You Must Be Out Of Your Mind!

By Jorge Parrott

Have you ever had someone say that to you? Many or all of us may have heard this. Over the years, as we grow in our walk and obedience, we learn that the source may need to be considered or perhaps needs to be ignored or may even be an encouragement to press more into what the Holy Spirit is saying and doing.  ‘God looks upon the heart.’

Isaiah 55:8 reads; “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says the Lord.”

Of course, someone can be out of his/her mind and obviously not have the mind of Christ. We see evil spreading and darkness and insanity increasing too often, and it is getting worse. We ‘ain’t seen’ nothing yet!

How do we stand as ‘oaks of righteousness’ and positively impact the atmosphere around us? Let us see deeper how, as spirit beings, we can grow in the Holy Spirit as He teaches us His ways while overcoming the world, by faith. ‘Our weapons are not carnal but spiritual…’ ‘We are more than conquerors!’

The Bible is full of what the natural, worldly mind may perceive as unusual or even so-called crazy behavior, outside the world’s or man’s perspective, outside the logical observer’s ‘box’.  The religious spirit, along with traditions of man, clouds the eyes of lukewarm or nominal Christians. In the fast-changing seasons of acceleration of end-time battles, the spiritual warfare will surely intensify. Courage is vital in His faithful remnant rooted in the Father’s holy love.  Let us pray our love and lifestyle of holiness will increase, as the apostasy filters and separates the wheat from the unknowing, cowardly chaff.

Our job is to reach as many as we can with the fullness of the Lord and equipping His people to step into greater glory and faith and demonstrations of His transforming love first, followed then by His power, so the world will know ‘this must be God!’. John 14:12 talks about these ‘greater works we will do…’

Our main purpose in this life is to worship the King and to bring joy to the Lord of all creation by faith and obedience. Secondly, to love our neighbors as our ourselves.  Spirit-led authentic relationships to prepare His bride in unity and maturity and give us fulfillment being a part of organic, thriving communities of koinonia, often thriving in remote, isolated outposts. This is the CMM net. We are thankful for technology as a sanctified tool for the Gospel as it helps to strengthen authentic relationships.

In both, our CMM Missions network globally and our College of Theology, we have seen these communities rooted in love and authentic relationships expanding, deepening and pulsating with the life of growing, true Christianity.

We must take chances, often huge chances, to surrender fully to the Lord, our Creator, and His ways which are often a shock to the carnal and religious mindset. For churches are overdue as to their survival and growth of new mindsets. The Lord’s light shines on His path for us to live alongside His river of life with our very being rooted deeply in His life during our brief sojourn here on earth. We sense with urgency the unction of the Lord to learn how to love His ways.

“And many peoples shall come and say,
‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house (temple) of the God of Jacob; that He may teach us His ways and that we may walk in His paths.’” (Isaiah 2:3 – AMP)

Jesus’ yoke is easy, and His burden is light. In every moment of His life, Jesus shows us Himself ‘doing and saying’ what His Father showed Him.  He lives within us and this holy habitation in our lives can be missed, if we allow ourselves to get ‘caught up’ in life instead of walking in two dimensions simultaneously; on earth as it is in heaven. We are seated in heavenly places with Christ Jesus. We see His beauty simply displayed in the highest love, always in communion with His Father, and the active flow of the seven spirits of God uninterrupted in profound, extravagant simplicity and peace.

“He has shown you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justly, to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8)

I used to think it was mainly the western church who tended to complicate what it means to be a follower of Jesus, but with the spread of technology globally the over-intellectualizing of modern churches and ungodly spirits of control, manipulation, and traditions, along with the business of ministry often superseding our spiritual devotion, we can get lost in the daily stuff.

Let us never forget Romans 14:23; “…Whatever is not from faith is sin [whatever is done with doubt is sinful].” We are called to close every possible gateway in our lives, so the enemy and demons cannot enter. We must seal our lives with the Holy Spirit wrapping us in the full armor of God.  Our life pleasing to the Lord should fill the airwaves of our thought life, without letting the many distractions and hindrances derail or shipwreck our core reason for living and walking in the fullness of joy and divine peace our Creator gives us. The Holy Spirit is our Helper to walk in wisdom with His vision and discernment to say ‘no’ to everything but His holy ways.

Isaiah 55:8 reads; “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.”

How do we partner, surrender, receive His healing and align our lives to please the Lord’s heart and mind in the midst of instant global media, much hatred and evil, social media addictions, ‘busyness’ and atmospheric anxiety? Our own eternity and often many other lives around us depends on our response and what we choose to say ‘no’ to, as well as what we are focused on by saying ‘yes’ to the Lord and His all-permeating love.

We are made up of mind, will, and emotions. Many are not aware or don’t acknowledge how our emotions affect our thought process. We have to guard our hearts and don’ any root of bitterness to take hold and limit what the Lord desires. David was a man after God’s own heart.

“God, I invite Your searching gaze into my heart. Examine me through and through; find out everything that may be hidden within me. Put me to the test and sift through all my anxious cares. See if there is any path of pain I’m walking on, and lead me back to Your glorious, everlasting ways – the path that brings me back to You.” (Psalm 139:23-24 – TPT)

We need to be healed before we can effectively help anyone else. The world and secular systems often fall short in addressing the healing of the whole person with a holistic, biblically-based spiritual approach.

