Touch

The largest organ of our bodies is the skin covering about 21 square feet of the average adult body and weighing 9 pounds with more than 11 miles of blood vessels. Our skin sheds 50,000 cells every minute and humans are responsible for about a billion tons of dust (dead skin) in the atmosphere. God’s creative work helps us “feel” the world around us. Receptors enable us to feel and react to pain and to touch. A study conducted in the 1940’s of 26 children in an orphanage proved the value of touch. Removed from human touch as infants, there development was significantly derailed in that at the age of one they were less curious, less playful, and more subject to infections. By the age of 3, only 2 of the 26 children could walk and manage a few words (http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/capsules/histoire_bleu06.html).

 

When we ourselves or someone we know is hurting, our first response is to touch. Doctors and Nurses know the value of touch. First responders know the value of touch, often employing touch as a technique to calm and soothe pain, confusion, and agony. Teachers know the value with a student who is not listening or causing a disturbance by simply touching their shoulder often draws their attention back into order. When a loved one dies, or is involved in a tragic accident, family gathers and touches. When a child scrapes their knee parents console with touch. Customarily, when we meet one another we shake hands or hug. Even for those who struggle with touch, often resort to fist bumps as an acceptable form of touch.

 

God touches us all. Adam was not just acquainted with fellowship with God, but God actually touched him. When God formed man in Genesis 2:7 the word “formed” in Hebrew is “yatsar” which means to mold into a form much like a potter. God’s hands reached down, touched Adam, and formed him with love and care. In Genesis 2:22, God made Eve and the Hebrew word for “made” is “banah,” which means to build. Therefore, men are Biblically correct when they say, “She’s built!” Oh, I digress. God too touched her. We see in Jeremiah 1:5 that God forms and touches babies in the womb utilizing the same Hebrew word found in Genesis 2. There is a deep longing within the heart of man to feel the touch of God again in their lives. Nothing can satisfy the heart of man until they are experiencing the touch of God in their lives. When man separates himself from the touch of God, man is lost. Sin separates us from the touch of God. Have you experienced the touch of God again in your life recently? Do you experience His touch daily? You can! Where are you? Do you recognize your lost state? You may need to just get in His presence today and feel God’s touch.

 

Then the word of the Lord came to me [Jeremiah], saying, Before I formed you in the womb I knew [and] approved of you [as My chosen instrument], and before you were born I separated and set you apart, consecrating you; [and] I appointed you as a prophet to the nations. (Jeremiah 1:4-5 (AMP)

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Touch

The largest organ of our bodies is the skin covering about 21 square feet of the average adult body and weighing 9 pounds with more than 11 miles of blood vessels. Our skin sheds 50,000 cells every minute and humans are responsible for about a billion tons of dust (dead skin) in the atmosphere. God’s creative work helps us “feel” the world around us. Receptors enable us to feel and react to pain and to touch. A study conducted in the 1940’s of 26 children in an orphanage proved the value of touch. Removed from human touch as infants, there development was significantly derailed in that at the age of one they were less curious, less playful, and more subject to infections. By the age of 3, only 2 of the 26 children could walk and manage a few words (http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/capsules/histoire_bleu06.html).

When we ourselves or someone we know is hurting, our first response is to touch. Doctors and Nurses know the value of touch. First responders know the value of touch, often employing touch as a technique to calm and soothe pain, confusion, and agony. Teachers know the value with a student who is not listening or causing a disturbance by simply touching their shoulder often draws their attention back into order. When a loved one dies, or is involved in a tragic accident, family gathers and touches. When a child scrapes their knee parents console with touch. Customarily, when we meet one another we shake hands or hug. Even for those who struggle with touch, often resort to fist bumps as an acceptable form of touch.

