We Work Too Hard in our Minds

Jesus is alive, and He lives in us, for those who believe on Him.

He is our life, and therefore we can stop working so hard to bring Him into our lives.

I love also what one pastor, Joseph Prince of Singapore, taught me.

"Worry is working in your mind."

How true that is.

Why was I working so hard in my mind?

Because I had believed that the life that I needed to live, was inside of my head.

I was not aware of the living, loving Savior taking care of every minute of my day.

Too many of my prayers were focused on bringing Him into my life,

He is already my life.

What happens, then, for those of us who do not have a revelation of Christ as our Life, will start working hard to fill in those "gaps" on our own.

I have a new appreciation and  deeper understanding for this verse:

"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 21I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." (Galatians 2: 20-21)

Jesus' Life does not come and go in our lives.

We do not have to struggle or to strain to ensure that He is with us forever.

He made the promise early on that He would come to us and stay with us forever:

"And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;" (John 14:16)

and then

"I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you." (John 14: 18)

Jesus has come to all of us through His Holy Spirit.

We also have these comforts and assurances:

"Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

6So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me." (Hebrews 13:5-6)

Like many people, especially in the Body of Christ, I was frustrating the grace of God. I was trying so hard to figure everything out. If I felt bad or thought wrong, I was convinced that God would end up miles away, and I would be all alone.

I had misconstrued a number of passages in the Bible, not led by His Spirit  but by my own faulty reasoning.

I still did not see Him large enough. I was trying instead to figure everything out in my mind, through my head. I was working too hard in my mind.

There is no need for that. We already have the mind of Christ, and there is therefore no reason for us to strain through fear and trembling, weariness and worry, to figure out the truth, to understand what His will and his plans are for our lives, for in fact it is His life anyway.

I Was Praying All Wrong

This new revelation grants me so much peace.

I was praying wrong! I was praying all wrong.

When I was going home to school every day, I would  pray that God would be with me.

Of course He was going to be with me! I did not have to ask Him to be there.

He was already there. He is already in the midst of whatever you are going through.

He will be there for you and me no matter what may happen.

Where did I get this idea from that He would not be there for me?

You guessed it -- it was all about what the AA cult had taught me, especially that pernicious lie that every time I felt bad or had "wrong" feelings, that I would be cutting myself off from the sunlight of the Spirit.

So, what ends up happening to someone who thinks that God and His Spirit can come and go in their lives?

They will end up praying for things that He has already richly provided through His Son.

Therefore, a person misled by such errors will pray the wrong prayers.

"Please help me, Lord!" Guess what, He is already helping you!

"Please lead me, Lord!" He is already leading you.

What we need is to see  more of how gracious He is. We need to see more of Him. Not in our minds but in the Word, and thus a full recognition of all that He is doing for us -- that He is already doing!

I Don't Need Help -- I Need Life!

Let's never stop meditating on the bold yet necessary promises of Christ Jesus, during His earthly ministry, not fulfilled in His heavenly ministry seated at the right hand of God the Father:

"The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." (John 10: 10)

He did not come to make our life better, nor did He come to offer a long-term divine assist.

He came to give us life.

This is still such a rich and wonderful revelation for me.

No wonder Paul the Apostle prayed:

1If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4When Christ,who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3: 1-4)

Let us set our affections, rest our minds on this truth -- that He is our life, and our life is hid with Christ in God.

Yet how come so many of us every day wake up thinking that we are some kind of wind-up toy, and we have to ask God to work harder and fill us up?

How come there are so many Christians out there praying things like: "Lord, help me to  .  ." or "Lord, give me the strength to. . "

He has already blessed us with all spiritual blessings in His Son Jesus (Ephesians 1: 3)

He is working within us both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Philippians 2: 12-13)

We can do all things through Christ, who gives us strength (Philippians 4: 13).

Let us stop praying prayers from the wrong perspective, let us stop praying for things which He has already given us.

Instead, let us start praying for the wisdom and insight to see all which He has already given us.

Wait. .. that's exactly what Paul prayed for the believers of his day as well as for us today:

"For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." (Ephesians 3: 14-19)

and also

"That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus." (Philemon 6)

Paul's letter expressing God's redemption in a runaway slave, Onesimus, actually details one of the most powerful revelations we need in the Body of Christ today.

