Gauging the First Responder's Mind, Heart and Spirit

[HKHaugan]

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you wake up in the morning? For each of us it is going to be different. The fact that we have a mind is common to us all. It is what we do with it that makes the difference and what makes us unique individuals. It is the mind that processes experience and it is in the mind that we choose what we want to think about.

The question for each of us is “What instigates our thoughts?” If we really evaluate how we think we will find that much of our thinking processes are motivated by what consumes the heart’s desires so that really, it is the heart that spurs our thoughts. It is the heart that dominates how we think, the content of our thought and the way we plan to carry out those thoughts.

Now the third element kicks in and that is our spirit. After we process the heart with our mind we act them out. But before we act there is one part of the process that takes real precedence and that is the character, the integrity and the morality behind it all. It’s the mix of the three, the influence that shapes the process and the action. What is the base of operations? What is in the heart, the mind and the spirit that pushes our buttons and causes us to respond the way we do?

Because each one of us is unique we find that there is one significant thing we overlook and that is we are alone in the process. No one thinks, desires and acts exactly like anyone else. The final outcome is one’s very own active internal solitary experience. If we make a choice it is our personal choice. No one can make it for us. To do nothing is as much of a choice and action as to do something. We can seek guidance, share our deliberations, read books, find experts and all that. But in the final analysis every next moment’s response is in our hands. We are by nature first responders. So the question still remains, “What is the basis for our mind, heart and spirit’s first responses?”

Disciples of Jesus have something very special, something that makes their first response the right response. They have the mind of God in Scripture, the heart of God in Jesus and the Spirit of God to inspire. But what makes them work is the gift of faith that brings the three into balance. The Scripture will help the mind sort out experience, that the risen Jesus relates with our heart and the Holy Spirit ignites our spirit. Without that specific faith we are at the mercy of the devil and his manipulative spirits he sends to cause conflict within. It is yielding to them in faith and submission in every next moment that allows the work of God to get done.

Unlike the world responses which are really the devil’s responses true first responses are God centered and always new. Responding in faith brings a new dimension of experience showing us how God thinks, feels and acts. This in turn generates ministry that both recovers souls and develops each individual to build new avenues to the hearts of those who are separated from God. When we are open to letting God lead every response is a first response led by His Spirit.

World responses are the same old responses to please the satisfaction of the physical body, its intellect, its emotions and its spirituality. World responses are dictated by fear. They may seem new to the individual trying them out but they are the same ones that cause the slide into self-destruction and death. They are the ‘playing-it-safe’ techniques that make the pretense of being new but are nothing more than deceptive satanic ploys.

What makes an idea new to the mind? It is the context by which it is analyzed and accepted. Does it coincide with the mind of God as revealed in Scripture?

What makes an idea new to the heart? Does it touch something deep inside that sounds like Jesus and causes us to trust the thought being conveyed?

What makes an idea new to the spirit? Does it inspire action? As my heart was touched was I already moving to act it out?

“Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of] your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant (Col.1:21-23).”

Let’s develop these thoughts in the next posting.