Our God is always strong, remaining strong in our weakness;
He is our Peace in our anxiety, the perfect Love that casts out our fears.
He is our Spirit of Order and of a Sound Mind, in a world full of confusion.
We trust in Him, and we shall not be put to shame.
We continue to thank Him in all things, for this is the will of God for us in Christ Jesus.
We shall always flow with Him, in Him and through Him by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Something I’ve been realizing through the past few days is that there is a need for me to do learning, unlearning and relearning in a quick and massive scale. I say we need it done quickly because (1) the stakes are high and (2) the organizations I’m committed to are in urgent need of what value Christ has given me to share. I say it’s on a massive scale because (1) there’s that much information, knowledge and data not only to take in but to process and to integrate and (2) there’s also that much programmed in me within the past 40+ years that are no longer applicable, obsolete, and/or even harmful.
How to go about it? Well, now that I’m writing on it, I’m bringing myself back to repentance – more than just regret for our sins and mistakes, it is, ultimately, a change in mind. A change in the way we think. And in this case, it’s needed, again, quickly and on a massive scale.
I find it timely that yesterday we talked about thanksgiving and gratitude, and one thing that popped up while I was developing this message and while we were actually discussing it in real time, is that while both godly sorrow and the goodness of God lead to repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10 and Romans 2:4), I venture to say that in between those two situations and repentance is something in common – Gratitude. We thank God for His faithfulness and presence even in all that brings us sorrow, just as much as we thank God when we behold His goodness. Therefore, in our thanking God, our minds are changed, our ways of thinking are revealed, examined, refined and/or renovated.
So, I guess one way for us to learn, unlearn, and relearn in a quick and massive scale is through gratitude. Through giving thanks.
So I thank God for that revelation, that consideration. I thank God for the opportunity to try thanking Him to try to rearrange all that’s been augmented in the first 40 years of my life. I thank God because of the opportunity to behold His great power and precise wisdom as these deep-rooted traumas and perversions as duly addressed, encountered and confronted. I thank God for the massive gain in memory space to be made available for all the good things that the Lord has for me.
I thank my Father for His word, and His word that endures, His word in which we are able to dwell, where we are transformed. I thank God for Jesus Christ, the living Word, the living and eternal fulfillment of God’s Word and all His promises, seated at the right hand of the Father; I thank God because as He is seated, so we are also seated in the heavenlies, alive in eternity as we are alive in this reality.
I thank God – I thank God, indeed – for Jesus Christ, and the salvation that we have through Him, enduring through all of these years that we’ve gone astray, all these years we’ve taken in so much, that our entire beings were twisted; I thank God for Jesus Christ, who, by His birth, death, resurrection and ascension, has made ALL things new. I thank Jesus for this promise He has made, and He has fulfilled – I am made new! I am a new creation! Even now, in all the struggles, the truth remains that I am made new.
I thank God, because being made new entails and implies that I am a new wineskin, filled with new wine, just as I am a temple, rebuilt to contain an eternal presence: The Holy Spirit, every day unto forever causing me to celebrate the goodness and faithfulness of God, here in this reality, to the end of time and forever.
Thank You, Lord! Thank You, Father! Thank You, Holy Spirit! You are faithful and true, You are glorious and gracious, so good and great! Thank You! You are magnificent, You are wonderful, You are awesome!
Wanna try something else here. Since today is July 14, let’s pull up Psalm 14.
1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good.
2 The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.
3 They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.
4 Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the LORD?
5 There they are in great terror, for God is with the generation of the righteous.
6 You would shame the plans of the poor, but the LORD is his refuge.
Not necessarily a good example to start off with, but let’s give it a shot.
Father, thank You, for by the Holy Spirit that convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment, our eyes and our entire senses are being brought to behold You – beyond Your existence, we see Your glory and grace in all creation, that we are without excuse.
Thank You, Father, for by the power of the Holy Spirit we have been led to believe in You; We’ve lost all confidence in ourselves, and have placed all our trust in Your goodness and greatness, by believing in the One You have sent – Jesus Christ.
Thank You, Father – There IS a God. You are our God, and there is no one above You.
Thank You, God – Because You are our Father, and by Your Son we have been delivered from corruption into righteousness; We have been made righteous unto good works, brought to life unto life-giving works!
Thank You, Father – For we could not realize any of this on our own, but, again, by the power of Your Holy Spirit, our eyes have been opened to the revelations of Your Son – Christ rejoices, because Your grace and Your gospel has been revealed and explained to us, beyond those who would call themselves wise and with understanding.
Oh, thank You, Lord! For, indeed, we were hopeless in our ignorance, and there was nothing we could have done… Thank You, Jesus, for all You’ve done for us!
Thank You, Jesus! For by Your finished work, we have been introduced to the knowledge of God’s goodness, leading us to repentance.
Thank You, Jesus! For by Your finished work, we have been delivered from the treachery of this world and its children.
They are held in great terror, while it is clear that You prepare a table before us, in their presence; Proclaiming us righteous by Your finished work!
Thank You, Lord! For even if our plans don’t go as we expect, You remain our faithful refuge, in whom we trust…
7 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!When the LORD restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.
I mean, David was already thanking God in the entire context of this Psalm, but I thought I’d bring the gratitude to a more micro, granular level.
I can’t tell you that I’m ‘feeling’ a quick and massive repentance and renewing of my mind, but I tell you, it just feels good to thank God.
I start my shift in, oh, a little less than half and hour from now, and I suppose I want to take a little more time to give thanks.
I thank God, because even if things are moving in an intimidating pace where I work, my God, who is the Creator of Time and Space – He is with me through the escalations and the sheer increases of movement.
I thank God though I’m still getting the hang of things, and though I’m already being brought to even more things that need to be taken in – Yes, I thank God, because I THINK God – I have the mind of Christ.
I thank God for that catchy revelation!
I thank God for the best use of my time, and for Him being with me through all that may try to shake me at my core.
I thank God because, now as in 20 years ago, He is my Firm Foundation. I stand secure in His greatness and goodness, I stand firm upon His glory and grace.
I thank God, here and now, because He loves me with an everlasting love – yes, here, and now.
I thank God and give glory to Him, because there’s absolutely no way I could come to these realizations and revelations without Christ – His finished work – and the Holy Spirit poured out upon us.
I thank You, Lord! Thank You so much, for taking care of everything else that concerns me, everything that I’m concerned about, while I invest a good chunk of my focus on this endeavor, and on this shift! Be glorified, be magnified in all of this, Father!
Thank You, Lord!
251900/365000
JB's Personal Brain Defragmenter 
Leave a comment