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Fatherly Talk 5.02 Understanding the flow of thoughts

Dearly Beloved

What does it mean to know something? What does it mean when we say we understand? It is one thing to know and another thing to apply and do. It is also possible to do out of obedience without much understanding; yet such obedience probably arises out of an inner knowing of its correctness before the obedience would have taken place. It would be safe to say that all actions come out of knowing, not necessarily a knowing of the mind but at minimum a knowing that it is a right course of action or an inner conviction that gives energy to the action. There must therefore be different levels or types of knowing.

· There is a knowing that comes forth from the heart. This is vitally important and should be the basis for all actions. This inner knowing might not have a mental understanding accompanying it (Proverbs 3:5, 6). God takes credit for all understanding and wisdom that arises in our hearts (Job 38:36). Out of the heart flow all the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23).

· There is a visual knowing in the mind (dianoia) that requires a separate work of the Holy Spirit from that which works on the heart (Ephesians 1:17). Paul points to the blindness of the heart and the separation from God's life that produces a darkening of the understanding (dianoia) (Ephesians 4:18). We are commanded to love the Lord our God with the mind (dianoia) (Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27). God writes and puts His laws in our mind (dianoia) (Hebrews 8:10; 10:16).

· There is a spirit mind (phroneo) which produces peace and life (Romans 8:27). This same mind (nous) is also the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16; Romans 11:34). This nous mind within us can be the source of all our carnality or the source of our spirituality when it is renewed daily (Romans 12:2). Phroneo seems to be that which frames the nous mind. For example the word 'positive' or 'negative' when applied to the mind speaks about the framing of the mind (nous) towards a positive or negative attitude. Nous seems to apply to general consciousness of understanding. In Scriptures, phroneo would thus apply to the spiritual framing of the mind as opposed to the carnal framing of the mind. To choose to think from a spiritual perspective rather than a carnal perspective. For example, we can think of a job as a place to earn a living or a job as a place to find our destiny in life. The 'process' of framing the mind into a mould is 'phroneo' which originates from the Greek word 'φρην' (root meaning midriff). Picture 'nous' as the breath and 'phroneo' as the diaphragm which forms the breath.

· There is an emotional part of the mind (enthumesis) which also influences the mind (nous). Every thought has three components: a conscious factor, an emotional factor and a knowledge or data factor. The conscious factor is the 'nous', the framing of the knowledge or date factor is the 'phroneo' and the emotion or experience factor is the 'enthumesis.' The spiritual emotions part of the mind and thought patterns are very important for they can produce the fruit of the spirit into the experiential part of the conscious mind. The word of God has a direct impact upon the enthumesis part of the mind (Hebrews 4:12). Peter, as Jew, wrestled emotionally to understand with the vision of the Gentile food (Acts 10:19). We might not understand the language or the content of a speaker but we can pick up the emotional content of their thoughts and mind. Jesus knew (enthumesis) the thoughts of the Pharisees (Matthew 9:4; 12:25). Before the spiritual world experience, I used to separate the emotion part of the thoughts from the cognitive part of the thoughts but now I have come to understand that both are simultaneously present in every thought. Sometimes one can precede the other.

To help us in understanding the above area, try to imagine the mind as the process of breathing. The overall process of breathing is liken to 'nous', the framing of the breathing by the muscles of the diaphragm are like the 'phroneo' and the nerve impulses that control the breathing and its speed or regularity is the 'ethumesis.' Emotions in real-life also do affect our breathing speed and patterns. Secondly, note that in the process of breathing, the air does not belong to the body but it is continually exchanged in that process. Through the spiritual world experiences, I have come to understand that our mind is only a receiver and transmitter. It has no function if there was no environment for it to function just as our lungs and diaphragm would have no function without an atmosphere. Thoughts and words are part of the spiritual energy of light that God used to create this Universe and there continues to be a supply of His light (thoughts) that permeate through His creation (Genesis 1:1; John 1:1-5). Our free will only helps us to tune the frequency of reception and transmission of the flow of thoughts whether for good or for evil. On the question of the presence of evil thoughts present, the devil and his cohorts take upon themselves the life of God's thoughts and His creation and pervert them to turn them into the frequency of dark flow of thoughts. However, just as the sun gives natural light, God through Christ gives spiritual light (thoughts) to all His creation.