God touches us all. Adam was not just acquainted with fellowship with God, but God actually touched him. When God formed man in Genesis 2:7 the word “formed” in Hebrew is “yatsar” which means to mold into a form much like a potter. God’s hands reached down, touched Adam, and formed him with love and care. In Genesis 2:22, God made Eve and the Hebrew word for “made” is “banah,” which means to build. Therefore, men are Biblically correct when they say, “She’s built!” Oh, I digress. God too touched her. We see in Jeremiah 1:5 that God forms and touches babies in the womb utilizing the same Hebrew word found in Genesis 2. You were touched by the hands of God when you were conceived in the womb of your mother. There is a deep longing within the heart of man to feel the touch of God again in their lives. Nothing can satisfy the heart of man until they are experiencing the touch of God in their lives, again. When man separates himself from the touch of God, man is lost. Sin separates us from the touch of God. Have you experienced the touch of God again in your life recently? Do you experience His touch daily? You can! Where are you? Do you recognize your lost state? You may need to just get in His presence today and feel God’s touch.

Then the word of the Lord came to me [Jeremiah], saying, Before I formed you in the womb I knew [and] approved of you [as My chosen instrument], and before you were born I separated and set you apart, consecrating you; [and] I appointed you as a prophet to the nations. (Jeremiah 1:4-5 (AMP)

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Earth Day Wisdom

Earth Day was this week and for many this is promoting man's wisdom above the wisdom of God. While we are called to be good stewards, this celebration was created with the mindset that man is in control of his own destiny and denies the existence of a sovereign God who is in control of the Universe's continuance. In Job chapter 38, God enters the scene and begins taking Job to task for his prolonged grief and loss. I hope to never be found having to answer God on questions like these. I only want to be found as that good and faithful servant. Today, trust that God is sovereign and has everything in his purview regarding your life. Wisdom is to trust God. 

Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Declare to Me, if you have and know understanding. Who determined the measures of the earth, if you know? Or who stretched the measuring line upon it? Upon what were the foundations of it fastened, or who laid its cornerstone, (Job 38:4-6 AMP)

In Job 38:36, we begin to see that God is the spring from which all wisdom comes. Our rational souls are a result of a creative God. If we can examine how great God is by the vastness of the universe and all it holds and displays, can we also embrace the complexity of man and his inner parts? Man has placed the telescopes, sent probes to other planets and into space, and even landed on the moon, yet he has only discovered at most a thimble full of what God has created. Man has studied genetics, their order, and make up, yet he has only examined a minute portion of the human body. Man has tried to explore the depths of the soul, but can find no inner peace in all his knowledge without embracing a living, creative God! From the micro to the macro, man has yet to discover the end of God's creative work and he never will. 

It is only when we align our souls with the creator God that we begin to understand how weak we are. Can we pretend to be wiser than God? We were not designed to govern the universe and all that is within it. We struggle just to govern our lives. We were designed to worship the creator, to praise Him for all He has done for us, to recognize our dependence on Him and Him alone. Lately, it is only tragedy and world disasters that drive men to their knees and humbles their hearts to search for understanding and hope. It is at these times that we must be ready to introduce a living, creative God. Praise God for His mighty works. Declare His goodness. Humble yourself and exalt God to His rightful place in the earth and in your life. 

Moses and Aaron visit Pharaoh with this message from God, "How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me?" God, demonstrating His power used the things He had created to address the defiance of Pharaoh. Pharaoh did not understand the the earth is the Lord's and everything that is in it (Psalms 24:1). "By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible" (Hebrews 11:3, ESV).  Wisdom is to humble yourself and by faith trust the Living God. Again, praise God for His mighty works. Declare His goodness. Humble yourself and exalt God to His rightful place in the earth and in your life. 

