Tuesday, September 26th, 2023
This weekend while we were worshipping at church, Holy Spirit did something interesting and it felt blog-worthy. We were singing the Goodness of God by Bethel Music. As we got to the line that says, “with my life laid down”, I was singing, “with my mind made up”. Every time we got to that line I kept singing, “with my mind made up” even though I was looking directly at the real words and intending to sing them. After church I searched the lyrics to the song to see if the words I was singing were perhaps in another part of the song. I did not find them. So clearly Holy Spirit was wanting to highlight something to me. As I continued to ponder this phrase I did not get to a mountain-top high. It was more of a sense of greatly desiring it to be true but feeling instead like I have missed the mark. For much of my life I have struggled with who God made me to be. I was an easy target for the enemy who got me to believe his lies about the body God formed for me, my identity, my abilities and my place in this world. I felt stuck in James 1:8:
8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
Instability does nothing to help any of these lies. In fact, it strengthens them as its indelible experiences are etched into the double-minded person’s soul. Now, it’s not just the lies, there is historical evidence that validate their applicability. And so, the cycle continues. 2 Cor 11:3 says this another way and sheds some light on where we should be:
3 But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
Just like the enemy’s initial tactic in the garden of Eden he continues to fire lies at our minds and see if they will stick. He is the father of lies. There is no truth in him. We are the gatekeepers of our minds. We are the ones that have to take every thought and hold it up to the light. Does it match what God says about us? Does it line up to the character of God? Does it line up to the truths found in the Bible? No one else can guard our minds or carry out this interrogation process. The word simplicity is critical in this scripture. Many times in the Bible being simple is a bad thing, but when we look at the original Greek here simplicity means singleness and sincerity (without self-seeking). This is the opposite of being double-minded. Simplicity here means our minds are fixed on God and God alone. We are not led astray by whatever self-serving carrot the enemy is putting before us. We are not worried about our bodies, our reputations, our finances, our to-do list of whatever it is we think we should be doing. We are leaning into the chest of our Maker knowing that our very existence is fully dependent and reliant upon Him. We can’t plan it or execute it in any way that is even remotely comparable to His ways. Look at what it says in John 14:26:
26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
Do we really believe that? Or, do we really live that way? Do we trust that Holy Spirit will teach us all we need to know and bring to our remembrance everything Jesus taught? God never said we have to know everything and live perfectly. He desires a simple devotion to Him that listens for the Spirit’s leading and lives in obedience to that leading.
Final Thoughts…
Let’s pray together. Lord, we thank You for the minds that You have given us. We thank You for the ability to think, to reason and to create. We thank You that You have given us authority over the one that tries to use our mind to pull us out from under Your covering. We thank You that when You left this world as a human that You left us with the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us. We repent for all the times we doubted You and Your Word. We repent for agreeing with lies from the enemy and allowing him access to our heart and mind. Lord, we draw a line in the sand today. That from this point forward our mind will be made up. Help us to be devoted to Christ with simplicity and purity. You were never unstable, and our heart’s cry is for simplicity and stability in You. When the enemy fires a lie at us help us to say, “My mind is made up.” Light up the places in our lives and our minds where we are double-minded. Help us to stop playing tug of war and pledge our allegiance to You. And Lord if ever we become weary help us to be still and rest in You. Help us to trust Your timing and know that You are renewing our minds day by day. It doesn’t happen all at once. It happens again and again, day by day. We release our minds into the will that You have for them. Our life is laid down, and our mind is made up.