The secret to the renewal of the mind, then is to put on the mind of Christ daily. It is not our thoughts that triumph but the thoughts of Christ received through our mind tuned to Him that triumphs in us. The word 'renew' in itself implies a replacement of the old with the new. The effort of having God's laws in our minds is not ours but it is God's - He does the putting and the writing (Hebrews 8:10: 10:16). The carnal mind is an enmity against God and can never ever be subject to God (Romans 8:7). It is thus impossible to try to convert or change the old mind. We just completely switch on to the new mind and the old will just pass away. The new mind of Christ is a possession that is already ours and not something we could earn or try to get (1 Corinthians 2:16).

By going to a field of flowers, we will see a multitude of flowers; by choosing to tune to the thoughts or mind of Christ we will receive a multitude of thoughts that flow from Him. At first this flow might not affect our consciousness yet but by tuning to it, our consciousness will be affected. Pau exhorted that the Corinthians pray in tongues because when they pray, the spirit man speaks mysteries and words which the nous understanding does not know yet (1 Corinthians 14:2, 14, 15) but in time, through the interpretation of tongues (1 Corinthians 14:13), he will gain an understanding of it. Just as a smell or taste can bring back an avalanche of forgotten experiences, a thought from God received can bring a tidal wave of good spiritual thoughts. The key to this process is to realize that the nous understanding part is the final part of the process of the flow of thoughts (not the beginning) and that it is actually the dianoia, the phroneo, and the enthumesis which are the first parts that are affected by the flow of thoughts from the mind of Christ. The picture-sense, the spiritual-frame-sense, and the fruit-of-the-spirit-sense of thoughts will be the first that is received before the nous understanding part is awakened.

Jesus opened (dianoiogo) his disciples understanding (nous) so that they could understand the Scriptures (Luke 24:45). It was a gift of His mind that He imparted into their lives, and expansion of their capacity to tune to His thoughts, that He performed upon them. We know that part of this process the entrance of light into the dianoia as expressed in Paul's prayers for the Ephesians (Ephesians 1:17). How do we tune our minds to Christ to receive His thoughts? We do it by praying in the spirit, yielding to the peace of God and the love of God in our hearts. Our understanding must be garrisoned by the peace of God and our hearts must be purified in order to receive the full flow of thoughts from the Throne of God (Philippians 4:7-8; Matthew 5:8). When our hearts are filled with the love of God, no fear can exist within (1 John 4:18). As long as fear is in our hearts, our minds will never function properly nor can it tune to God's thought frequency. Set the heart right with God first, and then the mind will follow. Out of the heart flow all the issues of life. You can always trust your heart even though you cannot always trust your mind (Proverbs 3:5, 6). And when our heart is always full of God's love, God will never allow any circumstances that work against us to remain (Romans 8:28). When God is not our first love, other images and thoughts would infiltrate into our mind deceiving us that it is of God. For this reason, everyone who seeks to train their dianoia and enthumesis in God must first know how to turn all their heart in first love towards God. Only when this is complete are we 100% protected from any pollution of the enemy.

The whole objective as we walk in this life is to have the fullness of the mind of Christ. With the mind of Christ, we can see all that God wants us to see and understand all that God wants us to do. For those who have begun this journey of the renewal of the mind, keep holding on to the thoughts that contain the love of God and all the fruit of the Spirit. Remember that your thoughts are not your own but are just part of the flow of thoughts that is generated from beyond this world. Allowing them to linger in your heart and mind gives them the incubation time needed to produce its fruit. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but they are mighty in God for pulling down strongholds of thoughts bringing every thought subject to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). Thousands of thoughts flow through our mind each day, seek like a surfer on waves, to ride upon those thoughts that contain God's love, are in line with God's word and produce the right visions within you. We might not get it right overnight, but through time as we become skilful in the discernment of the thought realm, we will become skilful in recognising the flow of thoughts which are from God from that which is not from God. And the right way to overcome wrong thoughts is not by resisting them but rather by just simply changing the flow to a new flow of holy, good and loving thoughts (Philippians 4:8).

Every thought has three components (the emotional, the cognitive and the visual) and we might not always feel all three components simultaneously. Sometimes we catch onto one of the component before the other but when we have caught all three components, then we have tapped on the whole flow of the thought and are not just touching the fringe of the flow of thoughts. The whole of the Christian life is designed around the renewing of the mind and the transformation of our character. They transform how we feel, how we understand, and how we see. When we feel as Christ feels, understand as Christ understands and see as Christ sees, we have truly become like Him.

It is a gift to be like Christ and not an effort. Allow Him to change you from the inside out through the flow of His thoughts (Romans 12:2).

