God is greater than you think he is. He’s better than you think he is. He loves you more than you think he does. He is for you more than you could possibly imagine and he is warring for you day after day, moment by moment, 24-7. Scripture says Jesus ever lives to intercede for you in prayer in Heaven until he returns. He’s literally praying for you that you would get him. That you would not just be religious, but that you would have the revelation of the Living God.
That you would know him intimately and personally and have a vibrant relationship with him. That he would speak to you and you to him and that you would walk with God, just like the people you read about in Scripture. We’ve been in a series called “Mind Wars” dismantling and describing the battle that exists between our ears for our minds because, as the mind goes, so goes our lives.
Proverbs 23:7
“As a man thinks in his heart, so is he [whether you think like the world, the devil or Jesus]”
You’re going to do whatever you believe you are. Whatever thoughts you allow to marinate in your mind and then leak down into your heart will determine the course of your life and the capacity you have to either believe God and see him move in your life or to close yourself off and build a wall between you and God, limiting his ability to do anything in your life. God wants to show up and do far more in your life than you’ve ever given him credit for or have allowed to this point. The real question is, will you allow him to move? Not, does he want to move? That puts the ball in our court, as something we can do that opens the gate and tears down the wall for God to move in our lives.
The Nuclear Game Changer that wins the war of the mind
1 Corinthians 2:16 AMPC
“For who has known or understood the mind [the counsels and purposes] of the Lord so as to guide and instruct Him and give Him knowledge? But we have the mind of Christ [the Messiah] and do hold the thoughts [feelings and purposes] of His heart.”
As believers, we literally have access to the mind of Christ and to God’s thoughts. Imagine if his thoughts became our thoughts, and how easy the mind war would be to win if we thought like he thought. This is no simple, small thing, but it is a big deal.
Isaiah 55:8-9 NLT
“ ‘My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,’ says the Lord. ‘And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. [radically different mind, thinking]’ ”
He doesn’t think like you think, act like you act, or talk like you talk. His ways are not like your ways, they are higher and better and greater. He is God and you’re not. Come up and let him tear down the walls! But, just because we have it doesn’t mean we’ve accessed it. There’s something we have to do in order for the mind of Christ to become accessible to us, for us to begin to know his thoughts, and for them to become our thoughts. This is how we win the mind war. If we have the mind of Christ, how do we tap into that?
What characterized the mind of Christ?
Philippians 2:5-9 AMPC
“Let this same attitude and purpose and [humble] mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus: [Let Him be your example in humility:] Who, although being essentially one with God and in the form of God [possessing the fullness of the attributes which make God God], did not think this equality with God was a thing to be eagerly grasped or retained, But stripped Himself [of all privileges and rightful dignity], so as to assume the guise of a servant (slave), in that He became like men and was born a human being. And after He had appeared in human form, He abased and humbled Himself [still further] and carried His obedience to the extreme of death, even the death of the cross! Therefore [because He stooped so low] God has highly exalted Him…”
True humility before God is the nuclear game-changer of the mind war. It resulted in some very inconvenient obedience, it was true submission (to come UNDER the mission) to the Father. God is saying for us to come under his mission and what he’s about, his ways, his thoughts, and his plans, not ours. As we do this and humble ourselves to the living God, we put ourselves in the same position that Jesus put himself in, which allows God to lift us up. He has to lift us up for us to know his thoughts that are higher than ours. We can’t do that on our own, but can only do it when we submit ourselves to him in true humility.
James 4:10 NKJV
“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. [low before God, tall before men; ALL courage, clarity, confidence starts here!]”
Pride is the absence of true humility before God. God opposes the proud, but he gives grace (God’s power, favor, ability, authority) to do the things that we cannot do on our own – such as win the mind war.
1 Peter 5:5,6 AMP
“… and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility …for God is opposed to the proud [the disdainful, the presumptuous, and He defeats them], but He gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God [set aside self-righteous pride], so that He may exalt you [to a place of honor in His service] at the appropriate time.”
