From Chip Ingram and Living on the Edge Ministries series “Ancient Paths to Intimacy with God – Part 1″, scripture references Luke 11:11-13.

Listen to the 17 minute very inspirational audio here…

For years I struggled with a warped view of God.  Deep in my heart, I believed God wasn’t for me, I believed He was against me.  But then something happened that revolutionized my life, and I want to share that something with you today…  It comes from Luke 11:11-13.

“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for bread[d] from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

Jesus’ point in Luke 11:11-13 is that the ancient path of communing with the Father is not about performance, it’s not about keeping rules, it’s not about saying the right words at the right time or with the right emphasis, it’s not having all of your life completely in order so that you’ve never messed up and saying “Have I measured up God? Will you answer my prayer now?”  It’s not about when you’ve done all the rules and rituals that maybe, just maybe you can twist the arm of God (becuase He really doesn’t want to bless you) and He’ll give you what you want.  That was the thinking back in Luke’s day, and candidly that’s the thinking of most of us…

Our attitude is “how can I get God on my team”?  But what Jesus is saying here is that it’s not about the right words or spiritual techniques or rituals.  It’s not about twisting God’s arm, it’s not about praying for long periods of time, it’s not about living a perfect life, it’s about understanding who God really is.  Most of our focus on communion with God is all about us and what we do or what we don’t do. 

So instead of seeing a God who is hard to please, a God who forces you to perform, a God whose arm you have to twist, instead see a God who is eager to bless, a God who loves you. He is a God that is concerned.  He’s a God who is warm and receptive.  He is a God that no amount of measurement of performance or technique mean anything to Him, He sees thru all that and looks right into Your heart.  He’s a God who says, “Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”  He is the God who says “Every good and perfect gift comes from above.”  He’s the God who longs to bless His children…

He’s filled with compassion and moved within and He touches people and He heals people and He raises them from the dead, and He feeds them and He loves them. He says “I care”.  The ancient paths of communing with the Father is not about doing or performing or rituals or techniques, it’s about understandig this one true and abiding principle.  And that principle is the God of the “how much more”.  “How much more then” does the Father in heaven long to bless, who loves unconditionally, who hears and wants to give exceedingly abundantly more.  The God who is honored when we really believe and perceive Him for who He is.  That He is good and generous, kind and loving, available and willing, open and receptive, and concerned.  And then based on that truth, we come. 

If you really believe that God was for you, if you believe that every moment of every day, He was on the edge of the throne of all of heaven, and kind of looking down and you’re just sleeping, and He’s waiting for your eyes to open, and the very first thoughts He would like on your mind is you envisioning Him saying to you “I want to bless you today, I’m for you today, I’d love to talk, I know what’s coming up today, I know where the challenges are coming, I’d like to give you a few tips, you know about 3pm this afternoon you’re gonna have a really difficult meeting and I’m going put my arms around you, I love you, I’m for you.  All I want you to do is come.  You don’t have to perform.  It’s not about rules.  It’s not about “how long”.  It’s not about saying the right words.  It’s not about impressing anyone.  I see your heart.  I want to be with you.  I want to bless you.  I want to love you.  I want to wrap my arms around you.  I want to prepare you and protect you.”

When you see God for who He is, prayer becomes a joy.  Yes, from time to time, you’ll have to pull your mind in from wandering. Of course.  Does it mean you won’t have to exert some willpower and discipline yourself and move thru some of the flesh?  Of course.  But more and more I have learned that God so loves us and longs to bless and have me in His presence.  And when I’m there, it is out of His goodness that He convicts me of sin.  That  He brings things to my mind that need to be corrected.  Becuase every relationship out of kilter, what’s it gonna do?  It’s gonna bring destruction to me and pain to them.

The ancient path of communing with God is not about what you do, how long you do it, or where you do it.  It’s all about knowing who He is.  We make prayer all about us…  But it’s all about keeping company with God.  You are the child of the God of “how much more”!

If you had a child and they ask you for something, are you going to give them a snake or something?  No!  Your heavnely Father longs to bless you.  Now that does’t mean you’re gonna get a Lexus tomorrow and the second house and everything goes your way and you’re gonna get into Harvard, etc… 

It means He wants to give you the highest, the best, the deepest, the richest of things that last forever and that will fulfill and satisfy your heart that no “thing”, no accomplishment, no amount of money, no relationship, nothing on this earth will ever do.  He wants to love you and bless you and reveal Himself to you and have you be a son or a daughter who feels so affirmed and significant and loved and valued just for who you are and that you go through life in ways that other people never understand.

