The Limitless Mind - Part 2

In the last blog I offered some insight into how to live with a limitless mind.  I was, of course referring to God’s mind vs. our mind.  I made the statement, 

“To live with a limitless mind, you have to recognize that your mind has limits, but God’s mind is limitless.”  

People are quick to acknowledge this.  They are less quick to consider how God chooses to acknowledge this.  The way man approach this is to say, “God’s ways are higher than mine.  There is no way for me to under stand what the future holds, therefore, I will just live my life and let Him unfold His desire for me.”  The truth is that God has a desired future for you, but His desire for your future is that you use the creative ability He has given you to birth a future and a destiny.  He does not simply carve it out for you so that you can live through it in a robotic fashion.  He created a habitat in which you dwell, parameters in which you live life, and then a mandate to have dominion in that life.  To rule in the parameters He has assigned to you.

I shared about how our own mindset can limit us.  But the other mindset enemy of our destiny is found in the mind of others.  Many a dream has been cancelled or outright killed by those who live us most.  If the limitations of your mind can stop you in your tracks, the limitations of the mind of others can do so with equal effectiveness.

How others limit us.

Paul offers an example of how the mentality of others can dissuade us in the pursuit of our cause.  Such mentality can be born of fear.  It can also be born of common sense.  In his case, he faced a dilemma because the man who voiced his opposition was a respected prophetic voice and likely an intercessor to Paul’s ministry.  Paul made an announcement that he was going to travel to Jerusalem.  Agabus, a prophet walked over to Paul, removed Paul’s belt, and with great demonstration, bound Paul’s hands with the belt.  He then prophesied “for the man who owns this belt, bondage awaits him if he travels to Jerusalem.”  His words apparently disturbed others on hearing because Paul’s response reached past the prophet to a group of people.  He basically said, “Why do you break my heart with your tears.  I am going to Jerusalem, regardless of what you believe or what God has told you.  I am aware of what God has told me to do and that is what I am determined to do, even if means my incarceration or death.”

It was not that these people had missed God.  It was that they did not comprehend Paul’s determination to fulfill the mission assigned to his heart by God.  Well-meaning people often do this.  They look at the limitations they see in you and try to “talk some sense into you.”  They remind you of your short-comings (real or perceived) and labor to convince you that you have missed God. 

Others can also limit you by trying to keep you tied to their dream.  

If the picture they have created includes you, and if God speaks to you to reach beyond what their dream holds, you can rest assured that a battle will ensue.  Your determination to stand not only presents a challenge with regard to your future, it now flies a flag in the face of theirs because if the direction to which God is leading you removes you from their scope, then one of you has missed God…

...or have you?

Paul and Barnabus suffered a break over the training of John Mark, yet at the end, there was obviously enough common purpose and communication that Paul sent for John Mark upon his own death.  There was obviously a change in the plan, but also, purpose was ultimately fulfilled and the relationship appeared to remain intact. 

I shared much of this, both to my local congregation and also to the churches in Mexico.  A couple of days ago, I was reminded of a message preached by a dear friend regarding the end of Moses’ life.  Moses was given a specific assignment to lead Israel out of Egypt and slavery and into the Promised Land.  They journeyed a short while, located the land, only to allow their mindset to steal them of their blessing.  Fear gripped them and “common sense” settled in.  For their consolation, they spent the next 40 years running in circles, wandering in a wilderness.  

Israel still experienced the blessing of God.  They still prospered.  They knew His presence – everything a good modern day believer strives for.  Yet, they were wandering in circles in the wilderness.

There were numerous times when Israel displeased God with their rebellion, but one in particular captured his attention.  They complained to Moses about being stuck where they were.  They demanded water.  God instructed Moses on how to produce the water they needed (yet another miracle) but as Israel continued to complain, Moses demanded, “Must I continue to do everything for you?” Instead of exalting the Name of the Lord and speaking to the rock as God had instructed, Moses announced he was going to fix the problem (again) and he struck the rock.  Water came forth.  God honored Moses efforts.  But, God told Moses that the plans had changed, neither he nor the rebellious generation of Israel was going to be allowed to participate in the completion of the promised.  That blessing would be shifted to the next generation.  Moses id not get to do all that he was destined to do because he allowed his frustration over the actions of others to dictate his actions.  Their failings became his failings and the promise offered would be passed on.

God is merciful.  He allowed Moses to realize that the work he had done would not be in vain.  At the end of his life, around 120 years, Moses was strong enough to climb Mt. Nebo, where God allowed him with his naked eye to see the width and breadth of the Promised Land.  Some would say that Moses did not finish well, yet as my friend demonstrated, Moses had the strength to view the promise as it would be fulfilled.  He was counted in the hall of faith.

