Where your thoughts are...your heart is also.
The great test of your soul’s health is this: “What do you think about the Christ?” To your mind, is He “the most excellent of men” (Psalm 45:2)? “Outstanding among ten thousand” (Song of Solomon 5:10)? “Desirable in every way” (Song of Solomon 5:16 NLT)? Wherever Christ is esteemed like that, all the faculties of the spiritual person exercise themselves with energy. I will judge your devotion by this barometer: Does Christ stand high or low with you? If you think infrequently of Christ, if you have been content to live without His presence, if you have cared little for His honor, if you have neglected His laws, then I know that your soul is sick—may God keep it from dying! But if your spirit’s primary thought has been how it can honor Jesus, if the daily desire of your soul has been that you might find Him, I say that even if you have a thousand weaknesses and hardly know if you are a child of God at all, you are safe beyond doubt since Jesus is great in your esteem. I don’t care about your ragged clothes—what do you think of His royal apparel? I don’t care about your wounds, even though they bleed in torrents—what do you think of His wounds? Are they like glittering rubies in your esteem? I won’t think less of you if you lie like Lazarus on a dunghill with dogs licking your sores (see Luke 6:19–31)—I don’t judge you by your poverty. The important question is this: What do you think of the King in His beauty? Does He have a glorious, high throne in your heart? Would you lift Him even higher if you could? Would you be willing to die, if by dying you could add one more trumpet to the fanfare that proclaims His praise? Ah, then all is well with you. It doesn’t matter what you might think of yourself. If Christ is great in your mind, you will be with Him soon enough. Though all the world my choice deride, Yet Jesus shall my portion be; For I am pleased with none beside, The fairest of the fair is he. “Though All the World My Choice Deride,” Gerhard Tersteegen (18th century) - C.H. Spurgeon Morning and Evening
Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.”
John 4:34
The disciples were often preoccupied with how to meet their physical needs (Matt. 14:15–17; John 4:8; Luke 18:28). Jesus repeatedly assured them that the Father knew their needs and would provide (Luke 11:11–13).
When Jesus spoke to the woman at the well, His disciples had gone into a nearby town to get food. While His disciples were seeking earthly nourishment, Jesus was giving this woman “living water” that would satisfy her soul for eternity. When they returned, the disciples urged Jesus to eat. He replied that His “food” was to do the will of His Father. Since their attention was on earthly matters, His disciples misunderstood His reply. Jesus’ very life came from obeying His Father. Because of Jesus’ obedience that day, the woman received eternal life. In her excitement, she brought many others to Jesus to hear for themselves, and many believed that He was indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world (John 4:39–42).
The apostle Paul understood what Jesus had been teaching His disciples. When Paul wrote to the believers in Rome, he stressed that “the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men” (Rom. 14:17–18).
When Satan tempted Jesus to turn stones into bread, Jesus quoted the Scriptures, summarizing the focus of His life and ministry: “Know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord” (Deut. 8:3). - Blackaby Experiencing God Day by Day
It's interesting when God brings several people together in harmony at a random time in history.
Where are your thoughts this day? Consumed with worrying? Consumed with making money? Consumed with _________.
Fill in the blank. We can all be consumed by things of this world. Cleaning. Organizing. Sorting. Impressing people. Meeting people. Staying away from people or situations. Suffice to say Satan is very thorough in how to keep the human mind preoccupied with anything other than Christ. He's had centuries to perfect his craft.
To keep people in a state of mind that keeps them from considering the Word of God, from hearing about Salvation is his goal. Some, have no clue on how deeply they have been played. Played? Yes. Played. Manipulation is Satan's art. It's his biggest thrill is to manipulate people away from God. Just as all Heaven celebrates when one person comes to Christ, all of the demons of this world celebrate when he thinks he's won. Notice, clearly, that I didn't say all Hell celebrates. Satan has never been to Hell. He has to visit Heaven every day but Hell is a place even He doesn't want to be. It's, of all things, proof of God's judgment being real. So get that image of a red guy with horns, sitting on a flaming throne out of your head. That's never been the case. Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. He goes around looking like one of the good guys.
More importantly is you and your thoughts. Where you take you when you're in this world. He wants you thinking of anything else but Jesus. He will fight till the very end of the Bible to try to keep people from getting saved. To do so means instigating worry, fear, illness, anger, strife. Everything he can to take a mind away from God. One one side of the coin it's because he has lost but refuses to acknowledge the words of Jesus when He said "It is FINISHED!". The other side of the coin is he is more than willing to take every single person he can with him as he goes down. In the final stages of the book of Revelation people who were as numerous as the sand on the seashore, who lived 1,000 years with Jesus Himself as their world Ruler - and all the benefits therein- , will join Satan in one last revolt against Jesus. People, who for a thousand years knew the love of God, will turn on Jesus.
Right now this world is turning on Jesus.
Corruption in all levels of government and social media are showing the blind world that they side with Satan...and they can't see it.
They revel in their sin. They rejoice in their sin and reject anything and anyone who tells them that their life of sin is taking them to Hell.
For all who 'preach' that alternative lifestyles are acceptable to God, that there's a place for them in Heaven, I direct you to the end of the book of Revelation, Chapter 21. "The one who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. But for the cowardly, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and sexually immoral persons, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
God defines a marriage as being between a husband and a wife. A man and a woman. Only. All other lifestyles outside of that are described by God as sexual immorality. All.
Look at who all is described. These are the people who rejected Jesus as their Lord and Savior. These people lived for themselves in every sense of the word.
Both Spurgeon and Blackaby in their respective books, have strived to beg their readers to KNOW that they are saved. To be saved is to acknowledge that you need a Savior. To ask Jesus to forgive you. To repent and turn AWAY from sin. Not staying in it. The focus of our day should not be only about ourselves if we are in Christ.
Let's go one more step.
Where does your mouth say you are with Christ?
Are you using language as an excuse to keep a hold of your sin? Oh don't give me that excuse about it being an unbreakable habit. You swear at all and you give Satan a reason to celebrate.
Where is your heart and mind during your day? Do you at all think of Jesus outside of before eating and Sunday or Wednesday? Is He at all the one friend you have that knows you better than you?
As this year ends, look at where your heart and mind have been. If it's only been on sports, worries, anger, stress and anxiety, it's time to get back to Jesus.
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