Mind Over Matter part 3
Love is all powerful. Which doesn't mean MOST powerful, but means, has ALL the power. There is NO other power. When God arises, His enemies are scattered. When the light shines, the darkness flees. Now watch this: "And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled" (Colossians 1:21). Did you catch that? We were God's enemies... in our minds. We THOUGHT we were His enemies. When really He had sworn to never leave us nor forsake us. So we were never REALLY His enemies at all. And when He arose, when He gave us the mind of Christ, when He reconciled us back to Himself, that's when that guilty conscience mindset scattered. That old man, selfish, beast nature that died on the cross--and, individually, in the watery grave of baptism. And when we received that second death--people always say, "Jesus died so I could live," but really Jesus died so we could DIE. And then He rose again so we could live in Him, as He lives in us--when we received that second death we also received that abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life. On the cross Jesus remade the world in His image. The Messianic rebirth of the world. The consuming fire that is love consumed everything except itself--Himself. Which is to say only love remains. Which is to say... all this stuff we get so wrapped up in doesn't need our time of day. We don't need to let things get into us. We don't need to give power to things that don't have any power. We don't have to believe the lie... because we know the truth. And the truth has set us free and made us free. The ultimate truth of the universe that says, "The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand" (John 3:35). The truth that God is love and He loves you. That's our foundation stone that we build everything else on top of. That's the Rock that we stand on so that WHEN the storm comes... we will not be shaken. I always say it like this: If God is holding you up--and He is--nothing can bring you down. And even if you do lose sight of what's really important, like Peter when he was walking on water and then started to drown, Jesus is always right there to save you. LOVE is always right there to save you. But I think the point I'm trying to make is: We don't need to let ourselves get to that point. We can save ourselves a lot of trouble, and effort, and heartache, by starting at the start. Using prayer as first choice and not last chance. By comitting our ways to the Lord and letting HIM do what He wants to do with it. Letting love lead the way. Following our hearts. Trusting our guts. Knowing and believing that we are loved, and loving each other with that love. I'm telling you, if you don't mind... it don't matter. So set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. Stop getting caught up with what's going on outside of you and start focusing on what's INSIDE you. The LOVE inside you. And then let that love out. USE the mind of Christ that you've been given. Think love first, last, and always. Look for opportunites to love instead of things to complain about. Look for people to love instead of always trying to protect yourself. Don't close your heart down. Keep it open. Because love is what matters!