WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?

Next Sunday I have been asked to speak at both services at our church. Our pastor will be absent. He has been spending a few Sundays speaking about the fundamentals of marriage, gay marriage and homosexuality. In the process he has referred to Romans 12:1-2.

Verse 2 of Romans 12 has been going through my mind for a couple weeks. And especially the part of verse 2 that says, "be transformed by the renewing of your mind". So for a few blog entries, I will be mentioned some of these thoughts "for what its worth." I will also use this phrase from Romans 12:2 as the basis for the message next Sunday.

One question that has come up in my mind is, "Is there a difference between the brain and the mind." Or are they just different names for the same thing? My conclusion so far is that there is a definite difference. The brain is a tangible physical part of my body. My mind is who I am...or soul...or self-consciousness. Since I am a spiritual being having a physical experience on planet earth, what goes on in my mind is regulated, and maybe controlled, by the brain. In a sense, my mind (self) is limited by my brain. This is similar to all my physical body. Being a spiritual being in a physical body limits what I can do. I am thankful that some day, I will be conformed to the image of Christ. As the Bible says in I John 3:1-2..."we will be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."

So in the same way that I am limited by my physical body in that I cannot instantly transport myself from one location to another, my mind is limited by the physical brain. The brain determines my actions. It orders my body to perform. It also determines my thoughts.

So when I am told I can be transformed (sanctified) by the renewing of my mind, I realize that my mind (my thinking) is greatly controlled by what goes on in my brain. I am bombarded by thoughts that originate in the brain that controls my actions. Is it possible to control what enters my brain so that my thoughts are what they should be, so that I can be "transformed by the renewing of my mind?"

I will explore this further in another blog time.

TIME FOR JESUS

We humans seem to be slaves of time. Time rules our lives. We have several clocks in the house: in the bed room on the night stand it shines in the night; on our microwave and kitchen stove timer; and on the wall in most every room. We even have it on our wrist, and often look at our cell phone where the time is displayed. How many times a day do we look to see what time it is. I have been asked by total strangers, even when I traveled to Siberia, "What time is it?" We are concerned about time!

Since Jesus is the eternal One, is He concerned about time? The Gospels give us details about His Life, His thinking, His concerns, and His purpose.This study deserves an in depth look at all 4 Gospels to see what Jesus relationship to time really was (is?). I am going to make a quick scan of the Gospel of John to get a glimpse of Jesus and time.

The first indication in John about this is in chapter 2:4. At the first miracle recorded in the Bible where Jesus turned water into wine at a marriage reception, He mentions time. When they ran out of wine, Jesus mother, Mary, came to tell Him, "They have no more wine." (I am puzzled about why she did this, but that's another subject) He told her that that was not His concern and then He said, "My time has not yet come."  What did He mean?

Then in John 7:1-6 we read the account of Jesus' brothers telling Him while they were yet in Galilee, that they should go to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles. He refused to go then and He said, "The right time for me has not yet come."  What did He mean?

In the same chapter, 7, it tells us He finally went to Jerusalem and began to teach in the temple. The religious leaders did not want Him to teach and it says they "tried to seize Him". Then verse 30 says, "no one laid a hand on Him because His time had not yet come."

In the next chapter, 8, a similar scene takes place. He again is explaining His relationship to the Father and it says, "yet no one seized Him because His time had not yet come." It seems much of what happened to Jesus was governed by time.

Then, later in His life when once again He had entered the temple to teach just before the Passover Feast. A remarkable statement is made in contrast to all statements before about Jesus and "His Time". Verse 1 says, "Jesus knew that the time had come for Him to leave this world and go to the Father." And this began the last few days of Jesus' life of this earth. The right time was apparently important

And then in Jesus remarkable prayer to the Father in chapter 17:1 He says, "Father, the hour has come."

And immediately after praying He is arrested, tried, and crucified.

Time was important to Jesus. He was ready for His time. While we do not know, as He did the time of His coming death, we need to be ready because one of these times our time will come.

TIME

DO YOU HAVE TIME?

Solomon says in the book of Ecclesiastes that there is a time for everything. (Eccl. 3:1-8) I don’t know 

 if you have ever meditated upon the word “time” and its meaning, but it is a fascinating subject.

 Time is a precious resource. 

We usually think of money as a resource…but time? We either formally or informally budget our money, but how about time?

There is much discussion about income equality, justice equality, and racial equality. Has anyone ever

 mentioned time equality?

  No, because that is a resource that everyone has an equal amount of…we each have 24 hours each day.

“Life is like a coin, you can spend it anyway you want, but you can only spend it once” someone has said. This is true with each 24 hour day we have been given.

I try never to say that I don’t have time to do this or that. I have 24 hours…the same as everyone: rich or poor, smart or not so smart, educated or uneducated…we all have the same! So, what I try to say when I do not do something is, “I chose not to take the time to do that”. That is an honest answer when asked, “Why didn’t you do that?”

What we do with our 24 hours allotted to us is determined by our priorities! We ALWAYS have time to do what we ­­want to do. This is convicting to me when I look back on a day and realize I have squandered part, or even most, of the 24 hours allotted to me for that day. 

Each day is a gift from God…that’s why it is called “the present”.

LOG TIME ... NO POST....

TIME

It has been a long TIME since I have written anything here.

It's not that I did not have TIME.

I had the TIME!

I didn't take the TIME!

I have had 24 hours for each day since I last wrote here.

How did I use the TIME?

I try never to say,"I don't have TIME to do this or that".

The TIME is there! 

24 hours!

I just did not take the TIME to do this or that.

I guess it just depends upon priorities.

How I spend my TIME reveals what my priorities were

or are!

I plan to spend more TIME writing in this blog even if

I am the only one reading it.

But

right now it is TIME for me to go to bed

almost 10 PM.

I plan to write more about TIME in TIME to come. If it is a priority I'll take the

TIME.