Sunday, April 5, 2009

"Double Minded" from Todd Martin

“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.” (James 1:5-8)
So, basically you can spend in hour in prayer and still receive nothing. “Double-minded” is a display of unholiness because there shows to be inconsistency between what is said and what is actually believed. In effect, God is saying “If you ask for something and doubt that I will give it, how could you even think to receive it." Holiness isn’t some mystical thing; it’s practical and real. A meaning of holiness is to be “one” or “complete”. God has integrity because what He says, what He does, and who He is are all the same. God always does what He says and will do this because He is one with Himself. So, why is this important to prayer? Unholiness can not exist in His presence because He is holy. God says “The pure in heart will see Me.” (Matthew 5:8). In this sense, holiness and unholiness cannot exist, for those who are impure cannot see God.
In prayer we must have the same integrity between what we say and do, that He does. Holiness is speaking the truth, then living it. In Jeremiah 29:13 God says, “You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.” I know before that I have told some people how much I was seeking God, but did I really show it? I’m going to go with unlikely to no on that one. If we really want to find Him, we must really be seeking Him. We, in a way, must be like Jacob in Genesis 32 saying, “God I will not let you go until I see you.”
Is this how we approach God? If we seek Him with everything in us, He promises to that we will find Him. If this were not true, God would be unholy. If we couldn’t count on God to do what He says, how could we trust Him any further? But He is true to His word, even if it means not answering prayers that are half-hearted or said in unbelief. If you look in Acts 2, it was when the followers of Jesus were in one accord-singe minded-that the Holy Spirit was given. Fellas, if we are integrated, then what we say, what we believe, what we do, and how we respond are the same. If we tell God we believe Him, but then act in the opposite way once we are at the field, hanging out with friends, or spending time with family, then we are not integrated, pure, or holy. We then are double-minded. You might as well just think of James 1:7, “That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord.”

It is very easy to sit here on my bed, while going over God’s Word, and think that my life is rockin’ some holiness. But when I am 0 for 4 with 3 punchies, scratching the bottom of the piggy bank, or out late with teammates, how am I rockin’ then? These truths are great to meditate on throughout the day to help steer clear of being double-minded, ya dig.
dying to myself,
-todd

1 comment:

Jules said...

I should have read this before I posted. Nice work Todd, this scrip is deep and the application goes even deeper when you think about being single-minded verse double.