#504 To Demonstrate His Surpassing Power 2 Corinthians 4:7 Part 2
Ideas on what is in our power to do so that He can demonstrate His Surpassing Power in our Fear, etc.
“…we must look away from our own narrow thoughts, plans and schemes and allow our minds to dwell upon the grandeur of God’s benevolent, loving and glorious character until a gleam of His glory awakens in us a feeling of admiration, veneration and love, and then of longing to be conformed to His image. And while we, as God’s faithful children, thus look and hold ourselves in position to receive the impressions from above, the divine likeness is traced upon our hearts, as we study God’s revelation; and the heavenly wisdom begins to manifest itself in the peaceable fruits of righteousness.” R 1518
These observations regarding the thinking process have been helpful:
a..There is an event. Like “bad news” or a challenging situation of some kind. Psalm 112:7 (TLB)
b..We interpret the event, or tell ourselves something about the event “Bad news” can inspire fear and dread. But in Psalm 112:7 “He does not fear bad news, nor live in dread of what may happen. For he is settled in his mind that Jehovah will take care of him. That is why he is not afraid but can calmly face his foes.”
c..We FEEL an emotion or experience a response as a result. Psalm 112: 8 “His heart is secure, he will have no fear…” NIV, and in this case this response of faith and security is because of knowing His commitment to take care of His own, and dwelling on that truth.
d..We act a certain way and make decisions on this basis. And the interpretation and what we dwell on defines what we experience as real. The reality of the Psalmist in Psalm 112 was peace. Notice, in contrast to the faith example of that Psalm, how the disciples first reacted to Jesus coming to them on the water. They did not dwell on the protection of God. Their minds immediately went to an assumption of the worst. They were terrified of the storm, and terrified of the one walking on the water. Fear was their reality. Matthew 14:25-26
The very same event can have two totally different impacts on people: depending on what they say about what the event means and what each person dwells on in thought. In the process of developing spiritual muscle memory, we need to be reminded of Divine values and Truths—and it takes practice to discern our thinking. Hebrews 5:14 And we know that we will never do this process of renewed thinking perfectly on this side of the veil. It is also a process and takes time to practice to overcome long term habits of thinking. As He renews our mind and we participate in this process, (2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 2:10; Romans 12:2, Psalm 51:6) He is re-wiring our brain, so to speak.
So when any event upsets us, we need to observe how we are interpreting that event, and on what thoughts we are dwelling on and then determine if this is in harmony with His View. We may need to surrender our interpretation to the LORD: We can pray: “Shine the light of Your Pure Love on this thinking.” Psalm 19:14 And I ask What is YOUR view, and the perspective of my LORD JESUS. We can ask, How would Jesus respond to this event? We need to ask for the Promise, for the reminder that will help us see Jesus in the experience with us. Imagine if Jesus had just walked by the disciples in the boat and not identified himself. Imagine if Jesus had not convinced them that it was him. That memory would have been filled with fear. Matt. 14:22-27 But out of love he told them, “Don’t be afraid, it’s me!” He will not just walk by us when we are afraid in the storm. He is there to help us KNOW he is there with us in the storm of circumstance.
He is working to calm our storm. And we must let him in our boat!
Ideas on what is in our power to do so that He can demonstrate His Surpassing Power in our Fear, etc.
“…we must look away from our own narrow thoughts, plans and schemes and allow our minds to dwell upon the grandeur of God’s benevolent, loving and glorious character until a gleam of His glory awakens in us a feeling of admiration, veneration and love, and then of longing to be conformed to His image. And while we, as God’s faithful children, thus look and hold ourselves in position to receive the impressions from above, the divine likeness is traced upon our hearts, as we study God’s revelation; and the heavenly wisdom begins to manifest itself in the peaceable fruits of righteousness.” R 1518
These observations regarding the thinking process have been helpful:
a..There is an event. Like “bad news” or a challenging situation of some kind. Psalm 112:7 (TLB)
b..We interpret the event, or tell ourselves something about the event “Bad news” can inspire fear and dread. But in Psalm 112:7 “He does not fear bad news, nor live in dread of what may happen. For he is settled in his mind that Jehovah will take care of him. That is why he is not afraid but can calmly face his foes.”
c..We FEEL an emotion or experience a response as a result. Psalm 112: 8 “His heart is secure, he will have no fear…” NIV, and in this case this response of faith and security is because of knowing His commitment to take care of His own, and dwelling on that truth.
d..We act a certain way and make decisions on this basis. And the interpretation and what we dwell on defines what we experience as real. The reality of the Psalmist in Psalm 112 was peace. Notice, in contrast to the faith example of that Psalm, how the disciples first reacted to Jesus coming to them on the water. They did not dwell on the protection of God. Their minds immediately went to an assumption of the worst. They were terrified of the storm, and terrified of the one walking on the water. Fear was their reality. Matthew 14:25-26
The very same event can have two totally different impacts on people: depending on what they say about what the event means and what each person dwells on in thought. In the process of developing spiritual muscle memory, we need to be reminded of Divine values and Truths—and it takes practice to discern our thinking. Hebrews 5:14 And we know that we will never do this process of renewed thinking perfectly on this side of the veil. It is also a process and takes time to practice to overcome long term habits of thinking. As He renews our mind and we participate in this process, (2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 2:10; Romans 12:2, Psalm 51:6) He is re-wiring our brain, so to speak.
So when any event upsets us, we need to observe how we are interpreting that event, and on what thoughts we are dwelling on and then determine if this is in harmony with His View. We may need to surrender our interpretation to the LORD: We can pray: “Shine the light of Your Pure Love on this thinking.” Psalm 19:14 And I ask What is YOUR view, and the perspective of my LORD JESUS. We can ask, How would Jesus respond to this event? We need to ask for the Promise, for the reminder that will help us see Jesus in the experience with us. Imagine if Jesus had just walked by the disciples in the boat and not identified himself. Imagine if Jesus had not convinced them that it was him. That memory would have been filled with fear. Matt. 14:22-27 But out of love he told them, “Don’t be afraid, it’s me!” He will not just walk by us when we are afraid in the storm. He is there to help us KNOW he is there with us in the storm of circumstance.
He is working to calm our storm. And we must let him in our boat!
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