John 14:21 AMP
“The person who has My commands and keeps them is the one who [really] loves Me; and whoever [really] loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I [too] will love him and will show (reveal, manifest) Myself to him. [I will LET Myself be clearly seen by him and make Myself real to him.]” This is real humility.
There are two types of the presence of God: Omni-present (God is everywhere at all times), and the Manifest-presence of God (where God reveals himself and makes himself real to our five senses tangibly), and that’s what changes a heart, a mind, a person, but it’s reserved for the humble.
Isaiah 6:1-5 NKJV
“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!’ And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So I said: ‘Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.’ ”
Isaiah preached, “woe to the wicked” until he actually saw God and his holiness, and then cried out “Woe is me!” It was out of that humility that God was able to reveal himself to him. Also, Job saw the Lord, and changed all his complaining, whining, and arrogance that he brought before the Lord. His final conclusion was, “Now that I have seen You, I abhor myself, and I repent in dust and ashes.” Then God restored Job and gave him back ten times what he lost – God lifted him up.
2 Chronicles 26:16 NLT
“But when [Uzziah] had become powerful, he also became proud [NKJV says: “when he was strong his heart was lifted up”], which led to his downfall. He sinned against the Lord his God by entering the sanctuary of the Lord’s Temple and personally burning incense on the incense altar.”
Pride must die for there to be a fresh vision of Jesus, for us, for the Church, and for America. To the degree that pride dies, is the degree that we’re going to have a fresh vision of Jesus and an encounter with God that changes us forever. Pride is looking for any excuse to wedge itself between us and God. Turning off the faucet of His Spirit, the volume of His voice, and the nearness of His presence. It will build a wall between us and him, and we must tear down the wall.
Humility determines our capacity to receive from God. Humility is the volume knob (access to the mind of Christ). Being humble is not about groveling before the Lord and acting like we’re worthless. It’s not timid, meek, weak, quiet, not bold, lack of backbone. It is about elevating God to his proper place recognizing where we are in relation to him and submitting ourselves to him. We are told to “clothe ourselves in it.” We don’t really understand this. How can we clothe ourselves in something if we don’t understand it?
What is humility?
1] Complete and utter dependence on God: People with humility in Scripture can be mistaken as arrogant. David’s brothers called him prideful, but one chapter earlier the same brother was rejected. God only rejects because of pride. Humility leads us to:
Proverbs 3:5,6 NKJV
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”
Pride always tries to level the field between us and God, to bring him down to our level, and humility is always elevating God into his proper place in our hearts and lives. How we position ourselves before God and his Word will either open or close the faucet of wisdom, revelation, correction, growth, freedom, and forgiveness.
2] Committing to obey God no matter what: Your protection is in your obedience to God. In Joshua chapter six, God’s instructions concerning the walls of Jericho didn’t seem reasonable to the Jews, but God wanted to tear down the walls of pride. They were told to march around the city, blowing trumpets of humble trust in God and His ways!
Judges 21:25 NKJV
“In those days there was no king in Israel [the Jews did not regard God as their King]; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”
They failed to obey God so he went silent for over four hundred years. Then they went through a repetitive cycle of sin, entrapment, and slavery, and everyone did what was right in their own eyes. Like we do. We call ourselves Christians who love Jesus, but then we slice and dice the Bible down to the part we like and agree with, and ignore the rest. Then we think that God’s going to bless us but he won’t. He will oppose us and defeat us like he did in the Book of Judges.
But, if we humble ourselves before the Living God, and commit to obey him no matter what, he will exalt us and show us his ways. He will teach us Truth and set us free to win the mind war. At the end of the day, all sin begins with and continues to be fueled by pride. We can do that partially or totally. All sin at its root is pride. Adam didn’t sin in the Garden by jumping into bed with his secretary. All he did was simply disobey what God had told him to do. That was it.
