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Jesus said:
"If anyone thirsts,
let Him come to Me and drink.
He who believes in Me,
as the Scripture has said,
out of his heart
will flow rivers of living water."
(John 7:37-38)
A man met with me once seeking help after many years of struggling with a stronghold and many attempts to be freed. He described how he had cried out to the Lord for help so many times and had read so many Scriptures for years. He had experienced some brief seasons of apparent freedom, but he always ultimately succumbed to the stronghold.
He was being riddled with thoughts such as: Was I really changed when I was saved? Am I really saved? Why isn't God helping me? What's wrong with me?
TRUTH
After some time of developing a trust relationship with the man, I shared that all his "doings," as good as they seem, won't set him free...only the truth can set him free. Jesus says in John 8:32, "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free."
He readily agreed with me and replied, "If I could only get the truth from my head to my heart!" It was a most familiar response to me, a response I had heard many proclaim, including myself. It sounds so right. However, imbedded in this response is a lie.
LIES
The lie is that we do not receive spiritual truth by information into our minds. That only makes our spiritual walk another one of our "doings," i.e., "If I can just understand this truth, I can walk in it."
Another lie this man was believing was that something was wrong with his spiritual heart. He believed this by placing his faith in how well he was behaving. He believed that if he could just receive truth in his mind, then his heart would be healed.
REVELATION
Spiritual truth is only received by revelation from Christ who indwelt this man's heart. This is illumination by the Holy Spirit. He was a desperate man. The Lord was leading him to give up on his attempts to free himself by his doings, albeit sincere doings.
He was ready to receive a truth that totally transformed his viewpoint (aka, blew his mind). It was a truth I had not articulated before, so it was a special revelation to me, too.
I told him that God didn't want to get the truth from his head to his heart, but from his heart to his head! The truth is that through his being united with Christ, he had received a new spiritual heart indwelt by Christ! Now as he reads Scriptures, instead of trusting his ability to assimilate the knowledge in his mind, he could trust Christ in his heart to reveal truth in a living way to his mind!
He saw it! And I saw it more clearly too! Romans 12:2 now made more sense, "Be transformed by the renewing of the mind" as Christ reveals truth from his already totally renewed heart! It is an inside-out transformation, not outside-in! Truths started to pour from his heart into his mind, such as:
His Christian life is lived by faith in Christ,
not by what he does.
He is set free not by how he behaves,
but by the truth (and Jesus as the Truth) he believes.
When he focuses on what he does,
he is depending on himself, which alway fails.
The problem had not been his spiritual heart,
but the lies he was believing in his mind.
God doesn't want to help him as if he was an independent man.
God yearns for him to see he is united with God's dear Son.
CLOSING
Always go back to the cross and resurrection where we have been united with Christ! This is the only vantage point for truth! The truth is so beautiful from the cross! From that vantage point, "If the Son sets you free, you shall be free indeed" (John 8:36)!
ps, I am indebted to Mike Quarles of GraceWalk Recovery Ministries for mentoring me in these truths. I have added his link "Freedom from Addiction" under the Ministry Partners section. I am humbled and grateful for opportunities to share truth and to grow in truth in partnership with those I share.
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