So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, and said to him, Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may serve Me.  (Exodus 10:3 AMP)

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Shifting Sands

Through Him, therefore, let us constantly and at all times offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of lips that thankfully acknowledge and confess and glorify His name. (Hebrews 13:15, AMPC)

 

In the closing statements of the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 7, Jesus provides wisdom for consideration. Governing obedience is not by what we say, but by what we do. The Sermon on the Mount is the longest recorded sermon given by our Lord covering chapters 5-7 in the book of Matthew. In it, we find these lessons or stories, which cover a number of topics familiar to most Christians:

·        Beatitudes,

·        Salt and Light,

·        the Fulfillment of the Law,

·        Murder,

·        Adultery,

·        Divorce,

·        Oaths,

·        Eye for Eye,

·        Love Your Enemies,

·        Giving to the Needy,

·        Prayer (The Lord’s Prayer),

·        Fasting,

·        Treasures in Heaven,

·        Do Not Worry,

·        Judging Others,

·        Ask-Seek-Knock,

·        the Narrow and Wide Gates,

·        True and False Prophets,

·        True and False Disciples,

·        the Wise and Foolish Builder

The closing topic is the Wise and Foolish Builder (Matthew 7:24-27). Any house will fall if the foundation is not secure. Our founding fathers knew that our nation needed a proven and true foundation. Examining their own lives they chose one containing laws not formulated by men, but by the Creator of all. A foundation of truth that stood the test of time and quieted the fears of men. They chose Judeo-Christian values written in the Word of God, the Bible.

 

What portion of our economy represents the managing unrighteousness? We have seen exponential growth in the last 50 years. Many attribute this to the change of our school systems with the removal of the Bible; however, the real failure is lack of instruction given from the Bible in our homes. If we are truly a nation governed by the people, then the unrighteousness that exists in us is prevalent in our society. Legislation utilizing the Bible alone is insufficient. Peoples’ hearts need to change. Sacrifices are required for the lack of obedience (I Samuel 15:22). Had Adam and Eve never sinned in the garden, Christ would not have had to die on the Cross.

 

We need our nation called to a sacrifice of praise yielding revival in the hearts of men. The foundation of our nation is now on shifting sand because of our disobedience to God’s Word. A revival is necessary to secure our foundation again on God, Christ, and the Word of God.

 

So everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts upon them [obeying them] will be like a sensible (prudent, practical, wise) man who built his house upon the rock. And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not do them will be like a stupid (foolish) man who built his house upon the sand. And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great and complete was the fall of it. (Matthew 7:24-27, AMPC)

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Faith Filled Thinking

But solid food is for full-grown men, for those whose senses and mental faculties are trained by practice to discriminate and distinguish between what is morally good and noble and what is evil and contrary either to divine or human law. (Hebrews 5:14, AMPC)

Identify, reject, and replace falsehoods with biblical truth is the constant work for our mind to remain on Christ. We must watch “self-talk.” Do you realize what that means? The main trouble with thoughts is that we allow our self to talk to us instead of taking control of our thoughts. Wisdom is control your thought life. Most unhappiness in life is due to “self-talk.” Take captive those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning. Yesterday's trouble has a way of reminding us of our defeats the next morning. Some thought will start talking. Who is talking to you? Your self is talking to you. What did King David do? He starts talking to himself in Psalm 42:5. ‘Why art thou cast down, O my soul?’ he asks. His soul had been depressing him, crushing him. Therefore, he stands up and says, ‘Self, listen for moment, I will speak to you’.  

The main issue for spiritual living is to take control of your thoughts and the self-talk it produces. David Addressed himself. You must address yourself and remind yourself of the Word of God. Use Scripture:  ‘Why are you cast down’  once you have identified the thought you must reject and replace it like David did: ‘Hope you in God’(Psalm 42:5). Replace those thoughts with God's thoughts toward you and how God responded to others in the Bible. Resist what the world or the devil wants you to believe. David responded, I “wait expectantly for Him, for I shall yet praise Him, my Help and my God.”

Sometimes, when we are blind to our own thinking, fellowship with other believers can correct or lead us to proper beliefs and self-talk. Our thought life produces an atmosphere from which comes the making of our decisions. Examine the atmosphere that formulate the basis of your decisions. Is it faith filled or worldly filled with doubt and unbelief? Our thoughts produce an atmosphere from which comes our choices. Romans 1:21 calls this atmosphere "darkened thinking" or "darkened understanding." Turn on the light and come out of those darkened places. Allow God’s Word, His thoughts towards you, and His purpose for you shine in those darkened areas of thought.

