In this video I talk about what I feel God has taught me about The Day of the Lord, I go over a chapter in Isaiah and a poem I posted a couple weeks ago. Pray it stimulates some “stirring the deep” for this Day is significant to all of us and is upon us.
In my past, I had a pattern in my relationships of judging, rejecting and walking away. But I thank God for showing me, and reworking this pattern in my life.
Luke 6:37 Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
Over the years, God has shown me the extent of my judgment of others, which was crafted in and by my flesh nature. It was derived from eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thus playing my own judge, instead of eating of the tree of life in which only God is judge and we are governed by His Spirit, not our judgments.
Like most areas requiring “purging the dross”, it amazed me how blind I was to my judging thoughts … even after years of seeking God. The web of lies we craft is vast, and the lies are deeply intertwined so that the renewing of our mind is a process that requires much patience. Romans 12:2 To break this bondage in my life, the Holy Spirit had to address other lies first. There may be more to come, but when we are receptive to His instruction, we move forward. And remember, we don’t even judge our own path. Leave all judgments to God who abounds in love and mercy.
1 Corin 4:3-4 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord.
I never saw my thoughts as God revealed them to be because as Jeremiah says our heart is deceitful and most of all to ourselves. Jeremiah 17:9 This is why we need One greater than us and beyond us to reveal and renew. This is the work of the Holy Spirit; to build in us new frameworks to think by that are established in Truth. Our part is to receive those frameworks by engaging His work in us by listening, praying, abiding in the Word, and submitting to His counsel as He directs.
Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
We are to love not judge. Judging entails condemnation. Loving entails forgiveness and mercy.
Take the example of children. Running into the street can cause harm; they could get hit by a car. So if a child is headed into the street, we tell them no and redirect them. We don’t judge them in condemnation because we know they are acting based on what they know or don’t know. They are acting on their prior experiences and level of understanding. They are acting in ignorance, so we don’t judge, we teach and help.
All those under the sway of the evil one, which is the whole world, are as children who don’t know. People are blinded by the lies, and therefore they live by them as if they are truth. If they knew the Truth their actions would be different. Each one of us acts based on our personal experiences and understanding; whether good or bad, right or wrong. We need to give others and ourselves the same mercy, love and care we give children. Thus, when people act in harmful ways, we are to love and exhort them, not condemn.
Projecting our Mindset onto Others
Matthew 7:4 “Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye?
An interesting aspect to this issue is beyond the exterior, the only judgment we can really have is our own interpretation of a situation based on our particular framework. All we know is our own mind, not another’s. We’ve never experienced another’s mind. So when we judge, we are really judging ourselves. When we judge we are assuming we know another’s mind because we are projecting our framework onto them. We think … if I acted that way this is what it would mean. But it isn’t us but them. Everyone’s perspective varies to some extent because no one has lived the exact same life. We can warn people of harmful situations, behaviors, modes of thought, we can help them from having walked certain paths ourselves, but we can’t judge them.
Romans 2:1 Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.
The Apostle Paul constantly corrected the young believers in the Bible, but he didn’t condemn them. He warned them of the dangerous paths they were walking. His heart broke for them. He loved them. We are to follow that example. This flows right into the concept of speaking evil of no one. (video) Would you speak evil of a child running into the street? Regardless of the actions of others, there is no need to speak evil of them. It doesn’t accomplish anything and yet has harmful ripple affects. We aren’t helping anyone. Now, we can warn others of people. For example, if I have a friend listening to a one teaching false doctrine, I need to warn them that their words aren’t in accordance with truth. Yet, that is very different than slandering them and judging them as a person.
Imagine if no one judged another, not even themselves but exhorted in love. If this post struck a chord in you, seek instruction from the Holy Spirit and see what He speaks to you about this area. Seek for Him to renew your mind and spirit to release all judgment and instead love and help others; to do to others as you would have them to do you.
John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Eternal life is knowing God … what this means for our journey on this earth.
HAPPY Thanksgiving … I pray it truly is happy.
“And whoever trusts in the Lord, happy is he.”
Proverbs 16:20
How many genuinely happy faces do you see? Lives speaking of rest, peace, joy and blessing? Souls abiding in love, truth and right-mindedness?
There are two different paths we can travel in this life. These two paths manifest two different spirits within us. One of these paths leads to happiness, the other empty hopes. Whichever path we give our minds to determines the type of spirit we are.
