CAPTIVATED BY CHRIST

        You have heard the saying, “Garbage in, garbage out.” However, the converse to that can be applied just as easily. Purity or Cleanliness in, Purity and Cleanliness out. I would venture to say that many times whether the input is garbage or pure content, the choice is ours. All of us need to make better decisions, however I encourage my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to really focus on their total engagement with Jesus and His Holy Spirit.

        As mentioned, we have inputs – the eyes and ears. These we use for our sight and hearing. We have a processor called the mind. This we use to grow or evolve our thought and emotional life. Then we have our output – the mouth. Here we have the tongue that forms words which holds the power of life and death (Proverbs 18:21). So, in order to show the importance of the whole Christian needing to be captivated by Christ, every moment of every day, let’s break down these parts.

        Regarding the eyes, Jesus stresses the importance that the guarding thereof will protect one’s entire health.

• "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" (Matthew 6:22-23)

        In respect to the heart or emotions, Jesus says,

• “But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.” (Matthew 15:18-19)

        In Psalm 19:8 and Proverbs 15:30, the Christian receives a glimpse of the needs and benefits of a surrendered heart and surrendered vision found in each verse.

• “The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.” (Psalm 19:8)
• “Light in a messenger’s eye brings joy to the heart and good news gives health to the bones.” (Proverbs 15:30)

        Jesus challenges all who believe to love The Lord with all their heart. How can disciples of Christ love God with all their heart when their source is corrupted? A miraculous change is required. Paul encourages the Christians in Rome and down through the ages to reconstruct the mind, for it is here where our thoughts and emotions process what we hear and see. Remodel the mind for Christ.

• “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2)

        When the believer in Christ is responsible, regularly taking every thought captive and making it obey Christ (2 Cor. 10:5) then our thoughts, hearing and sight become more aligned to His. Jesus is The Judge on the shoulds and should nots of all our inputs, but He should be The Judge on the rest of the system too – our processing and outputs. Hebrews 4:12 says,

• “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

        So, if a Christian knows that Jesus is The Word of God and Christ has been entrusted with all judgment, including “the thoughts and attitudes of the heart”, then the believer’s goal should be clear – to be captivated by The Judge – Jesus.

        However, Jesus is known by many other titles and marvelous names than Judge. And because of His total sovereignty and our need of Him in our lives, I urge you as the writer of Hebrews once did –

• “…holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest.” (Hebrews 3:1)

        The challenge comes in keeping the mind of Christ. God’s thoughts and ways are infinitely superior. Christians are tasked with keeping a mind that says – What would Jesus do? We attempt to research a given situation and behave appropriately but sometimes His thoughts, the answers we seek, are delayed or simply not what we wanted or expected.

In Isaiah 55:8-9, Scripture says,

• “’For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’”

        Perhaps said another way – The way I think is not the way you think about anything. Same goes for the way you do things, I do not do them that way, I perform my will, my way. Then Isaiah restates this thought in a poetic format.

        In the New Testament, Paul contributes to this idea when he says,

• “For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.” (1 Cor. 2:11)

        David, known as a man after God’s own heart, is also seen in Psalm 139:17 as a man after God’s mind or thoughts.

• “How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them.”

        Solomon teaches that when the believer does not rebuke the Lord’s correction and repents or turns 180 degrees toward the Lord or changes their mindset to reflect the Lord’s instruction, then the Lord will not only share His thoughts, but the phrase used is “pour out” His thoughts to them.

• “’Repent at my rebuke! Then I will pour out my thoughts to you, I will make known to you my teachings.’” (Proverbs 1:23)

        This is an image of abundance from the Lord because the person has chosen to place God as Master of their life.

        However, even more precious than a Master-Servant relationship is a Godly Friend relationship. This change is exactly what John describes has occurred through Christ with Jesus as our Mediator, High Priest, Lord, King, Savior and Friend. John 15:15 says,

• “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”

        At this point, with the believer’s inputs being enthralled by Christ and the Christian’s processing unit under the influence of The Word of God and The Holy Spirit’s guidance – the remaining concern is what proceeds out of our mouths.

        Probably one of the best and well-known passages of Scripture to cover the topic of human speech, language or word choice is James 3:3-12. Whoever invented the phrase – Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me. – did not know what they were saying. We all know the truth that words do hurt, because there are hurtful people. However, just as this passage states, out of the same mouth that cursings burst forth, there are blessings, praises and compliments that can flow.

