Mindset Shifts
This morning, I look to the King of Isreal, David. He says some interesting things that give me a better game plan for my head.
I saw the Lord ever before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced. Morevever my flesh will rest in hope, because You will not leave me in Hades or allow Your Holy One to see decay. You have revealed the paths of life to me; You will fill me with gladness in Your pressence. Acts 2: 25 - 28This comes as an illustration of what mindset shift thinking can do. Peter addresses a crowd in Judah who has just witnessed a spiritual phenomenon called Pentecost. They just witnessed plain, Jewish men speaking in languages they were never taught. How could this happen? What occurred that empowered these ordinary men to speak fluently in languages they never studied?
Of course, we, familiar with the Bible, know this to be the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit enabled them to speak in these languages. Typically, I believe we tie a ribbon on the story and file it in our book of Sunday school stories, forgetting the power behind simple words.
Somehow David got this mindset shift way before the Promise of the Holy Spirit came to settle on the ordinary. The Holy Spirit enabled David to see the greater way of living with an awareness of who he was in light of who God is. King that he was, there was someone greater than him with more power, more influence, and more wisdom that was calling the shots. Not only was the One greater than him calling the shots, but He was also doing so in partnership with David.
What did David know as King that I need to know as ordinary? The Lord was ever - even when it didn't feel like it - before him. God's presence changed everything for David.
For me today, it means that as I enter into my day of planning (I've set aside several hours of brainstorming and working on Fahrenheit vision planning), I surrender my stress, my insecurity, and inadequacy. It doesn't bear any kind of consequence for me in light of the One I am in the presence of. He is before me. He sits at my right hand, guiding and leading and instructing and giving "Ah-Ha" moments that go beyond my finite mind and dip into the infinite realm that He is accustomed to operating. That's where He takes me. I just have to ask and then partner with He answers.
David also allowed his physical body to respond to what was going on, transformatively, in the inside. His heart was glad, his tongue rejoiced, and his flesh rested in Hope because he knew - KNEW - that God would not leave him in Hades.
When our minds surrender to the often absurd way of walking with the Holy Spirit, God aligns our bodies to respond. Hearts are glad. We may not even know why, we just know that in the spirit, we are at peace. Tongues rejoice. Our words align with what is going on in our spirits. Our flesh rests in Hope. Hope trumps current stress and to-do lists and gives bodies ease throughout the day despite the circumstances. I am not a slave to my body, emotions or other people reactions. I can respond from a place in the spirit.
Then, I love how he addresses Hades. Hades is the Greek word for "the place of the dead". It corresponds with the Hebrew word Sheol. Sheol is the "grave or realm of the dead." How many times am I left in the place of the dead with my thoughts that take me down roads I was never intended to travel? How many times do I lay awake at night chasing scenarios that lead me to places of the dead when all the while I was never destined to chase the line of thinking that brought me to this place of stress, worry, anxiety, and unrest?
I love that God delivers freedom in easy to digest packages. With God, it's not rocket science.
You have revealed the paths of life to me. You will fill me with gladness in Your presence.
God does the work of revelation. I just have to make a choice to believe it, walk in it, and leave the results to Him. There is only gladness in His presence. Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream may deliver temporary gladness ... but it won't last. Him - only Him - delivers gladness to the point I am not scared by my current circumstances but hold tightly to Him.
In theory, this sounds so tidy. In reality, it's tidy, too. It's a discipline that we've got to practice. When stressors come, when distractions float into the room, we get the opportunity to realign our thinking with what we know to be true. From this place of truth, we act. We don't act from the point of stress. We act on the rock-solid foundation of truth. Truth in a real person named Jesus, and the power of a real person called the Holy Spirit and embraced by a real person called God the Father, we are elevated above normal and ordinary and are able to change our mind-sets to new thinking. Thinking that affords us peace and rest and gladness and hope!
Be encouraged today!
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