Sound Mind Set

Matthew 9:9-13 NLT As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him. Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?” When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.” Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”  The Pharisees called the people Jesus was hanging out with “scum.” Jesus removed the barrier the pharisees had and dismantled the prejudice and in doing that actually established a new boundary. The new boundary was towards prejudice, judgment and even privilege. What drove Jesus’ actions and words? Freedom, righteousness, justice, mercy, and love. When we follow Him, we have the best opportunity to do the same. Tear down barriers made by man and install boundaries built by God. Is there anywhere in your life that you have created an unhealthy barrier or outlook between the those you consider righteous and those you consider sinners? Let’s pray together: “Heavenly Father, I have to admit that sometimes I act like You, but sometimes I act like a Pharisee. And all the time, I am a sinner. Teach me, help me, to take down barriers to love in my life and build only the boundaries You are okay with. As above, so below.”

(Psalm 16:1-3, 5-8 NIV) Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.” I say of the holy people who are in the land, “They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.” … Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. (Psalm 16:1-3, 5-8 NIV) “The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places.”King David is counting his blessings and includes the fact that he likes where God has placed the boundaries in his life.  Boundaries that both bless and protect him. Part of his spiritual inheritance from God includes proper boundaries. So, that tells us where our boundaries must also come from … not from pain or revenge or walls around our heart … but from God who knows us and has our best interest in mind at all times. Choosing to try and protect ourselves on our own terms usually ends up with an emotional wall that just creates more hurt. But when we allow God to lead us, He can provide a way to create a healthy boundary that blesses and protects, just like David referred to. So, to love in the biblical sense, do you need to tear down a wall and trade it for a boundary? Or maybe there’s been nothing in place for you, and you realize a boundary needs to be installed for your health. Let’s pray together: “Heavenly Father, I know that walls of protection too often become homemade prison cells. Teach me to create boundaries. Show me how to love the way You love. For myself. For my kids. For those who have hurt me and those who help me. As above, so below.”

You’d be hard-pressed to go to a Christian wedding and not hear some part of 1 Corinthians chapter 13 read, also known as The Love Chapter. But today, let’s look at how Paul defined biblical love in verses 4-7 as we think about being proactive in love to battle hate. 1 Corinthians 13 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud, or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. I tend to read or hear this passage and think about how I fall short in loving, based on the definition we are given here. Do you feel that way? Why might we hear these words through a negative filter? Because even with those closest to us, and when we work really hard to be good at love, we still have a selfish sin nature. Can you think of a situation that you are aware of your conditional, maybe self-serving love towards another person? So, how can we possibly love anyone like this passage talks about? Listen again to this same passage, but I’m going to change out one word throughout. That will give us the only possible way to love as we are taught here. Listen with your heart … Jesus is patient and kind. Jesus is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Jesus does not demand his own way. He is not irritable, and He keeps no record of being wronged. Jesus does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Jesus never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Isn’t that incredible? Jesus can be interchanged with the word “love” because He is love and the embodiment of God’s love. So, the closer we get to Jesus, the closer we get to love. The more we follow Jesus, the more we walk in the ways of love.

Matthew 5:43-48 MSG - Jesus' Words “You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’ I’m challenging that. I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the supple moves of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that. “In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.” I ask you what has become a familiar question from me to you in this podcast: What words stood out to you? Say it back to yourself. Then ask why? We don’t really like the world-turned-upside-down verses like “Love your enemy,” do we? When someone gives you a hard time, pray for them? Really? These are tough and challenging words, but then it’s also the very reason we are drawn to Jesus, right? With this in mind listen again to part of the passage “… I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the supple moves of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best … to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. … “In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.” Can you think of someone in your life, or maybe even someone you don’t know… but you know of, that you strongly dislike or perhaps even hate? Can you pray for them right now? Prayer changes things… more than changing others and circumstances…it changes us. Let’s take a few moments and pray for those we don’t like but God says He loves. Pray that they would encounter God and His love the way you have. What in Jesus’ teaching do you need to “grow up” in, as verse 48 stated? Where have you been rationalizing hate and you have to trade it in for some of God’s love? I love the last line … “live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.” Let’s pray together: “Heavenly Father, help me to love my friends more and turn any hatred I have to love and pray like You said. I know you know that’s hard but if anyone can help me get to that place, it’s You, right? Teach me to live generously and graciously. As above, so below.”

