I had a vision of a tree, with its roots running
into the ground, its trunk solid and strong, and its branches flourishing with
green leaves and fruit. A picture of beauty, design and
"flourishing".
Conversely, a vision of one upon whom 2 forces are
applied but going in different directions - being torn apart, like an
explosion. Such a force doesn't produce beauty, but disorder and
destruction.
"Do not be double minded, but be single minded - focused on ME."
was impressed upon my heart.
-----------------------------
-"he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways." - James 1:8
"Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded." James 4:8
-----------------
To be double minded is not only unstable, it's sin!
I had to make a choice- serve my own purposes, or God's.
Before, I thought the idea was to do both, so as to be a well rounded
person, winning in every "arena".
Do well at work/academics/impress people ☑
save enough money to do the following:
Buy everything I want ☑
eat at the best restaurants ☑
create stylish home, look fashionable ☑
try to get as popular as possible ☑
and with time/attention leftover,
fulfill some godly goals such as going to mission trips and serving in
church ☑
But I know now that all of that amounts to a big zero in God's
eyes AS WELL as in my own life. Everything I was doing amounted to nothing, was
meaningless and i knew it - I felt spiritually shaky and unstable.... I was
tossed about by the winds, at times giving into deadly temptations to glorify
or worship my selfish wants. Most of the time I was prevented from achieving
any of them anyway, those of you who know me can attest to that!
But giving it all to Him makes ALL the difference. perhaps we ARE meant to put all our eggs in one basket - in light of who God says He is. (Luke 10:27 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind.)
The picture of Peter walking on water comes to mind [Matt 14 :22-36] - while he
focused on Jesus he was able to do the impossible, but when he looked at
the winds and got scared, he began to sink. but Jesus reached out to him and
took hold on him - how he does for us too when we cry out to Him for help! One
of the lessons from this is that God wants us to trust Him,
and not look towards our earthly circumstances/understanding.
Proverbs 3:5-6 - Trust in the Lord with all
your heart
and
lean not on your own understanding;
in
all your ways submit to him, and he will make your
paths straight
Trust Him for EVERYTHING. not for a house, car,
clothes or material gain, no, trust Him for our very existential essence of being. Trust
Him for our spiritual care, and physical care, for His purposes, and to
ultimately take us to be with Him for eternity.
John 14:1-4 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You
believe in God[a]; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms;
if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to
prepare a place for you?3 And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be
where I am. 4 You know the way to the place
where I am going.”
Gaining the whole world and all its recognition, success and accolades is
ultimately worthless without God, but when living for Him, anything He calls me
to is eternally valuable and worth it. Like that tree rooted in Him, growing
strong and flourishing, and bearing fruit that in turn blesses all around it -
I have to be focused on His purposes, and not be double minded. Perhaps,
our hearts can really only have one person on its throne.
Who is Lord of your heart?
---------
“No one can serve two masters,
for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to
the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money". Matt
6:24
-----
Well the greatest treasure in
the whole wide world is peace with God
Yeah, the greatest treasure in
the whole wide world is peace with God
It's the only treasure that will
never fade
Even death can't take it away
Yeah, the greatest treasure in
the whole wide world is peace with God
You can live for happiness, or
live for stuff but it's all gonna fade away
But you'll never ever feel like
you've got enough because it's all gonna fade away
The trickiest toys that money
can buy it's all gonna fade away
What if the world makes you a
star? It's all gonna fade away
The biggest house and the
flashiest car, it's all gonna fade away
Earthly treasures like the
morning mist are all gonna fade away
Yeah the greatest treasure in
the whole wide world is peace with God
Yeah the greatest treasure in
the whole wide world is peace with God
-Colin Buchanan "The greatest treasure" 1997
