09 November 2010

Thinking with a Renewing Mind pt4

“If you have no power over the little things… “ Jesus

Luke describes Jesus’ comments regarding reality so that we have Jesus’ own thoughts about the matter. We value this because we have readily available the thoughts of ourself and those from our cultural settings. And so, we look to Christ.

Jesus continues, “…Life is more than food, and the body more than clothing”(Luke12.23), …”why are you anxious about other things?”(Luke12.26) and yet, these are indeed more than the simplest things in our estimation. Of course, we must say, Why would Jesus challenge us so?

We do not eve have control over our simple needs, apart from God’s direct provision and “accidents” of life. We react, we do not create. We cannot give what is not gifted to us. In this I’m reminded of my favorite prayer of some Jews at mealtime if there are ten men, one of them is “Blessed is He who gives us what we receive”.

We have no power even over the little things which are essential to our real self. We did not birth ourself. did we? We do not choose the culture around us as we go through our childhood, do we? As we make choices we have only that which is offered available for us. We do not make reality – but we may break ourselves upon it’s breakers, like waves smashing against the rocks.

We are not actors on a stage unless assigned a role by the Author of the play. A play involves actors, plot, scenery, and audience; depending on variables which are outside of the control of the components of production.

We know that actors may be replaced in their role, or roles may be altered, if the ploy changes. We know ploy may be left somewhat flexible if given license by the author/director. Scenery may be imagined or supplied in part depending on the impact the playwright wishes to immerse the audience with for the message the author/director wishes.

Whenever we approach orchestration of this sort in our lives, we begin thinking naturally of contrivance and the artificial. It appears to be what occurs if we manipulate people, environments and conditions around us.

Yet God is not artificially arranging a fiction for God’s or our amusement. Our roles are provided authenticating us within God’s production and creation, versus the self-centered view of estranged souls who view it all as a strange fiction from which they establish their own worth and value.

Life is not an improvisation. Such an idea is based upon having an unrealistic paradigm. Neither is it a manipulation of other agents, peers, for such a fantasy is based upon our own powerless Ego and ID.

We know not what it is to truly create, ex nihilo, for we can only work with materials at hand. We know that any information coming into God’s creation comes from God, and not we ourselves.

God is not so constrained as we are. Thus we seek to know God’s truth for us in our situation. We have no power even over available sources of life or substance. These are either available or not.

For us who trust God to be God, we accept what we are given and praise Him. When we forget ourselves and our position, in humility we find God faithful. God has not changed; being ever God, immutable and the sources of every good and perfect events and being which is.

The absence of God’s control of Love and consistent being is what we will call the vacua of sin. (Vacua is the plural form of vacuum.) Evil is not an action, but the absence of equity to reality, which subtracts from the object and subject is submission or under its influence. The state of inward vortex of sin is what humans embrace in the old nature by birth and free-will choice. Only the new creation has the option of conformity to God’s reality. The humanity reality is God’s grace in the person and work of the Word of God become flesh. Love is an action, faith without works is dead.

This is by our triune God’s own design, looking for a valid personal relationship with beings created in God’s image. For this God created a context of broad environmental and social interaction, which is embedded with information pointing to God. Paul writes of this in Romans.

Within the design of the Body of believers, the Bride of Christ, God reveals Himself to humble and faithful people basically who are not among the wise, clever and sufficient of self in this world. The self is not truly defined outside of it’s creator’s purposeful intent. We are who God declares us to be. He thinks, therefore we are.

There is power for us to grasp, in that we have no power over even the little things. We hold by faith knowledge of the One who does have such power. This is our strength, our lack thereof unless we are empowered by God the Holy Spirit who indwells and seals us. The fallen world does not know this power, because if they knew God the Holy Spirit they would not be fallen. It is contradiction to their vacuous abasing nature to submit to God, die to self, and to walk by faith – in the Spirit – with each other, thinking with the renewing minds which is ever growing with our being into adult maturity found in the person of Jesus Christ our Lord God and Savior.


– Soli Deo Gloria

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I really want to have fellow disciples as well and folks with inquiring minds to interact here. Thanks for your patience as I get this sorted. Email me at gcandj at gmail daught kohm is you have difficulty. BTW, that was intentionally misspelled, but you should not do so if emailing me.