• “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.” (James 3:10-12)

        James emphasizes the need to realize the power such a small part of our body has on a big world or on the rest of a life. He uses the analogy of the small bit in a horse’s mouth that directs the entire animal wherever the rider needs to go as equal with the words we choose to use over a person’s life or given situation. James also uses a ship’s rudder that controls the whole ship’s direction and a spark that ends up torching an entire forest as examples.

        James goes as far as to say the tongue or our word choice – “corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.” (James 3:6). If you think that is an unkind picture, wait there’s more! James continues and says, “but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” (James 3:8)

        Do you see why the inputs have to be surrendered to God? However, we could distort them in the processing phase so the Christian needs to surrender the processing stage. Then believers still could muff the communication part of anything so we desperately need God’s fulltime intervention.

        There is not a part, phase, stage of operation or life-aspect that we do not need God. Luke says in Acts 17:28 – “For in Him we live and move and have our being.” If Christians reflect this practice of His encompassing presence in their lifestyle by monitoring and adjusting their inputs, protecting their processing and screening their outputs according to The Word of God and The Holy Spirit, then those around them will know they are Captivated By Christ.

GOD WILL TAKE CARE OF OUR PATHS

 

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on you own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him and He will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:5-6)

        Straight paths are preferred by many but some like to take the scenic route in life. Whether or not we choose to have crooked roads that lead to meandering, indecision and procrastination in our lives - God can make our paths straight. 

        However, there is a price for all this Road Construction (Pathway). The Christian must:

1. Trust in the Lord with all their heart
2. Lean not on your own understanding
3. In all your ways submit to Him

then the Lord will do His part - 

1. He will make your paths straight.

        Why is the work ratio heavy on our part? Because our will, our nature, this side of Heaven is always battling God's will. 

        Straight paths lead to clear direction and speedy results. Conversely, the non-straight paths of life lead to ambiguity and procrastination. 

        Each one of the responsibilities for the Christian, listed above, is a developing characteristic. The first, "trust in the Lord with all their heart" is wholehearted trust in the Lord. All good relationships contain a degree of reliance upon each member. God gave His All, His only Son for us, so He asks for nothing but ALL of us. 

        The second responsibility, not leaning on your own understanding, is acknowledging and using the higher wisdom and understanding of God found in His Word. When believers come to realize who the real authority on life is and where their help comes from, the not depending solely on your smarts becomes easier.

        The last duty we have before the Lord makes our paths straight is submitting all our ways to Him. Let God be in every detail, not the devil. If every aspect of our lives is surrendered, then there is Godly favor. Otherwise, there is potential for the path to go crooked again. 

        These steps of responsibility re-shape the believer's non-trusting, half-hearted, self-depending, non-submissive being into a Christian who uses these duties to prioritize God and rely on His dependability.

        Notice that the Scripture says, "He will make your paths straight" - "paths" being plural. In our lives, we have many paths we walk. We walk down an employment path. We walk down a family path. We walk down a spiritual path and so forth. We have to walk down these paths but management of them is conditional. If we put our effort into this formula of fulfilling our responsibilities, then God Will Take Care Of Our Paths.

KEEP YOUR SIGHT ON GOD

        

        There are many uses of the word "sight" in Scripture. There is the biological sense of vision. The phrase "in God's sight" is loaded with concepts such as God's view, God's perspective, God's knowledge-of or God's presence. Then there is living by faith not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7) yet if we keep our sight set on God, life tends to go as it should.

        However, do we live as though God's gaze or sight is everywhere? There is nothing that shocks or surprises God. There is not anywhere God does not want believers to be holy and blameless before Him. Paul speaks to the omnipresence of God, especially with Christians and uses the word "sight" to convey that idea when he says,

• "For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight." (Ephesians 1:4)

        If God can see you and God is everywhere, especially close to His children who He chose before the creation of the world, then Christians should align themselves with this original directive to be set apart for God (holy) and filled with integrity before God (blameless).

        Knowing to keep our eyes fixed on God's Word everyday is different from keeping our eyes there. With so many options the world, our flesh and the enemy presents to us, it is no surprise our eyes wander. 

        The second line of "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus" has the key - "look FULL into His wonderful face". Full here implies total devotion, wholeheartedness, total attention and utter captivation. The word is likened to a horse with blinders, whose vision is full of nothing but the face of the owner. 

        Moses experienced this blinder effect while beholding the fullness of God in the cleft of a rock.

"Then Moses said, 'Now show me your glory.'

And the Lord said, 'I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But,' he said, 'you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.'

