him glory in all things but that the power to do it is simply not in you but that if He will do it in you that you will heed and follow all that He asks. From the moment you do that in sincerity and I do mean sincerity because the Lord knows your heart and you cannot fool Him with half hearted petitions, from that moment, every time a sinful or unholy thought comes to your mind there will come a check in your spirit from the Holy Spirit and here's what you must do at that moment. If you are alone speak out loud and say thank you God for the reminder because by the strength you provide I can bring every thought into captivity in obedience to Christ. Just begin to praise Him or quote scripture and you will soon discover the power of the spoken Word. If you are with someone this can be done silently in your mind because the dynamic here is that you cannot think two completely different thoughts at the same time and every time you turn from evil to good there comes more power and more intimacy with Christ through the Holy Spirit.
I think most people who read this will reject it for a variety of reasons. Some will see it as legalistic and some will see it as just too much trouble and a little silly or they will think "I just can't and I know it". The last is the best option because it is actually closest to the truth and here's the scripture to prove it;
John 15:5
New King James Version (NKJV)
5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
Everyone knows that if you cut a branch off of any tree or vine or living plant that the branch will immediately begin to die and that is what Jesus is saying about us, that He is the very life blood that keeps us going or produces anything worthwhile in us or from our lives that touches others in a positive way but it is not automatic. We have a responsibility to work at the relationship between the vine and the branch and then HE will do the rest. So it's OK to say I can't do it but it must be followed with this conviction;
Philippians 4:13
New King James Version (NKJV)
13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
This then puts the emphasis where it needs to be and the credit and glory for success is not on us to make us prideful but all goes to Him Who gave Himself for us.
6. Last but not least begin to devour scripture. We spend far more time eating than studying scripture and Jesus said that "man should not live by bread alone but by every Word out of the mouth of God. Until the Word of God becomes our main food we will not discover the abundant life that Jesus said He came to give us. It amazes me that Pastors don't teach this. Someone may come to him and say I'm broke, my wife is sick, my car broke down and I'm just having an awful time. I read in the bible that Jesus said that He came to give us life and that more abundantly so where is this abundant life? Since the man is not experiencing this abundant life the Pastor explains that the scripture really means something else rather than telling him the truth that he simply isn't doing his part. The Christian life is a covenant or agreement between two parties and it is valid only when both parties do everything that is sealed within it. Even the minutest scripture has it's purpose and meaning and if you don't seek to discover it and live by it you will experience less than has been provided.
God bless you all and may He put in your heart a passionate desire to know Him and walk with Him more fully.
john
PS. If you are helped and encouraged by these messages please pass them on.
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