Sound Mind Set

(Matthew 7:7-8 NLT)“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.These are the words of Jesus Himself. Notice his intentional use of the language—you will receive … you will find … the door will be opened. That said, we have to be careful to not manipulate or misinterpret His teaching. This is not like a blank check. God will never go outside of His Word, His ways, or His will. But, inside those holy parameters, He is inviting all of us to ask, seek, and knock.He is telling us to be proactive. Asking, seeking, and knocking all take both action and faith.Listen again to the intentionality “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.What might this look like for you?Notice the transitions. Ask, seek, knock.Asking is between you and God. What do you specifically need to ask for right now?Seek is your choice - If we seek / look for the negative we will find it. It is also true is you look for God in situations you will find Him. Where can you see evidence of God at work in your life right now?Knock is an action, a deliberate move in a direction. What deliberate step do you need to take towards something? Maybe what deliberate step do you need to take away from something?This interactive prayer that Jesus give is a format for everything in our lives. Ask our Father. Seek for Him. Move in that direction.Let’s pray together: “Lord Jesus, give me the boldness, the strength, the passion to get up and ask, seek, and knock to discover whatever You have for my life. I believe You spoke these words because You believe we are worthy because of Your sacrifice. May I walk in Your Word, Your will, and Your ways. As above, so below.” - Amen

Of the thousands of questions about our bodies that scientists have answered, there is a certain mystery that has never been successfully resolved: our fingerprints. Why do we have them? What’s their biological purpose? Years of research have not produced a good answer.The only fact that all scientists agree on is that no two people’s fingerprints are the same—even those of identical twins. Throughout all of human creation, no repetition of fingerprints has ever been found, with every set being original.What if God gave us fingerprints, making them unique to each person, simply to show us the great detail and care He takes in His creation?LUKE 12:6-7 NIVAre not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.In creating us God paid attention to detail. Every fiber of your body is a calculated design. Every function of your mind is a miracle. Our ability to connect with one another, even when we get hurt, is a testament to the eternal character of God that lives in us that is beyond just the physical realm.Listen again to this passage paying attention, not to the general sense of God’s care for us, but the microscopic view, described about God’s awareness and view of you.Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.You are not forgotten. God’s attention and affection for you is as focused on the little things as it is on the big things.What is a concern that you carry that may feel like God has forgotten about in your life? Can you acknowledge that your Father is keenly aware, and with you, in every situation, big or small?Look at the tip of your finger. Your fingerprint is used a form of identification, a signature, so to speak, that is unique to only us. There is great value and worth in the fact that you are not like anyone that has ever existed before. Your place on this earth is by design. Your worth and value to those around you is immeasurable and was a calculated plan by God towards those you come in contact with. Your fingerprints are evidence of you on everything that you touch, everyone you interact with. Your unique and special signature of just being you. You are a gift given by the God of the universe to those around you, whether you feel like it or not."Father, thank you that you see me. Down to the very hairs on my head. There is nothing in my life that you are not aware of or that you don’t care about. Help me to trust in that intimate awareness and care you have for me. Help me to grasp, even a little bit, of how valuable I am to you and to others. As above so below." - Amen

Genesis 2:7Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.And now for the beautiful side of the story, let’s skip to verse 21:So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the opening.  Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man. “At last!” the man exclaimed. “This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from ‘man.’” (Genesis 2:21-23 NLT)Where was God in these scenes? He was in the dirt—involved, creating, engaged. He was crafting man and woman. He breathed His own breath into them.Listen to verse seven again, this time from The MESSAGEGod formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive—a living soul!If we are going to believe the Bible and what God says, then these are our truths: You were formed out of a deep love from a God who desperately loves you. You didn’t come from apes.You certainly were not an accident. God planned, designed, and made you. That is who you and your family are … God’s very own. Your worth is found in the fact that God breathed His very breath to bring you, specifically you, into life.Pray with me: “Father, thank You for planning us with and for a purpose—me and my kids. Guide me, lead me to help us all find that purpose through Your plan and with an attitude of worth, value, and identity that only comes from You. As above, so below.” - Amen

We all know today that the world and media want to tell us our value, our worth, and our identity.Let’s go back to the first pages of the Bible where God Himself speaks of human origin.(Genesis 1 NLT)Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. And that is what happened. Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!As a human being, this passage talks about your life. God looks at you and says, “Very good!” That is the truth about your personal value, your very worth, the essence of who you are in your identity.This is what the first verse says about you - Personalize the verse, insert your own name.Then God said, “Let us make _______________ in our image, to be like us.Let that sink in. When ever you question your worth, your identity, remember you are created in God’s image, His nature, as another translation says. And He looks at you, just the way you are, and says ‘Very Good”How would believing that about yourself change the way you approach your day, the way you approach others, The way you carry yourself?Let’s pray: “Father, thank You for my life. Thank you for reminding me the way you see me, in your likeness. Help me to accept and embrace what you say about me and the way you see me as ‘Very good”. As above, so below.” - Amen