We know from history that humans have gone through constant change. When one part of the world is at peace, another is in chaos. Economies rise and fall. Civilizations rise and fall. Life and death are constantly occurring. But the reality is that any season won’t last for long. Things change. Life cycles. King Solomon gave us one of the most prolific and poetic texts for this concept in Ecclesiastes 3, verses 1-8. For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die.  A time to plant and a time to harvest.  A time to kill and a time to heal.  A time to tear down and a time to build up.  A time to cry and a time to laugh.  A time to grieve and a time to dance.  A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.  A time to embrace and a time to turn away.  A time to search and a time to quit searching.  A time to keep and a time to throw away.  A time to tear and a time to mend.  A time to be quiet and a time to speak.  A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace. Ask yourself 2 questions. Where do hear your own life, what time are you in right now? Where did you hear our culture, where might we be right now? Regardless of what time, or season you are in, or our culture is in, one truth remains, the other side of the coin, the other “time” will come back around soon enough. Interestingly, all of these ‘times’ I just read are choices we make. Deliberate mindsets, or as the scripture calls it, ‘activities’ that we choose.  Is there a mindset that you need to reaffirm today? Or maybe readjust? Let’s pray together: “Heavenly Father, You created the seasons and the times of our lives. Help me to know what time you want it to be for me in every season. But help me to constantly make the current season a time to gather, embrace, mend, and love. As above, so below.”

Psalm 97:9 You who love the Lord, hate evil! He protects the lives of his godly people and rescues them from the power of the wicked.(NLT) So what does God hate and tell us to hate? … He says if you love Him then you will hate evil. So is evil a person? … No. Evil is the outcome of disobedience. Disobedience to God is sin, which creates evil. So, we are to hate disobedience to God and its results. Can you picture an outcome of your disobedience to God?  While there most certainly is grace for our disobedience, can you attach a sense of hatred for the outcome of that disobedience you have encountered? We are not to hate ourselves for the disobedience, but the forces that oppose God inside our own hearts and in the world today. So, what good does it do to hate that evil? The answer is a response of avoidance, of abstinence … of evil. Today, I’m going to provide some current context to hating evil by reading Ephesians 6:1…  Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Who are we not fighting? Flesh and blood. Each other. We may do evil things out of disobedience, but we are not evil.  Evil exists, evil is the destruction that comes from sin. We have an enemy, God has an enemy, Satan and his spirits. A force that exists in this fallen world that leads us to disobedience which leads to our destruction. So, how do we guard ourselves from this destruction? By hating the destruction the enemy wants for us and by putting on the full armor of God. We cannot fight an unseen power with our own ‘seen’ efforts. God’s Power, His spirit enables us to resist the enemy.  Psalm 97:9-11 … You who love the Lord, hate evil! He protects the lives of his godly people and rescues them from the power of the wicked.  Love God. Hate Evil. Really feel the hate that disobedience to God’s ways brings to your life. Claim God’s power as your own to protect again the evil our enemy has planned for us. Let’s pray together: “Heavenly Father, forgive me when I show love for evil by cooperating with it. But help me to hate that which opposes You, even the sin in me. Teach me to love You more, and help me to show love that can conquer hate. As above, so below.”

In John 17, Jesus’s prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, we find God’s answer to redeem the Garden of Eden. John 17 - Starting vs. 13 - THE MESSAGE “I’m saying these things in the world’s hearing  So my people can experience  My joy completed in them.  I gave them your word;  The godless world hated them because of it,  Because they didn’t join the world’s ways,  Just as I didn’t join the world’s ways.  I’m not asking that you take them out of the world  But that you guard them from the Evil One.  They are no more defined by the world  Than I am defined by the world.  Make them holy—consecrated—with the truth;  Your word is consecrating truth.  In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world,  I give them a mission in the world.  I’m consecrating myself for their sakes  So they’ll be truth-consecrated in their mission. I’m praying not only for them  But also for those who will believe in me  Because of them and their witness about me.  The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind—  Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you,  So they might be one heart and mind with us.  Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me.  The same glory you gave me, I gave them,  So they’ll be as unified and together as we are—  I in them and you in me.  Then they’ll be mature in this oneness,  And give the godless world evidence  That you’ve sent me and loved them  In the same way you’ve loved me. (John 17:13-23) Jesus recognized the hate in the world that is opposite His heart for the world. But He also said while we do not belong here, He leaves us here. Why? To reflect His love in the same world that hates His ways. That simplifies and hones our mission on earth. We are here to be His love to others, even in the midst of hate.   Jesus was praying specifically for his disciples initially here, who are physically with him, then he looks beyond the present to the future - to you and me.  Listen again to what He prays specifically for you -  I’m praying not only for them (his disciples)  But also for those who will believe in me (that’s you)  Because of them and their witness about me.  The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind—  Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you,  So they might be one heart and mind with us.  Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me.  The same glory you gave me, I gave them,  So they’ll be as unified and together as we are…  And give the godless world evidence  That you’ve sent me and loved them  In the same way you’ve loved me. Can you ask Jesus right now to unify your heart for the world with His? To be evidence of His love for others - not your love - But becoming His love for others - the world. Who is one person that comes to mind that you need to extend God’s love, beyond your love, to today?  Let’s pray together: “Heavenly Father, You are love and You also know what it feels like to be hated, to the point of death. You were hated centuries ago and You are hated today. Help me to be an expression of Your love, not mine, and to be an answer for the hate in this world. Teach me to love like You. As above, so below.”

Today, we close out our week, focusing on hope. Romans15:13  May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Hope is something that often eludes us. Day-to-day, we can get so lost in the stress and anxiety of our culture that our sense of hope feels diminished. That’s why this passage cuts through. It starts by saying that we are sons and daughters of the ‘God of hope’.  What is an area in your life right now that feels hopeless? It says we will be filled with hope, joy and peace as we trust in Him.  Right now, can you reaffirm your trust in our God of hope? It also says the power of the Holy Spirit will cause us to overflow with hope. Can you invite the Holy Spirit to release the power of Hope in your life so that it ‘overflows to those around us? Pray with me: “God of hope, please fill me with joy and peace, and help me trust you in all areas of my life. I ask that your Holy Spirit would fill me with the hope that overflows into those around me. As above, so below. ”

Psalm 77:11-15 I will remember the deeds of the Lord;     yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will consider all your works     and meditate on all your mighty deeds.” Your ways, God, are holy.     What god is as great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles;     you display your power among the peoples. With your mighty arm you redeemed your people,     the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. There is a Hebrew word that shows up often in the Bible; the word is  ZAKAR, meaning remember. Often when God had provided a way through or a victory, people who witnessed it would stop what they were doing, and build an altar to celebrate the faithfulness of God. Jesus, on his last night with his disciples before his crucifixion, told us all to do this very thing. To take the bread and the cup in remembrance of him. There’s more to this practice than just calling back to mind something that has happened. It is ruminating on the faithfulness of God that anchors us.  Can you think of a situation where you didn’t see a way through, where you had come to the end of yourself, but God came through?  Take a moment and put yourself back in that situation of desperation, feel the doubt, feel the fear, and now remember what it felt like when you realized things were going to be OK... when you saw God come through.  Ruminate on what it felt like for God to deliver, and know that that same power is available to you right now, whatever you are facing Let’s pray together: “Father, help me to commit myself to the act of remembrance. To remember Your faithful power that I have seen at work in my life. Help me to hold on to that awareness when I come into situations where I don’t know what to do. As above, so below”

Psalm 107:1-9 Oh, thank God—he’s so good!     His love never runs out.  All of you set free by God, tell the world!     Tell how he freed you from oppression,  Then rounded you up from all over the place,     from the four winds, from the seven seas. Some of you wandered for years in the desert,     looking but not finding a good place to live,  Half-starved and parched with thirst,     staggering and stumbling, on the brink of exhaustion.  Then, in your desperate condition, you called out to God.     He got you out in the nick of time;  He put your feet on a wonderful road     that took you straight to a good place to live.  So thank God for his marvelous love,     for his miracle mercy to the children he loves.  He poured great drafts of water down parched throats;     the starved and hungry got plenty to eat. This is a beautiful Psalm about the goodness of God. So many times in life, we can feel knocked around by circumstances. Feeling overwhelmed by the demands, the responsibilities and the challenges that we all face, can sometimes take our focus off the goodness of God .  This Psalm has 34 more verses just like the ones we’ve read. Over and over, describing God coming to our aid in difficult circumstances and challenges. The common thread of all these verses explains the only thing that we are responsible for is calling out to him… and he comes through.  Take a moment to realize the goodness of God in your life is just a request away. Crying out to him doesn’t always result in us getting our way, but it does lead us to an abundant life, even amid the circumstances that we find ourselves in. That abundant life is God's goodness, and we can be expectant that he delivers His abundance, peace, and reassurance if we just cry out for him.  Be aware that his goodness and presence are all around you regardless of your circumstance. PRAY Father thank you for your goodness which always comes through. Please help me to be patient. Help me to be aware and expectant that amid whatever challenge I find myself in, your abundance… your goodness is always available. As above, so below.