For years, I was always praying: "God, please help me!" or "Lord, please provide for me. .. "

Those were wrong prayers, striving from within myself as though there was anything good in my flesh, in myself to accomplish anything.

Jesus was very clear: "Apart from me, you can do nothing."

We do not need help. We need life. We do not need steps on how to live. We need life. We do not need living proof. We need life. We do not need a lively example on how to live. We need life.

That life is found in Christ Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life.

He Is Our Life - And He Lives For Us

I cannot relate how many times I had lived my life trying to bring God into my daily walk.

I was struggling to find God, to bring Him into my life, when the fact is that He is my life, and that He is closer than a brother, closer than my heart, hands, or head.

We would not even be here if it weren't for him!

The biggest scam of Satan and the religionists at his disposal?

That we have to get to God, that we have to do something to keep God in our lives, to make sure that He does not leave us.

The Bible could not be clearer: "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5)

This "never" is an iron clad double negative, just like in Romans 8: 1: "There is now therefore no condemnation in Christ Jesus."

None, zero, nada.

Jesus is our life today, and we do not have to strain to keep him in our lives, regardless of what we are feeling or thinking.

Rather, let the truth of God's Word continue to renew our minds.

How can we bring God into our lives if He is our Life? (Colossians 3: 4)

Instead of trying to do more, let us invite Him to work further into our lives, to enjoy more of His grace and  peace as we continue to receive His gift of righteousness (Romans 5: 17)

Condemnation Does Not Motivate: Grace Does

The AA cult is based on motivating people by shame and discomfort.

Much of the world in general and religious systems in particular operate along these lines.

We are not set free from sin by being reminded of our sins and failures.

We do not behave right by being told what to do.

We behave right we know what we have the gift of righteousness, and we are righteous before God.

We do not live right by being told how to live. We live right when we believe right, then we know that we are right before God, and thus we live right.

Righteousness the eternal gift, allows His life to live in and through us.

Eternal righteousness gives rise to His eternal life, just as the Holy Spirit rushed in upon the one hundred and twenty disciples on Pentecost, and on the first Gentile believer, Cornelius.

I have long relied on condemnation to motivate me.

A sense of  "what if?" and "what about?" had goaded me for a long time.

The fear of worse consequences had oftentimes been the only key motivation for anything.

Yet that kind of movement does not produce life and that more abundantly.

Never.

The more condemned that we feel, the more we will see the very wrongdoing in our lives that we want to get rid of .

I have listened to two testimonies on sexual perversion, for example/

In both instances, the subjects talked about "the shame" or "the condemnation" they felt.

What more is it going to take before pastors start preaching the fullness of the Gospel, that in Christ we are justified from all things, and our sins are forgiven?

Condemnation does not motivate. It kills and destroys, neutering growth and preventing life.

The grace of God teaches us to say "No!" to sin and to lead godly lives (Titus 2: 11).

For the longest time, I spent so much time trying not to feel bad, trying to shake away the sense of shame and guilt.

I had forgotten what living really is all about.

He is our life -- and I had not known that. Today, I now understand the fullness of His life in mine!

And I want to learn more!

Paul was very clear -- we keep on receiving the gift of righteousness and abundance of grace (Romans 5:17)

There is no condemnation, and let us not entertain it any further in our lives.

Bringing Every Condemning Though into Obedience to Christ

"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 6And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled." (2 Corinthians 10: 3-6)

"The obedience of Christ" mentioned in this verse speaks of what Jesus did at the Cross.

The first mention of obedience appears in Romans, where Paul speaks of our obedience to believe what Jesus did:

"By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:" (Romans 1: 5)

Now, regarding the obedience of Christ, Paul later writes:

"For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." (Romans 5:19)

and

"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:8And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.9Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: " (Philippians 2: 5-8)

and also

"But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:" (Romans 16: 26)

Now, as long as we do not believe that Jesus did a perfect work at the Cross, then we are not operating in obedience. We will still have negative thoughts, reminders of our failures, and the fallen world before us, to coerce us into believing that Jesus did not do a perfect work.

We are to reject all those lies and allow those thoughts to be brought into captivity to all that Jesus did.

It does not matter what anyone says. It does not matter what demonic force may act in the world, or the shame and blame of what other people (even pastors and church people) may say. 

There is now no condemnation in Christ Jesus (Romans 8: 1). Period.