Renewal of the Mind ...

I have discovered the joy of finding God's truth in a myriad of places ... no longer do I think in terms of "safe" and "unsafe" resources. I see that all truth is God's truth, and that He has lavishly spread His truth all over creation, so that His beloved creatures may find it, and thus know Him. I see that it's not dependent upon being in the right "club", or having the right "doctrines" ... but about knowing the One who is nearer than breath, closer than hands and feet, and who draws all men to Himself. I see Truth as a Person to know (Christ), rather than a concept to possess and defend ... and so I welcome Truth in whatever guise it may find me, or me it.

A friend of mine shared this with me today -- it spoke to me, and so I share here:

"Much of the suffering you have to endure comes, of course, from
outside yourself. And yet, the suffering inflicted on you for which you are not directly responsible is, all the same, partly your responsibility. Why? Because you have not learned how to make yourself immune to it. If you are so vulnerable, it is because the negative elements sent you by the outside world strike a chord in you. And it may even be that the harm is magnified because of the impurities and darkness you harbour. If you tried to foster purity and light within yourself, not only would the evil be neutralized but the good you receive would become greater, too. Why, yes, if you are unable to really feel the good that comes to you every day from the visible and invisible worlds, it means that all sorts of opaque matter in you are blocking it. You see, then, how repelling evil, as well as attracting and preserving the good, all depend on you."

To this I respond:

Beautiful!

Another way of saying, "the lies you willingly (even if unconsciously) embrace within you become like your own false 'truth', and thus block you from receiving and experiencing the real Truth that comes to you."

But we can have our minds renewed (we participate in the process ... we don't just wait for it to hit us, LOL!). We can have the lies we believe replaced with Truth, and that Truth really WILL set us free!

We do not need to believe all that we think -- we can question what we think, "is that true? can I be absolutely certain that it's true?"

When we believe that we already possess all truth, we're not open to receiving more of the truth that God has for us ... Jesus said this to His disciples, "I have much more to show you, but you cannot bear it... but the Spirit will come who will lead you into all truth."

(When did we replace that with "a collection of books will be written which shall contain all truth"...? When did we replace Relationship with rules-to-follow..?)

Do we really trust the Spirit, within us, to lead us into all truth? Or do we instead trust external influences? I have learned to trust the God I experience within, more than the God that others tell me about. Even the Scriptures are filled with accounts of people having experiential encounters with the Living God. I am thus inspired to experience my own encounters with the Living God. I do not believe that I'm intended to have vicarious encounters with a mere historical god.

I pray, which aligns me with this Living God ... He challenges and alters my perspective. We can change our perspective, which entirely changes our experience.

And so, regarding suffering: it's not the things that happen to us that harm us, but what we THINK about what happens to us that harms us ...!

I thank You, God ... that you are renewing our minds... show us how we may be resisting You ... thank You that You do lead us into all truth. Help us to become aware of Your Presence within us ... enable us to trust You, within, more than the influences of man, without.

Shalom, Dena