Is Your “Want” what you want…or Are “You” what your Want wants?

I Want:

* A savings account that allows me to withdraw as much as I desire but never gets smaller.

* A car that only needs to be filled with gas, oil, water, and air once.

* A house where the grass stays green but never needs to be cut, where the paint will change to any color I desire, without using a brush, and the rooms would grow or shrink as I see fit.

* A wife that knows I am always right, that loves to watch sports on TV and that thinks shopping is a waste of time.

* Children that love to put things away, that leave home at 13 to college with a fully paid scholarship.

* A church building that never needs maintenance.

* A congregation that always agrees with me.

* Ice cream that tastes like it is from heaven but causes you to lose weight!

I bet your list would be exaggerated also. We all have wants; there is nothing wrong with having wants, however, there is a more important question… "Do our wants have us?”

We saw how David’s and Hezekiah’s mindset impacted their actions, now let’s endeavor to use those lessons in application to our life. If we control our thoughts we can control that fallen nature (Flesh) we have had since birth and that continues to battle for control after we have received a new nature created by the Holy Spirit when we entered into a relationship with our Lord.   

Gal 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

All the will power in the world is useless if you cannot control “Self!”  Believe me, I know from experience. When we become a child of God “Self” is given a new nature by God. This is where the battle lines are drawn. God does not “fix” the fallen nature we have. Instead, He places in us through the Holy Spirit a new nature that loves Him. The fallen nature remains, but cannot command us, yet we can yield to it. Understanding how this works is essential if we desire to empower our mindset to control which nature “Self” obeys. 

In this devotional, we will identify the struggle, and in the following devotionals, we will look at Scriptural examples of how to live in the new nature. 

In Rom 7 the battle is illustrated as Paul shares how these natures interact with who he is. 

Romans 7:14–25…The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate…I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin. 

No…Paul is not schizophrenic; in fact, he is one of the more balanced individuals that ever lived. We are human beings, with a nature that controls us, at salvation a new nature is created (regeneration). How we think will determine which nature is driving our life. 

Romans 8:6–8 So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God. 

Galatians 5:17 The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. 

The So What: Please take some time to meditate on this struggle. Do you do things you really do not want to do? How does that make you feel? Do you sometimes feel that you will never be able to control “Self” in your life? What do you believe is the “open door” that allows your “Flesh” to gain control?

Keeping what is Important…Important!

There is a famous true story of a home that caught fire in a town. There were two firehouses in that town; one volunteer, the other professional. The volunteer house arrived first and began working, and then the professional house arrived. The two “chiefs” began to argue who should be working the fire, which drew both houses into the debate. As they argued which of them should put the fire out…the fire consumed the house! 

King Hezekiah stepped into a terrible situation…every Truth concerning God had been “prostituted” (To devote oneself or one's talent to an unworthy purpose, especially for personal gain) by the leaders and the people bringing in every idolatry in the world. How did he turn that around? 

His mindset guided him to make the choices and exercise the actions that would accomplish that. We looked at two of those “Thoughts” that guided him:

1. THOUGHT: Do it right!

2. THOUGHT: Know why you are doing something! (Hezekiah gave ownership of these “Truths” to his fellow leaders, who then shared it with the people)

If we desire to make an impact for God on our culture we would do well to follow Hezekiah's thinking, which will drive our actions. Here are the other mindsets he possessed that enabled him to stand firm even when Kings and kingdoms were threatening him! 

3. THOUGHT:  Only what God thinks matters 

Hezekiah was not one that considered or took poles! He stood on the standard God had set and nothing else mattered. So he would do whatever it took...including getting rid of something that once led to "good" but now had become "evil." 

How sad it is the state we find the majority of our leaders today. They are not driven by a deep conviction but are driven by the desire to remain in power, so they will move to whatever position will give them votes!  

2 Kings 18:3-4 He did right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father David had done. He removed the high places and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah. He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan. 

4. THOUGHT:  God's name is what matters most.

Even when Hezekiah was sent a very threatening message from the most powerful king in the world at that time, he refused to allow that to determine his actions. He was controlled by the Truth that God was King of the universe, not just the world. God's reputation was at stake...not Hezekiah's!

        2 Kings 19:14-19 Then Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. 15 Hezekiah prayed before the LORD and said, “O LORD, the God of Israel, who are enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 “Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God....“Now, O LORD our God, I pray, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O LORD, are God.”

This is what David did in his battle with Goliath.

        1 Samuel 17:43–47 The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods...Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God...you have taunted. 46 “This day the LORD will deliver you up into my hands...that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD’S and He will give you into our hands.” 

5. THOUGHT:  Substance matters most!

Hezekiah was not willing to "settle" for just appearance. Israel had been doing that for a long time and that is how they moved from a relationship with God to religiosity. Religiosity looks right but is only surface, and brings in hypocritical living. Much like the devout religious person that lives like the devil, but goes to religious meetings, practices all the rituals, and even gives money as a way to pay for a sinful life. 

Hezekiah was not going to allow a tradition be the reason to moved ahead with Passover, when he knew the nation was not ready. He desired the Passover to be what it should be...not just look like it.

        2 Chronicles 30:1–3  Now Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover to the LORD God of Israel. For the king and his princes and all the assembly in Jerusalem had decided to celebrate the Passover in the second month, since they could not celebrate it at that time, because the priests had not consecrated themselves in sufficient numbers, nor had the people been gathered to Jerusalem. 

Hezekiah's Mindset led him to do what was right and what mattered...It left him with a great testimony for his life.

        2 Kings 18:5-7 He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel; so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who were before him. For he clung to the LORD; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the LORD had commanded Moses. And the LORD was with him; wherever he went he prospered.

The So What: What thoughts drive you? Does your heart lead you...or do you lead your heart? If you could write a testimony of your life...what would it say?