As KingdomNomics thinkers, we want to know God and need to press on to experience him. We want to grow with the growth that comes from him. And as we grow, we see that God is preparing to do something amazing in our lives. He may bring to light a new opportunity, or a new revelation of himself, or even provide a resource that is beyond anything we could ask, think, or imagine.
So, how do we go about experiencing God and growing in our relationship with him? The most important source of our knowledge of God is found in his Word, the Bible. We need to read it, study it, and apply it to our lives. We need to memorize key verses that will help us stay focused on the things God wants us to do in his world. As a direct result, our converterlating is influenced by our understanding and application of what we internalize from the Bible.
One of the ways that I have found to incorporate God’s Word into my life is through a process I call soak, sow, and flow. We soak our minds in the truths of Scripture, which allows us to sow them into our circumstances, and have the Holy Spirit flow through them.
In order to experience the soak, sow, and flow process, we need to memorize and meditate on core verses—what I call “Spiritual M & Ms”—that will guide our thinking on a daily basis. We want to read God’s Word, live it, and then let God perform his will through us. The goal here is to have the Word of God personally operating in our everyday lives.
I want to share with you how my mind was transformed and my attitude toward money was radically changed when I began soaking my heart in the Word of God. From a practical standpoint, material wealth had become the god of my life. The Chief Consumerlator had been extremely successful in deceiving me with the “bling” of the world system and had convinced me that this world had a lot to offer! Unfortunately, I was blind to the fact that not only was my wealth going to disappear someday; it was also leading me down the path of destruction.
As I became increasingly dissatisfied with my life, one day I took out a piece of paper and wrote the words GOLD and GOD beside each other. We all know that many people make gold or worldly wealth their god and, from a practical standpoint, that is exactly what had happened to me. As I looked at those two words on my piece of paper, I first placed parentheses around the “L” in GO(L)D. After looking at that for a while, I then blacked out that “L” and had the word GOD!
Scripture gives us insight into the mind of God
and helps us to know him better.
As I sat staring at that word, I was reminded of Jesus’ words, “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money” (Matthew 6:24, NLT). As I sat there meditating on that verse, I wrote in an “L” under the word GOD. The “L” represented everything I was living for at that time: my money, possessions, opportunities, and time for pleasure. I realized that I needed to place all of these things under the control of God so that he could bring balance into my life for the proper use of these resources. I needed his wisdom to resolve the intrinsic conflicts we all have in determining the balance in managing the perishable and the imperishable. I wanted to increase my focus on participating in the advancement of God’s kingdom. This was a huge revelation to me.
At that time I made a basic heart decision, “I am submitting the control of my entire life to the Lord, including anything and everything related to me.” That included my time, talent, and treasure. For me, this was a huge undertaking and continues to be a work in progress. Since that time, I have become progressively more of a strategic kingdom investor by investing more of my time, talent, and treasure for the imperishable values of the eternal kingdom. Ruth Ann and I continue to take increasing steps to depositing more of our material wealth in the “Bank of Heaven” for the purpose of advancing the kingdom through endeavors related to the fulfillment of the Great Commission. My motives and talents for generating wealth have been converterlated into making an impact for the kingdom of God. And this has all come about from soaking my heart in the Word of God!
There is no way for us to be effective Converterlators
without knowing the Word of God.
Our mind is like a big, soft sponge. It absorbs everything around it. How are we transformed into being Converterlators? The Bible tells us, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2, ESV). The living, powerful Word of God transforms our attitudes and our thinking, if we soak our minds in it. Here is where the concept of the Spiritual M & Ms comes into play. When we memorize and meditate on key verses, soaking our minds in them, the transforming power of God’s Word changes how we think, feel, and act. There is no way for one to be an effective Converterlator without knowing the Word of God.
How consistently do you read and study God’s Word? What step do you need to take to make this a more disciplined part of your life?
Continue reading “Sowing God’s Word”
Related articles:
Soak, Sow, Flow
Knowing God
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