Moses let the people of Israel know that he had allowed their mindset to affect his judgment and that the price for that was the dream changed…or rather, his portion of the dream changed.  It did not stop the plans and purpose of God.  Everything they worked for would still come into fruition, just in a different capacity, to a different generation.

The mindset or mentality of others can affect the outcome of your life.  In the same way, your mentality can affect the outcome of the lives of others.  To live beyond the limits is to live under the influence of a limitless God.  To do that, you have to be willing to break free of the shackles of the limited minds you encounter as well as the one owned by the person in your mirror.

A Limitless Mind - Part 1

Recently I have been reading a book about the power of the mind.  The writer expounded on the minds abilities for memory recall, strategy, and dreams.  It brought to consideration how in this age of technology, the way we use our mind has greatly limited us.  We rely on technology to do for us what God created us to do.  Consider how the great pyramids were constructed, or how a primitive Noah was able to construct a ship capable of handling cargo that outweighs what many vessels carry today.  The writer of the book also offered insight on how the mind tends to function in today’s society.   

The explosive growth in media has created a generation of people who concentrate on how they “feel” and how they "live", compared to what they observe through television and other media sources.  

We live in a world where we feed on reality shows rather than creating our own reality.  

 In so doing, we unwittingly incarcerate our minds and render them virtually powerless 

to function in the real world.

In my last blog, I write about vision – seeing your life in the whole as God sees it.  Vision takes into consideration your past and your present, so that you can utilize them to project into your desired future.  The problem us that to fully embrace your future, you must be able to correctly utilize the power of your mind.

In considering one’s future from a Christian perspective, many tend to think of that future as a destiny that God has planned.  It is our job to figure out what He wants, what He tells us to do and to do it.   We seldom consider that in the development of our future, 

God designed us to be the architect.  He created us with purpose, 

but we do not easily consider that his purpose takes into account the reality that He desires us to create our future. 

It would be a cruel God who would make us in His image, give us free will, creative ability 

as well as the ability to dream and desire, and then design a life that would never allow us to utilize those gifts to in the development of our future and destiny.  There is a consistency throughout scripture that demonstrates that God wanted man to use his gifts and abilities to advance His kingdom – 

that man was actually designed to walk in dominion 

in his earth and create his future.

The ability to do this is thwarted by several things.  One, it is easier to escape responsibility for what you live through when you can point to God and say, ”He did it.”  Two, from the beginning, the enemy has tried to convince man that we were not like God at all and had to do things to become like God.  His deception created a though t process that has been interpreted throughout the years that if you try to create your future, you ignore the plan of God, ergo, you are living like Eve and that what you create is carnal and in opposition to God.  This lie keeps many from ever fulfilling their purpose.

A major limiting factor is the mind.  How we think, and how others think can create the damage to our future.

The benefit of serving a limitless God is best realized when you let Him lead you beyond your dreams.

How we limit ourselves.

Sometimes we get such a specific picture of our desired future that we lose sight of what 

God is capable of doing.  I have seen people put “wish lists” into motion that are so specific

 that they miss what God may have for them if His provision doesn’t 

consider every detail of their desire.

Its like a woman who believes God to present her a husband who is 6 feet 4 inches, dark skinned, full head of hair, worth 10 million dollars, prays three times a day, rubs their feet every night and never disagrees with them.  Then they miss they guy who adores them from afar, never realizing that he will better fulfill every desire and purpose in her life.  People often create a “utopia” lifestyle in their mind which dictates persons, places, and times and in so doing they limit their ability to see the blessings in the places, dates, and times God places in their path.

Another way we limit ourselves is either by making too small a goal or too great a goal.  Either one can stop you in your tracks.  The former, although draped in the cloak of practicality, is really birthed from a perspective of fear.  Fear of failure, fear of people and just fear of the unknown has cancelled a lot of futures for a lot of people.  The latter, seemingly reaches new dimensions in visionary perspective, but is often driven by personal desire far more than kingdom purpose.  In either case, the end result is that each places certain limitations on one’s ability to respond to what God has in mind.  Each develops a picture in your mind as to what is supposed to happen in the future.  Because your creative processes are at work and because it is tied to your destiny, it is difficult to “let go” of the picture.  You wind up focusing on what you create in your mind rather than working in concert with God to create something far better.  As a result, you stop moving forward, your unrealized dream stagnates and your life begins to experience atrophy.

God wants you to be involved in the design of your future, but He also wants you to respond to His leaning.  Consider Joseph, in the Bible.  He had dreams about leadership.  He voiced those dreams to his family in a way that made it clear to them that he could see himself leading the heads of what would become the tribes of Israel.  Visionary? Yes.  But his timing and his communication were arrogant enough to offend his brothers and even cause his father to question him.  For his efforts, he was sold into slavery.

