I have started facilitating a small bible study group. Seeking biblical answers for the questions of eager learners inspires me to dig deep. Developing the necessary kingdom mindset that can be difficult for most of us.
In class we were discussing the scriptural principles of reaping and sowing. Scriptural principles are constant whether we are aware of them or not. When I plant wheat, wheat is what I expect to harvest. The same is true in the Spirit. When I plant God’s word, from that word comes life through Jesus Christ, The Word.
Old Math
For over forty years me father was a heavy smoker, until he developed emphysema. Though he quit smoking the disease took his life. We could call this an equation that looks like this.
Smoking + Emphysema = Death
In the natural world, we see this math at work constantly.
Adding unfaithfulness to marriage produces divorce.
Drinking plus liver disease leads to cirrhosis and death.
Negligence in areas of finance leads to poverty.
and many more…
But God
Add God to any equation and the outcome changes.
“You intended to harm me,
but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done,
the saving of many lives. ”
Genesis 50:20“David stayed in the desert strongholds and in the hills of the Desert of Ziph.
Day after day Saul searched for him,
but God did not give David into his hands.”
1 Samuel 23:14“But God will redeem my life from the grave;
he will surely take me to himself.”
Psalm 49:15
Every negative in our life is a horizontal reality. But when God is added everything changes!
“My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
Psalm 73:26“Jesus looked at them and said,
“With man this is impossible,
but with God all things are possible.”
Matthew 19:26“But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death,
because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.” Acts 2:24“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:8“For the wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God is eternal life
in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 6:23“…for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal.
But God’s word is not chained.”
2 Timothy 2:9
This list is not exhaustive. I hope it is enough for you to begin to appreciate the many “but God” verses as much as I do. As soon as I see those two words, I know that everything is about to shift. Something supernatural is about to happen!
New Math
When I reason along the natural plain of this world, 1 + 1 will always equal 2. But when I allow vertically thinking and a new mindset, there is a shift. I consider the negative realities fully and rationally. However, human reason no longer dominates.
“Without weakening in his faith,
he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead–
since he was about a hundred years old–
and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.”
Romans 4:19
Abraham’s faith created the vertical alignment set over his horizontal reality of life. As a believer we don’t ignore the facts! We simply apply faith over every fact confronting us.
Now Abraham took his number one fact, “his body was as good as dead”, with Sarah’s number one fact. One plus one! He plunked faith firmly in the middle, overlaying horizontal reality with the vertical truth of “but God“. Now fact, reality and faith were firmly connected!
In the new math we stop right here. As we ask God in prayer, “God what is your purpose in this? What is your outcome? Teach me your desire? What does this equal with You?”
New Mindset
Now through the vertical dimension of faith, “2” is not the “natural” outcome to the equation. Rather, faith creates before us a window through which light and life can flow freely.
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.”
Isaiah 55:8
To see God’s potential reached, we aim for His mindset. In becoming more and more aware of His thoughts and His character, the Lord will enlarge our thinking to creative abilities and heavenly mindsets.
One plus one may just mean a new window of opportunity, growth, or direction for you and those around you! Take this moment to ask God what your one plus one equals in His sight. You might be surprised!
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Further Reading: