Wed, May 31st - 9:13AM

It is true, brothers and sisters, that some Christians are blind to the everlasting truth that God has given His people a mind like His, but the good news is that no Christian need ever remain blind. Be sure never, ever, confuse understanding our minds in terms of mere intellectualism or worship of the intellect.

THE GOD GIVEN CONSCIENCE AS GUIDE, JUDGE, DISCERNER OF TRUTH, RESTRAINER, EXHORTER

Rom 2:14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 2:15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)

16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

Our conscience serves as witness and evidence to God, that we belong to Him, it is within our conscience that we consistently allow within us everything in agreement with His word, and disallow those things not in His word. We have the God given ability to weed out anything not in agreement within us with the word of God.

A GOOD CONSCIENCE:

1.of good constitution or nature.

II.useful, salutary.

III.good, pleasant, agreeable, joyful, happy.

IV.excellent, distinguished.

V.upright, honourable.

My prayer is that each and every Christian develop and have a good conscience towards God. And this we will do by His power.

Remember, brethren to keep in consideration and kindness of the brother or sister who has a weak conscience due to a lack of biblical Knowledge. Be patient with them and share with them the good teachings of scripture.

Act 24:16 And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.

love

serola

Tue, May 30th - 6:14AM

Phl 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Obviously, saints (G40 hagios) our minds and attitudes are to be patterned after the mind of our Lord Jesus Christ, not Freud, Adler, or any of those out of the mind sciences or other humanistic doctrines, or philosophies. No study can be exhaustive feel free to study further on your own regarding the Christian mind and the things that can impact the Christian mind; its various conditions, aspects, stages of growth towards maturity, etc.

Jesus humbled Himself. Jesus did not have to go to the cross. God did not drag Jesus to the cross by the scruff of His neck. God did not have to force Jesus to go to the cross. Jesus gave His life out of love for God, and for the people whom He created. The humble, selfless love of Jesus Christ, Saviour and Lord,  stands as an eternal inspiration, exhortation, and supreme example for every believer of trust, faith, true love and obedience towards God.

Mt. 26: 51And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest's, and smote off his ear. 52Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. 53Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? 54But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?

It might seem incredible to some that just as we learned to control, understand and get better at the progressive use of our bodies, that God enables us to do the same thing with our minds.

Be wary of those who falsely teach that the Christian remains a poor helpless, hapless, broken and hurting doofus perpetually at the mercy of and acting upon and struggling with infantile, childish desires and impulses, with no lasting power or control over any of it. Such false teachers do not preach the gospel message, but only their own powerless struggles against sin, never having been saved in the first place. Obviously, brothers and sisters, the ignorant will repent, upon learning and hearing the truth, but the wicked never will.

THE CONSCIENCE

The good and wonderful news for every believer is this:  Heb 9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Purged:  To cleanse to make clean; to free from defilement of sin and from faults; to purify from wickedness; to free from guilt of sin, to purify to consecrate by cleansing or purifying; to consecrate, dedicate.

Conscience: I. The consciousness of anything; II. the soul as distinguishing between what is morally good and bad, prompting to do the former and shun the latter, commending one, condemning the other.

1. The conscience.

Jesus Christ has saved us and thoroughly purged us from all sins, He has made us new creatures in Him, and having thoroughly purged our consciences, He has written His laws into our hearts and minds as the everlasting, infallible truth, final and complete standard by which we are commanded to believe, to live, and to guide our lives.

Heb 10:16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; (feel free to see this whole chapter).

love

serola

Mon, May 22nd - 3:38AM

A Christian counselor does not have to have a degree or endorsement from any theological seminary. These are no guarantees that the person is biblically well versed.

The plain truth is that there are an abundance of Christians thoroughly versed in scripture and able to provide sound godly counsel, although they may have no degrees or seminary endorsements.  Pro 11:14 Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.

Brothers and sisters, some, improperly think it is taboo for the Christian to even mention the mind, much less delve into it, as though it is some mysterious, and even dangerous thing that is better left alone. Some are even frightened to even discuss the topic. However, the Bible has a great deal to say about the mind and every aspect of it. God gave us minds and as Christians we certainly are commanded to use them in the way that He designs us to use them.

Our Lord Jesus Christ tells every believer:

Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

 II. Understanding.

III. Mind, i.e. spirit, way of thinking and feeling.

IV. Thoughts, either good or bad.

Every aspect of our being including our minds, dearly beloveds, should be focused on operating out of love for God in every way, without exception.

The Bible gives a thorough understanding of the various aspects of the mind. The right mind is: I.to be of sound mind,

A.to be in one's right mind.

B.to exercise self- control.

i.to put a moderate estimate upon one's self, think of one's self soberly.

Everything God says we can have is because He can and will give it to us freely: Keep this scripture in mind, I posted earlier:  2Ti 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Sound mind= I.an admonishing or calling to soundness of mind, to moderation and self-control

II.self-control, moderation

ii.to curb one's passions

love

serola

Tue, May 16th - 12:52AM

Brothers and sisters, when a person goes to the secular counselor, and in some cases a licensed Christian counselor, they will usually pay a certain fee for services. Also the counselor must be licensed in the state in which they practice, in order to bill the clients’ insurance, otherwise they will not be paid. 

You need to know that any time you use your insurance to pay for counseling from a licensed practitioner, whether in psychiatry, psychology etc.  you have to be diagnosed with a mental disorder in order for the insurance company to pay your claim, (most counselors / therapists do not explain this if this is the first time you are hearing about this – they simply diagnose you and bill your insurance company). 

After you are diagnosed with a mental disorder, this may impact your ability to get a security clearance, your ability to serve in the military, certain government jobs, or certain private jobs, your life insurance premium rates, and other areas of life which you were not anticipating. And, now that medical records are going online, that information may be circulated in unanticipated ways.

The purpose of this study is never to condemn anyone suffering from mental and/or physical/ illnesses, nor denying the necessity of treatment of these with medications and/or counseling if one or more of these is warranted.

We take it for granted that we get medical help to set our broken arms to heal, use vaccines to inoculate against the horrors of disease, perform surgeries to give sight to the blind, inject insulin to extend life to diabetics, and use dopamine agonist pills that affect the brain to ease the suffering of those with Parkinson's disease. It seems quite reasonable, brothers and sisters, that things like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, dopamine agonists, and other drugs would be used to ease the suffering, and to even provide new life, to people with mental disorders like major depression, bipolar disorder (aka manic depressive illness) and schizophrenia, etc.

Furthermore, the resulting new life in the patient can provide new life to their families. It goes to the core of the Gospel to ease the suffering of others when it is not at the expense of the Gospel.

We should be wary of the ones who condemn the easing of such suffering. We are to care for and help those who lack the ability to care for themselves, with compassion.

See  1 Th. 5: 14 Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.

That being said, insurance companies do not pay for “spiritual or biblical” counseling. No states licenses “Christian counselors”.

Although a Christian can hold a professional license in a secular field and call him or herself a Christian counselor. In such cases where the counselor has a professional state license He or she may only provide secular counseling. Usually what is offered is secularized counseling maybe with some added weak homilies.

Christian counselors may belong to organizations that certify them as Christian counselors, but there are no national standards for all. This does not give them any state license.

The authentic Christian counselor will be well versed in scripture; he or she will be concerned with biblical spiritual matters and providing the seeker with the wisdom of the Bible which is greater than secular wisdom; and will not combine it with secular reasoning’s. They will accept persons suffering mental or physical conditions without condemnation. However such counselors make it clear that they will be focused on God’s perspectives and pointing the seeker to living the life commanded by Jesus Christ. They may charge a fee if that is their ministry by which they live.    

The main purpose of going into this is to say, holy brethren, if you need help for spiritual matters or medical conditions it should be clear that they are separate and you can freely seek help for either/ or both from the appropriate counselors. Nothing here should obstruct you from freely doing so without guilt or condemnation.

Barring illnesses that destroy or impede brain function, i.e. dementias, brain injuries, developmental injuries, severe mental illnesses etc.; God makes it clear that Christians are granted the power to gain the ability to be self- regulated and self- controlled.

love

serola

Sat, May 13th - 7:18AM

The workings of our inner unseen lives are just as important to God as our outer lives; therefore, brothers and sisters, it should be important to us as well.

The truth be told, brothers and sisters, it is impossible to hide our inner lives completely from others, because our persistent outer behaviors and what we speak is the mirror that reflects the core of our inner values, thoughts and beliefs of our hearts, that then becomes rooted and settled in our minds.

However, God completely knows our hearts, minds, thoughts, and every aspect of our inner lives and outer lives too.  

