Monday, June 22, 2015

"The How? of Our Hearts"


    "How're you doing?"  We all ask the question of each other, usually inquiring as to physical and emotional conditions, or to pleasant or difficult circumstances.  There's nothing wrong with this, and if asked sincerely, the inquiry indicates genuine interest and concern for the well being of others - "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth" (III John 1:2). 

    Taken to a different level, "How're you doing?" can mean something altogether different.  In ultimate terms, the Bible affirms of born again believers that we are doing quite well indeed.

    "Your life is hid with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3).
    "Of Him are ye in Christ, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption" (I Corinthians 1:30).
    "This is the record, that God hath given unto us eternal life, and this life is in His Son" (I John 5:11).
    "His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness" (II Peter 1:3).
    "My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:13).
     "God hath not given unto us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (II Timothy 1:7).
     "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death" (Romans 8:2).
     "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God" (I John 3:1).
     "Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying Abba Father" (Galatians 4:6).
     "I am with you always… I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 13:5).

    The declarations of spiritual well being declared by Scripture could go on and on.  Of course, such blessedness in Christ does not remove the thorns of our present lives when the lesser "How're you doing?" must be answered honestly in terms of difficulty.  "Though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day" (II Corinthians 4:16).  Life in a fallen world challenges us greatly, and daily.  Sometimes the answers to our outward "How?" involve pain, loss, and even bewilderment.  In such challenge, we do well to fortify ourselves in the Lord, and through the strengthening of His truth.  We remember and affirm the ultimate answers, declaring with the Apostle Paul, "Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding weight of glory" (II Corinthians 4:17).  We divert our focus, as it were, from things below to "those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God" (Colossians 3:1).  The challenges do not thereby dissolve, but by God's grace accessed through faith, they are transcended - "In all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us" (Romans 8:37).

    "How're you doing?"  The answer depends on which perspective determines our response.  The choice is ours.  Without denying the realities of the "outward man" and "our light affliction," we may nevertheless consider and affirm the spiritual well being of the "inward man" and the transcendent "day by day" renewal promised by our Heavenly Father through Christ.  Our experience will flow accordingly, or more literally, the "How?" of our hearts will flow in accordance with the perspective we choose to embrace.

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed upon Thee, because he trusteth in Thee."
(Isaiah 26:3)

Weekly Memory Verse
    Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord will not impute sin.
(Romans 4:8)
         

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