The Courtroom of the Mind and Reason … photo by AdobeStock_275118782.
Going deeper than the mind …
“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” – Romans 8;16, ESV
Has it ever occurred to you that there is something deeper that the mind? Living in a western mindset causes us to examine most things from the mind, in the courtroom of reason.
Even those of us who call on the name of Jesus, often relate to God solely by our mind. We experience Jesus from a third-person relationship. By this I mean that we gather information about Jesus, His life and the Bible, but often neglect a first-person experience.
I notice it in our songs when we sing about Jesus rather than to Him. I often wonder why the song writer remains in the third person. Are they simply enthralled by the knowledge about Him rather than with Him face to face?
When I sing such songs, it feels as though Jesus is not in the room – as though He is far away, say, in heaven, and we are singing about the concept of God, or redemption or some other aspect of our new life in Jesus. It doesn’t feel as though Jesus is right in front of us and we are singing directly to Him.
“Young and old shall prophesy and have dreams and visions” – The Apostle Peter in Acts 2:17
One such fulfillment of this verse happened to me in 2004. Over a period of 6 months, I saw a ripple effect vision on three occasions while I prayed. The Holy Spirit has given me visions for over 40 years. They appear out of nowhere as an imagine in my mind – quite unexpectedly.
Although I prayed each time that I saw this ripple effect, no interpretation came. Then one day, while walking in Nashville, TN, I saw a piece of trash on the ground and the Spirit spoke to me – “Beau, pick it up.”
Thinking that I had a fertile imagination, I promptly ignored the thought. Then, with great urgency in the tone, the Voice repeated – “Pick it up!”
I am amazed at how much we neglect the greatest source of power in our lives – Prayer. Are we just lazy? No! The answer is much simpler, but deeper. It is an issue of the heart and the heart is profoundly deep.
Preachers try many tactics to get us to pray. Some stir our emotions to motivate us. They employ stories from the Bible or real life to inspire us. Sometimes, they go to the dark side and use guilt to shame us into action. It works for a time, but our prayers quickly fade with our emotions.
Peter, this very night, before a rooster crows twice, you yourself will deny Me three times – Mark 14:30
My wife and I bought a house three years ago that backs up to a small horse farm. Along with the horses and a donkey, about eight chickens also reside in the barn and pasture. Daily, these eight trespass in our backyard. I do not mind. They provide humor to our life as they scurry about.
Among those residents is a rooster. I never hear him before dawn, but throughout the day he makes his presence known with the boisterous, familiar cock-a-doodle-do while his lady friends are well behaved.
Upon hearing this the first time, I thought of Peter. It struck me how the reoccurring crowing of a rooster would strike the memory of his heart. We know his response on that early morning when he denied Jesus three times. He fled and wept. Certainly he remained inconsolable for days. Shame filled his once proud, boastful heart.
“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” – Isaiah 26:3 ESV
We start with our minds but finish with our hearts. Attempting to figure everything out will only lead you down fruitless trails into a wilderness of bewilderment. We attempt to escape the cacophony of the mind’s voices in many ways. Some of us busy ourselves. Others exercise. Many retreat into an addiction of some sort – we eat; we binge on movies or social media; we indulge in alcohol or drugs.
Perfect peace awaits us. It is within our grasp. As stated, we start with the mind but we must finish with our hearts. God our Creator did not fashion our minds to comprehend everything. To do so would require that we be God ourselves!
Our minds do serve a vital function, but because we are finite, we also must engage the heart. Within our heart reside our emotions, our will, our conscience, our spirit and our mind. The heart has a sort of fifth dimension to it – something that is larger on the inside than the outside.
This is more easily understood when we ponder Paul’s words to us:
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” -Philippians 4:6-7
In prayer mingled with thanksgiving, the mystery unfolds. Our worries and anxieties come face to face with Jesus Christ the Prince of Peace. As we utter our petitions and our praises, we go beyond the mind. Our spirit connects with the Lord Himself. Somehow, beyond our mind’s ability to comprehend, an assurance supplants our worries. It is a mystery and we are to rest in it.
