Pro. 4:23Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
For the good of all, let's rightly divide our text.
Keep:
Guard, Hide, To be a watchman over
Heart:
Feelings, intellect, mind, center
Diligence:
Suggest the watch of a prison or ward. ‘With delegated authority keeping certain things in and other things out’
Issues: your deliverances and boundaries
Life:
Strength; age; appetite; company; congregation;
happiness; multiplication; to maintain
quickness; ability to run and spring up;
Your revival; Your ability to give and receive; Your nourishment; Your ability to preserver; to recover, repair, restore, to be whole and to prosper.
We use the Word of God and our faith, so very superficially. When we need to get serious about it. We need to study to show ourselves approved according to II Timothy 2:15 and in doing so, be renewed in the spirit of our minds according to Eph. 4:23.
II Timothy 2:15
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Study:
To use speed; To make effort; to be prompt and earnest; to labor; to make haste; to make it your business;
Rightly dividing:
to take it apart, study it, see how it aligns properly with the life you now live (Spirit life).
Eph 4:23
And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
Renewed:
Reformed; Renovated
Spirit of your Mind:
The rational soul (mind, will emotions), mental disposition (attitudes).
In other words be reformed and renovated through the life you now live in Christ, by the aide and with the help of the Holy Spirit.
You are not alone in this renewal process, but you are key, YOU have to show up and give yourself to the Spirit teacher.
It has been said, “When the student is ready the teacher will come.”
Others have said it like this, “When you are ready the teacher will appear.”
Most people live and die and have never readied themselves (became teachable) for the inward teacher, who at times also comes upon you.
The truth is the Holy Spirit is available, but being one just like Jesus, he is not going to press himself upon you, nor is he going to make you do anything.
He will wait on you.
He will speak to you, attempt to lead you because being like Jesus, his nature is for you. But you must contribute with your own participation.
The Holy Spirit is a teacher, helper, comforter, standby, counselor, intercessory aide, and advocate, but you must do your part. You must ready yourself and learn this life we now live by faith.
You can not just seat back doing things the way you have always done them and expect to excel or move to new levels.
You can’t keep listening to every Tom, Dick and Harry who are living unstable, unproductive, weird and fruity lifestyles. Instead you must be sensitive to the Holy Spirit teacher, and get counsel from those who are godly and making progress both spiritually and naturally.
You have to think differently to move forward in life, no matter what stage you are at. Each day there are ample opportunities to gain knowledge and understanding that will take you to new levels of living and success.
Stay teachable ... be daily transformed!
Joyce Meyer said,
“Your thoughts produce attitudes, and your attitudes will determine your altitude.”
Meaning your thoughts and attitudes will determine your progress and success in every area of life.
A large percent of the time peoples minds are idling … running randomly and undisciplined. They are not focused.
At other times minds are in gear, but that gear is reverse, taking them backwards or into a present collision by gazing at what is past.
And yet at other times the mind is actually consciously kept and directed in present day activity and future day possibilities.
We need to train our human spirit to align with the Holy Spirits lead.
We need to learn to be good students of the Word and Spirit, passing every test that is handed to us; this is the way to promotion.
The beginning of this spiritual education is getting the right things into the mind.
Many people are Sick minded, Devil minded, Poverty minded, Negative minded … so forth. But we are to have the mind of Christ. He did not live in this realm. He was Kingdom minded, making Him, Generous minded, Health minded, Victory Minded, Positive Minded, Love and Peace Minded.
We need to learn how to get our minds stayed; Learn how to focus and stay focused until we obtain the thing we are focusing on. We have to learn to discipline our minds so that we think on things that are honest, just, pure, lovely and offer good reports.
Why?
Because what our minds are stayed on is what we are going to produce.
Not because you have whatsoever you think as an absolute, but as a man thinks he soon becomes … why?
What we think will drop into our center most being and from there we will begin to speak. The Word tells us form the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, and also that death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat the fruit their of … what fruit.
The fruit that is produced by the Seeds that you allow to go down into your mind and take root Once they have taken root, they will branch out of your mouth and turn into visible manifestations.
In other words we say what we think and have what we say. And since we are made in the image and likeness of God … we create within our mind’s eye (we could say from our Spirit eye), and then we bring it to pass through declaration.
Now don’t be deceived you can have most anything you imagine for good or evil … so make your imaginations good ones.
The tower of Babel was a creation that was in manifestation from imaginations actions, but it was evil … and evil will never prevail. So don’t try to use the Word for evil purposes, or you words may become God tangled, and thus your creation be stopped by the greater imagination and word. (if you are unfamiliar with the Tower of Babel you can find it in the book of Genesis chapters 10 and 11).
