We are all-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency. Although there are needs in the world and our observations often make us feel overwhelmed by these needs, it is not because there is no supply. Where attention goes, energy flows. If you are to experience victory, you must become aware of what happens inside of you. Becoming aware of how you think is the beginning of spirituality. We all need to manage our minds and as you learn to do this, you will realize that what you are the most persuaded of will influence your experiences in the outward world. Learn to live in that poise of mind called peace because as within so without. Finding harmony in life is the balance between introversion (becoming aware of your own thoughts, your inner world) and extroversion (becoming aware of your outward world). The state of your mind becomes your mode of being. Therefore, how you experience the outward world is mostly determined by what is happening inside of you.
The only power your past has in your present is how you interpret it. Change does not always look like it is happening although it is happening either positively or negatively, and whether we can perceive it or not. Irrespective of what your life has been like and the challenges you have experienced, your attitude is more important than what has happened to you. You always have the right to determine your state of mind and attitude. Circumstances are all subject to change but you may not always have direct influence over your circumstances. The efficacy of the authority you exercise over the situation in the external world is determined by how much you know that authority in the inner world. Many people try so hard to change the outward while neglecting the inward, the state of mind. You can have all the willpower to desire positive outcomes. However, the desire in itself is not going to make it happen.
Learn to harmonize your life. You must determine to become aware of your own thoughts. If you manage your mind, those thoughts will happen in time. Authority is not about being in control; it is being in charge. They are not the same thing. Being in control is very frustrating. People who want to have control only look outward. You may not determine the temporal outward situations that happen but when they do happen, you can determine your state of mind and your course of action from that moment forward. This is being in charge.
Jesus Christ is not just a historicized figure who came, did certain things, and left. The Living Christ indwells you. He is alive and there is a manner in which He continues to act today. Since you are in union with Him, you should be synergized with Him in this shared Life of grace. Christ is a contemporary experience. He is in the now, walking in your shoes with you. You cannot have this shared Life with Christ and live as though He is not there. You cannot experience the Lord living within you beyond what your mind has learned of Him.
Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. – Philippians 4:4-6
Once you become aware that your life is sourced in God’s generosity, the inevitable conclusion is joy. Your life would be very different if you would simply synergize your outward world with your inner joy. Christ is the source of your permanent delight. The term “moderation” in the verse can be translated as self-control or a state of ease. Your state of ease should reflect in your self-control. People get offended, angry, and bitter because they have no ease on the inside. Their hearts are not at rest, thus they are blown to and fro with every opinion, like the waves of the sea with every wind. We need to always apply self-control, especially towards people.
We are to be careful for nothing (Phil.4:6). The word “careful” is a poor translation of the King James Version. The term used in the Greek language is “merimnao.” It means to be pulled out of place. Imagine a tablecloth, representing your mind, pulled simultaneously from twelve different angles by twelve hefty wrestlers, like in a tug of war, except there are twelve ends instead of two. What would happen to the cloth? That’s the description of what worry does to your mind. To worry is to allow a preoccupation to pull your mind in a direction; it is allowing something else to direct your mind. Your mind is God’s dwelling. It is within your mind that you come face to face with your Heavenly Father. Your mind is His sanctuary. Every sanctuary has its protocol as to what cannot and should not enter the Holy Place. Worry desecrates the sanctuary of God.
This article is an extract from Dr. Shawn Smith’s message titled “Winning in Everything” (Part 2: As Within, So Without”). The complete message is an exegesis of Philippians 4:4-19. Order today on gcmonlinestore.com.