One path, taken by many, is directed by this world’s wisdom and ways, and manifests a spirit of corruption within. This life is preached to us in every dimension. You can’t escape its messaging that penetrates the airwaves. When we trust and live by this wisdom, which we all start out doing, a spirit of corruption is fed and grows within us. James 3:15 This spirit manifests a life of sorrows.
The other path, traveled by few, is directed by God and true wisdom and manifests the spirit of God within. James 3:17-18 This life is taught to us by Christ. Matthew 11:29 Its instruction doesn’t come from the society and culture around us, but from the Holy Spirit. 1 John 2:27 When we learn of this wisdom, the spirit of God makes its home within us. John 14:23
These two spirits create different outcomes. The spirit of corruption is of fear and produces suffering, pain, anger, depression, afflictions and angst. When you give your mind to the messaging of the world, this spirit reigns in you. The spirit of God is of love and produces health, rest, joy, blessing, compassion, and peace, which you see very little of because very few truly seek instruction from the Holy Spirit, the source of truth.
The Creator of this world desires for you to live in a reality of truth, wisdom, love, rest, and peace, and yes happiness …to walk the less traveled path. Matt 7:13-14 Yet most don’t believe that God truly is this good or this powerful in their lives, therefore most don’t look to Him to manifest this life in their lives. Their unbelief keeps them from seeking God, because why bother? What difference would it really make? For a lack of seeking, they remain bound to lies and on the path of destructive mindsets, generated by worldly wisdom, leading to sorrow.
God’s power is real, yet it has become futile to people. God’s power and promises have been contrived to empty shells of hypocrisy. People declare the peace of God, when there their soul is full of angst. They declare the love of God, when anger reigns in their souls. They declare the righteousness of God, when sin is ruling their spirit. These souls are still bounded by the spirit of corruption. They haven’t walked or failed to continue walking on the path leading to God’s spirit indwelling their soul.
2 Timothy 3:5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
The fruit of our lives reveals the spirit within us. When we get honest with our spiritual state and stop calling it what it isn’t, then we are open to seek truth.
If you are 30 lbs overweight but tell yourself you’re not. What will you do? Nothing. If you think you are what you aren’t you are deceiving yourself and thus hurting yourself. If you are honest with your situation, then you can start to do something about it. As long as we think God’s power and promises aren’t really real and life is lacking this side of heaven, then we won’t seek. This self-deception is one of the greatest forms of bondage.
When we seek to be taught about life from the Holy Spirit and put our trust in what He teaches, He prepares our souls to receive God’s Spirit. Once we truly start seeking, our lives shift to the path of life. As we persist, we are sanctified by truth. John 17:17 Ephesians 1:4-5 As we are refined and purified, the spirit of God begins to fill us. What we experience is becoming a new creation; old things pass away, all things become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 Many haven’t experience this transformation, because they haven’t walked the path governed by the Holy Spirit. It’s a completely different wisdom and way of life than that of the world. What you feed your mind, you are.
When God’s righteousness dwells within you, you are transformed, you can’t help but be. Not by your own accord, but because the spirit of corruption has been replaced by God’s Spirit. As you don’t effort to sin, you don’t effort to be righteous; truth and love simply flow from the fountain of life within you. When God starts to take up residence in your soul, you know it – EVERYTHING is transformed; your mind, desires, actions, words, heart … truly become new. You experience rest, peace, joy blessing, love, truth, soundness of mind, and yes happiness.
When you understand the reality of this blessed life with God occurs this side of heaven, you will seek and you will find. Matthew 7:7,11 God is powerful. When we trust Him, our lives change in very tangible ways that lead to an abundant life. The power that raised Christ from the dead moves in and through us affecting our lives even to the most specific details. Ephesians 1:19-20
When I pray that you truly will be happy it’s a significant prayer, and one that God desires to fulfill. Don’t be frustrated if you see the spirit of corruption in your life, this is where we all start, and awareness is the first step toward the right path. Get on the path of life and headed in the right direction, and you will find the happiness you seek and all you deeply desire.
Mark 7:9 He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.”
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Regeneration
A fountain of life to water souls
A source unexpected, yet long foretold
Springing forth from the wilderness
Rivers of love and tenderness
Vessels prepared yet unaware
Of the purpose they were to bear
Filled by God’s magnificent presence
Transformed in quiet transcendence
In weakness the greatest power is housed
In rest the sleeping giant aroused
To regenerate a corrupted place
To change the countenance of every face
From tears to unspeakable joy
Freeing imprisoned minds, evil’s toy
Though wickedness once abound
Its victory soon will not be found
Darkness loses its authority
As the incoming light quenches its ability
Establishing truth and righteousness in the land
The power shifts to love’s guiding hand.