Then the Lord said, 'There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.'" (Exodus 33:18-23)

        Thankfully, the believer can know and focus on Father God's face ever since sending His Son, Christ Jesus, in the flesh. After Jesus declared He is the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father expect through Him - Philip (bless his heart) asks a question that surely makes Jesus slap His hand on His forehead.

"Philip said, 'Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.'

Jesus answered: 'Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?'" (John 14:8-9)

        Since Jesus has ascended to the right hand of Father God, the Holy Spirit is present in the lives of believers to teach them all things and remind them of Christ's words. Seeing God merely means taking a nature walk every now and then and being obedient in the love-commands of Christ toward everyone  - 

"For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse." (Rom. 1:20)

        The everyday behavior of believers in Christ should be found as reflecting Jesus, the focus of their lives. Do you want to live a healthy life in all aspects? Guard your eyes. This is what Jesus says. 

• "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" (Matthew 6:22-23)

        Society has deemed the eyes - the windows of the soul. Jesus has declared the eyes as "the lamp of the body"! They are so important and telling that Jesus says your whole body depends upon what you are viewing, watching or feeding your eyes.

        One of the chastisements of Christ, in the letter to the church in Laodicea was of spiritual blindness (Rev 3:17-18). The cure that Christ told them to use was salve, not of the worldly kind that the city of Laodicea was known for but the spiritual kind that Jesus offers for their blindness. 

        I encourage my fellow Christians, if you need some Holy Spirit salve to regain your Christ-like sight, then pray now. If you are interested in having a healthy body and showing His light through your life and eyes then pray for a Cleft of The Rock experience like Moses. If you desire to be set apart for God and characterized as a man or woman of integrity, then Keep Your Sight On God or as the writer of Hebrews says, "fix your eyes on Jesus, the author (or pioneer) and finisher (or perfecter) of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2).

FAITHFUL INTERCEDERS

        

        In a world that is filled with more unreliability and deceptiveness everyday, I am so glad I have as my friend someone known as Faithful and True - Christ Jesus - Revelation 3:14 and 19:11.

        There are so many times when I fail myself, I fail others, I fail God and others disappoint me. The Lord knows I have taken His presence through some bad decisions. But even through all this He has not left me. He was, is and will always be Faithful. The times when I feel neglected by God is when I'm basing my judgment on feelings not God's Word, Spirit or testimony of what He has done in my life and others around me.

        Did you know that The Trinity has two of its members that minister as interceders for believers? In Romans 8, Paul encouraged the believers in Rome and all through the ages that Christ and the Holy Spirit are both interceding for them.

• "Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us." (Romans 8:34)
"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans." (Romans 8:26)
• "And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God." (Romans 8:27)

        I don't know if I have the proper words or actions to express my thanks and gratitude to God for this personal display of Love, Favor and Faithfulness. There are times I am aware of Christ's and the Holy Spirit's intercession and sometimes I am not. But to know that both are not only cheerleaders for me but agents of God's will pushing for God's plan to be manifested in my life before Father God's Throne - is daunting. Thank you Father God for your Faithful Interceders!

 

A MESSAGE FOR THE YOUTH

Ecclesiastes 11:9

"You who are young, be happy while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment."

        When anything is judged, the result is either approval, needs improvement or failed. King Solomon, perhaps by experience, but certainly by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, encouraged young people to be happy, to follow their heart and their eyes but know this - it had better line up with what God wants for your life. 

        Ever heard the expression - Sow Your Wild Oats Early? This simply means an individual got their experimentation with touching the hot stoves of life out of the way. Though many of us go through this stage, there is no need for it. We can be happy while we are young and not receive the failed judgment rendering. A good start would be to follow the way of happiness found through the B-Attitudes in Matthew 5.

        Entering the picture of this sowing your wild oats phase of life, there is a daily battle between our heart, our eyes and the Joy of The Lord. 

Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" 

And in Matthew 15:19, Jesus said, "For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander." 

        Both words for heart in these verses, Old and New Testament, mean our thoughts and/or feelings. 

        The Joy of the Lord is made available to us in the form of our obedience. His joy, His favor becomes our strength (Nehemiah 8:10).

        Some say, the eyes are the window to the soul. Jesus, in Matthew 6:22-23, goes a step further and places a lamp in your window. He says, 

• "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness." 

        Remember the phrase - garbage in, garbage out? One of the major ways we take in the world is through our eyes. Also, one of the major ways we communicate ourselves is through our eyes. Many times words do not have to be spoken to tell what is inside a person. We might not know the specifics, but just through the eyes, we can get a glimpse that someone might be in pain, reaching out or elated about something. I encourage you to fill yourself up with the good things of Christ, so that people will see Christ, The Light, when they Look In The Window of Your Soul.

