Bible Circle No.3_A Tale of Two Minds.

 

I think many of us got “the message” growing up that when you get old enough the church expects you to get “confirmed”/ baptised/… drycleaned, as a sign of “accepting Christ into your life”. You then get on with ….. your life. What they forget to tell you is Jesus does not want to be a part of your life. Jesus wants to BE your life. Sadly, for many, life after baptism is not a whole lot different to life before baptism. Except now you have that all important church “passport”, a baptismal “certificate”, that validates you as an offering paying member of the church.

It was only after coming across Romans 12:2 that I began to understand the completeness of the transformation that comes with being born again - by the Spirit of God. That it it begins with the willingness to allow a total…. “Rebirth of the mind”. Not an add on to the life we had, but the beginning of a new life altogether. …. A totally new way of thinking.

“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

(Romans 12:2, AV)

But it did always puzzle me why a renewing of the mind in Christ results in us not conforming with the world. What is the radical difference between even those “good”, kind and thoughtful people of the world and those whose minds have been renewed in Christ?

The truth is we live in two different “realities” and what seems reasonable and logical and “right” in one seems unreasonable, illogical and not “right” in the other. What seems “wise” and responsible in one seems unwise and irresponsible in the other.

The problem is only one of those realities is true reality. The other one is only an illusion.

The world we were first born into conforms to a reality in which the existence or non-existence of God is nothing more than a personal faith/lifestyle choice. A thing of myths and legends, beliefs and “religion”, and nothing to do with the actual reality we live in. Reality/“the natural world” is what “so called” (atheist) science deals with and in which nothing is allowed to be attributable to God and everything must ultimately be attributed to nothing but chance. An illusion of reality in which everything goes on as it always (supposedly) has. A “uniformitarian” reality in which things slowly, uniformly, and steadily change and evolve over very long periods of time by an ongoing and endless series of chance events. A reality in which mankind moves steadily ever forward and upward as its scientific heroes progressively gain mastery over and take control away from its creator and ruler …. Chance.

The idea we live in an intelligently designed and created and controlled reality, that the Lord has already destroyed the Earth once before because of its descent into evilness and will do it again is anathema to this illusion of reality the world has created for itself despite even the very rocks and archaeological remains of Earth bearing overwhelming witness of what has happened. This is the worldview of the scoffer spoken about in the Bible:-

“Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:”

(2Peter 3:3-6, AV)

But to conform to the world, and its way of thinking, demands conformity to a lifestyle and “investment strategy” deemed compatible with this world’s illusion of reality and resulting sense of values (or lack of values).

However the mind renewed/reborn in Christ is under no such illusion. In Christ our eyes are opened to the true nature of the reality about us. The reality (aka truth) we actually live in. The only one the Lord has created, not one of many. The Lord created (and controls) a universe. It is atheism that “imagineered” a “multiverse” (and a “multi-truth”).

But life is somewhat like investing in the stock-market. The wise mind invests itself in that which it perceives will have value ….. in the future. It does not invest in that which has no future. It invests in value that will be in the future and in that which can be saved for the future.

Having our eyes opened to the actual reality we live in and its future, begs an important question. Peter was the first to ask it:-

“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,”

(2Peter 3:10-11, AV)

This Earth and its environment will not be saved, buildings and houses will not be saved. Cars, money and even churches will not be saved (no church organisation will ever stand before the judgment seat of Christ, only the individuals that were in it will have to give account of their own individual actions). Reputations and jobs will not be saved, nations and governments will not be saved. Even our printed and electronic copies of the Bible itself will not be saved (that is why He has written it in our very hearts).

In “business speak” all these things may be necessary “operating expenses” from time to time while we are in this world but they have no investment value. They are counted as losses not assets, and at the close of business …. are written off. A wise businessman tries to keep operating expenses to the minimum necessary and investments to the maximum possible.

So what will be saved? Souls, only souls will be saved. And then only those who do the will of Their Father in Heaven:-

“21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”

(Matthew 7:21, AV)

Everything else in, and of, this world – perishes and becomes nothing!

So to paraphrase Peter, given that the mind renewed in Christ understands the true nature, and future, of the reality we live in ….. what manner of “investors” ought we conform to? In what should we be investing our time, our energies, …. our lives?

DJ Ludlow Nov 2022

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Circles In My Bible No.2

 

The ink is actually still wet on this second circle in my bible as the “aha” moment came just the other day in my daily “quiet time” reading. (These won’t be in the order I circled them because many have been circled for a very long time and I have no idea when I did it). I have read Ezekiel several times now but this time around I noticed something I missed every other time. (Which is why it is important that exploring the Bible always must involve retracing your steps time and again with older and wiser eyes.)

It is very easy to fall into the trap of thinking these great prophets and men of God we read about in the Bible have always been regarded as great prophets and men of God. But the truth is at the time very few of them were. Many, like Jeremiah were considered traitors and cowards (Jeremiah was preaching surrender and go quietly into captivity when all the false prophets were regaling the king with promises of victory and how God will defend them and fight for them.) Many were hunted and hiding in caves and foreign countries from those not happy with their prophesies and their words from God.

And others, like Ezekiel it seems, were considered “light entertainment” and not to be taken too seriously. Apparently only later when all his prophesies indeed came to pass would Israel come to know a true prophet of God had been among them:-

Ezekiel 33:30-33

30 “As for you, son of man, your people are talking together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, saying to each other, ‘Come and hear the message that has come from the Lord.’ 31 My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to hear your words, but they do not put them into practice. Their mouths speak of love, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. 32 Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice. 33 “When all this comes true—and it surely will—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”

So what are we to take away from all of this. My own “aha” was that ministry and serving God is not measured by its “success”, its popularity, its “credibility”, its ability to make and keep everybody happy, its profitability, its “sustainability”, etc. These are how the world measures “success”.

Indeed the moment we make “outcomes” the goal of our ministry and service to God we have taken our eyes off the very purpose and reason for our ministry. Our purpose and ministry is always to simply serve the Lord by doing His will and obeying that which He has commanded just as Ezekiel and the other great men of God have always done. This is what a good and faithful servant does. This is what a loving and obedient son or daughter does.

A servant is not above their master. “Outcomes” are whatever the master seeks or intends when instructing his servants. For the servant however, the only measure of success is “have I done what my master has asked of me?”

The good and faithful servant who is obedient but not always successful, honours and glorifies their master by their obedience. The servant who is successful but not obedient honours and glorifies only themselves by their outward appearance of being successful. But as servants they are condemned by their master for their disobedience and disregard of his commands and instructions. For it was HIS will that was not done.

D.J. Ludlow

Provided it is done freely and without charge
"Circles In My Bible No2" may be copied, used and distributed
(in its entirety only, including this notice)
by brothers and sisters in Christ
to the profit and glory of The Lord alone (ttpagoTLa)
By special permission of
D.J. Ludlow copyright 2022

#smallgiftsministries #ttpagoTLa