Imagine for a moment that seemingly sharp, black and white, day and night divide between our physical world and the spiritual world. God calls a steady mental focus on the former (i.e., carnal mindedness) ‘death’, and he calls a focus on the latter (i.e., spiritual mindedness) ‘life’. (Romans 8:6) This is far, far different from what we call death and life, isn’t it? I guess this makes us to be ‘the living dead’, because from the crib-to-the-grave, we are well schooled in that which God calls death. This reminds me of just how erroneous our thinking is when we say, Get a life! It also signifies a need to change our personal definitions of these terms. Life and death are much more than the presence or absence of breath, a heartbeat, a good social life and enough money to fund it!
But what about us Christians who have new, eternal life in Christ, and how does this relate to all those “God’s gonna do it” sermons? From my experience, such sermons may tend to throw a religious cloak on carnal mindedness. How? Glad you asked!
The Bible says “…My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” (Hosea 4:6). This is typically interpreted as lack of adequate knowledge of the Scriptures. In response, we are prompted to study and even memorize scriptures; and some become so well versed in our favorite scriptures that we can quote them at a moment’s notice. Not bad. But this does not necessarily signify wisdom in applying the knowledge of God, or of the many laws and principles that govern His Kingdom and the spiritual world. These are the deeper things God refers to as revealed in the context of the above Scripture. Knowledge of The Word does not necessarily equate to wise application of it to our lives, neither does it throw off the religious covering that cloaks carnal mindedness.
For example, back to that sharp divide mentioned above, if our mental focus remains tightly on the ‘day’ or physical side of this divide, we remain in death – carnally peering and waiting for something to ‘cross the dividing line’ and impact our lives. Please realize whatever crosses this line is essentially the ‘after-birth’ of that which has already been born in the world of spirit – an important point echoed often in this blog. Whatever crosses this line is already history on the other side – i.e., yesterdays’ or yesteryear’s news flash, so to speak! This is not to diminish our joy for the arrival of physical manifestations of our hope and faith. Rather, it should help strengthen and increase our faith in the faithfulness of God who answers prayers in accordance with His will. Moreover, it should hopefully prompt us to seek fresh, breaking news from the other side! How? Again, glad you asked!
God told the ancient prophet, Amos, to write this: “Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.” (Amos 3:7) A prophet is anyone who speaks forth the Word of Truth as the Spirit of God leads him/her. This qualifies you to be a prophet if/as you invest your life to be so led. It also opens the windows and doors for you to ‘see’ and perceive into that which is unseen by carnally minded residents of planet earth. This, my friends, would make you
“More than a Mere Man/Woman”
(as suggested by 1 Corinthians
3:3).
Wisdom in applying the knowledge of God, the many laws and principles that govern His Kingdom and the spiritual world means dramatically shifting our mental focus to ‘the other side’ of existence, i.e., to what God calls ‘life’ and away from what He calls ‘death’.
The Scripture we ‘know’ arms us to understand and to apply wisdom to these laws and principles in order to perceive:
1. Areas in which we, ourselves, may be in violation; amends we need to make; and steps to help ensure and not block God’s unfolding plan for our lives
2. Critical insights into current, real-time workings of spiritual forces in our world, more broadly; and how to respond in wisdom, accordingly.
So
c'mon. Get equipped, armed and catalyzed to spend more time peering
into the other side of life, and to apply operational wisdom to your
knowledge of Scripture as your life unfolds. The rewards and benefits
are beyond your imagination!