        Judgement has a sentencing part to the proceedings. Solomon is stating very clearly, in the original Ecclesiastes 11:9 verse, that there are consequences to one's actions and words. Sometimes those consequences are meted out immediately and sometimes those ramifications are felt down the road somewhere. 

        Young person, will you say "No" to the Eating of Wild Oats in life? Will you allow your happiness to align with God's happiness? Will you select God's joy and favor by choosing to obey Him? Will you protect your eyes and your very soul with what you watch or look at? 

        I challenge you not to say, "My judgment will go well for I have a forgiving Savior." - and then proceed to continue in disobedience. This is not living out the life God has for you. This mindset and behavior is keeping Christ nailed to The Cross and not allowing His victory through The Cross and over death, Hell and the grave to spur you to righteous living. Paul tells the believers in Rome this very thing when he said - 

• "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." (Romans 6:1-4)

        Live with the Holy Spirit acting as a screen or judge of your words before you say them, your actions before you do them. And know that you have Grace from Christ Jesus when you stumble. But do not let His favor be a crutch. Go on and live your life, but With God.

THE APPROACHABLE SOVEREIGN

        

        The idea of the Sovereignty of God must be accepted for life to have meaning. Any option welcomed in place of this doom existence to oblivion. The vehicle for accepting the Planner God, the Creator God and Master of it All or Sovereign God is faith. There is no way around faith. About faith, Scripture says,

• "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." (Hebrews 11:1)

        However, now that we know what faith is, God's Word goes a few steps further in accepting His existence. The Bible speaks to the power of faith and the lack thereof through the writer of Hebrews and Paul. The writer of Hebrews says,

• "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him." (Hebrews 11:6)

        Then Paul adds,

• "For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse." (Romans 1:20)

        For those skeptics, naysayers and those attempting to make excuses that there is no God, Blaise Pascal has a consideration for you. The French philosopher, theologian, mathematician and physicist put forth what is known as Pascal's Wager. Pascal argues that it is in one's best interest to believe in the existence of God, as it is a rational assumption and does no harm, and the possibility of eternal punishment in hell outweighs any advantage of believing otherwise. C.S. Lewis adds to this thought by saying, "Aim for heaven and you will get earth 'thrown in'; aim at earth and you will get neither." (The Joyful Christian)

        So, God exists but some, like Deists would suggest, God or a Divine Being created everything then sat back or walked away - a wind-up creation and let the chips fall where they may type of involvement.

        This is NOT the portrait of God in Christian Scripture. Over the physical creation, God is sovereign (Genesis 1-3). Over the spiritual realm, God is sovereign (1 Chronicles 21:15, 27; Matthew 13:41; Judges 9:22-24). Over humanity as nations and individuals, God is Sovereign (Acts 17:26-28; Deuteronomy 32-7-8). Over all the plethora of details that construct existence and meaning, God is Sovereign.

        The ultimate, intimate involvement was Father God sending His one and only Son to pay humanity's redemption price which was Christ's perfect life's blood upon the cross and victory over death, Hell and the grave three days later.

        Humanity might not agree or understand God's decisions, but Christians especially must trust in His sovereignty or be doomed to frustration. I keep learning God's response is totally on Him. Just because God has made a promise in His Word, the evoking of its fulfillment through my prayer may or may not be answered, even if I am praying His Word back to Him.

        Even as a believer, I question God. Do I have that right, not really. Do I have that privilege, absolutely, through the sacrifice and victory of Jesus Christ. The writer of Hebrews affirms this by saying,

• "Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." (Hebrews 4:16)

        However, just because believers in Christ have the privilege of an audience with The King at the whisper of a prayer, does not mean all responses are answered and/or delivered according to your specifications. The answer, including the timing is the will of The Sovereign Lord.

        Sometimes, the Christian can be aligned with The Lord in prayer about all they are seeking, but the timing is not surrendered. I know control for many people is a hard thing to give up, but the timing of instant gratification is sometimes harder to yield. If the believer does not relent in this area, he/she makes God out to be a genie meeting wishes instead of The Sovereign God fulfilling His purposes and plan over their lives.

        All this is not to discourage prayer. Persistent prayer continues our alignment with God's perspective on how our lives should run. He is the one with The Plan for our lives and will help to see it through. Paul wrote to the believers in Philippi and says -

• "In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6)

        This verse alone screams of a personal God, involved intimately on behalf of His believers to develop them into the man or woman of Christ they want to be and He wants them to be.

