More Flip Calendar Wisdom

So, Brianne and I must be related ... I too felt compelled to share as I caught up on a week's worth of flippage from the calendar that sits on my desk. It is based on John Ortberg's book, God Is Closer Than You Think.

Each thought we have carries with it a little spiritual power, a tug toward or away from God. No thought is purely neutral. Every thought is either enabling and strengthening you to be able to cope with reality to live a kingdom kind of life, or robbing you of that life.

Every thought is - at least to a small extent - God-breathed or God-avoidant; leading to death or leading to life.

The kind of thoughts that come from God are those in line with the fruit of the Spirit; they move us toward love and joy and peace and patience. And we will learn that there are other thoughts that are not likely to be God speaking. For instance, nowhere in the Bible does it say, "And then God worried." So I can be quite confident that thoughts that move me toward a paralyzed anxiety are not from God.

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

God is gracious to communicate to us even at the point of our immaturity in a way that we can understand. John Calvin has a beautiful metaphor for this: "For who is so devoid of intellect as not to understand that God, in so speaking, lisps with us as nurses are wont to do with little children?... In doing so, he must, of course, stoop far below his proper height. God stoops. God lisps."

Our job is to be ruthless about saying yes when we believe God is speaking to us. Every time we do, we will get a little more sensitive to hearing him the next time. Our mind becomes a little more receptive, a little more tuned in to God's channel. On the other hand, when we say "no, ..." we make ourselves a little less likely to hear him in the future. (YIKES!)

The natural tendency of my mind apart from God is toward death, not life (SO TRUE) ... When people are alone, undistracted by noise or activity, their minds naturally drift toward an awareness of discontentment, a sense of inadequacy, anxiety about the future, and a chronic sense of self-preoccupation ... This is why people generally flee from solitude ... But God never desires that our minds be filled with despair or tormented by unsatisfied longings. God's desire is for us to have a mind permeated by life-giving thoughts.

Colossians 3:1-3 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

Wow. Kind of overwhelming when I think about how private and comforting my thoughts are. That is my place to really express how I feel ... most of the time ... sometimes I don't want to face some of my fears, or the truth about the lies I've been believing, or the bitterness or hurt I've been holding on to ... but it is also the place where I can really let it all hang out, so to speak. Think about things that I wouldn't verbalize or share. But John O is saying that the seemingly insignifcant thoughts will either be for God or against God. Powerful.

I skipped (or flipped) ahead to the tomorrow and this is what I read, which gave me some relief (because I was going to pull on my boxing gloves and work my thought-life out all by myself again ...)

Paul wrote to the church at Rome for people to "be transformed by the renewing of your minds" (Romans 12:2). He doesn't say "transform yourselves by renewing your minds." Only God can change a mind. This explains why Paul wrote to Timothy that God has "not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7). When God is present in a mind, it begins to flow with a new kind of thought.

I keep flipping ahead to see exactly how to make sure God is present in my mind, b/c I need a how-to book on these things. God's Presence for Dummies, or something. I couldn't find an equation or a step-by-step list, so I'm just praying that He is more present in my mind than He was 15 minutes ago.


See you Tuesday night!