Is that the God that you pray to?  We honor God the most when we believe what He says about Himself and then respond accordingly.  That’s why Jesus said “without faith, it is impossible to please Him”.  He didn’t say “without rules and rituals, it’s impossible to please Him”.  He didn’t say “without being religious it’s impossible to please Him”.  He said “without faith”.  Faith is believing what God has said about Himself.  It’s trusting His promises to the point of acting on what is true. 

The Lord Almighty is with me. 
The Lord my God is with me. 
He’s mighty to save. 
He will quiet me with His love. 
He will rejoice over me with singing.

And to think that my day is starting and I haven’t seen anybody, I haven’t filled out my to-do list, I haven’t answered any phone calls, but I’ve just thought, the God of all the universe–He’s my God and He’s with me and He’s more powerful to deliver (save) me from any situation, any conflict, any pressure (whether it’s mine or with another person), or any circumstance.  He is mighty to save!  And when I get uptight, He is waiting–the Spirit of God dwelling in me–to quiet me with His love. 

And when He thinks of me with all of my ups and downs and all of my struggles and all of my three steps foward and two steps back, my mixed motives and the things that come out of my mouth that I wish wouldn’t, and when I lose my temper–He still rejoices over me with singing because I’m the object of His affection.  Because I am His son purchased by the blood of Christ.  And my relationship is not based upon my performance.  His goal is to move me and transform me and make more and more like Christ, but He loves me.  Not IF I do something or didn’t do something… 

This good, generous, warm, kind, receptive, unreluctant, absolutely “on my team”, “ready to bless me”, “how much more” than I could ever dream or expect–that’s who I’m coming to.  So ask in that kind of confidence.  Why does He want to do the “how much more”, so that everything is better and easier for us?  No, but so that we get a higher, clearer, more genuine view of Him.  What would happen if you believed the God of the Bible is the God of the “how much more”, and that He was for you and that He loved you.  And then the forms and the patterns and the disciplines will flow out of your heart’s desire to know Him as He is and enjoy Him, and then you express your love by obeying Him.  Because He is the God of all goodness and the “how much more”…

God is most honored when we perceive Him as who He really is–good, generous, kind, loving, available, willing, open, receptive and concerned.  And based on that truth, we can come boldly before Him.

You can listen to the full audio or download the full transcript from Mr. Piper’s website here…

On worship…
The aim of Romans 12:1-2 is that all of bodily life–everything you do with your body–all of life–be worship. “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

The goal of these two verses is that you find the way of life–at work and at home–that makes Christ look as valuable as He really is. That’s what worship is. The aim of all human life in God’s eyes is that Christ would be made to look as valuable as he is. Worship is an expressing and display of the worth of all that God is for us in Christ. So if your bodily life–what you do with your hands, feet, arms, tongue, your eyes, your ears–when all of that becomes worship, it becomes a way of displaying the value and worth of Christ in your life. So that’s the point of these verses.

If you don’t know how to do that at work, if your work feels like that is an absolutely inconceivable idea, there are two possible problems. One is, you have the wrong job. But that’s probably not the case. It’s probably that verse 2 is not happening. Verse 2 is the means by which verse 1 comes about.

Your life becomes worship to God, it becomes a manifestation of the worth and value of Jesus, when you’re not conformed to the world and all of their values, but you’re transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that the will of God becomes precious to you, and a joy to you, and you find yourself living a lifestyle of love and sacrifice and Christ-exalting standards, that cause the world to recognize the reality of His value to you.

So it’s probably not that you’re in the wrong job, it’s just that we have allot to do in order to pursue what it means to be renewed in our minds.

On becoming who you really ARE…
When it says “Be transformed by the renewal of your mind” Christians know it means “I’m ALREADY new.” “I AM a new creation”. We know that the Bible builds on that rock-solid reality of our identity in Christ and says now “BECOME what you ARE”!!

“Cleanse out the old leaven, that you may become a new lump, as you really ARE unleavened.” (1 Cor. 5:7) Isn’t that amazingly clear! Become what you are! You are unleavened. Sinless. Perfect. Accepted. Loved. Home in Christ. Now, BECOME that in your practical bodily behavior and life so that people will see the worth of Jesus Christ to You.

Col 3:10 says it this way “You HAVE put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after its Creator.” You HAVE put on the new self. You’re there! You’re home! You’re new. You’re acquitted, justified, verdict “not guilty”. It is finished! Now, be renewed according to who you are in Christ!

[blogmaster's comment: It's almost like he's saying to return to the beauty of who you really ARE every day. Be transformed every day into that clear ideal of what and who you are in Christ. Lovely!!! Every day is a day of new beginnings. Return to that that perfect spirit that Christ has put in us, and let it regain it's control and dominion in our lives.]

