Way of The Warrior- A Daily Devotional

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. – Philippians 2:3-4 ESV

Warrior;
Which came first, the chicken or the egg? If you are NOT a follower of the God of the Bible this can be a tricky question. We need a chicken to produce an egg, but a chicken comes from an egg, so you need the egg to get the chicken…? However if you are a believer in the Bible and a believer in the God of the Bible, then you know that God created the chicken, who then laid an egg….In order to properly answer this question you need to believe What the Bible says, and BELIEVE in the Author of that Bible. God wrote the Bible through the guided hands, hearts, and minds of the writers. It was human writers that were putting the pen to the papyrus, but it was God who was dictating. Might I suggest that in order for this Symbiotic relationship to take place these men had to have the MIND OF CHRIST, the desire and the will to be a vessel for the Holy spirit, to be ONE WITH GOD, so as to be used, to the maximum outcome by God. There had to be a desire to be a SPIRITUAL man verses a NATURAL MAN.

Leader, whether we are to be a SPIRITUAL person, or a NATURAL person is a MINDSET, a way of thinking. Paul tells us about these 2 MINDSETS. The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment. “For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:14-16) By allowing the Spirit to guide us, we then have the MIND OF CHRIST. If we are to LOVE like Jesus, then we must put on the MIND OF CHRIST. We must access our Heart, through our MIND and we must access our MIND through our HEART. It is the chicken and the egg. The heart and mind are the ultimate double helix, as a true follower of Christ. We must think like Him, to be able to LOVE LIKE HIM, and we must LOVE like HIM, in order to think like Him! In order to BE THAT PERSON, we must let that PERSON reside in us. It is a conscious choice of the MIND and it is a DESIRE of the heart. The Bible uses the heart and the mind very interchangeable throughout scripture. It is like they are conjoined, linked at the hip. You cannot have the mind of CHRIST, without having the HEART OF CHRIST. According to Vine’s Dictionary: The Hebrew word Lebab, rendered “heart”- is the seat of desire, inclination, or will and can be the seat of the emotions. The “heart” could be regarded as the seat of knowledge and wisdom and as a synonym of “mind.”

Conduit, by allowing the HOLY SPIRIT to come in and RUN THE SHOW, this gets our MIND and our HEART synced with Christ. As a Christian Jesus is our advocate: But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. (John 1:12-13) When Jesus’ incarnate mission was ending, He told the disciples He was leaving, but would send another to advocate, to guide, to teach and to help- the Holy Spirit. But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. (John 16:7) Again, according to Vine’s, the Greek word kardia, rendered “heart” (cardiac), is the chief organ of physical life (“for the life of the flesh is in the blood,” Lev. 17:11), occupies the most important place in the human system. By an easy transition, the word came to stand for man’s entire mental and moral activity, both the rational and the emotional elements. Jesus, our first Advocate, is speaking to God for you, but the Holy Spirit, our second Advocate is speaking to you for God. In other words, the Holy Spirit was sent to remind us about Christ and empower us to live in light of the gospel. He is to be our MIND and OUR HEART. This is why if we are to have the HEART OF CHRIST, we must have the MIND OF CHRIST. Just like we must be born again, to take on the Spirit and the heart of Christ, we must THINK differently to have the MIND OF CHRIST. John told us how to prepare the way for CHRIST; REPENT and CONFESS. Repent is to turn away, to think differently and CONFESS is to agree with God. When the Bible speak about the heart, it never means merely human feelings (emotions). The Biblical word “heart,” is the inner aspect of a man, made of three parts all together, 1) Mental Process, which is the major part (where action & reaction take place), which is to lead a person in their life. 2) Emotions (which only process as reaction), as icing to enrich our lives.3) Will, the seat of the will (discretionary, volitional, decision-making) where decisions are made between the rational and the emotive. Today give it ALL over to the LORD, and start with getting your THINKING RIGHT! Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. (Romans 12:2) And Remember: Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. (Proverbs 4:23)