The Human mind

 "And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and he said to me, “Say, Thus says the LORD: So you think, O house of Israel. For I know the things that come into your mind." - Ezek. 11:5 (ESV). What a frightening thought sometimes, "someone else knows what I thought about that topic or person, about what I almost said!" Perhaps shocking, but it is true, God knows the innermost thoughts of everyone. We can plan, scheme, and plot quietly so as no other person might know what we are thinking. We can choose to share our inner thoughts to no one else, but God knows them. For the Christian, the indwelling Holy Spirit  wiil help us dismiss the bad thoughts and focus on the good ones - if we will allow it. The Holy Spirit not only inspired God's message in Scripture, but he also convicts, informs, and transforms our mind and spirit, helping us overcome the pull of our fleshly nature. The Spirit challenges and confronts the thoughts we wouldn't dare speak. When God's words are spoken, heard, and read, they are directed to the struggle of each heart seeking to be conformed to the will of God. The Holy Spirit brings messages from God. Those messages have power because the Holy Spirit informs and convicts us; many times those messages come due to a scriptural teaching we remember. If we will allow Him this freedom, the Holy Spirit will change our thought patterns and cause us to remember many things He has already provided from God's Word. This is the manner in which we proceed down our unique individual spiritual journey.

Isolated or empowered

As a Christian, do you ever feel isolated? The Christian is never really isolated, they have the indwelling Holy Spirit to guide them and empower them. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, "Abba, Father." - Rom. 8:14-15 (NLT). Because of this, as we travel our unique individual spiritual journey, we do significant things by God's powerful presence, the Holy Spirit living in us and empowering us. We speak and we serve by the inspiration and power of the Spirit. The gifts that we are given come from the Holy Spirit — that's what the term "spiritual gifts" means. The Spirit gives each of us appropriate gifts at various times to use in the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:4-7). Using these gifts brings glory to God — Father, Son, and Spirit — because God is the source and the strength of all of the good that we do. We are God's empowered army, fighting Satan and defending our siblings. 

Focus

 Focus is a single concept has held the key for success in so many different endeavors of life. Businesses thrive when their actions are highly focused; they become skilled at delivering a high quality product. Dancers, musicians, physicians, and sports athletes spend endless hours practicing in order to become the best they can be at their chosen endeavor. A great deal of this practice involves developing "muscle memory," (action without analysis) immediate action born out of training. This concept was at the heart of Paul’s own interest when he challenged believers to “set our minds on things above” in the Colossian letter (3:2). It was the foremost attitude of Paul's message to the Philippians when he said, "it is the one thing I do." Focus is fundamental to spiritual success as well as other areas of success. Keeping the main goal in focus during the multitude of their other responsibilities is always a challenge for a follower of Jesus Christ. One of the key elements to spiritual growth is the ability to obtain and then maintain focus during the Christian life. The critical part of the ultimate solution is to let go of our own limited solutions and let the indwelling Holy Spirit guide us to do what He wants. When one does this, they will be successful in the things that matter most in life: another step along the pathway known as your personal spiritual journey. "Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Phil. 3:13–14 (NASB)

Obigations

As citizens of a society, we are surrounded by many obligations. When one lives in a society, one is obliged to follow the social rules of that society. When one drives, they are obliged to follow the rules or laws of the road; this also has implications for auto insurance. Not only these obligations, but we are also constantly encouraged by others to do things that are not ethical and could be physically or spiritually harmful. Our interaction with other Christians also contains obligations - to their spiritual lives. The indwelling Holy Spirit will help us fulfill those obligations to others, if we will let Him guide us. The needs of others are sometimes different and complex, our response to others may not look exactly identical, but if we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us, those responses will be what is needed. Paul very clearly discusses flesh and physical actions, things that could cause us or someone else spiritual harm, when he writes, "Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation — but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. - Rom. 8:12-13 (NIV)

Coming changes

When speaking of the coming judgment on Jerusalem, Jesus said, “Remember Lot’s wife” (Lk. 17:32 NKJV). With this statement, the disciples would have remembered being taught that Lot, his wife, and their daughters basically had to be dragged by the hand out of the city for escape. As they were led out of the area of Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot and his family were given explicit instructions, [not to look back]. "But Lot’s wife looked back as she was following behind him, and she turned into a pillar of salt." (Gen. 19:26 NLT) Unjust? A deeper study of this phrase indicates the thought was likely, 'leave behind all desires for whatever was now in their past'. Yet, Lot's wife did look back, and it appears not to have been a quick glance and sigh of "at last we are gone," or "lets see what is next", but she looked back in a longing manner. Perhaps she anticipated missing her daughters' weddings and grandchildren or other things, but she was not really ready to move beyond their past sinful surroundings. The disciples would need to break with some previous and familiar surroundings as they followed Jesus' pathway - what a masterful example. So many human attitudes and actions are directly linked to our internal feelings of comfort and familiarity, and we must monitor them very carefully. When we become Christians and enter into God's spiritual kingdom, like the disciples, at times we must move out of our comfort zone; we must set aside our previous entrapments and move forward to serve Jesus in some way. We are empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirit to accomplish this goal, to find those things we can do to flesh out Jesus' strongest desires, Help others! For us to move out of our comfort zone, Jesus' desires must become a part of our internal desires. When we begin acting and watch for the Holy Spirit's guidance, these changes become more natural and easy. We must allow the Holy Spirit to lead us on our unique individual spiritual journey with all fervor.

Clear minded

For those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed off for good — crucified. Those who choose this unique individual spiritual journey must continually attempt to replace our physical foundations with spiritual ones. The Holy Spirit lives within us to do just this, as much as we will allow. "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives." Gal. 5:24-25 (NLT).

Analogy

When a person recognizes a child in physical danger, many people will go extreme measures to protect them. The children may be unaware of the danger or do not have the power to overcome the situation. The measures used for rescue may be life threatening to the rescuer. This example is directly analogous to the spiritual lives of many adults, today. Even the most experienced spiritual adults are really still children with much to learn about some spiritual dangers. We must trust the indwelling Holy Spirit to lead and fight our spiritual battles; there is no one more powerful and who can use us to overcome the spiritual struggles we and others face. We have a responsibility to other believers - we must help them follow the Holy Spirit's guidance. No, it is not our own efforts that cause results, but we must allow the Holy Spirit to use us and address the situation as He understands is best. When we follow this pathway, God is glorified, the trapped person is helped, and we realize we have been an effective servant. Paul spoke of this to some new converts in Galatia, “Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.” Gal. 6:1. (NIV) "As a Christ-follower, having godly friends to help us steer away from sin is crucial. True Christian friends view each other’s holiness as important. We should welcome a friend in the faith who is willing to gently reveal when we need an attitude adjustment and a spiritual sharpening. . . In return, let’s be loving enough to do the same for our friends. There is something uniquely special about a Christian friendship. It’s a soul-to-soul connection that lasts for eternity."