Your Creative Powers

Your Creative Powers

 

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Phil 4:8

For as he thinketh within himself, so is he… Pro 23:7a

But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; …  [Jesus, Mat 15:18a]

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.  Psa 19:14

 

God created us in His image. A part of what that means is that we, as He, have creative abilities. This is most amazing; and a wonderful gift and clear evidence of God’s love for us. Think for a moment of what humans have created. We are, in fact, so creative that we must be careful to remember that we did not create ourselves; and that everything we create is derived from substances that we did not create. Being created in the image of God makes us prone to the temptation to become prideful and arrogant self-idolaters.

Though we did not create our brains or bodies, we have been given tremendous power to create the quality of our lives through the proper use of our God-given brains—our thought life or minds. [Our scientists, by the way, have not the ghost of an idea how the brain, a physical organ, can create consciousness.]  But we know that we can use our consciousness to create heaven or hell for ourselves. The Bible speaks clearly about this phenomenon [see above].  If you try to boil down to the bare essence what it means to be human, you might say that we are a stream of consciousness. When the consciousness is gone, we “pull the plug”, i.e., we let the body die.  It’s an arguable premise that I am what I am thinking at any given moment. Certainly, the quality of my life is determined by my mindfulness. Imagine two men walking silently together. One is worrying about some physical sensations he experienced yesterday; thinking about the trials of growing older; wondering if he has enough money in his retirement account; dreading going back to work on Monday, etc.  The other is noticing the deep blue of the sky contrasting with the white billowing clouds; listening to birds sing; noticing butterflies and dragonflies; and silently thanking God in his heart for the beauty of the earth and goodness of life. He starts to worry about something, but then remembers that God has commanded him not to, and that Jesus has promised to be with him always, through life and through death. And his heart smiles. Both of these men are basically in the same position in life regarding age,  health, wealth, social standing, etc.  They are experiencing the same external circumstances. But one is experiencing the “Abundant Life” promised by Christ; the other is clearly not. The only difference is what is in the mind. And here is the best part:  We have some control over what is in our mind!  God has given us the wonderful opportunity to increase the quality of our own lives by cultivating Biblical [truthful] mindfulness.  The Truth that is presented to us in the Bible is, well, too good to be true. Yet it is true. We live in the universal domain of a God Who “is Love” [1Jn 4:8].  Everything He has done and will ever do is motivated by the greatest Love that we can imagine. He is working all things together for good for those who love Him and participate in His wonderful purposes for the human family. Jesus has revealed Him as a loving, all-powerful Dad, Who forgives our sin [pays the price for it] wants us to be free and joyful, and will never leave or forsake us. He actually commands us to love each other and not to worry or be afraid about anything.  If we cultivate our ability to “think about these things”, we will be happier and more productive for the good of the human family. We will be able to face all life’s tribulations and death itself with faith and peace; and know, on our death bed, that our lives have well spent.