The Meditations Of My Heart

Meditate on these verses noting the usage of "thoughts."

"... Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature"  (1 Cor. 14:20, ESV, emphasis added).

"...[H]ave the same mindset as Christ Jesus"  (Philippians 2:5, NIV).

"For the word of God is alive and active.  Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12, NIV, emphasis added).

"... [A]ll his thoughts are, "There is no God"  (Psalm 10:4, ESV, emphasis added).

"They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them"  (Romans 2:15, ESV, emphasis added).

"The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his hearts was only evil continually"  (Gen. 6:5, ESV, emphasis added).

"... [H]ave you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?"  (James 2:4, ESV, emphasis added).

"But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, 'Why do you think evil in your hearts?..." (Matt. 9:4, ESV, emphasis added).

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true ... think about these things"  (Philippians 4:8, ESV, emphasis added).

The heart in Scripture refers to the innermost being of man, his affections, will, and intellect.  In Psalm 19:14, David prays that the thoughts of his heart be acceptable in God's eyes.  Man is whatever he thinks about all day, some poet has written.  Another has said appropriately, you aren't what you think you are, but what you think, you are!  Jesus said  (cf. Matt. 15:19) that "out of the heart come evil thoughts." The lips reveal what's on the heart, that's why David prays that the words of his mouth and the meditations of his heart be acceptable in God's sight.  Quoting Psalm 139:23, David prays, "Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts." We keep no secrets from God. Proverbs 23:7 is pertinent:  "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." Jesus said that all is open and laid bare to Him whom we must give account.  In other words, God wants us to get our thinking straightened out!  We are to love God with all our minds, too.

Why are thoughts so important to our walk?  They are to be godly and have the divine viewpoint.  We are not to think like the world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind (to conform to the image of Christ), according to Romans 12:2.  It is not sufficient to be content with Bible knowledge if it doesn't sink into our minds and make them in the image of Christ and to learn to think like He thinks, "we have the mind of Christ [Scripture]"  (1 Cor. 2:16). Our minds are finite and Christ's is infinite and we will never peg Him nor have a handle on everything He thinks, but we are to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (cf. 2 Pet. 3:18).

The devil likes to destroy our thinking process with lies from the world, and only the study of Scripture can prepare us to fight them.  "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.  The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.  On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ"  ((2 Cor. 10:4-5, NIV, emphasis mine).

Your worldview is your mental outlook (how you interpret the world around you and its events) and it must be Christian or what is known as the Judaeo-Christian worldview, as opposed to the Secular Humanist or Postmodern ones so prevalent in academia today.  It is a sad fact, for instance, that the average teen believer now actually believes truth is only relative and there is no "absolute truth." Jesus came to bear witness to the truth (cf. John 18:37-38).  "...Everyone on the side of truth listens to me" (John 18:38, NIV).

Jesus claimed to be the incarnation, embodiment, or personification of the truth and He claimed you will and can know it:  "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free" (cf. John 8:32). Man's learning can be called "true," but only Scripture is "truth." That's why truth transforms and has the power to change lives. That's why Jesus said:  "Sanctify them by the truth, thy word is truth"  (John 17:17, KJV). This is where we must take our stand and show our colors--there is knowable absolute truth and we are responsible for it, as revealed in Scripture.

No one can claim ignorance and no one has an excuse (cf. Romans 1:20).  Just like Paul said in 1 Cor 13 that when he was a child he thought as a child, and so on; it is time to think like a man of God and this doesn't just simply being content to be impeccably correct theologically (it is far more urgent to have your heart in the right place), but thinking like Christ as it relates and applies to the world around us  (i.e., "to understand the times" per 1 Chronicles 12:32).  Our thoughts are vital, for Christ must first be in our minds before He can be in our hearts, likewise doctrine.

At the Ocean Grove Conference Center in New Jersey the inscription over the speaker's platform reads (boldface added):

SOW ...                           REAP
a thought                          an act
an act                               a habit
a habit                              a character
a character                        a destiny

IT IS OF PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE TO PUT A PREMIUM ON THOUGHT CONTROL.


Soli Deo Gloria!

Jesus Incognito

"[To] reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles.." (Galatians 1:16, NIV, emphasis added).
"Whatever you did, for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me"  (Matthew 25:40, NIV, emphasis mine).
Jesus interposed His Father's will over His:  "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house [about my Father's business]?" (Cf. Luke 2:49, NIV).
"... A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household"  (Mark 6:4, ESV).

According to English legend, King Arthur would sneak among the common people, without his regalia, just to find out what they really thought and to get on the same page with empathy--Jesus did far more than that in humbling Himself to the point of death on a cross (cf. Philippians 2:7ff).  We are to have this same mind in us, as was in Christ (cf. v. 5)!  We should be aware of the fact that Jesus is loose and at large in our midst invisibly via the Holy Spirit residing in believers:

Jesus "came unto His own and His own received Him not," according to John 1:11; He was a man on a mission to seek and to save that which was lost (cf. Luke 19:10)--the lost sheep of the house of Israel, who had gone astray--He saw them as sheep without a shepherd. He didn't promote or advertise the fact that He was the Son of David or the Messiah, but He never denied it either.  He was known to use figures of speech when preaching, so as to confuse the religious leaders, especially the party of the Pharisees.