Job 42:2 I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee. There is No hiding anything from God.

Psa. 119:59 I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies.  Power to turn to God’s ways over our own.

 Mal 3:16 Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. 17And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. 18Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

God always knows what we really think about and of Him.

love

serola

Wed, May 10th - 9:28PM

As I mentioned earlier, God did not make us to be robots

It is God who has given us our emotions, brothers and sisters, along with general and specific commands about the use of each and every one of them as to what He permits of their usages and to what He absolutely forbids of their use.

God gave us our emotions as messengers and He forbids us to ever allow ourselves to be controlled or mastered by them or anything else forbidden by God. What does God want us to do with our emotions?

We mine the treasury of the messages we hold within our emotions to read what is going on in our hearts and to apply our conscience within our redeemed minds to carry out or restrain our feelings thoughts, desires, and behaviors along the lines that God commands. In this way we gain important insight, hindsight and foresight and understanding within ourselves, relationships, circumstances, and conditions.

In one sense then the emotions are the holding pens of our inner messages in our hearts about many things, including others and ourselves. However, some of the messages contained within the emotions can be pretty raw in this state, some even being incorrect and un-useful. yet to make use and sense of them they all must be interpreted, clarified and understood within the realm of God’s commands and the conscience within our redeemed minds that He gave to us that is like our Saviour’s mind Jesus Christ. In this way too, holy brethren, once refined and understood; we can rightfully use these emotions and the messages contained within them to check, modify, moderate and even learn to eliminate certain types of emotions and messages that give rise to damaging behaviors to replace them with those messages and behaviors that God approves of. Herein is the key to self regulation and self control. Only what we do for Jesus Christ will last. And all that we do is out of love for Him who first loved us and gave Himself for us.

The psychologist wants you to merely manage your emotions, but God wants you to master them completely, for His glory and our good; and this we will do by the power of God. Be patient and be sure that whatsoever God said you can have, He will surely give it to you.

Some preach in error that we are all just poor broken, hurting people, wallowing in and unable to do anything about our helpless brokenness. But to those who in error think this way, wouldn’t you really want to be emotionally whole, strong and in control of your emotions? Wouldn’t you really just love to walk in peace having the mastery over your own feelings for God’s glory and your good? 

love

serola

Sat, May 6th - 2:00PM

SELF CONTROL/SELF REGULATION:

Brothers and sisters, God’s wisdom is greater than the wisdom of the world. All through the Bible God commands, warns and encourages every believer to have self- control and to be self- regulated.

This applies not only to our behaviors, but to our minds as well, including our thoughts and feelings. In past posts I mentioned that our emotions are great servants as messengers, but are never to be our masters. I will explain more on this later on.

Some perhaps feel as though they will always be consigned to being too helpless to control their emotions, especially in times of stress. Some even, in ignorance live by their emotions. In ignorance they may allow themselves to be overcome by their emotions because they do not understand that God gives every Christian power over his or her own mind.     

Christians are not robots, and our emotions are important. To anyone who has ever been overwhelmed by his or her own thoughts and emotions, exercising self-control over their minds might seem like an impossible task. Yet it is not. God commands/empowers that we, indeed all Christians, have balance, self- control and self- regulation over our emotions, thoughts and feelings, as our behaviors, are an indication of them, whether expressed appropriately or not. Brethren if God has promises to and for us I pray that we will faithfully, heartily and fully embrace every one of them. Understand here, that I am not referring to attaining mindless psychological improvements or worldly mantras of inner peace. Instead we look not to the world, but to the wisdom of God as expressed through the Bible:  

Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

I.To conform one's self (i.e. one's mind and character) to another's pattern, (fashion one's self according to)

Transform: I. To change into another form, to transform, to transfigure.

1. Christ appearance was changed and was resplendent with divine brightness on the mount of transfiguration

Renewing: I. A renewal, renovation, complete change for the better.

Mind: I. The mind, comprising alike the faculties of perceiving and understanding and those of feeling, judging, determining.

1. The intellectual faculty, the understanding.

2. Reason in the sense, as the capacity for spiritual truth, the higher powers of the soul, the faculty of perceiving divine things, of recognizing goodness and of hating evil.

3. The power of considering and judging soberly, calmly and impartially.

II. A particular mode of thinking and judging, i.e thoughts, feelings, purposes, desires. 

love

serola