In Christ's love

Ps Peter Tan

Fatherly Talk 5.04 Discovering the Perfect Will of God

Dearly Beloved,

Every sincere Christian desires to do God's perfect Will. The perfect Will of God is written in heaven for each of us even before we were born (Ephesians 1:4; Psalm 139:16). Even our Lord Jesus had the perfect Will of God determined for Him before His manifestation in the flesh to redeem us (Hebrews 10:7). Knowing that God has His perfect Will for our lives does not rob us of our free choice for it is up to us to discover and find our destiny. Like the Israelites who died in the wilderness, it is possible to live and die without entering into the first phase of God's perfect Will in our lives. Jesus told Kenneth E. Hagin that many of His ministers lived and died without entering into the first phase of their ministry (I believe in visions by Hagin).

How does one discover God's perfect Will?

1. There will be clues in our upbringing and training that show forth part of the talents and gifting that God has for us to fulfil.

Joseph was put through administration and governing skills even before his final destiny as the ruler of Egypt under Pharaoh. He was like his father's right hand to report on his brothers, the ruler of Potiphar's household, the person in charge of prisons and finally the Prime Minister of Egypt (Genesis 37:2, 14; 39:4, 22; 41:40-41). It does not excuse Joseph from needing a better attitude towards his brothers nor the requirement to live an upright and moral life. Joseph still had to make the day to day choices of choosing the right thing to do but his environment and areas beyond his choice were shaped by his overall destiny. Paul was particularly brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, the best teacher in his time, and excelled in his training to be the top Pharisee (Acts 22:3; Galatians 1:14). Roland Buck, who was taken to God's file room, shared how God even ensured that Paul was gifted with a larger brain capacity to do fulfil his destiny (Angels on Assignment by Roland Buck). Indeed, none of us have anything to boast of any of our talents and gifting. It is truly just the grace of God in us that has established us (1 Corinthians 15:10). Daniel was destined to be Prime Minister and he was given opportunity to excel in the training to serve the Babylonian king (Daniel 1:3-6). Predestination gives us the environment in which we can develop our destinies but does not remove the need to choose carefully and make the right choices. There are many who have been given the opportunity and choosing incorrectly failed in fulfilling their destinies. For those interested in discovering their destinies, examine the kind and type of environments in which God has given them and also the 'natural' talents and gifting that is there (sometimes even before one has met and accepted the Lord Jesus as Saviour). A common theme would point to a particular destiny that one has to fulfil.

2. The joyous harmony within and without.

Our destiny is written in our natural and spiritual DNA. When we move alongside its flow there will be harmonious vibrations between what we do and what we are that produces love, peace and joy in our lives. Nothing makes us happier than fulfilling our destiny and many times, even from young, it is a driving force in our desires. We were created for our own individual and specific works and we work them out through walking in them rather than working in them (Ephesians 2:10). It is 'work' to everybody else but not 'work' to us because it is something that we were designed to do with great pleasure. Discovering God's perfect Will is not just discovering the right thing in our life to do but it is also discovering the pleasure of doing God's Will (Philippians 2:13). Joy is our inherited right as a believer and not just things like healing and redemption (John 15:11; 16:24). Unfortunately, in this life we sometimes have to do work which is not our destiny in order to put food on the table while seeking to do what truly is our dream and vision. Many pastors have to work in order to support themselves especially when they have no support in their outreaches. Independent missionaries have had to find ways to do things to raise funds to fulfil their heart's desire of working with the underprivileged. Artists and professionals have to work menial jobs while they establish their dream talent and gifting. Yet, it does not lessen the fact that even such 'waiting period jobs' need to be prayed over and determination made as to whether it would help in the direction of the ultimate destiny. Jesus worked as a carpenter before entering fulltime ministry at the age of thirty (Luke 3:23; Mark 6:3). Being a carpenter was a part of God's Will for Jesus even though it was preparatory to His ministry. Many times it is through such menial jobs that humility and character is acquired. Think about the brashness and rudeness of those who have lived a life of luxury without hardship. Their character poverty is eternal even though they escape temporal poverty. It is far better and richer to be a person of good character than to have all the luxuries of the world. Moreover, the richness of a vision far outweighs the hardship of the temporal vocations. To Jacob, the seven years of hard labour under Laban was but a few days because of his love for Rachel (Genesis 29:20). Far too many impatient young adults have destroyed themselves and their own characters because of their haste. Remember that your destiny will always be there but your character development for that destiny might take longer through much testing and trials. Paul was especially warned in his first few days as a Christian of the great many trials that he will face in fulfilling his destiny (Acts 9:16). All 'waiting period jobs' that are preparatory to the ultimate destiny will always create a sense of harmony, peace and joy within oneself and also in the environment (Luke 2:52).

