Pleasing God, Making Disciples of Jesus Christ

Living in Consciousness of God’s Being

PSALM 139:1-5 – O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.”

Many dangers exist in the Christian life. Not a day goes by without spiritual conflicts from the devil, world, and ourselves. They constantly are seeking to ruin our witness for Christ, rob us of His joy in our lives, and make us Christians in name only, lacking the inward spiritual realities of how the Bible describes the believer. And one of those areas of great conflict is the distraction of our minds from the things spiritual and eternal and place them on the physical and temporal. The Apostle Paul would use strong language of personal resolve to keep this from happening in the third chapter of his letter to the church at Colossae – 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 hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory (Colossians 3:1-4). A couple of things for our encouragement about this conflict in the mind.

First, it isn’t easy. Mind renewal by the scripture is a learned practice and in anything learned, there will be failures, so don’t lose heart over the intensity to keep our hearts and minds in heaven, not the earth. The Christian life is simple arithmetic; three steps forward, two steps backward for one step of progress. Spiritual maturity is found in a disciplined mind and that takes time. Also, remember God has already given us all things for the Christian life and that means the power and means toward a mind set in heaven not the earth. But He won’t do the thinking for us. He has given us His Spirit and Word with the responsibility ours to appropriate and apply them by faith in the process of renewing our minds. Now the application from today’s scripture.

One of the most important portions of scripture to keep before our hearts and minds consistently is Psalm 139. It is likely the most theological of the Psalms exposing us to God’s omniscient (all-knowing) Being; His omnipotent (all-powerful) Being, and His omnipresent (all-present) Being. The impact on our minds, affections, and lives would be significant if we consciously remembered these truths of our God; He is always with us, knows everything about us, and provides all the power we need to live pleasing to Him. Yes, I know that we know all those wonderful truths, but the problem is too often our knowing doesn’t make it to our living. If we start today to pray for more awareness of God’s Person in our lives and commit with greater diligence to put the scripture in our minds, we would walk closer to the Lord in holiness and at greater distance from sin. And it really is all about thinking.

So, let’s start by seeking the Lord to have minds stayed on Him, steeped in scripture, and shaped to have our thoughts more toward the spiritual and eternal, not the physical and temporal.

PRAYER: “Father, help me to not only know I am in Your constant Presence but actually live it in attitude and action.”

QUOTE: “Living with a consciousness of God’s Person promotes holiness and strengthens resolve against sin.”

Because of Him,

Pastor Jim