Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no guile.
When I kept silence,
my bones waxed old through my roaring all the
day long.
For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me:
my moisture is turned into the drought of
summer.
I acknowledged my sin unto thee,
and mine iniquity have I not hid.
I said, I will confess my transgressions unto
the Lord;
and thou forgavest
the iniquity of my sin.
For this shall every one that is godly pray
unto thee,
in a time when thou mayest be found:
Surely in the floods of great
waters,
they shall not come nigh unto him.
Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble;
thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance.
I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way
which thou shalt go;
I will guide thee with mine eye.
Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule,
which have no understanding:
Whose mouth must be held in with bit and
bridle,
lest they come near unto thee.
Many sorrows shall be to the wicked:
but he that trusteth
in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about.
Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye
righteous:
and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in
heart. Psalm 32 KJV
The Importance Of The
Mind
To
accomplish the work which God has called us to do we have to live lives that
are truly Spirit-led. We need to know that we are in the place where God wants
us to be, doing the work God calls us to do.
But what does it take to be really
Spirit-led? Many of us still seem to think that to be guided by the Spirit of God we have
to blank our minds and become like puppets on a string. "Here I am Lord.
Press the buttons, pull the strings. I'm your puppet." But the Lord says,
"Be not as the horse, or as the
mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and
bridle...."
"And how can I instruct you and teach
you in the way that you should go, how can I guide you with my eye unless
you think?"
To be guided by the Spirit
is to be taught by the Spirit, instructed. He can't instruct a robot or a
puppet. He can only instruct a thinking mind. Our Lord was guided by the Spirit
of his Father and he was far from a puppet on a string, mechanically responding
to impulses sent to him from above.
He was a son, a thinking
man. He had a mind and he used it to bring the instruction of his Father and
the needs of men together.
And that's where the problem
lies. Our minds don't seem to be able to receive instruction. We're confused
about what's coming from God and what's coming from self and what's coming from
Satan. We're seldom sure about our guidance. And sometimes when we think we're
sure, we find out later that we were misled.
The Misdirected Mind
The
reason for this confusion is that our minds are no longer aimed at heaven as
they were created to be, but are turned in upon themselves. It's as
if we have a magnificent telescope capable of scanning the heavens and
beholding untold wonders. But one night when nobody was around, an enemy
installed a weird elbow on the telescope which, with a system of mirrors, bent
its field of vision to the earth. Now when you look into
the telescope, instead of seeing blazing stars and distant galaxies, you see
only bugs, dirt, spiders and cockroaches crawling in the shadows, magnified to
absurd sizes. Our minds, through the
corruption of sin, have been twisted away from the glory of the living God and
bent earthward, self-ward. All we seem to be able to think about is self.
Guidance from above can only come to us when our minds are cleansed from the sin that warped them --- straightened out so that we can see heavenward once more. This is why Psalm 32, which promises guidance, begins with:
Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose
sin in covered.
Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputed not
iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no guile.
(Blessed is the man, the woman, who has been
to the cross.)
There is therefore now no
condemnation for those who are in
Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death. For
God has done what the law, weakened by
the flesh, could not do: sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh
and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the just requirement
of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the
Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things
of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the
things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the
mind on the Spirit is life and peace Romans
8:1-6
It is possible to get that elbow off the
telescope so it can scan the heavens again. It is possible, by the power of the
cross, to get the twist out of our minds so that they can truly receive
instruction from the Spirit. But don't try to be instructed by the Spirit until
your mind is straightened out, until you've been to the cross.
For instance, our vanity
cannot be taught by the Spirit of God any more
than a horse can learn to use a computer. Yet many of us are desiring to be
guided by the Spirit without first bringing our vanity to the cross. What can
the heavens declare to a telescope that only sees cockroaches and magnifies
them a thousand times? Our ego can no more be taught the ways of God than a
mule can be taught to build a house. Yet many of us are trying to be guided
without first bringing our ego to the cross. What can we see of God's glory
when we're all wrapped up in our own ego problems? And how can our lust, envy,
greed and anger submit themselves to God's goodness when our minds are filled
with these things they are incapable of receiving guidance from the
Spirit because they are chained to the earth, saturated with false hopes and
false promises?
A New Mind Through Death and Resurrection
First
this vain, covetous, lusting mind must pass through the door of death in order
that it may be replaced with a mind which is alive to God. That's what the
cross of Jesus is for. It is the place where not only Jesus dies, but our old
mind which was incapable of receiving instruction dies with him. The cross of
Jesus is literally the doorway to a new understanding which is able to grasp
the things of God, where the mind of flesh, the mind of self-seeking is
replaced with the mind of the Son. A teachable, open, God-seeing, God-trusting,
God-loving, God-worshiping mind.
Blessed is he whose transgression is
forgiven,
whose
sin is covered.
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputes
no iniquity,
and
in whose spirit there is no deceit.
The man or woman who has come to the cross
of Jesus—and keeps coming---has put away the things which have blocked the
Spirit from entering and has now set the mind on the things of the Spirit.
If then you have been raised with Christ,
seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated. at the
right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that
are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hid
with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will
appear with him in glory. Colossians 3:1-4
You
have died. You have been to the cross. Now the guidance of the Spirit begins.
The Spirit begins, literally, to instruct us and teach us in the way that we
should go and guides us with his eye.
But this guidance of the Spirit requires continuous cooperation from us in two
areas:
1. The continuous putting to death of those
things in us that interfere with the operation of the Spirit of God in us.
So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the
flesh, to live according to the flesh – for if you live according to the flesh
you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you
will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. Romans 8:12-14
Put to death
therefore what is earthly in you: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire,
and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is
coming. In these you once walked, when you lived in them. But now put them all
away: anger, wrath, malice, slander and foul talk from your mouth. Do not lie
to one another, seeing that you have put off the old nature with its
practices.... Colossians: 3:5-9
Why should I
keep that grudge if keeping it causes my telescope to see giant
cockroaches instead of the glory of the heavens? Why should I continue walking around in those fantasies when I
know they cloud my vision of God? Why should I go on coveting things I
don't need when I know how covetousness warps my mind?
There was a time when I had no place to go with these
grudges and fantasies. I didn't know what to do with them. They came in and
took over my life like troops of an occupying army. But now I know where to go
to put these things to death --- to the cross of Jesus. "Lord, here's
another load of self and flesh. I drop it at your feet and leave it."
2. To
maintain a mind which is teachable by the
Spirit we need to continuously enter by faith into the goodness of the Lord,
not just as mercy received, but as a life lived.
Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and
beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience, forbearing
one another, and if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other;
as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect
harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you
were called in the one body. And be thankful. Colossians 3:12-15
Enter into the goodness God
has shown to you by living it. Jesus forgives us so we forgive. Jesus gives so generously to us so we give. Jesus intercedes for us so we intercede.
Jesus shows compassion to us so we show compassion.
For all who are
led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of
slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship.
When we cry, "Abba! Father!" it is the Spirit himself bearing witness
with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs
of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that
we may also be glorified with him. Romans 8:14-17
We can live this life.
There was a time when we couldn't,
but now we can. The promise is very, very clear that we will be guided by the
Lord himself.
"Lo, I am
with you always...."
"I will not leave you desolate I
will come to you."
"I will
instruct you and teach you in the way
that you should
go"
"I will guide
you with my eye."
We will be guided. Not
by hearing voices. Not by having buttons pressed in our reflexes and emotions, but by our freely and gladly
entering into the goodness of the Lord which has come to meet us at the cross. .
Blessed is he whose transgression is
forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputes
no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
That man, that woman, will be led by the Spirit of
God.