Scripture Text: "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."  2 Timothy 1:7 (KJV)

Having a sound mind is not something that is much of a reality today. There are many reasons for it but the one basic reason stems from the word apostasy. Apostasy means the abandonment of the faith.

How do you do this? Do you wake up one morning and just do it all at once? Is it a  decision you make in the name of life and all that is evil and damn your soul to hell like some people are doing on "u-tube.com" - just to get attention?

Apostasy can be accomplished through an all out denial of The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, but generally speaking it happens gradually. It starts with getting away with stealing or getting away with adultery. It starts with talking mean about someone or talking mean to them. All of these things are guided and even proposed by evil spirits who as we have mentioned these past few days, have nothing better in mind than to destroy you and everything you hold dear. NOW you have to admit, that's a good place to begin - in the mind.

Every thing we've spoken about this week relates to the mind and what we will allow and what we will believe and what we will profess and what we will declare. This is why in our day and age we have so many people whose conduct and behavior are in disarray, because they are going from sinning to living; or in other words are living in sin.

Did your mother ever tell you to not do something and you decided that you were going to do it anyway? Why did you want to do it when your mother told you you couldn't? Was it because she was wrong, or was it because she was prejudiced against what you wanted to do, or was it just because you weren't going to have someone tell you what to do?

Maybe you did it just because mom wasn't in the room at the time or maybe she was  gone for several days so you really lived it up. But I want you to remember the moment you did what your mother told you NOT to do. How did you feel? You know that there was something that happened inside you because while you knew you might get punished you somehow all of a sudden knew you would go on living and you would somehow be okay. You felt empowered and you felt enlightened...

Now this is a very bland description of what happens in insanity. That is in fact what  insanity means. A deranged state of the mind usually occurring as a specific disorder. An unsoundness of mind or lack of understanding; an extreme folly or unreasonableness: something utterly foolish or unreasonable. Well I would say that disobeying mom probably is our first step to insanity wouldn't you?

What we often fail to realize is that mom sets her rules for a reason. If she is a Godly mom she has set her rules according to the scriptures and most assuredly the Ten  Commandments. So to follow those rules and live by those rules that mom has established for you, brings about a sound mind. Conversely, to not follow those rules and live by those rules that mom has established for you, is liable to bring you a sound thrashing.

It works the same way with the principles of God - many of which have been taught to us by our mothers and our fathers and by those who are in authority who have lived their lives prudently and soberly, with pure intent and honest before the Lord. But it establishes itself as the Truth and Beauty of the Lord when we apply it to our lives through the actual living of the faith - rather than just seeing it modeled by our authority figures. Instead of living from war to war and explosion to explosion, we find ourselves walking in the path of righteousness where even though we walk through the valley of shadow and death we know that The Lord Jesus is With us. It is His "rod" and "staff" that comfort us and "get us through". That rod by the way is the word of the Lord and staff is considered by the word to be His Promises. 

Now I want to complete this in tomorrow's edition of In The Garden, but for now let's just pray together for a sound Mind in Christ Shall we?

Father: There is so much of life that surrounds us and invades our soundness of mind and our peace at heart. How we need your Word to become a rod and a staff that will comfort us and ward off the devourer for our sake. Come Holy Spirit and work in me today as I walk not in the flesh but in the spirit - not having "the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind". In Jesus' Name I Pray, Amen.