Psalm 139:13-16 MESSAGEOh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;   you formed me in my mother’s womb.I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!   Body and soul, I am marvelously made!   I worship in adoration—what a creation!You know me inside and out,   you know every bone in my body;You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,   how I was sculpted from nothing into something.Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;   all the stages of my life were spread out before you,The days of my life all prepared   before I’d even lived one day.One thing that is, for sure, being communicated in this passage is the intentionality of a creator creating. Nothing in this passage speaks to accidents. Nothing in this passage speaks to randomness. Everything in this passage speaks of grandeur, beauty and care.In another translation of the first two verses of this passage it reads“You made all the delicate inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mothers womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex your workmanship is marvelous.It’s interesting to think of God as a master craftsman, molding something from the inside out to be so wonderfully complex. Often we look at ourselves and we give ‘complex’ a negative connotation. But in this passage there is honor being attached to complexity.What about you sometimes seems too complex?A lot of us walk around feeling like, at the very best, we are a random addition to the human race, and we discount what makes us different or complex. Not often do we celebrate ourselves as a unique, complex and marvelous workmanships of a master creator.Can you look at yourself and accept that the way you are created, in all your wonderful complexity, points to the intentional, deliberate care of a master creator who believed that this world was better with you in it? Nothing about you or your life is random.Let’s pray together: “Father, while I may struggle to use words about myself like “complex, marvelous, and precious,” thank You that You have expressed those feelings toward me. I want to believe my worth in and through You and I want to receive my identity from You. As above, so below.” - Amen

The story is told of Sir Isaac Newton, the famous mathematician and scientist, who had a strong belief in God. One day, Sir Isaac went to a carpentry shop and asked the owner to make a model of our solar system. This model was to be to scale, intricately painted, and designed to resemble, as closely as possible, the actual solar system.Several weeks later, Newton picked up the model, paid for it, and placed it in the center of a table in his house. One day, a friend who was an atheist came to visit. When the man arrived, the model of the solar system caught his eye, and he asked Sir Isaac if he could inspect it more closely. As the friend looked it over, he was awed by the fine craftsmanship and beauty. The friend then asked Newton who had created this wonderful model of the solar system. Sir Isaac promptly replied that no one had made the model but that it had just appeared on his table one day, evidently by accident.Confused, the friend asked the question again, and Newton repeated his answer that the model had come out of thin air. As the friend became frustrated, Sir Isaac then explained the purpose of his answer: If he could not convince his friend that this crude replica of the solar system had “just happened by accident,” how could the friend believe that the real solar system, with all its complex design, could have appeared only by chance? The moral to the story: Design always demands a Designer.(Ephesians 2:10 NLT)For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us a new in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.When was the last time you watched your children sleeping? Why do you suppose as parents we do that? Stare lovingly at a perfectly still and peaceful child? It’s because we marvel at how they are created and are a part of us. … Design does indeed demand a Designer.Listen again to this passage as I personalize it for us. Repeat these truths over yourself today.For I am God’s masterpiece. He has created me anew in Christ Jesus, so I can do the good things he planned for me long ago.God has already stated clearly that you are His masterpiece … just like those beautiful kids you love so much. He has declared your worth and identity. He created each of you and placed you together as a family.Pray with me: “Father, I want to accept and receive that I am Your masterpiece, created anew in You to accomplish the things You planned for my life long ago. I claim that same identity and destiny for my incredible kids. Thank You for my life. Thank You for their lives. As above, so below.” - Amen

Ecclesiastes 3: 14-15 (MSG)This passage is from the same famous passage that we focused on earlier this week about seasons.I’ve also concluded that whatever God does, that’s the way it’s going to be, always. No addition, no subtraction. God’s done it and that’s it. That’s so we’ll quit asking questions and simply worship in holy fear.Whatever was, is.Whatever will be, is.That’s how it always is with God.Solomon was a great man, a very wealthy man, a man that you would say had it all and had seen it all. As we conclude this week, this passage reminds us of a summary that Solomon has, as he looks on the timing, the seasons and the gifts of God. He concludes that regardless of what we do, God is in control and it’s not our job to try to figure out why but simply worship.Listen to the passage again.I’ve also concluded that whatever God does, that’s the way it’s going to be, always. No addition, no subtraction. God’s done it and that’s it. That’s so we’ll quit asking questions and simply worship in holy fear.Whatever was, is.Whatever will be, is.That’s how it always is with God.Is there a situation, or maybe a person in your life that you just can’t figure out. Is it possible that it’s not your job to figure it out? Is it possible that your job is to surrender it to God and quit asking questions and simply worship Him knowing that, as this passage says. Whatever was, is whatever will be, is. that’s how it always is with God."Father, thank you for your almighty hand in all of my life. Help me to surrender my time, my focus and my habits to you and your purpose. You do what you will and I will do my best to let go of trying to understand all your reasons. As above, so below." - Amen