The Aim of a Renewed Mind
Now we focus on the last part of verse 2 tells us more about this process, namely, the aim of the renewed mind: “Do not be conformed to this world,but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, [now here comes the aim] that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

The reason for having a new mind is so that you will be able to discern, approve, embrace, and follow the will of God.

…There’s a world of difference between people who lead their lives constantly hoping and expecting messages to pop into their head about which way to go, which car to buy, which person to marry–a world of difference between living your life that way than Romans 12:2. Don’t be conformed to the world, but be transformed by a deep renewal so that you perceive the will of God, assess things according to the will of God.

Hebrews 5:14 is a near paraphrase of Romans 12:2: “Solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” (See another paraphrase in Philippians 1:9-11.) That’s the goal of this verse: not ferreting out the secret will of God that he plans to do, but discerning the revealed will of God that we ought to do.

Three Stages of Knowing and Doing the Revealed Will of God
1) God’s will of command is revealed with final, decisive authority only in the Bible. And we need the renewed mind to understand and embrace what God commands in the Scripture.

2) The second stage of God’s will of command is our application of the biblical truth to new situations that may or may not be explicitly addressed in the Bible. The Bible does not tell you which person to marry or whether to marry, or which car to drive, or whether to own a home, where you take your vacation, what cell-phone plan to buy, or which brand of orange juice to drink. Or a thousand other choices you must make that are not explicitly addressed in the Bible. So what do you do?

You must have a renewed mind. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove how to eat, how to drink, cars to drive, houses to live in, missions to go on, lifestyles to choose from, friendships to cultivate… ten thousand decisions not written in the Bible, and yet informed by all of its teachings into this new mind so that you think with the mind of Christ and assess things the way Christ would assess them so that the decisions that are made really are flowing from the revealed [moral] will of God in the Bible as it transforms your mind.

What is necessary is that we have a renewed mind, that is so shaped and so governed by the revealed will of God in the Bible, that we see and assess all relevant factors with the mind of Christ, and discern what God is calling us to do. This is very different from constantly trying to hear God’s voice saying do this and do that. People who try to lead their lives by hearing voices are not in sync with Romans 12:2.

There is a world of difference between praying and laboring for a renewed mind that discerns how to apply God’s Word, on the one hand, and the habit of asking God to give you new revelation of what to do, on the other hand.

Divination does not require transformation. God’s aim is a new mind, a new way of thinking and judging, not just new information. His aim is that we be transformed, sanctified, freed by the truth of his revealed Word (John 8:32; 17:17). So the second stage of God’s will of command is the discerning application of the Scriptures to new situations in life by means of a renewed mind.

3) Finally, the third stage of God’s will of command is the vast majority of living where there is no conscious reflection before we act. I venture to say that a good 95% of your behavior you do not premeditate.

That is, most of your thoughts, attitudes, and actions are spontaneous. They are just spillover from what’s inside. Jesus said, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak” (Matthew 12:34-36).

Why do I call this part of God’s will of command? For one reason. Because God commands things like: Don’t be angry. Don’t be prideful. Don’t covet. Don’t be anxious. Don’t be jealous. Don’t envy. And none of those actions are premeditated. Anger, pride, covetousness, anxiety, jealousy, envy—they all just rise up out of the heart with no conscious reflection or intention. And we are guilty because of them. They break the commandment of God.

Is it not plain therefore that there is one great task of the Christian life: Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. We need new hearts and new minds. Make the tree good and the fruit will be good (Matthew 12:33).

That’s the great challenge. That is what God calls you to. You can’t do it on your own. You need Christ, who died for your sins. And you need the Holy Spirit to lead you into Christ-exalting truth and work in you truth-embracing humility.

Give yourself to this. Immerse yourself in the written Word of God; saturate your mind with it. And pray that the Spirit of Christ would make you so new that the spillover would be good, acceptable, and perfect—the will of God.

 “The phrase ‘Love of God’ does not refer to our love for God but rather His love for us–that quality of His own divine life which emanates from Him to us in a wondrous outpouring. There flows eternally to the family of men a stream of self-giving from God. It finds expression in a thousand generous gestures all intended for our good.

This generous, gracious, self-giving of God becomes for the Christian the greatest and most important reality in all of life. In print of fact, the realization that God is with me–that Christ is in me–becomes the divine impetus in this compelling relationship that causes my character to change and transforms me into someone of His own likeness.

