How to Heal Yourself
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By Jeremy Lopez
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There is one verse that you have heard many times, and maybe you have even used this verse to ‘explain away’ the situations that we cannot comprehend.
As I pray today, I urge you to consider that just maybe we have looked at the verse improperly and caused our own walk to be void of the wisdom and power of God.
Isaiah 55: 8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord…”
Oh yes, the universal “I don’t know, nor do I have to attempt to figure out the matter at hand” because I am not God.
Sounds fair, yes?
I urge you to truly consider when the prophet Isaiah penned this message from God, whom he was speaking to and why. Just one verse earlier we see the prophet proclaiming the message to the ‘wicked and unrighteous man.’
Are you born again?
Do you have the same spirit who raised Christ from the dead living within you?
Do you have the ‘mind of Christ’ or not?
The apostle Paul writes to the church in Corinth exhorting them to grasp ahold of the reality that they in fact now possess the mind of Christ!
This promise applies to you as well! You have the mind of Christ, and as you begin to recognize that reality, you will also begin to allow the thoughts and consciousness of Christ to work in your life.
1 Corinthians 2:16 “...but we have the mind of Christ.”
Cognitive Dissonance
There is a term in psychology called cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance is a term for the state of discomfort felt when two or more modes of thought contradict each other. I felt this way too long as prophetic minister, and as a son of God.
I would proclaim that I had the mind of Christ, but then immediately my thoughts would go back to the verse in Isaiah, and I would feel the discomfort.
Which did I believe?
How many times have you heard the phrase “God’s ways are not our ways?” A similar phrase is, “His mind is not our mind.” I’m sure as a Christian, you’ve heard it more than once.
In fact, depending on your circumstances and the people you hang around with, you probably hear it quite a bit. The problem is while this phrase is in the Bible, it’s very easy to get a distorted meaning of this phrase. It’s very easy to walk away with a meaning that instead of drawing us closer to God actually limits our relationship with God.
We can come up with an interpretation where our understanding of God’s proper role and power in our lives are greatly diminished. It doesn’t have to be this way. You only need to understand the context of that verse to truly get the full meaning of that verse.
I need you to turn your Bible to Isaiah 55:7-8. I need you to focus squarely on verse 7. “God’s ways are not our ways” is in verse 8. However, verse 7 sets up verse 8. Verse 7 provides the context for verse 8. If you’re going to go straight to verse 8 and jump right in there, it’s very easy to fall into the historical trap that has been formed around verse 8. People have distorted this verse.
“Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” Isaiah 55:7
When you read verse 7 in plain English with no attempt at twisting or spinning involved, its meaning is clear. It provides the proper context to verse 8. The only sensible reading to verse 7 is that verse 8 only applies to the wicked. The verse that God’s ways are not our ways only applies to those who do not wish to submit to and abide in God. In other words, it doesn’t apply to Christians.
Christians, by definition, wish to abide in God.
They wish to follow Jesus as their Lord and Savior. It’s very important to understand this context because Isaiah 55:8 has been distorted that it becomes a limiting belief. Instead of living with the power that a close, intimate relationship with Christ brings to our lives, too many of us use verse 8 as an excuse.
We use it as some sort of way to get out under from fully claiming the power that Christ delivers in our lives.
Christ Longs for a Relationship
Friends, Christ is very clear. Christ wants an intimate relationship with His followers like His relationship with God the Father. Jesus Himself said that the Father and I are one. They are of one mind. Similarly, Jesus invites us to have the same kind of relationship with Him.
Think about it, if Jesus and God are of one mind and they are one, then if we take Christ’s invitation then we are going to be able to abide in Him. We would be able to be of one mind with Him as well. Just as Jesus is of one mind as the Father, we can be of one mind with Jesus! Why is this important? Why is this a big deal?
Well, if we allow ourselves to do that then Jesus can transform us. We would be able to not only overcome the penalty of sin which He paid with His blood, but we would be able to overcome the power of sin as well. You see, my friends, living in this fallen world is living in a world full of temptation. Not one single second passes when you’re not tempted to think of things that you shouldn’t be thinking about. Not one second passes when you don’t encounter negative emotions that lead to you saying unkind things, hurting people or reacting in a habitual way. That’s the kind of world we live in and we need a lot of power to overcome our human tendency to sin.
As I’ve mentioned in the two previous chapters, it’s very easy to use Isaiah 55:8 as an excuse. You have to understand that there is a big difference between explaining something and excusing it.
Unfortunately, a lot of Christians think that because God does have His ways that this automatically means that we no longer need to take the extra step. In other words, if God’s ways are not our ways then this fact alone excuses us from wanting to know God more fully. You have to remember that you have to want to know God more fully for God to reveal Himself more fully to you.
The Reward
If you want to experience the full blessings of being a Christian, then you need to know Him more fully. While it is true that as a Creator, He cannot be comprehended 100% with our created minds, we can still be one with Him. We can still have His mind.
So what is the reward of living life with God’s mind? This brings up a very common issue with Christians. It’s very easy for Christians to wrap their minds around salvation. They think that salvation is the reward for being a Christian.
While salvation and freedom from the fires of hell is the ultimate reward, you are leaving a lot out by focusing only on your escape from the penalty of sin. You see, living with God’s mind pays off now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. Not next year. Not when Jesus comes back. Right now.
In fact, living your life with God’s mind means you are able to live life in a very powerful way. Sadly, too many people just don’t get this. To borrow from the French philosopher Jean- Jacques Rousseau, man was born free, but everywhere he is in chains. As a child of God, you were born with a tremendous amount of power, but sin has weakened you tremendously. Undeterred and out of infinite love, God made it possible to be reconciled with Him through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We have this tremendous amount of power through Jesus.
When we ask Jesus to become our Lord and Savior and become born again in Him, we have this tremendous amount of power. All that possibility has been restored, thanks to Jesus Christ.
Friend, Christ has given his all at the Cross. He won the victory for you. You already won through Jesus Christ. The problem is you haven't claimed your prize. Sure, you may have accepted Him as your Lord and Savior but these can be mere words or empty formalities.
You have to accept Him fully with your heart and let Him change you from within. A key part of this is choosing to live life with His mind.
It is your choice... are you ready to become a Victor in Christ or will you continue to settle for the life of a victim?
Wayne Sutton
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