Mathew 7:6  (NLT)“Don’t waste what is holy on people who are unholy. Don’t throw your pearls to pigs! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you.This is pretty explicit language talking about wasting time and effort. We all have situations in our lives that maybe we’re trying to fix, people that we’re trying to fix. If we’re honest, they are not our situations or people to fix in the first place. Sometimes relationships or situations can become unhealthy and no matter what we say or do, we never see them change.In this passage we reflect on getting very honest with the value proposition of our time. Is there an area in your life that you continue to expend or invest a large amount of your time or focus, that God might be directing you to lighten your efforts?Listen again to this passage with that question in mind.“Don’t waste what is holy on people who are unholy.Don’t throw your pearls to pigs! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you.The Bible is clear we are to love all men all the time. This passage is not talking about dismissing the person, seeing them is not worthy.This passage is talking about boundaries, being honest with this question - Is this situation some thing that God has called me to? or am I just expending my own efforts in hopes to gain the outcome that I desire? God‘s desires are different than ours. God uses process, God uses time, sometimes lots of it, to bring people to himself. We seem to want to see results right away.Maybe there’s a situation, or person in your life which you have done your part, and your part was never to see the harvest, but to plant the seed. Is there something in your life that you need to let go of, that you need to be a greater steward of your time with?"Father, thank you for all that you give me. Let me see all people as you see them, all valuable, equally important. Show me how I should see those things which I invest my time and focus into, choosing to hold close that which you have for me, and letting go of that which you don’t. As above, so below." - Amen

Psalm 46:10Be still and know that I am God.We reflect on this passage every day in our time together. The importance of stilling our minds, getting present, and knowing God.The essence of this verse is to let go of the awareness of time, demands, expectations and distractions. To get fully present in a moment. We live in a world that is so fast paced, day-to-day our interactions with our kids, people that we encounter, family members can happen so quickly that if we’re not careful we don’t allow ourselves to be fully present in them.In the original Hebrew of this psalm, Be still, the word is harpu, A more literal translation of harpu would be "cause yourselves to let go". Rather than merely being passive, we are instructed to actively let go. To let go of expectation, let go of preconceived thought, let go of distraction. Be fully present, attentive and available.Be still and know that I am God is obviously taking about how we are to be present in the presence of God. Can we apply this same principle to our everyday interactions?Can you think of a time were you look back and said, wait what just happened? Or what did I just say? Or what did you just say?We let our minds get so far ahead of ourselves that often we don’t take time to be fully present, attentive and available.One thing that we know for sure is the time we have here on earth is finite, it’s limited. Like grains of sand in an hourglass when it’s gone it’s gone. Let’s make the most of the moments that we have, Be fully present, attentive and available.Find the beauty in them, find God in them, find connection with those around us in them… Not rush through as if we have unlimited time to spend."Father, help me to be more present in everyday life. With you, with family, friends and with strangers. Thank you for the time you give us, the opportunities to experience you and others, help me to actively let go of distractions that keep me from all that you have for me, in the moments that I have. As above, so below." - Amen

Today we will be reading excerpts from Solomon’s famous words inEcclesiastes 3:1-8 (NLT)For everything there is a season,A time for every activity under heaven.A time to be born and a time to die.A time to plant and a time to harvest.A time to tear down and a time to build up.A time to cry and a time to laugh.A time to grieve and a time to dance.A time to embrace and a time to turn away.A time to search and a time to quit searching.A time to keep and a time to throw away.A time to tear and a time to mend.A time to be quiet and a time to speak.In this famous scripture Solomon is reflecting on the predictable seasons in our life. One thing that we can be sure of is that things change, seasons ebb and flow.How do you go through your life? Do you try to hold on to the good seasons with all your might? Do you try to rush past the troubled season with everything that you are? It’s important to pay attention to the push and pull, the give-and-take, the good and bad that everyone will experience in their life.Listen again to the first verse in this passage this time from the King James versionTo everything there is a season,A time for every purpose under heavenIn this translation the word ‘season’ is related with the word ‘purpose'.Can you look at something good in your life and recognize that it’s a season that has purpose, be grateful for it, but don’t hold on too tight as if it will last forever?Is there something that you’re facing right now that is a real struggle, can you acknowledge the struggle has purpose and also recognize that it won’t last forever?God takes us through ups and downs, all to serve a purpose. Calling us to anchor ourselves in the one thing that never changes, his great love and faithfulness to his children."Father, Help me to not hold on too tightly to the good seasons, not to rush out of the difficult ones. Allow me to sense your purpose in all of them and hold tightly to you. Thank you that you never change although everything around me will. As Above, so below." - Amen