        There are probably many things that could go toward understanding God's Sovereignty. However, my research has found that our understanding of God's control must at least include - faith, trust, hope and testimony.

        The Christian faith in God says He does exist and provides a restored relationship back with Himself through Christ Jesus. How that faith is displayed helps continue the believer's development as a Christian, especially if a spiritually tuned ear is maintained. Paul admonishes the believers in Philippi to continue figuring out and working things out within their faith-walk with God -

• "Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling," (Philippians 2:12)

        Trust in God's Word says we rely on God's foreknowledge about everybody, that He has a plan for everything and will counsel His beloved.

        About His foreknowledge of everybody and everything, David says -

• "Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." (Psalm 139:16)

        Concerning His plan for our lives, Jeremiah writes -

• "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)

        Then concerning His counsel of His beloved in this life, Solomon and John contribute.

• "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him and He will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:5-6)
• "But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind of everything I have said to you." (John 14:26)

        Believers base their hope and drive to live, now and future, on God's promises within His Scripture. Meanwhile, the testimony of others in The Faith is the fuel for the mind, body and spirit to endure and aide others needing help. 

        The criteria of - faith, trust, hope and testimony - are crucial in experiencing The Lord as the personal Sovereign God. While some may live their life as though there is no God or as though there is an impersonal God or unapproachable God, Christians believe in a highly intimate and accessible God who is All-Powerful, All-Knowing and Everywhere.

        Believers in Christ accept God as the ultimate planner. Listen to what Jesus says as He drops a hint at God's planning character -

• "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won't you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, 'This person began to build and wasn't able to finish.'" (Luke 14:28-30)

        According to Scripture, humanity never was, is or will be Sovereign. God is the I Am. He is before time, before all. The acceptance of the lie that we can be Sovereign through disobedience was the beginning of the The End for humanity.

        Therefore, the balance that is terribly lacking has progressively worsened since The Fall. The balance is not between good and evil, the balance is about restoring the proper perspective and position on God's Sovereignty in all matters.

        As stated at the outset, we are doomed to frustration if we do not surrender to God that which we do not understand, discern partially and even the concepts we seem to grasp. As mentioned earlier through the writer of Hebrews, through Christ Jesus - Father God's presence, ear and hand are always present, the matter is leaving and trusting the response with The Approachable Sovereign.

DUE DILIGENCE

        Back in the times of kings, queens, counts, ladies and knights there was an expectation by these individuals and the rest of royalty to attend the Royal Court activities. Their attendance and contribution to the events of the day in court was their way of due diligence to the King and kingdom.

        Today, two of the ways Americans show their due diligence is to vote and answer the summons to appear in court as a member of a jury. The dictionary defines diligent or diligence as constant in effort to accomplish something; attentive and persistent in doing anything. 

        When I researched the words diligent or diligence in Scripture, the references were to the consistent work on The Temple, not giving-up in your own personal faith journey (Heb. 6:10-12), being persistent with your gift from God (1 Tim. 4:14-16) and if you consider yourself a leader, then being steadfast in leading (Ro. 12:6-8).

        The essence of diligence is summed up through Paul's words in his letter to the believers in Colossae. "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward." (Colossians 3:23-24)

        In this attitude and mindset presented by Paul we see wholeheartedness in anything and everything as the first key - "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart,". 

        The second key is maintaining the perspective that whatever directive you are under from whomever, fulfill it as if it came from God - "as working for the lord, not for human masters,". 

        The last key is the why. You wholeheartedly work at anything as if working for the Lord because you know that you already are guaranteed a Holy Inheritance and will be rewarded for your diligence in good deeds through the Bema Seat Judgment of Christ (a judgment of the believers works or deeds for Christ while on earth that takes place in Heaven after the rapture) - "since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.".

        The daily consistent meeting and walking with The Holy Spirit as a child of The King will develop this diligent mindset and attitude. Through prayer, focused thoughts on His Word (input), and screening our thoughts, words and actions through The Holy Spirit (output) - Christians will be on their way to doing their part in serving The King and kingdom effectively. 

        Jesus said that The Holy Spirit would be there for the believer to "teach you all things and remind you of everything I have said to you." (John 14:26). There is no shadow of a doubt then that Christians should look on themselves as Royalty with a purpose, but without the haughty attitude. The Lord says through Peter that through faith in Christ Jesus, believers "...are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light." (1 Peter 2:9) and we need to perform our Due Diligence.