Break forth in song, for the Day is here
Extinguishing every worry, care and fear
Mercy floods in as waves of light
Redeeming by God’s perfect might
Using few to bring forth His domain
God is glorified and named above all names
The Kingdom come, Thy will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
~ Rachel DiPaolo
November 13, 2011
Luke 14:5 Then He answered them, saying, “Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?”
Matthew 19:28 So Jesus said to them, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Mark 13:9 “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
Looking at a bigger picture of the gospel of Christ.
Romans 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
What is spirit-minded versus carnal or flesh-minded?
The flesh is our self-will and all that it produces and manifests. It’s our self-created values, idols, and philosophies. It’s what we trust and hope in other than God’s truth. It’s the outcomes of corruption that come from following the flesh. Gal 5:19-21 It’s defining and creating our own goodness and righteousness. Isaiah 64:6 It’s based in fear. 2 Timothy 1:7 It’s everything derived from following self and the elements of the world created by self, versus God. Thus, the flesh-mind is one consumed and governed by self and the corresponding beliefs.
Is your hope in the wisdom of mankind? What do your actions show? Do you have a fear of man? Do you strive to please others? To please yourself? If so, your god is man. You serve mankind, and have a flesh-mind, which end is death. We’ve all been there at one point, but it’s not where we are to stay. Galatians 1:10
The spirit is what is of God. It’s knowing God’s truth and living the outcomes of it. Galatians 5:22 It’s a state of peace, rest, love and delight. It’s trusting in God in all things so you enter into a state of internal and external rest in all things. (The rest allows God’s spirit to move through you as He wills, like a leaf directed by the wind. Rest is a testimony of trust.) Hebrews 4:11 It’s becoming like a child who trusts his Father’s complete protection, provision, love and care and therefore lives in delight and in the desires of his heart. Psalm 37:4-5 Mark 10:15 It’s giving over all judgment to God to decide what is good and what isn’t, thus letting Him direct your life. John 5:30 It’s owning Christ’s righteousness and walking in it. When we are spirit-minded we have a mind like Christ, surrendered to God’s will, filled with God’s truth, and governed by the Spirit of God. Galatians 2:20, 2 Corin 5:17
Do you have a fear of God? Do you care about what He thinks above others? Are you seeking and moving into His will in all areas of your life? Is your trust growing in Him? Then you are on the path of being spirit-minded.
Galatians 5:24-25 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Galatians 5:17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish
To be spirit-minded, the flesh has to be destroyed. To remain flesh-minded is death because it’s counter and in opposition to God, who is life.
How do you know you are spirit-minded or flesh-minded?
What do you think about most of the day? What do you talk about? Who do you serve? What do you meditate on? Where do you put your hope? In what/who do you trust? What consumes your time? What do you put first on your list? Who has taught you the beliefs you live by? From who have you gained the “wisdom” you live by? Psalm 1:1-3, 2 Corin 1:12
These answers will tell you who/what owns your mind, the flesh or the spirit. Who/what owns your mind, owns you. We start out imprisoned by a flesh-mind that leads us down paths of destruction and death, but the TRUTH came to set us free.
Isaiah 61:1 “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
Which are you cultivating?
Galatians 6:8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life
Because what you believe and focus on you create as a creative being made in the image of God, if you are focusing on and sowing a flesh-mindset, then you are creating corruption leading to death. If you are sowing a spirit-mind, then you are reaping eternal abundant life.
What do you sow? Who do you listen to? What do you read? What do you seek? How do you spend your time? Are they in accordance to the wisdom of mankind or the wisdom of God? Do you know the difference? The flesh-mindset is far more enveloping than most realize. In recent weeks, my eyes have been opening to its pervasiveness. It’s everywhere. 2 Corinthians 13:5
When we sow to the flesh, we search out answers and solutions from mankind’s intellect and wisdom, even in spiritual matters. 1 Corinthians 3:19 If you trust others to teach you about God, you are sowing to the flesh, because you are putting your trust in mankind. Do you see? In everything we are to seek the truth and wisdom of God, because that of the world is a twisted, corrupted, opposing and degenerate version of true wisdom.
When we sow to the spirit, we seek truth from God, we are taught by Him and not by man. 1 Corinthians 2:13-14, John 6:45 We seek to know the truth in all things, we have a love for THE Truth. 2 Thess 2:10. (How to Seek the Kingdom of God)
Gaining a spirit-mind and leaving the flesh mind behind is a journey. When you are on the right path you know it because your life is a testimony to you.
Living Light 