3. The friendships of destiny

Friendships are so important that the Bible advises us to be careful as to whom we fellowship with (Psalm 1:3). It does not take the place of God's word but it does play a role in shaping one's destiny (Psalm 1:2-3). The source of much of the strife and complaints in the wilderness was the mixed multitudes who were still Egyptian in their palate and character (Numbers 11:4). Friendships that lead to idolatry and stray away from God is to be cut off severely (1 Corinthians 10:20-21). The apostle Paul balances his message of interaction with the world by saying that he does not mean cutting off all the people who are unbelievers otherwise one might as well be a hermit and cut off from the world (1 Corinthians 5:10-11); rather he meant that those who name the name of Christ and do not live their lives as such should be completely avoided especially those who caused divisions and strife (Romans 16:17-18). Lot was a worldly man who only makes decisions based on worldly benefits and his friendship was never a blessing to Abraham (Genesis 13:10). As long as he was around, there was constant strife amongst the herdsmen. Only when Abraham separated from Lot, was he in the perfect Will of God (Genesis 13:14-17). On the other hand, there are friendships that are born not of this world but from eternity and gathering together with such will enhance the fulfilment of God's perfect Will. Daniel was fortunate to have formed such friendships even when he was a slave with his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. These friendship of four prayed through many tough times together (Daniel 1:14; 2:17-18). They probably gave strength and comfort through the sad things that they had gone through in losing everything in Israel. And where would Paul be without Barnabas to open the various doors to him? There would have been no opportunity to fellowship with the apostles nor an open door to Antioch from which his ministry was launched (Acts 9:27; 11:25). Their friendship lasted through many years of ministry and even their differences. The writings of early church fathers (The Nicene and Post-Nicene encyclopaedia) showed that they wept when they parted in Acts 15 and kept their friendship and fellowship strong even though they parted ways after John Mark. There is no doubt that Barnabas played an essential part in Paul's formative years. Some friendships like that of Daniel and his three friends and Luke the physician and Paul lasted a whole lifetime. No one enters their destiny without standing on the shoulders of others before them and none enter their destinies without a helping hand from friends and partnerships born of the Spirit of God. Joseph had a very short time to form a friendship with the butler in prison but it was the key to the rest of his life (Genesis 40:6, 14; 41:12).

4. Flow with each phase of the perfect Will of God.

When the Lord Jesus appeared to me in January 1986, He told me that every life is organized in phases and each of us must be faithful to each phase; and the entrance to each phase is determined by faithfulness to the phase before it. In Jesus' own life, He was a carpenter for thirty years, then He launched His ministry in Nazareth. He later moved the ministry base to Capernaum. For the apostle Paul, the gifting and desire to preach was always in his blood but his early attempts were failures as he was strongly opposed by the Jews (Acts 9:20-25). Paul had to wait another nine years before a door opened to him in Antioch (Acts 11:25-26). After Antioch, he had to be prepared to enter a travelling ministry phase which sometimes took him away for years. He has a sense that Ephesus was where one of his last phases was to be and after fulfilling all his customary routines, he based in Ephesus where his ministry flourish powerfully (Acts 19). Each phase of the perfect Will of God is sometimes accompanied by different manifestations of the Holy Spirit, differing associations and friendships - with some friendships remaining a constant throughout a lifetime, geographical relocations, differing working environments or business or jobs or ministry, and even differing revelations and understanding of the doctrines of God and the Bible (but always in line with the Bible, otherwise it is completely outside the Will of God). One must be prepared for a complete paradigm shift in order to stay current in the Will of God for one's life and the Will of God for the planet earth today. Yesterday's manna and revelation seen in the light of biblical truths revealed today can look like complete errors. How strange does the doctrine of head covering for women look in today's modern church? Or the slavery advocates and ministers of churches of the pro-slavery era? Each of us must continue to make progress in fulfilling God's perfect Will for our individual lives and in the world at large. Be prepared to pull out old roots and replant them in a fresh new environment.

There is no safer place any place on earth or in any job or profession, than to be in God's perfect Will. Nor is there any other greater love, peace and joy, then doing God's perfect Will.May we all be able to say, "Father, we have finished your work that you have given us to do" like Jesus when we complete our life's work on earth (John 17:4).

In Christ's love

Ps Peter Tan