Pentecost 55 "Your Very Life Depends on This Issue!" says Politico. Oh, Really?

[HKHaugan]

Pentecost 55 “Your Very Life Depends on This Issue!” says Politico. Oh, Really?

The most explosive issue in the country today is the subject of health care and having it available not just when needed but when wanted. The subject has taken on a life of its own and consumes the media at every turn. Like all issues that are not eternal, it tends to absorb our energies as it looks for a place to live in the mind and heart. It searches for a cover to give it form. It develops spaces called opinion and attitude reinforced by emotion and the next thing you know a tent posing as a permanent structure has been erected in the courts of the mind and heart. Two wandering spirits called pride and fear can agitate and strengthen the cords of the tent if we see it as permanent. If we do there will always be the demand for an increase of tent space for the squatting spirits of self-justification, rationalization, suspicion, distrust, defensiveness and blame. The problem is that it is not the only issue but one of many looking to build a tent in the courts of the heart and mind. The heart is also crowded with local personal, interpersonal, social, economic, religious and political concerns that demand time and energy and mental tents to contain them. How we deal with issues is THE issue, the real issue.

First, all issues have relevancy. But it is how we approach any issue that counts. If we take our 7-fold approach we first think spiritually. Am I approaching the issue spiritually? Thinking spiritually will get me to think of my own spiritual condition as well as the spirits that are agitating to make it divisive, tempting me to think I am right and how others are wrong, judging in terms of world values instead of God’s and reacting without first placing it in spiritual context.

Second, issues for the most part are wrapped in the sin-worn wineskins of immediacy and impulsive reaction using ‘life-threat’ language. Are we backing up and seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of real life? Is this a salvation issue or a world issue and am I to play a part in it? How do I spiritually evaluate my role as a disciple of Jesus in any issue?

Third, since Jesus is in my heart am I inadvertently inviting contrary spirits to set up tents next to Him in the courts of my heart? Am I trusting Jesus to handle what He came to handle that I can’t? I can still see Him confidently telling Pontius Pilate that His kingdom was not of this world and how He was always looking to please His Father in His daily walk.

Fourth, the Father is the One to whom Jesus points. If we pray the Lord’s Prayer we begin by hallowing the name of the Father. Everything is centered in laying our mind and heart before the Father in Jesus’ name because everything is ultimately resolved in Him.

Fifth, we continue informing our minds with Scripture. In it God gives us exactly what we need for our pondering. What we read may not have anything to do with an issue directly but it will always speak to our hearts and provide us with direction and the peace that passes all understanding, enabling our minds to react in confidence.

Sixth, in the grand scale of the unseen dimension, the spiritual dimension, it is prayer that brings us to place all our eggs in the basket of faith because faith is the only light we have in the immense realm of spiritual reality. Prayer brings us to total dependency on God. Prayer is the great ballroom in which the Holy Spirit lets us dance before God as David did rejoicing in His presence.

Seventh, thinking like Jesus is thinking first of God’s presence, confident in His Spirit’s guidance and acting in faithful spontaneity as an issue beckoned Him to take action. This is exactly what we see in Scripture, Jesus walking toward Jerusalem and the Cross, giving everything He had on the way. His walk was a heart walk, a spiritual walk and a mind walk in the Word. Everyday He was met by situations and people who tried to sidetrack Him. The devil constantly worked behind the scenes to distract Jesus by distorting Him in the minds of those on every level of society. When Jesus was confronted with issues He knew who was behind them enlarging their importance and magnitude with his deceiving spirits. Jesus always discerned an issue’s eternal value and the hearts of His questioners, loving each of them on His way to the Cross. His mission as an individual is ours as well. Finally, for each of us, that is what we are called to do.

The Lord can solve all issues if we His people choose to dwell in His courts and be doorkeepers in His house. His house is His kingdom and His kingdom has been planted in our hearts. If we are doorkeepers then we are called to keep the door to our hearts open for His coming and going through us. We also are called to invite others into our hearts that they too can meet the Lord. Then, hopefully, they too can be doorkeepers in the Kingdom of God. The courts of our hearts, the house of God, His temple, are the ways He has given us to focus on Him. We have the inner court of our relationship with Jesus. We have the outer courts of the gifts of the Spirit for ministry in the Body of Christ. We have a worship court where we praise and glorify Him. We have the court of our witness decorated with grace and love to share with others. We are the front edge of the Kingdom of God in this world. The courts of our hearts are always open. As we live in the world we extend those courts to replace the tents that the wicked have set up. We realize as Jesus did that the more hearts we bring to Him the more God works in one day to solve the issues the devil occupies to keep the world in turmoil for himself.

“Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked (Ps.84:10-11).” Stay tuned…….

[charlie / sarah hays]

good thoughts for this troubled time--i am usually able to turn off my imagination [the powerful negative one ] when practicing the principles you refer to here---thanks for refreshing them for us--we all can use this kind of help to make our lives more pleasant and useful to others --inHISname--charlie

[Rita Campbell]

Hello Whitey, thank you for your message today - my spirit has been wrangled lately with one situation or issue after another - HIs timing is alway perfect!! If we would just slow down long enough to remember who is in charge of our lives - HIs peace would just wash over us!!
Happy Anniversary to you and Mary!!
While Bible Study is continuing, your teachings are very much missed!! And looking forward to your returning. When might that be? September is soon approaching! In Him, rita

[Marilyn L. Dudley]

Thank you, Whitey, for this very important advice from the WORD. It is so easy to get caught up in what is going on in the world and become anxious even to the point of forgetting the wonderful promise we have in Christ. Hope you and Mary are having a wonderful summer . Marilyn