Saturday, February 11, 2017

You Don't Have To Be Satisfied With Almost



You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. —Isaiah 26:3

{CHAMBERS} “Is your mind stayed on God or is it starved? Starvation of the mind, caused by neglect, is one of the chief sources of exhaustion and weakness in a servant’s life. If you have never used your mind to place yourself before God, begin to do it now. There is no reason to wait for God to come to you. You must turn your thoughts and your eyes away from the face of idols and look to Him and be saved (see Isaiah 45:22). Your mind is the greatest gift God has given you and it ought to be devoted entirely to Him. You should seek to be “bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ…” (2 Corinthians 10:5). This will be one of the greatest assets of your faith when a time of trial comes, because then your faith and the Spirit of God will work together."

{ELGIN} Imagine that God wanted us to understand how it is that we should live and what we should be careful about lest we are drawn away from our faith walk with Him.  Our minds are bombarded with things that are contrary to our new life in Christ.  Without having the Word of God as our source for Truth and the Spirit of God as our guide, we will most certainly find ourselves up to our necks in our old nature, living like those who are lost and bound for hell.  Living the Christian life requires discipline – focus. It doesn’t “just” happen.  You would not be satisfied with being “mostly saved” (which is the same as being lost) any more than you should be satisfied with living your life “mostly sanctified” (which is the same as being carnal).  The New Testament is replete with admonitions to “keep the course” and not walk in the manner of our former lives. We should be careful about making excuses for carnal thoughts and behavior.  (Philippians 4:8-9)  “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”

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