Where do you dwell...?

I was listening to a pastor on the radio this morning and we was talking about running this race with perseverance (Heb.12:1). In speaking of "how" we do this he referred to our thoughts and what we were dwelling on. This was a revelation for me because my thoughts have been on myself. They have been about sex, fun, comfort, happiness and etc. I do have thoughts of others and wanting them to be happy, safe, to have their prayers answered and sicknesses cured, however, my main driving thought is me. In listening to the pastor speak of the "how" he said to focus your thoughts heaven, let your mind dwell on every aspect and detail of heaven, rewards, the rapture, being glorified and etc - have an eternal perspective. If our thoughts are focused on heaven then our actions will follow. I had a friend many years ago print and laminate a saying and hand it out to our bible study, is said:

"Watch your thoughts, they become words.
Watch your words, they become actions.
Watch your actions, they become habits.
Watch your habits, the become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny."

This reminds of the story of the hungry wolves in your mind. One is a good wolf and the other is bad. The one you feed is the one that will grow strong and survive, the other will become weak and fragile until it is eventually taken over and consumed by the other. What wolf (thoughts) have I been feeding? They have not been eternal thoughts, rather, the lustful and selfish thoughts.

Focusing on eternity and the things of heaven was a revelation for me. My prayer, and please join in prayer for and with me, that my thoughts will be heavenly focused. That I will dwell on eternity and the things of God. I pray these thoughts will become my words, these words will become my actions, these actions will become habits, the habits will become my character, which will become my destiny. I thank the Lord for his revelations and none of this is possible without Jesus Christ having taken away all my sins through his death on the cross and providing his counselor (the Holy Spirit) to come dwell in me, to guide me, counsel me and watch over me.

Show the World Jesus

How will we do this? Sometimes I try so hard to show people Jesus by my actions. Wherever I am I try to be the nice guy. I don't drink because it may ruin my witness. I don't partake in sex/lust talk because it may ruin my witness. I try to look happy, smile, have an encouraging word, not speak down about others, to not act jealous, or envious, or impatient, or untrusting in God's perfect timing. Yet I fail miserably. I am not one to run up to a stranger asking them about heaven and hell and if they know where they are going. Typically my style of witnessing depends on building a relationship with someone and trying to get in nuggets about the Lord and His saving grace. But what about my actions. As I mentioned before, I try to do good. I try to keep my tongue from evil. Yet, as the verse in James 3:7 states, "The tongue is also a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell." So....yeah, my speech does not always justify my means of trying to be a good witness. Just the other day I got a surprised compliment from an unbeliever about the colorful vocabulary I used. They thought it funny and impressive the words I could use. It felt like a slap in the face as that is not who I want to be, that is not how I want people to perceive me, and most importantly, I do not want to ruin my witness for Christ. This weekend our Pastor left us with John 13:34-35(NLT), "So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other." And what stood out to me the most "Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples." Wow...this was profound for me. It is by our "love" that the world will know we are his disciples. My words fail me, my actions fail me, everything I try to do to reflect Jesus fails me. That is everything with the exception of showing love! Read 1Corinthians 13 concerning love and its power "love never fails". "Never" is a very powerful word. It is a 100% guarantee that when you use it, it will never fail. It will never wear out. It will never tire. It will never fall short. It will never ever be anything but perfect and right. My actions were good for a short period of time, then my flesh reared its head. My tongue was even good for a short period of time - I stress short. But when I act out of love it NEVER fails! NEVER!!! Thinking and reflecting on John 13:35 "Your love for one another will prove to the world you are my disciples" I think about Acts 2:42-47, "The Fellowship of the Believers" (sounds like a JR Tolkien novel). I think how I want my unsaved friends, and all people for that matter, to be part of Gods eternal kingdom through Jesus Christ. I try to do this by all the ways I mentioned earlier and how I fall short. I try to go out and join them, and meet them where they are. Yet, I read in Acts 2:42-47 how God added to the number of believers. Basically put, the believers were all hanging out and helping each other, as the body, the people saw this, wanted this, and God added to the believers numbers daily. Wow (again).... the church was simply showing love to each other and God was saving and adding people to them DAILY....hmmmm.