That’s what set this whole mess up and that’s all it takes for us, too. To presume on God, “Did God really say that? Did He really mean that? I know we used to do that back in the early days of the Church, but really, we’ve progressed beyond that now. We’ve gotten smarter.” You think? Or does that sound like pride talking?
Proverbs 14:12 AMP
“There is a way which seems right to a man [the culture today] and appears straight before him, but its end is the way of death.”
1 John 3:4 NKJV
“Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness [becoming a law unto yourself].
Pride boiled down
Pride is any attempt to create role reversal between us and God (just like satan). We want to be the potter and make Him the clay to do what we want – to say what we want – to condone and approve of what we want. This is deception. Pride attempts to conform God into our image, while humility submits to being conformed to his. Pride attempts to put God and His Word on trial while humility recognizes he is the judge and we are on trial before him and all of his judgments are just and right and Holy. Pride says I can’t change how I feel, or the way I am, so God should accept me the way that I am. Humility realizes we all must change.
Romans 11:33-36 NKJV
“Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become His counselor? …For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever.”
2 Corinthians 10:4,5 NKJV
“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ”
3] Committing our cares, worries, and anxieties to God
1 Peter 5:5,6 AMP
“… and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility …for God is opposed to the proud [the disdainful, the presumptuous, and He defeats them], but He gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God [set aside self-righteous pride], so that He may exalt you [to a place of honor in His service] at the appropriate time.”
And the second part of that Scripture says:
“…casting all your cares [all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares about you [with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully.” (1 Peter 5:7 AMP)
When we worry, we can’t hear from God clearly. When we worry, we’re saying that we are the source. When we worry, and succumb to anxiety, fears, and cares, that’s actually pride working itself out. Pride says to God, “I don’t really trust that You’ve got this or that You care about me enough to handle this for me, so I’m going to handle it.” And then in comes the fear, anxiety, worry, and concern as it overwhelms us with a burden we were never designed to carry.
What does true humility do?
It casts it all back upon him: “God, You said You loved me. You said I can trust You. You said that You would work things out for good and that You’re ordering my steps. Here You go, God. Take my burdens and I’m not going to take them back when things don’t happen in the timing or in the way I think they should. I’m going to trust You with it, God.”
That’s what humility does, and it tears down the wall between us and him. This is why Scripture says for us to: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
(Philippians 4:6,7 NKJV)
God asks, “Who are you trusting? Me or you? Who’s going to handle this? Me or you?” We have a choice to make. We can either carry it and cast into doubt everything that he’s doing in our life or say, “God, here. It’s Yours. I’m casting this upon You. I’m humbling myself before You. I’m trusting You. You’ve got this. You’re faithful, and Your peace guards my heart.” Whatever has us under the thumb of fear, today’s the day it can go. Whatever’s had us tempted to disobey God, today’s the day it can go.
Prayer
Father, Your Word says that if we humble ourselves before You, You will give us grace. You will lift us up. Lord, we pray that You will make Your ways our ways, and Your thoughts, our thoughts. We submit our minds to You right now in the name of Jesus. We submit our hearts to You, God. We submit our plans to You. We submit our obedience to You.
Forgive us right now. We repent, as your people, like Job and Isaiah. We say, Woe is me, God, for we misunderstood how great You are, how holy You are, how far above and apart Your ways are from ours. Forgive us, Lord, for presuming upon You, for thinking that You had somehow changed, for thinking that we could construct You and make You the way we want You to be, rather than recognizing Who You really are.
We repent in the name of Jesus right now. Lord, as we humble ourselves before You, come in and make Yourself real by Your Holy Spirit. We invite You to fill us up, Holy Spirit. We give You every care, every concern, every anxiety, and every fear. We submit it all to You. In Jesus’ name. Amen
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on The Bridge
Featured Image by PublicDomainArchive from Pixabay
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