MANIFESTO - PART 4

Manifesto #3... I will expand my mind to feast on knowledge and understanding and not allow it to atrophy because learning gets a bit too complicated. My mind will not become a wasteland of mindless media facts, but an oasis of hope in fulfilling the promises of God.

As you walk in the truth of God's report, you will find that "a mind is a terrible thing to waste." How often have you heard that statement? Now, how often have you heeded its warning? It's not to presume that you personally prescribe to the "GIGO" method -- "garbage in / garbage out." But as a culture, we are more than inundated wth all types of visual stimuli. Today's magazines, billboards, commercials, movies and print media vie for a place in your mind. Oftentimes, we know more information about the latest celebrity midhap than we know the order of the first five books of the Old Testament. We've replaced moderation with sensory overload and have starved our minds from the added spiritual nutrients required in maintaining a Godly lifestyle.

You say, "what fun is there in being so spiritually minded that we are of no earthly good?" Good point and well taken. Let me offer this analogy to address your issue of concern. Consider what you store in your mind like that of an active reservoir. The strong and powerful flow of water that runs through these pipes is designed to receive and despense natural resourcing benefiting the whole. But place a cap on the receiving end and all the precious elixir of life spills over and its function is halted. Now what if you place a cap on the bottom of the dispenser? The reservoir will fill up but because it was designed to also flow out, the contents that are traped become stale, stagnant and eventually rancid for lack of not flowing in its true course. Water, in and of itself, as I've stated is a pecious elixer that keeps one alive. Yet without it, our bodies dehydrate, decay and eventually die.

Your mind was created to receive as well as dispense knowledge, wisdom and understanding. These are gifts from God. All throughout Proverbs, the writers reiterate the blessings which come from finding wisdom and gaining understanding. And if receiving God's Word into your hearts and minds makes you too "heavenly minded," then I'd check the contents of what you are allowing your bodies to consume. God's Word offers truth to your weary soul, healing to your tired body and peace to your troubled mind. God spreads a banquet of delicacies that all the world's chefs cound not duplicate. He prepared an inviting table of wisdom, knowledge and understanding in the presence of all your enemies. All He asks is that you "taste and see that the Lord is good" (Psalm 34:8a).

What do you do? DON'T BE AFRAID TO CHANGE TO A HEALTHY, SPIRITUAL DIET!! Put into your spiritual body the food and drink that satisfies. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper. Start your day off right by feasting on helpings of the gospel . Snack on Psalm and Proverbs. Digest scriptures like Matthew 6:11, Ephesians 1:17, Ephesians 6:11 and Philippians 3:14, just to name a few. Digest the Word of truth and watch lies burn off like fatty tissue burns away from healthy, wholesome food. You can get healthy as the truth of God's Word acts as spiritual antibodies warding off the disease of deceitfulness, worry, hopelessness, despair and doubt. God's Word is the best diet in the world!

A Willing Prayer... Dear God, I have feasted on the world's diet and it has left my spiritual body deprived of your nourishment. Teach me how to "eat properly" on the food that last -- Your Word. I want my heart and mind to be equipped for service. Give me You "living water" from the well that never runs dy as You fulfill Your promises in my life -- AMEN!

Next Week (& the final Manifesto)... Manifesto 4: I will respect my body as a priceless vessel. I will not give myself freely, under any circumstances, to another just to feel the conditions of love. I will not be quick to give my body away in union with one outside of matrimony. But as I wait on God, I will offer my body as a living sacrifice that is holy and pleasing.