Where is your mind?

It doesn't really matter whether you're in church or not, if you're mind is far from God, the devil already has you. It's easy to look around and judge and decide on who has backslidden or who isn't living right. As human beings, we have no real difficulty finding fault in others. The real difficulty lies in recognizing our own faults.

We serve God with our mind. The transformation takes place within and is then manifested without. Your dress, your speech and your mannerisms are all a product of the transformation that God has begun within you. So, since we serve God with our mind, that's where the devil wants to attack. He just wants your mind to be so clouded, so occupied with other things, that you cannot serve God. It doesn't really matter if it seems like you're serving God - the devil doesn't care about what it "seems like." He just wants to make you far from God.

I'm calling for self examination. A thorough scan of our entire being; leave nothing unturned. We can sit in church every Sunday and sing and clap, and maybe occasionally dance, but if we're just going through the motions, it's not really worth it.

If we're just singing just to sing, lifting our hands because it's the right time to, or shouting when the preacher says to shout, then it's not really worth it. God wants a relationship with us. He sees beyond our show and He really wants us to take on that struggle and press beyond the show. Just like the woman with the issue of blood for 12 years who literally crawled through the crowd to just barely touch the hem of Jesus' garment. Just like the sick man who was brought by his friends through the roof to see Jesus because the front door was crowded. God is calling for us to push beyond the noise and the routine and to seek Him with our whole heart.

 Jeremiah 29:13 says, And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. You have to give your all. God is not hiding away somewhere far away. There's no tricky puzzle that you need to solve to meet Him. You just have to seek Him. You have to want Him so badly that you won't let anyone get in the way of you finding him. And, if that means clearing your mind of school, the bills, and the job for a while, that's what you have to do. If that means closing your eyes and tuning out the distractions, then that's what you have to do. If that means forgetting about what people may think of you, then that is what you have to do.

Your mind has to be at the place for you to truly worship God, withholding nothing. When Jesus was talking to the Samaritan woman, he told her that the time has come for true worshipers. It is difficult to be a true worshiper when your mind is racing with thoughts of all of your issues and struggles. Leave them at the door and let God take care of them. Truly, if your mind is captured, you're captured. So protect your mind.