‘Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above,
and comes down from the Father of lights…’
(James 1:17)

‘For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.’
(Phil. 2:13)

Not only does God’s Spirit reveal to us the fact that He resides in us, but also that it is possible for us to live in Christ. A Christian comes to the comprehension in very practical terms that it is ‘in Him (God), we live, and move, and have our being…’ (Acts 17:28). The child of God recognizes that his entire life is bound up in the enfolding goodness of God expressed to him in the love of God.

As one comes to commune with Christ in this intense relationship, His presence becomes increasingly more precious. To know Him, enjoy Him, obey Him, serve Him, and love Him becomes the ultimate fulfillment in life. Paul, in his letter to the Phillipians, put it this way: ‘I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord…’ (Phil 3:8).

For our lives in Christ to prosper and His life in us to flourish, our attention must be focused upon Him. He simply must occupy the prior position in all our interests. Time, thought, prayer, and meditation in quiet interludes with Him are imperative. Then these scriptures will become a reality in our lives:
‘For to me, to live is Christ…’
Philippians 1:21

‘If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away;
behold, all things have become new.’
(2 Corin. 5:17).

This total transformation of our lives is an ongoing process. This means having the very character of Christ transmitted and transferred to us. It is to actually know and experience the incoming of the Life of God into our tiny, human lives. It is to sense and know the very love of God shed abroad in our spirits by His Spirit (Romans 5:5). There is not doubt whatsoever that ultimately this is the most intense desire of anyone who earnestly longs to know God and to come to a clearer comprehension of Christ’s character…

To know the love of God is both the wondrous expression of the life of Jesus our Lord through us and His winsome operation within our own souls and spirits. It is both an outward, objective observation and a profound, personal, inner, subjective experience. It is both the love of God as revealed in His own conduct and character and the very life of God worked out through our lives in this weary, sin-stained world.

God’s Spirit will impart the very life and love of God to all. For this to take place, there is a sense in which a person must literally plunge into and drink deeply from the stream of life that flows to us from God Himself. This is not mere figurative language. If we are to know Christ and experience His love in daily reality, we cannot stand at a distance and simply discuss it doctrinally.

We must come to Him and drink of His divine life, partake of His very nature. If we are to find complete satisfaction in Christ, there is no other way than to submerge ourselves in the stream of His life. We need to come to Him and drink deeply of His love. We must find our refreshment, our constant reinvigoration, in His consistent character. Here lies the secret to quiet serenity, confident strength, and sure stability amid all the changing circumstances which face a Christian in today’s world.

In Psalm 42, we are given a beautiful word picture of a deer in distress. It is being pursued by the hunters and their hounds in the hills. For safety and survival, it rushes down the slopes and into the stream. There in the cooling, refreshing current that flows from the mountains, its thirst is slacked; its safety is assured; its survival guaranteed.

This dramatic poem written under the inspiration of God’s Spirit portrays precisely the elements inherent in the picture of a man or woman plunging fully into the refreshing, protecting fullness of God’s life and love, finding total salvation amid life’s strain and stresses.”

  –W. Phillip Keller, A Layman Looks at the Love of God pp. 12-13

And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
10 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them:
‘When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest,
then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest.
11 He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.
Lev 23:9-12  NKJV

“Now the first day of the week [the day after the Sabbath] Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb…  Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping…  Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher).   Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’”
John 20 1-17  NKJV

²⁰ But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
²¹ For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.
²² For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.
²³ But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.
²⁴ Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.
²⁵ For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.
1 Cor 15:20-25  NKJV

Hallelujah!!!!

And it’s not just the desire for an outward beauty, but more—a desire to be captivating in the depths of who you are. Cinderella is beautiful, yes, but she is also good. Her outward beauty would be hollow were it not for the beauty of her heart. That’s why we love her. In The Sound of Music, the Countess has Maria beat in the looks department, and they both know it. But Maria has a rare and beautiful depth of spirit. She has the capacity to love whiskers on kittens and mean-spirited children. She sees the handiwork of God in music and laughter and climbing trees. Her soul is Alive. And we are drawn to her.

Ruth may have been a lovely, strong woman, but it is to her unrelenting courage and vulnerability and faith in God that Boaz is drawn. Esther is the most beautiful woman in the land, but it is her bravery and her cunning, good heart that moves the king to spare her people. This isn’t about dresses and makeup…

Don’t you recognize that a woman yearns to be seen and to be thought of as captivating? We desire to possess a beauty that is worth pursuing, worth fighting for, a beauty that is core to who we truly are. We want beauty that can be seen; beauty that can be felt; beauty that affects others; a beauty all our own to unveil.
– John and Stasi Eldredge,  Captivating , 16–17