As A Man Thinketh in His Heart....

In attempting to truly apprehend the amazing promises God has made to you, one of the clearest lessons as to the "HOW" of all this is found in the wisdom of Proverbs 23:7 where it is explained that as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.

How important we understand the truth of the proverb! How many of the promises are directly related to who we believe we really are inside.

So, who exactly are we? Are we, as satan would have us accept as true, simply "sinners saved by grace"? Are we "only human", allowing ourselves much latitude in our conduct because of our excuse of weakness due to our fleshly nature?

No, my friend, here we must be really careful and not ignorant of satan's devices. Here is where he trips us up, and keeps us playing his game, on his playing field of the flesh. If he succeeds here, he will have his way with us, no matter how hard we may resist.

So who are we, we who have accepted the Lord and been washed by His blood? What do the scriptures say? Paul addressed the church of Corinth and told them exactly who they were in Christ. After describing the works of our old nature, he plainly tells them:

"...and such were some of you. But you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God."

1 Cornithians 6:11

Notice the power of Paul's words, driving home the point of who were are in Christ. The past is gone. We were dead in our sins, captive to our fleshly nature. No more. Our testimony is now present tense of who we are NOW. We are washed. We are sanctified. We are justified. We are new creations in Christ. We are NOW light in the Lord.

Yet one would argue, but how can this be and sin still dominate you at every turn? Because this truth has not been mixed with faith, and as a result, we who have been set free still labor for the hard taskmaster instead of enjoying the glorious libery of the children of God.

This is a great example of how the promises of God work in us, becoming stepping stones to the partaking of Christs very nature. Believe that you receive it, and you shall have it. Is this not God's way of faith?

Do I stretch this verse to mean something it was not meant to mean? Are there other scriptures that tell us the same thing? Yes, indeed there are. Listen closely to Paul's words to the Colossians church:

"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God"

Colossians 3:1-3

Notice how two distinct times, Paul drives us back to the truth of who we are. We are risen with Him. We are dead, and our life is hid with Him. It is these truths and these truths alone, that can enable us to stand against the allure of the world and all its trappings and firmly resist satans manifold temptations. If we believe we are still worldly by nature, weak in our flesh, simply "trying our best to obey", our experience will be Romans 7 and the failure of wanting to do right but doing wrong and wanting not to fall to worldliness, but falling anyway.

How important it is to believe in our hearts what God has said about us! Do not judge by outer appearances. Do not examine yourself for weaknesses and sins for by doing so, you already have accepted the lies of your enemy. We are told to examine ourselves in the scriptures, but for what? One thing and one alone.

"Examine yourself, whether you be in the faith."

2 Corinthians 13:5

If you fall while holding onto this newly found weapon that finally succeeds in shutting the mouth of the accuser of the brethren, do not examine yourself for the weakness in you that allowed it to happen. It happened for one reason and one reason only. Wavering faith! Get up, dust yourself off, and simply repent of the unbelief, the doubting of the truth that God has made you new, that old things are passed away. Stand again, grab hold firmly onto the truth of the promises of God and again, "Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free!. And if you fall again...and again? It makes no matter. Determine in your heart that the promises are true. Determine in your heart that there is but one way to please God and that is by believing in those promises. If you fall fifty times, get up fifty times and believe the good news, for if you fall back into self effort and doubt, , you will be again entangled in the law and self effort, and in the end, you will indeed be "only human" for as we have seen today...

As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.