 So today, do not be cast down oh soul, but hope you in God!

Why are you cast down, O my inner self? And why should you moan over me and be disquieted within me? Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall yet praise Him, my Help and my God. (Psalm 42:5, AMPC)

Because when they knew and recognized Him as God, they did not honor and glorify Him as God or give Him thanks. But instead they became futile and godless in their thinking [with vain imaginings, foolish reasoning, and stupid speculations] and their senseless minds were darkened. (Romans 1:21, AMPC)

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Saturated Mind

Let the word [spoken by] Christ (the Messiah) have its home [in your hearts and minds] and dwell in you in [all its] richness, as you teach and admonish and train one another in all insight and intelligence and wisdom [in spiritual things, and as you sing] psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, making melody to God with [His] grace in your hearts. (Colossians 3:16, AMPC)

The idea here is to super-saturate our minds with biblical truth. As if a large sponge that is so saturated with water that it oozes at the slightest poke, so we should be so full of scriptural truth that any stimulus prompts us to respond with what God says about that area of life. There is only one source of biblical truth. Spiritual transformation takes place via the renewal of our minds with biblical truth.

We must guard against being scatterbrained Christians. We need to draw upon the divine resources given us to bring every thought and understanding under Christ's Lordship. The divine resources are many - the indwelling Spirit of God; the Word of God hidden in our hearts; the instruction of Godly pastors, teachers, parents, mentors, friends; biblically and doctrinally sound literature. We must avail ourselves of all His resources if we are to make every thought captive to His will and way.

We must also refuse to fill our minds with things that are contrary to holiness. In the world, we live ungodly ideas and images are all around us. We do not have full control of what we see and hear. However, we do have some control. We can control the books we read, the programs we watch and listen, the magazines we read, the Internet sites we visit, the music we listen to, and the teaching we ascribe. We must take the utmost care with what we fill our minds.

Singleness of heart and mind is crucial to living Christ-like. Loving the Lord with all our minds certainly includes "taking every thought captive making it obedient to Christ." We either, take every thought captive or our thoughts will captivate us. We cannot control what thoughts pop into our minds, but by God's grace and power we do we have full control of them once they are there. Therefore, let us draw upon God's resources and empowerment to take our thoughts captive for Christ. Victory is ours in Christ Jesus!

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Mind Renewal!

Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you]. (Romans 12:2, AMPC)

The key to spiritual growth is mental transformation. Those who focus on superficial ethical change or emotional experiences are off-track. Deep-seated, lasting ethical change and healthy spiritual experience are results of primarily learning to think differently about ourselves, God, others, our circumstances, etc.

Our thoughts are like a stream in a forest. As we walk the path, we occasionally see the stream. It is at those moments that we are able to change the stream, or cross it. Our thoughts run through our minds like a stream. When they come into our conscious mind, we have an opportunity to change those thoughts.

The renewal of our minds is the work of the Holy Spirit, but we are not mere bystanders in this work. The Holy Spirit calls and empowers us in participation with this work. Note the command the Scriptures give us is for us to take captive every thought (2 Corinthians 10:5). It is our responsibility - "WE take captive." Second Timothy 1:7 gloriously proclaims, “God did not give us a spirit of timidity,” but of " power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control." In the New Testament, the Greek word used here for self-discipline is unique. No other passages utilize this word. It denotes a "sound-mind," the ability to think clearly and sensibly so that one can be self-disciplined. In Biblical usages, it is “an admonishing or calling to soundness of mind, to moderation and self-control” or “self-control, moderation.”  

Renew your mind and your thinking today. In cooperation with the Holy Spirit, discipline your thoughts. “For the rest, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things [fix your minds on them] (Philippians 4:8, AMPC).” 

Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; (2 Corinthians 10:5, KJV)

 
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control. (2 Timothy 1:7, AMPC)

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