Another good example is Zachariah’s … John the Baptist Father. When the Lord wanted to bring forth a child through the womb of Elizabeth and name that child John. He knew that Zachariah’s traditional ideas could thwart that plan, therefore Johns tongue was made dumb until Elizabeth gave birth … and once Zachariah sided with the God plan and then His tongue was loosed.
This is actually for us a great promise as we can know that if someone made it to the top so to speak through principle without godly purpose that plan can be thwart through godly manifestations.
I recall a person who left the dark side and came to the light. They had been into witchcraft from many years. They understood prayer, meditation and manifestation. They had experienced in the body out of the body spiritual activity.
The story goes something like this:
We were taught how to leave our bodies and by the Spirit go into places. We could go into a house and find out anything we wanted to know about that place or we could go by the Spirit and hassle people at our desire.
He said, I had done it many times and then would return to my physical body without and opposition. Until one night I decided to go and hassle a Christian that I assumed was like all the others I had met. They had a form of godliness, but denied the power thereof, those kind I could hassle easily and get my way among them. But this night was different. I came face to face with one who knew their God. (The God I know now and serve).
On this night I left my body and traveled in the Spirit to this lady's home. What was amazing where others had not even recognized a Spirit being there ... she recognized me, and when she did she turn and took a spiritual authority that I knew nothing about, and with that authority she bound me and I could not leave and go back to my physical body.
I kept thinking if she does not loose me from this state I will never be able to get back to my physical body again. I will be lost in here this state, so from that Spirit life I made a conscious decision that if I could ever get back into my body I would serve the same God she served. I would take Jesus as my Lord and savior unto good deeds.
It was only at that place I could return to my body. The next day I went to the church that I knew she was part of and gave my life to the Lord. The Spirit realm is real ... but light will always dispel the darkness.
There is one who comes AS and angel of light, but is not true light. That one will never prevail.
He is evil and there is no good in him.
But Jesus is both the truth and the light and in him there is no shadow of turning. There is no ying and yang with him ... he is just yang. He is light in him there is no darkness! Our God is 100% Spirit, 100% Truth, 100% Light.
John 10:30 says:
I and the Father are one … then Jesus prayer in John 17 that we to with them become one.
This can only be done by the Spirit and in the Spirit. When we walk int he Spirit we too can walk in perfect love, light and truth.
One in mind, one in purpose, one in unison. Commanding and creating good.
Lu 11:34
The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness
In order to do this we must not give place to the flesh nature, we must keep our ego and intellect suppressed. Thus we have the scripture Proverbs 3:5-6 … Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
We must learn to never impose our will against God’s best desires and plans for use. We must be open to Him, when producing and creating.
The word manifestations is an interesting word meaning: to bring into demonstration or evidence that can be seen.
I like what someone once said concerning manifestations.
It is man infestation … or we could say man … creating many things into the earth (or his life).
When people use the word 'infestation' they often us it concerning epidemics or large break outs of harmful things. But there can be, and should be infestations of good in the earth.
Deuteronomy 28 says that the blessing should be coming upon us in ‘infestation’ proportion.
Deut. 28:1-2
And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.
This is our promise of manifestations of good.
But if we refuse to get our minds (renewed) and set. If we refuse to do things the God way what could have been blessing instead be a curse.
De 28:15
But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:
This would be infestations (or manifestations) of evil.
Both the good and the evil come form our own choices, and choices come from mindsets.
So it is time for us to get our minds set on good things.
Isa 26:3
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
Mind:
The thought realm, the imagination … the place where things are worked out and things are framed.
Stayed:
Established and resting
So He will keep him in perfect peace whose thoughts and imaginations are established and resting; because they are secure in hope and confidence that they will have what they have been thinking and imagining, as they operate in proper spiritual authority.
Remember nothing that is created was … until it was first in the mind of God or Man and spoken into existence.
Some creations begin and then are aborted because of lost focus. Some are formed within and miscarried and lost. How is that?
People begin to imagine [mentally begin to create], but soon lose focus. Their words drop and the project or what ever their imagination was comes to an end. It is never birthed.
Some things are created and then abandoned. They are created in the mind, manifested in the earth and then there is no maintenance [faithfulness and commitment] to the creation.
People who are not centered (focused / balanced) will often begin things and then never carry them out, or think thinks and imagine things but never but actions with them.
Births of any kind will call or a travail, and then for the responsibility of maintenance. That is part of the God kind of life. And your thoughts and imaginations are a part of it all. The mind is always acting to create and birth. But it also must be trained to create and birth good and then disciplined to maintain what it births (creates).
