“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” Luke 6:45
What we think on ultimately produces what we say. What we say generates what we believe – faith. (Faith comes by hearing… Rom 10:17) What we believe leads to works that yield a specific result. In fact, it is our works flowing from faith that bring to completion or fruitfulness that which we believe. If we don’t like the results (the fruit) we are experiencing in our life, we need to reverse engineer the trail, go back to the beginning, (our thoughts) and create a new map that leads purposefully to the destination we desire. (Caveat: It is our individual responsibility to make sure our desires are pleasing to God and not to fulfill the lusts of the flesh)
Every one of us has a treasure in our heart. Jesus said that a good man will have a good treasure in his heart while an evil man will have an evil treasure. When we speak, we draw on that treasure and reveal to the world and the powers of the air what is in us. Things are set in motion and fruit is produced. It has been my personal experience that I seem to have two treasures in my heart. Sometimes good things come out of my mouth and sometimes evil. Would that it were not true! With two treasure chests in our heart, neither is big and we end up planting a mixed harvest of competing crops that often cancel each other out.
James spoke of this reality when he said, “Out of the same mouth proceeds blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.” (Ja 3:10) It makes me echo Paul who said, “O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death?” Leaving no room for doubt, Paul quickly answers his own question… “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom 7:24-25) As Christians we have been given the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:16) which means we can enter into His thought processes, enter into communion with Him in our thoughts and as we marinate our mind in His presence, as we satiate our thoughts with His, an infathomable treasure builds within our earthen vessel, which will in due time produce a bountiful harvest if we faint not.
To be continued…
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“This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; but you shall meditate therein day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success.” (Joshua 1:8) “And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Cor 13:13)
There are three things that more than anything else I know of, seem to determine where we end up in life. They are the things we think on, the words we speak and the actions we take. This is a profound truth and will be the object of much study for me in the months to come.
Each of those three things are choices we make each day and involve a deliberate action. There are three other things that are unseen that also greatly affect the outcome of our life and they loosely parallel, what’s in our mind, what’s in our mouth and what motivates our actions. They are first of all, hope which is an anchor for our soul (Heb 6:19) and in its simplest form is a positive attitude about the present and the future. It arises from the things we think about and the beliefs we choose as a result of those thoughts.
The second unseen parallel is faith. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:13 “We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;” Faith before it runs toward the challenge, speaks. It declares the outcome. This is a big topic for subsequent blogs. Faith however, without works is dead (James 2:17) and thus action always follows. But Galatians 5:6 says that faith works by love. It is motivated and empowered by love and love voluntarily labors. (1 Thess. 1:3)
And what does that labor produce? The harvest of what you think, what you expect and what you say. I will leave that with you for now and look forward to developing these thoughts with you in the weeks ahead. In the meantime, change your thoughts, change your life. Selah.
We read in Numbers 13 and 14 a most disturbing story. It’s about “seeing.” Moses had sent twelve spies into the Promised Land and they all saw the same thing with their physical eyes. But with their spiritual eyes, they saw something completely different. Ten of the men saw land that “eats its inhabitants.” Those that weren’t eaten, were of great stature and those that weren’t of great stature were even bigger! They were giants! The ten men saw themselves as grasshoppers by comparison. Can you hear the exaggeration? Land that eats its inhabitants? Grasshoppers by comparison?
The children of Israel listened to the bad report and immediately they wanted to go back into slavery where Pharaoh hated them as did all Egyptians and where they were treated with great cruelty and they began to pick a new leader who would take them back and negotiate something with Egypt! Can you imagine?
But what did Joshua and Caleb see? When they looked at the giants, they saw bread! Provision! They say fields that were already planted, houses that were already built, barns that were already full. They were excited and knew that if God delighted in them, He would bring them into a land that flows with milk and honey. The only condition was to not rebel against the Lord. Apparently that was too much and they rebelled. What form was that rebellion? It was simply unbelief. God let them die in the wilderness, never entering into the promise He had for them.
So my question to you today is, what do you see? Are you seeing God’s perspective or the enemies’ vision? Are you going to believe God or your lying eyes? Yes, sometimes your eyes will deceive you. Here’s a clue… whenever you are faced with an adversity, wait on God until He shows you the opportunity. Then believe God and secure your opportunity. Have a blessed day my friends.
I listened to a man named Mickey Robinson share how he came to know God. He was killed in a plane accident and saw Hell and then Heaven. His story is gripping and compelling and well worth the nearly ten minutes it will take you to watch this video. One of the things about his story that helped me was how in an instant he knew things. There was no “one hour study class.” There were no hindering, cumbersome words. There was just a knowing. And it was instantaneous. He saw and he knew - all at once.
Here’s the good news, you don’t have to die to experience that. God causes me to “see” things in an instant. It’s more like a flash. Often times a single picture flashes in my mind and I instantly know why He showed me the picture, what it means and how to explain it to someone else. When I try to share that flash of revelation with others it may take several minutes to communicate what I caught in a flash of light.
I think of it as a better way of seeing. It’s something I didn’t use to have at my disposal. As I seek Him daily, I find I get more flashes, and more little movie clips that play in my mind to teach me eternal truths that greatly help me and I in turn pass them on to you. Many of those flashes teach me business lessons or solve problems that I’ve been struggling with for too long. I thought this video might awaken a desire to see what you would otherwise miss. Give yourself a treat today and watch this nearly ten minute video, then pass it on to your friends and loved ones to see.
“The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what is the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his mighty power….” (Eph 1:18, 19)
You have two sets of eyes. Your physical eyes allow you to see the physical world but your spiritual eyes allow you to understand it. Paul calls them “eyes of understanding” and they allow you to “see” the great hope of His calling on your life. That is to say, they allow you to understand the mountain of hope that comes with the great calling He has for you. Think of the hope you would feel if a team from the NBA or NFL came to your high school and said they wanted you to play for them when you graduate. Or perhaps the New York Philharmonic Orchestra or a major book publisher approached you to tap your talent. Imagine the great hope that comes to a young person in a situation like that! The calling God has for each one of us is like that, but even better.
Spiritual eyes allow you to see the hope that your calling brings. But with calling comes the question, “How?” When you see the fullness of what God has called you to, you will definitely wonder how getting that done will be possible. If you don’t have that question, you may still be looking at your own idea for your calling. So Paul prays secondly, that we would see not only the hope of that great calling on our lives but also the provision to bring it to pass. I am speaking of the glorious wealth of inheritance He deposited in us to get the job done. God has deposited His Spirit in you and with that everything you need for life and godliness. He has uniquely gifted you to fulfill a magnificent destiny if you would but have eyes to see not only the destiny but also the inheritance within to get the job done.
Thirdly, Paul knows I suspect, that people will struggle to accept that there is any good thing in them, but he speaks not of the flesh in which dwells no good thing, but of the spirit. So Paul prays a third thing, that your spiritual eyes would see not only the hope of your calling and the inheritance He deposited within you, but also the exceeding greatness of His power toward those who believe. Ahh… there’s the caveat… to those who believe. But when you begin to see with your spiritual eyes as Paul prayed, hope builds, faith comes, power is released and destinies are fulfilled.
I still have more to share about “seeing” with our spiritual eyes, but a good starting point is right here where Paul prayed. Ask the Lord to reveal to you more of the calling He has for you. Many of you feel you know that, but ask God for more details, more imagery, more vision. Spend time with Him on that for it will build hope. Then ask Him to help you see His inheritance within you. What has He put in you? What does that look like? He will reveal it. Then ask Him to reveal afresh to you His exceeding power and let belief spring up in you.
