Mind Control part 2
Let's talk about control, and let's talk about obedience. Because it seems to me that that's what we think religion is all about. And maybe that IS what RELIGION is all about... but I don't think that's what GOD is all about. Not the way we think of control and obedience, anyway. Dictionary.com defines "control" as, "to exercise restraint or direction over; dominate; command." And it seems like that's how we view God a lot of the time. He wants to control us. He wants to command something, and we better do it or else. He gives 10 Commandments and we better follow them or we're in big trouble. Isn't it funny though, that Jesus summed up the law and the prophets by saying, "...Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Matthew 22:37-39). He brought it back to it's original purpose: love. One of the purposes of the Law of Moses was to teach us how to love God by loving each other! Romans 13:10 sums it up like this, "Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." The point of the Law wasn't God controlling us in the sense of "do this or else." The point of the Law was to show us HOW to love one another. And to show us that without Jesus we CAN'T love one another. That's why the NEW Commandment is to love one another AS Jesus loves YOU. Receive it and release it. The New Commandment--the New Covenant--is an empowerment. Not an empowerment to keep the letter of the law, per se, but an empowerment to love as we are loved! Which brings me to obedience. Jesus said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15). Again--the New Commandment. To love one another as Jesus loves you. So what is true obedience? Letting God love you! That's the empowerment I'm talking about. The Holy Spirit--our love receptor--is what equips and empowers us to love by testying the truth that we ARE lvoed! It all flows from the source. Love flows from the God that IS love. Our key verse for this Rant series is 2 Corinthians 10:5, "Casting 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." And the word "obedeience" is number 5218 in Strong's Greek Concordance, "attentive hearkening, that is, (by implication) compliance or submission." So what we're NOT doing is we're NOT chasing thoughts. "I had a bad thought! I need to bring it into captivity and change it into a good thought!" That's not obedience. Obedience is attentive hearkening to the Word of God. Hearing what God says to us and about us--and what He says is Jesus, what He says is love--and not worrying about anything else. Controlling our mind by letting the mind of Christ control us. Not in an outward, exterior, "jump through this hoop or I'm going to get mad and punish you" way. But in a, "I love you, and because I love you what else could you do but love me back by loving others" way! The LOVE of Christ controls us. And it controls us by filling us to overflowing with itself. With HIMSELF. The love of Christ controls us when we are obedient to it. When we submit to it. When we accept it. And believe it. And receive it. And release it!