They had to ask Him bluntly:  "Are You the Messiah, or are we to look for another?"  He didn't always beat around the bush, but spoke plainly, and not in parables to keep the secrets of the kingdom known only to the sheep, but many were not willing to accept Him for who He was.  They called Him the son of Joseph, the prophet from Galilee, the carpenter, or as a snide remark: Mary's son, the Nazarene, even just the carpenter, or the teacher (rabbi).

Only once did He openly proclaim His rightful place as Messiah, and that was during the triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, as we call it now.  It had been written that Israel would not see their messiah until they shouted, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD."  The Pharisees were getting nervous about His popularity and were worried that if He were left alone, that the whole world would go after Him.  They were worried about Job One, which was protecting their turf and influence over the people as their teachers and guides, but they did it out of jealousy and a jaundiced eye, which even Pilate saw at Jesus trial before him.

Jesus had foretold many times of His crucifixion and resurrection, but the disciples were dense and were clueless as to His real identity until they actually witnessed it on Easter morning.  Peter had confessed Him to be the Son of the living God, but this was more of a theoretical interpretation than actual application, though they had worshiped Him on occasion, their basic attitude was, "What manner of man is this?"  He gave signs, according to John's record, that He was God in the flesh, and His miracles were not helter-skelter, nor for personal gain, selfish motive, nor showy.  To prove His identity beyond doubt, there was no biggie miracle that couldn't be denied, and even King Herod thought he'd get a show from Him like He was a clown or magician--but Jesus never did miracles on demand.

The Christian is likewise called to be Christ incognito:  We are His mind to think Christlike thoughts; His heart to love others through; His voice to speak His message of love; His hands through which He can help others.  As St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) has said, "He has no hands but our hands, and no feet but our feet" to help others.  Note that some Christians are known to take this to the extreme and get a messianic complex, which can border on mental illness or delusion. People often pray for Jesus to help them and don't realize that He uses believers to answer prayers and to fill in for Him incognito.

When you've done it for the least of these His brethren, you've done it for Christ; for He said, "I was in prison and you visited Me, I was hungry and you fed me."  We don't want to go to the other extreme and deny that Christ is at work through our brothers and sisters in the Lord, either.  On the one hand people will want to know the gospel according to us, and on the other hand, we don't want to deny that the Lord Himself is at work through His children as vessels of honor: Just as Isaiah 26:12 (NIV) says:  "... [All] that we have accomplished you have done for us." The King James Version renders it:  "[For] thou hast wrought all our works in us."

The point is that not only are we Christ incognito, but we are to serve Christ as if He were incognito and undercover and at large!    We are being renewed in the image of Christ, who is the replica, icon, or express image of God Himself.  Christ is God with skin on, you might say, and we can put the gospel in shoe leather by living it out and making it real to others:  Only when you love the gospel, long to make it known, and desire to live it out, do you actually believe it--it's not a matter of pure acquiescence, intellectual assent, or agreement.  Those who have bowed to Christ are the ones He can use for vessels of honor and complete His mission, whose marching orders are given in the Great Commission--our raison d'etre or reason for being!

Our testimony must be for real, and not a masquerade, sham, nor facade; that is, we cannot be nominal Christians or believers in name only who have a bogus profession and no reality to back it up--there is a contrast between the reality of faith and the profession of faith and viva la difference! We represent Christ in our daily walk and people observe us and judge Him by our testimony and witness.  We are Christ's ambassadors who have authority to speak in His name! "... We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God"  (2 Cor. 5:20, ESV).   When they see Christ in us, it has an impact on the unbeliever, because Christ becomes real to them lived out through us as a testimony that cannot be denied.

We can make Christ real by living up to our testimony and that means walking the walk, not just talking the talk.  When they realize we are Christians they will watch our every step and judge our testimony to see if they are more righteous than us.  But be glad that we have God's stamp of approval and He promises to use us for His glory as vessels of honor and "He leads us in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake."  Remember the words of Paul in Colossians 1:27 saying, "Christ in you, the hope of glory." Finally, Paul says in 2 Cor. 13:5 (ESV, emphasis mine) a word of caution: "Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith.  Test yourselves,.  Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?--unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

As believers, we know that Christ said He'd never leave us nor forsake us and that He'd be with us always, even to the end of the age (cf. Matt. 28:20).  There is the promise that wherever two or three are gathered together in His name, that Christ is present incognito (cf. Matt. 18:20)!  Our spiritual eyes are opened and we see Jesus as present in Spirit.  The eyes of our heart are opened and we are to keep our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith (cf. Hebrews 12:2).   "But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels..."  (Heb. 2:9, ESV, emphasis mine).
Soli Deo Gloria!