Serving With A Heavenly Mind

I have had it said of me that I am so "heavenly minded you are no earthly good", but I don't believe that. In fact, I believe the opposite to be true; if we aren't heavenly minded we are no earthly good. Too many of us are so full of ourselves and the world philosophies that we have nothing to offer anyone. Be real, who wants to hear my opinion on anything? Who cares what I think. My role here is not to share my opinion but to be so full of the Spirit and God's wisdom that it is God's wisdom that I share.

My opinions don't matter and I don't trust them because they have for too long been formed by the perspective of this world. All I really want is to know God's thoughts, his knowledge and his wisdom in all matters. For this I must experience his Word through the Holy Spirit in me. I don't read the Word to have an opinion, I read it to discover God, his knowledge and wisdom. The only way I can do this beyond the words on paper is to allow the Holy Spirit to teach me the Word. This should be a goal for all of us as we encourage one another to go to the end of the matter:

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3:16)

There is the word "let" again. Just as yesterday we discovered in the verse previous to this that we must "let" the peace of Jesus rule in our hearts, we must "let" (allow, permit) the Word to dwell in us. It is not something we have to force or generate. We don't have to dissect the Word and become some great theologian or scholar. All we have to do is allow the Spirit to teach us. Let go of any self-learned opinion and "let" the Spirit show you the way to greater understanding and the power to live the Word.

Too many of us try to teach and admonish without the Word. We use a bit of the Word mixed with wisdom from the world. It sounds great to a world-saturated mind, familiar and true, but we are to have nothing to do with the wisdom of this world as we lean on our God for all things. We cannot drink from two sources and expect that God will honour it. The wisdom we are to use to teach and admonish comes from the Word, from God, and if you are not "letting" the Word of Christ dwell in you richly, it is best to keep your opinions to yourself. Your opinion will not save anyone, in fact, it may cause them more harm than good.

We cannot be double minded in these things. We must be clear who is our source for all things. We cannot try to win the approval of man by becoming men and women of education. If the Spirit directs you to take higher education then do it with all his energy, for his glory and purpose. But do not try to get letters after your name so people will be impressed and you can appear wise and knowledgeable. Do not think that education will allow you to be a better minister in the Church. God has no use from education in the Church as he is the source of all things for us. Our teacher is the Holy Spirit and without him we cannot know the mind of Christ. Make sure you understand these things. Make sure you understand your motives. Make sure that Jesus is your only reason for being. He is the air we breath.