A dear friend sent me the lyrics to a hymn today, one that in all my years relishing those weighty songs I had not come across. Here's a snippet: "More purity give me, More strength to o'ercome; More freedom from earth-strains, More longings for home; More fit for the kingdom, More used would I be; More blessed and holy, More, Saviour, like Thee." -"My Prayer", by Philip P. Bliss I chose to take that beautiful cue from the Lord to write tonight about another truth that He has blossomed over time in my life by His grace alone, by His Spirit alone. (It also "conveniently" piggy backs off of yesterday's post, so if you haven't read it yet, check it out here: http://brittanyvanryn.weebly.com/the-atrium/enough. ) It's funny/ironic/sad how we want more of everything else but Jesus. I have seen in myself this tendency to be gluttonous in my relationships, wanting more of them than they can actually give, gluttonous with trying to create as much time for myself as possible during which time I can eat what I want, watch what I want, be as much of who I want to be as I choose. (ugh, so many "I's") And we all know what happens here in that place, right? Well, we start perpetuating our "more" and desiring further intake of what we're consuming, thereby adding to the muck we stand in so that when conversations do come up about Jesus, we are so entrenched in our own little worlds that He seems rather unappealing. We blind ourselves with wanting more stuff, the bigger and better, with the fantasy of a perfect life that even if we got would leave us wanting more. So, tonight's simple truth is this: Find ways to think about Jesus more. Talk about Him more. Bring Him up with the friends who claim Him as their Lord too. Don't wait for them to do it. Figure out how to soak Him up more. Make no room for anything but that which will have you looking more like Him. "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires." Romans 13:14 Now granted, you won't always know in the moment whether something will be beneficial or harmful to becoming a better mirror of Him, but your job is to stay alert, to stay in touch and aware of Him so that You can reflect Him in whatever situation you may find yourself. And all of this right and godly behavior? Well, guess where it comes from? Godly desires. And where do those desires stem from? Godly THOUGHTS. Man, that thought life. Seldom does that brain cease its processing. We discard many foolish ones, hang on to ones we need to let go of, replay conversations, judge, access, decide, choose. We also hold back many a compliment or excitement about something out of fear, we store secrets, we plot, and yes sometimes we even "use our powers for good" and pray. We have let our thought lives become void of God. How could we forget one of the most beautiful gifts we have ever received? The HOLY SPIRIT! The One who reminds us of truth, Who helps us practice Philippians 4:8: "Whatever is true...honorable...just...pure...lovely...commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worth of praise, THINK ABOUT THESE THINGS." Thank God for the reality that the Spirit gives life and that the flesh is no help at all (John 6:63), that the flesh and the Spirit are opposed to each other (Galatians 5:16-17), and that the Spirit who raised Christ Jesus fromthe dead dwells in me to give life where the flesh reeks of only death (Romans 8:11)! That means that all my failed attempts and efforts, all the times I tried to think about Jesus but only wound up right back at myself were a mounted attack driven by flesh and not by the Spirit. Praise God that the Spirit is stronger, and that if I acknowledge my faulty and weak thinking to Him, His grace is suficient to transform that warped and skewed brain to something akin to a renewed mind. I confess I need a mind revolution, don't you? Here's your take-away, which also happens to be a paraphrased Bible verse that perhaps you'll recognize: Love the Lord your God with EVERY FIBER OF YOUR BEING, EVERY SINGLE BREATH, EVERY MENTAL FACULTY, and EVERY OUNCE OF ENERGY that He gave you in the first place. Every ounce, friends, with every fiber of your being. It's time to figure out how to love Him more. Do what is necessary; don't waste any time, money, resources on that which would entangle you and keep you from looking at Him alone. May our thought life be purer and full of loftier thoughts of Him so that His life snuffs out more of our dead flesh day by day.
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