Romans 14:17 (AMP) is clear: “for the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking [what one likes], but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”  Two of these three are emotions.  It is so important we don’t overlook the impact of our emotions over our entire lives.

For any of us to make an impact on heaven, and for us to be His fruitful, effective ‘flame of fire’, we will ‘rock boats’, offend and make some angry, disrupt atmospheres, break many unholy chains thrust on us by the traditions of men and the religious spirit.  There are many types of man’s structures and systems to be torn down in order to build upon the solid foundation of our King. The Spirit of the Lord emphasized this to me with the recent fires in the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem at the same time.

Judgment starts in the house of God. We must first start with our own lives by letting the Holy Spirit convict us of anything He wants us to turn around from to then run to Him.

Jesus is the breaker and He lives in us so that we can be His prophets, teachers, evangelists, apostles, and pastors, as humble clay vessels and servants. His body is being rightly fitted together as He prepares His bride.  The Hebrew word for breaker is PERETZ. Jesus is the supreme creator/breaker.

“The one who breaks open will come up before them; they will break out, pass through the gate, and go out by it; Their king will pass before them, with the Lord at their head.” (Micah 2:13)

Sanctified innovation, imagination and reformation spring forth from our God-given dreams and visions sparked by our mandate as co-creators with the One Who said; ‘let there be light’.  The Lord had it all figured out. He delights in speaking to those things that ‘are not as though they were’ and using us to be that voice of hope and breakthrough. You see that His heavenly love pierces the darkest hearts when He gives us the keys we need to unlock any heart or closed-door if we but listen and hear and see what He says and sees. He may not give us the key to unlocking every heart, but if we do not ask Him and listen to what He wants to say to that person He places in our path, we may not be used by Him to minister His redemptive love.  What a beautiful mission He sent us on! Who are we to be so blessed to be used by the Ancient of days to awaken hearts to the reality of the Kingdom so close at hand?

Believe and receive all He gives you and then get to work doing the Father’s business in every sphere or mountain of society.  The angels assigned to you do not doubt your success. Do you? Father, forgive us of our doubt and unbelief. He is rolling out your blueprints and marching orders right now. His scroll or book of your life, even today, was written long before time and space began. Psalm 139:16. His invitation to ‘come up here’ (Rev. 4:1) is an open invitation when you ready yourself to believe, receive and accept this golden invitation and go up.

Getting Over Ourselves

As new creations, we get over ourselves and walk-in tune with the heavenly sounds and vibrations of light and holiness, shimmering in the resurrection life Jesus gives us. Surely, it comes with knowing trials. That is how we grow in wisdom and stature. More importantly, it is how we respond in the face of these trials that determines our outcome.  How we live each day impacts our eternity.  “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.  But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” (James 1:2)

Lacking nothing!  Did you get that?

From Suffering To Glory

 Here’s some more good news. There will be suffering, perhaps even betrayal, as we get out of our own minds and into the ‘mind of Christ’ together. Amazing heavenly treasures await our obedience.  When our eyes stay fixed on the Lord and eternity, we see vastly different. There is such an indescribable, great joy now in eternity awaiting us, as we change our filter focused on our own self-centeredness and woundedness, whose end is only obscurity, lukewarmness, mediocrity and perhaps even the lake of fire. Jean Guyon, a great mystic said: “Abandonment is laying aside forever whatever needs we have.”

This expansive vista of God in all His glory is the joy of the Lord which is truly our strength. It is vital for us to have our firm foundations in His word and to be filled with His Holy Spirit.  Jesus is our all in all, along with the joy set before Him He has set before us, if we do not grow weary or let life’s cares and burdens, or the enemy of our soul, dim or blind our lens. “But this life is no longer ours because we live for Him.” (Hebrews 12:2)

Paul said so well: “If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit.” (2 Corinthians 5:13)

Recently the Holy Spirit whispered this: ‘you are created to live in a revelational epiphany lifestyle, moment by moment, in awe and worship, on earth as it in heaven!’.

The joy of the Lord, our strength, is set before us to believe, receive and walk out now.  May your faith line up and cooperate with the faith of God. May our faith not be just mental assent or head knowledge but transforming, resurrection power causing us to act and obey at all costs.

He is worth it all and Jesus alone is worthy of our bodies being the temple of the Holy Spirit along with our mind, will and emotions.

We are to wage war with the prophecies spoken over us.

“This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare.” (1 Timothy 1:18 -NKJV)

Many are waiting on the Lord and we should but consider how the Lord may well be waiting on us!

“Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” (1 Timothy 6:12)

We covet your prayers for CMM, our global net of families, much-facing danger and anti-Christian backlash and pray for the CMM College of Theology, all our donors and volunteers (Psalm 110:3) and all our home office staff and families, living by faith.

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Go forth in JOY towards your next faith assignment. Walk-in His fullness of joy, seeing beyond our perceptions and mindsets to encounter your completion of the good work He started in you.