MIND ORIENTATION - PART 9

THURSDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2024

True spiritual growth in Christendom starts with godly mental orientation, and as we constantly renew our minds, there is only one image in our heavenly shrine that we conform to: The image of Christ, meaning that Christ is everything to the saints. Hallelujah!

Reference: Romans 12:2 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."

Under the witness of the spirit of adoption, we became accepted in the Beloved, by our Father in the throne room. However, we are not just designed to epitomize the acceptable will of God, we are also positioned in Christ to prove and discern His acceptable will - in any given situation and time, without distorting what is ultimately godly, true and pure. 

What do I mean by this? There are times when God interfaces with, and endorses our humanly-inspired choices, thereby responding to our decision-making preferences, as He pays an attentive recognition to its detailed description in order to honour them, because we sustain a believing conviction and unwavering faith that our godly desires and expectations are all from Him, bearing in mind that every GOOD and PERFECT gift is from above (James 1:17 NIV).

Beloved, God may sometimes grant us the privilege or opportunity to exercise our human freewill in exploring and manifesting the desires and expectations in our hearts because He acknowledges the mystery of human essence and our core selves, which is at the heart of our existence. Make no mistake, there is such a thing as the faculty of rational freewill in the operations relating to physical nature in our earthly activities.

Hence, in some cases, God identifies with the necessity of our freewill by representing us in our choices through His divine omnipotence and benevolence. For example, you do not need to discern the will of God when it comes to going for your lunch or preparing your dinner at home, by possibly cultivating the manner of expecting to hear from God whether you should eat when you feel hungry.

To instantiate this as a typical verity from Biblical standpoint, a Solomonic inspired utterance reads, "The man who finds a wife finds a treasure, and he receives favor from the LORD" (Proverbs 18:22 NIV). This privilege is considered as an acceptable will of God, although it is likened to a man who depends on his own understanding, under the operation of divine grace, mainly because God relates to the action of our "created will" in such decision making preference - with honourable favour.

Moreover, the perfect will of God concerning this truth in the same "aforementioned" proverbial versified statement - is that God is able to find such virtuous treasure for a righteous man or woman, as they condition themselves to walk perfectly before Him, serving Him in Spirit and in truth.

To that effect, Proverbs 3:5-6 reads, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take" (NLT). In this case, this is where the ever-present eternity of God's perfect plan agrees with the spiritually-discerned quality of our choices and actions, thereby making God obliged to dispense godly rewards and perfect heritage to us, as He show us which path to take. Stay tuned for more on the "acceptable will of God" in part 10. Shalom!

Scripture Reading -  Romans 14:17-19; Philippians 1:9-10; Ephesians 5:10; 1 Thessalonians 2:4.

Guided Prayer:

Heavenly Father, I acknowledge that you are a great God who has given me the ability to prove and discern your will, in accordance with that which is good and acceptable and perfect. In good measure, I always receive all the benefits and blessings, favours and honours, rewards and inheritance that come with discerning your will accurately, in Jesus' Name, Amen.