He could have let the picture in his mind limit him.  Instead, he continued to see the picture of leadership, even though the circumstances were drastically different and even working in apparent opposition to him.  He was now a slave, but became the leader of the slaves.

It went further when he found himself in trouble with the wife of Potiphar, the man who had purchased him.  He went from living as a slave to living as a prisoner.  He could have let his mind betray him.  He could have sat in the prison, mad at his brothers and bitter with God for his circumstances.  But again, he held firm to what God had shown him concerning himself.  He was destined to be a leader.  In due season, he was in charge of the other prisoners.  He was also bold enough to set the stage for audience with Pharaoh, by communicating with those he helped to remember him to their king.  Ultimately, God opened a door for Joseph to minister to Pharaoh, but that door was also pushed open by Joseph’s willingness to create opportunity.  After capitalizing on the opportunity to interpret the dream, Joseph demonstrated leadership finesse by offering instruction to Pharaoh on how to prepare for the upcoming famine.  For his efforts, he was made the most powerful man in Egypt under Pharaoh.

Ultimately, the dream given to him by God was fulfilled, but not in a way he or anyone else could have possibly imagined it.  There was no way for him to foresee that his leadership role would be fulfilled as a servant to Pharaoh and Egypt.  Had he held onto the dream as he first saw it, he would likely have pined away in a prison for all of his days, waiting for God to present the opportunity for him to fulfill his destiny with his family.

To live with a limitless mind, you have to understand that your mind has limits, but God’s mind is limitless.  

You have to be willing to allow God to press you beyond the limits of your mind.  His ways are higher than your ways.  His thoughts are higher than your thoughts.  You will encounter opposition that will seemingly stop you in your tracks.  However, if you allow God to work through that opposition, you may find that it is really strength training, and that all that you face will ultimately lead you to a better version of the picture you painted – your true purpose and destiny.

Vision

It has been a long time since I have taken the opportunity to blog.  I have been traveling a great deal, both in and outside of the United States.   Life is about priorities and in juggling all that has occurred in my world over the last couple of months, I have had opportunity to write.  I just have not had opportunity to edit or to post.  Here are some of the musings of the last month.  They are a reflection of what I have been teaching our congregation at Bethesda Church, and in my travels.

I have been teaching a lot about vision and purpose.  The common definition for vision within the framework of Christian teaching is that vision is a picture of your desired future.  But, vision has to encompass more than picture of your future.  One consideration of this is that the Bible teaches that “where the is no vision, or revelation, people perish – or a better interpretation is, ‘cast off restraint’.”

This is a clear lesson that simply stated teaches that if you do not have a clear picture of what you are to accomplish, you will not hold yourself to the proper boundaries that will effectively steer you toward your destination.  If this is true, then “vision” is more about “revelation” than just a goal to be accomplished.

A better definition of vision is that it is a picture of the whole of your life.  It is a revelation of the whole of who you are, as designed by God.  In short, 

vision is seeing yourself as God sees you.  

It takes into consideration your past, your present and your future.  Common faith teaching instructs us to put the past behind us – to put it “under our feet”.  For many believers this simply means to ignore the past and forget it because it has been forgiven and hence, it has been forgotten.  It is not a true picture of how God operates, nor how we should operate in the life He gave to us.  To put your past behind you does not necessarily mean to ignore it – for to ignore it you also have to ignore the lessons learned through your history.

Instead, it is better to conquer your past.  Learn the lessons it has offered while at the same time being more and more determined that you are better than your past.  To conquer your past means that you force it into subjection and make it work for you.  

The lessons learned become tools you use to fulfill

your future and your destiny.

When God created you, He knew who you were. Even before He formed you He understood your capacity and the destiny He had for you.  He also made you in His image, which means you by nature have creative ability.  I will share more on this in the next blog, but for now, simply consider that He knew what you would face in your past and in His grand design, He allowed that you could use the lessons of the past to prosper in your life.  ALL thing work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose.

When God sees you, He sees your “omega” from your “alpha” He sees your end before He sees your beginning.  He also gave you the ability to function in the same way.  As you consider what you want to fulfill in your life, or what you feel led to fulfill in your life, you can better see the end from the beginning.  You can see your past in different terms and find the true value in what you have lived.  You begin to develop vision.  It is a vital step in discovering and fulfilling your purpose.

In the next couple of blogs, I will continue this line of thought.  For now, consider the things in your past that seem to hold you back.  Consider the things you have tried to “bury” or run from.  Rather than running from them or ignoring them, make them work for you.  Your past is now YOUR servant.  It is under your feet. 

See your life as God sees it.  Find the value He finds in you.  When you do, you will be amazing at the revelation you find.  You will discover vision.