Thursday- January 7, 2016
1 Corinthians 13:13 (KJV)
13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
We believe God about His Word (faith) and the hope we find in His Word and then we act in love (charity) which is in a selfless way, obedient to the Word of God, and according to the Blood Covenant of which we are a part through our father Abraham. The faith of Abraham brought Jesus and that brought the redemption and the Blessing back into the earth. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. Faith is the foundation upon which our hope rests and depends. Faith is powered by love. Faith is the only way to please God. And, faith is what gives us victory over the thoughts (ideas), words, and ways of the world. Now, back to Colossians.
Colossians 3:15-16 (KJV)
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
I have been talking about letting the peace of God rule in our hearts and I have defined all the terms except ‘hearts’. We have discovered that choosing the peace of God (Christ) to rule in our hearts is much more than a warm cuddly feeling. The power of the creation, the eternal and infinite power of God is in us, with us and on call as needed in less than a split second. If we keep our mouth shut and not utter our own words the enemy might as well be dealing with God Himself and he knows that is a lost cause. So what is the deal with this word ‘hearts’? Our heart is a part of our spirit man and is in this case a critical part of the mind. Our brain is a physical organ in our physical body and the mind, a spiritual organ, organizes and functions through the physical brain. That is how in the account of the rich man in hell and Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom a clear and intact memory was exhibited by the rich man. The specific Greek word translated hearts here is a portion of the mind that has to do with decision making or if you will, it is the middle man. The middle man part of the mind decides between satisfying the flesh (unrenewed mind and untrained body) or the renewed mind, spirit man, the Word of God. We decide; the information is presented and we decide if it is of God or is of the world. Am I going to accept this into my thinking, my speech, and my ways or am I going to reject it. It may be retained as information but not part of our paradigm. Consider the following.
Philippians 4:6-7 (GW)
6 Never worry about anything. But in every situation let God know what you need in prayers and requests while giving thanks.
7 Then God’s peace, which goes beyond anything we can imagine, will guard your thoughts and emotions through Christ Jesus.
This is absolutely wonderful, compare this to what we studied yesterday, wow. As in the passage from Colossians there are qualifiers for the peace of God to be functional and it is not going our own way in sin. This does not necessarily mean you are robbing banks, or fornicating, it could be that God called you to be an Evangelist and you are a Pastor instead. That is rebellion, disobedience, sin, God says this sin is as witchcraft. In the preceding Philippians passage we are warned not to worry (it is a command). This does not mean, try not to worry, it means; do not worry. Worry is a lack of trust, it is unbelief and will prevent us from entering Gods rest, Gods provision. Like an Ambassador sent from America to a foreign land might call home to tell the President what is needed to do the mission and receives it on the next transport out. Likewise, so do we talk to God about it as led of the Spirit and it is on the next transport out.
Notice that both the passage from Colossians and Philippians command that in the midst of this we must be giving thanks. The giving of thanks is vitally pivotal to our Christian walk. Just as we don’t like and don’t reward our children slouching around the house complaining neither does our Heavenly Father. We give thanks in all things, and for all things, because the thanks brings the victory and triumph, and we are more than conquerors in Him. The answer to who rules my heart is The Word of God.