All of this starts with the mind. We read, muse upon, meditate upon and are guided by the Scriptures. The Word of God is intended to give us the fuel to have the courage to pray. Start with your mind, but end with your heart. Allow Jesus, the Prince of Peace to speak to your heart by His Spirit. The fruit of this will be a peace that surpasses your mind and worries.
The Blessed Journey by Gerhard Tersteegen (1697-1769)
Let Him lead thee bindfold onwards, Love need not know Children whom the Father leadeth Ask not where they go. Though the path be all unknown, Over moors and mountains lone. Give no ear to reason’s questions: Let the blind man hold That the sun is but a fable Men believed of old At the breast the babe will grow Whence the milk he need not know.
Success often arises out of the ashes of failure! We avoid failure like the plague. It seems like a good idea. Yet, the avoidance of failure may keep us from taking risks. Risk taking is the fertile ground out of which success grows.
“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” – Theodore Roosevelt
In 1984, I boldly launched out into ministry. I moved to Miami from Indianapolis – a distance of 1,250 miles. From there I planned to do mission work in foreign nations. My greatest strengths in God were my faith, bible knowledge and prayer life. I had read of the great men and women of faith who had likewise left all behind to be missionaries in foreign lands.
Nearly a decade ago, I dreamed that I stood on top of a hill holding three diamonds in my hand. A sidewalk went down from the hill with many steps. Suddenly, one of the diamonds fell from my hand. As though in slow motion, I watched it bounce down this sidewalk to the bottom and into the grass.
I fixed my gaze upon this diamond, hoping to recover it. I thought that if I focused my eyes upon it and the final resting place that I could easily recover it. Rapidly, I descended the same steps. I kept my eyes upon the exact spot, confident I would find it.
Upon arrival, I knelt and meticulously searched for the diamond in the grass. Much to my surprise, I could not find it. I did, however, find a few dollars which I picked up. After a long time, I gave up. Disappointment filled my heart and then the dream ended.
“Comparison is the thief of joy.” Theodore Roosevelt
We all do it. We compare ourselves with others. Some of us are more skillful at hiding our attempts. Sometimes we seem to grow out of it a little bit as we go through life, but often it lurks just below the surface. Given the right circumstances, it reappears with lightning speed. It never really diminished. It merely hid for a season.
Comparison appears early in life. One of the first things a parent tells of their newborn is their weight and length. It builds from there. School and sports arrive quickly along with the accompanying comparisons. We are indoctrinated. It is ingrained. Who can possibly escape this vortex or the gravitational pull of the incessant questioning of: Who is better? Who is bigger? Who more beautiful?
Only the Foundation of My Aunt’s HouseSurvived the Tornado (1974)
The first time I heard the phrase “Death by a Thousand Cuts” my imagination ran off with a graphic image of someone literally bleeding to death drop by drop. I had a great aunt who almost died from such a fate.
In April 1974, a tornado hit her house in Indiana. She lived in a two story farm house about 30 miles east of Indianapolis. The tornado made a direct hit and her house vanished. Only the foundation remained. Moments after the tornado passed, a neighbor drove down the road and wondered aloud, “Where is Mary Hawkins’ house?”
He parked his truck and surveyed the damage. Across the road from the former house, he heard groans and found her in a barren cornfield. The tornado had thrown her about 200 yards away. Someone found her bathtub a mile away. My brother found a letter bearing her name and address 15 miles away while hunting for mushrooms a few weeks later.
“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood … and I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” These famous lines from the Robert Frost poem The Road Not Takendescribe our lives on a regular basis. Daily and weekly we face choices. Often these paths seem little different, yet upon examination one is shown to be traveled less than the other.
In leadership, it is good to take the road that others avoid. Leadership is a trait that is developed. There are a few who are “born leaders,” but even these must develop their character or in the end it will go to waste as they will eventually fail and fall. About 95% of all leaders were developed by being mentored by another or by being thrown into a crisis situation. Many of these did not show potential early in life, yet they developed into remarkable leaders.
As I develop leaders, the mantra which has emerged is “get them in over their head.” The concept is that if things are too comfortable, a person will not develop. Getting them into situations where they are forced to step up or to face their own deficiencies is a good thing even if they fail! Continue reading →
Be Great: Discover Greatness in God 