Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

Proverbs 4:23

Our thoughts are what determine our success.  It is our thoughts which determine our behaviors, but more than that, it is our thoughts which determine how we feel, and our values.

Beyond the natural, it is also in the realm of our thoughts in which our faith is founded.  We have faith in God’s Word.  Faith in His promise to heal.  And, it is in keeping the realm of our thoughts rooted and grounded in God’s Word that we are able to keep our hearts from doubting what He has told us.  So important are our thoughts that they are, indeed, the realm of our salvation, as it is written, if we confess with our mouth and believe in our hearts that God has raised Him from the dead, we will be saved (Romanbs 10:9).  Our thoughts are what make our lives.

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1 My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you,
2 turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding—
3 indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding,
4 and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure,
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

Proverbs 2:1-5 NIV

It is the heart of a good father to want so see their child learn wisdom.  It is the heart of our Father that we do as well.

The great questions I had growing as a Christian were, how exactly were supposed to live, and why do Christian men do evil when 2 Corinthians 5:17 says it is no longer the nature of a true believer to want to.

As I’ve considered this, I have come to understand that this is indeed what Jesus intended to bring.

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He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” Mark 7:20-23

When we think of the journey towards perfection, we must be advised what Jesus intended.  Today, many have rightly understood the principles of spiritual warfare, the tactics of the enemy, and the authority of the believer.  Using our authority, we can pull down strongholds and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). But, one should consider another aspect of Jesus’ victory, that of His rest.  That is, this is a rest that it is said the children of Israel failed to enter into.  We should endeavor, therefore, not to lay hold of it. Read more…

For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.  Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

1 John 5:4-5

John the Apostle said that the victory that overcomes the world is our faith.  It is the seed the produces the harvest, and as it is planted, it grows, and when it is ripe, it is harvested (Mark 4:26-29).

So, we see, as are sowing good seed into the soil, the Word of the Kingdom, the harvest should be determined upon the quality of the soil (Mark 4:3-9).

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Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

John 14:6

As Truth is a person, so is The Way.  As surely as any understanding of who He was and what He taught could be expressed, it cannot be understood outside of the person of Who He Is, What He Did and Why He Did It.  The Path of Life therefore, as it were, is following Jesus.  For the original twelve apostles, this was through both observing who Him directly, as well as by hearing Him teach.  Today, while we do not see exactly how He lived the words He preached, we have His Spirit within us to guide us into all truth.

But, most assuredly, His Words are to be obeyed.  None of His Words can be fully embraced without the provision of His Spirit, but through Him, and His enabling power, we are able to overcome through faith.

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The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment:

1 Corinthians 2:15 NIV

You see, it is the spiritual man that is free.

According to Paul, he, the spiritual man, judges all things, and yet is judged by no one.

But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.

1 Corinthians 2:15 KJV

He that is spiritual judges.  He that is spiritual is not subject to other men’s judgement.

The man led by the Spirit is not under the law.  He neither looks directly to it for his direction nor does he receive criticism or accusation that he has violated it or has transgressed it.

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That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

1 John 1:1-4 KJV

Jesus came to Earth and spoke concerning the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven.

He uttered secret things, things hidden from the foundation of the World.

He spoke in metaphors, parables, so that the masses might not hear, yet hearing not receive.

He, the Teacher, taught to not be understood?  He was the perfect one, who knew that all righteousness and perfection must be fulfilled, perfectly.

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The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.

Matthew 13:33

Thoughts and beliefs are powerful things.  Jesus said that to look with lust at a woman was to commit adultery, and to be angry at someone without a cause is to murder him.  Ultimately, it is what you think and what you believe that will either deliver you or condemn you to an eternal judgement of hell.

We can tend to look at our actions primarily, in the Christian life, but the unsurrendered self is perhaps the most dangerous weapon against the Kingdom, even as a believer.  Yet one sinner can destroy much good (Ecclesiastes 9:18).

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But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

Matthew 5:22

In Luke 11:20, Jesus said that if He was driving out demons by the finger of God, then the Kingdom had come upon those listening.  While all the other miracles of the Old Testament had been done previously by other prophets, deliverance was unique to the New Covenant, and, by this verse, a distinguishing feature of the Kingdom being present.  Despite a small faction in so call “liberal” theologians that attempt to say different, demons, or evil spirits, are presented as the primary cause for many ailments and behaviors.  The basic difference between a Pharisee and Sadducee was that the Pharisee believed in the resurrection from the dead and evil spirits, while the others did not.  Obviously Jesus believed in evil spirits, because He cast them out of people!

So, the understanding of the role of deliverance in the New Covenant is quite understood.  So much as healing is the children’s bread, and Jesus said this in reference to casting out a demon (Matthew 15:26), this is just as necessary in the Kingdom as healing and salvation is (the Greek word for “salvation” generally indicates all three).  But, where does this leave the place of inner healing in the New Testament?  This was a stumbling block for a while for myself, until it suddenly occurred to me, as deliverance and the miraculous is the apparent half of the gospel, the inner work of the heart is its covered, veiled, or hidden work.  The other “half”.

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But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

Romans 13:14

Every step forward in the gospel is important.  Every lesson learned, every difficulty overcome.  Peter referenced this proverb in his first epistle.

If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?

1 Peter 4:18 (portion)

The higher we go in the Gospel, the deeper in His love, the more opportunities we could have to step off the narrow road.

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