"Tenacious & Tender-Hearted Thoughts" - Mastermind Series #4

I myself, Paul, appeal to you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!—

2 Corinthians 10:3–5 NRSV

Indeed, we live as human beings, but we do not wage war according to human standards; for the weapons of our warfare are not merely human, but they have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ.

INTRODUCTION

A PREACHER OF GREAT RENOWN ONCE OBSERVED THIS WONDERFUL THING ABOUT THE GOD WE SERVE AND

KNOW IN JESUS CHRIST......HE WROTE:

GOD MOVES TOWARD US IN TENDER AND INSISTENT WAYS, IN LOVE DIVINE, ALL LOVES EXCELLING. DESPITE

OURSELVES, WE, TOO, MOVE TOWARD GOD AS PLANTS SEEK THE LIGHT AND AS BIRDS INVARIABLY SEEK THE

DAWN.

ON OUR BEST DAYS WE MOVE TOWARDS GOD IN OUR PRAYERS AND IN OUR THOUGHTS, IN OUR ACTIONS AND

INTERACTIONS WITH OTHERS, IN EXPECTED AND UNEXPECTED WAYS, .......WE MOVE TOWARDS GOD, BOTH SLOWLY

AND SUDDENLY THOUGH THE WORLD MAY BE ACTIVELY MOVING AWAY FROM GOD, BELOVEDS.........

THERE ARE TIMES WHEN OUR THOUGHTS ARE EVIDENT IN THE CHOICES WE MAKE AND IN THE THINGS WE

DO....BUT CLEARLY THERE ARE OTHER TIMES TOO, BELOVEDS.....TIMES WHEN WE MAY MIS-READ DIFFERENT

THOUGHTS OR MISLEAD WITH THINGS WE DO.....FOLKS JUST DON’T KNOW WHETHER OUR THOUGHTS ARE TOUGH

AND TENACIOUS OR TENDER AND CONSIDERATE......THE STORY IS TOLD OF A COUPLE STANDING TOGETHER IN

THEIR BABY’S ROOM......

THE NERVOUS FATHER WAS STANDING OVER HIS BABY’S CRIB, INTENTLY STARING. HIS WIFE ENTERED THE

ROOM AND WATCHED HER SPOUSE IN SILENCE. SHE SAW IN HER HUSBAND’S FACE A WIDE RANGE OF

EMOTIONS: WONDER, DOUBT, ADMIRATION.

DEEPLY TOUCHED, SHE PUT HER ARM AROUND HIM AND, WITH EYES GLISTENING AND VOICE TREMBLING,

SAID “A PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS RIGHT NOW.” UNHESITATINGLY, HE BLURTED OUT: “FOR THE LIFE OF

ME, I CAN’T SEE HOW ANYBODY CAN MAKE A CRIB OF THAT QUALITY FOR THE LOW, LOW PRICE OF $89.95”

AT A TIME WHEN THAT DAD COULD HAVE CHOSEN A TENDER HEARTED MOMENT ALL HE COULD THINK OF WAS HOW

TOUGH AND TENACIOUS A MANUFACTURER WOULD HAVE TO BE TO CREATE A BUDGET FRIENDLY CRIB LIKE THE

ONE IN FRONT OF HIM.....BELOVEDS, THIS DAD MISSED A MOMENT.......SOMETIMES WE ARE CALLED TO CHOOSE

BETWEEN THOSE THOUGH, TENACIOUS THOUGHTS VERSES OUR MORE TENDER-HEARTED ONES....THE APOSTLE

PAUL SHOWS US TODAY WE CAN HANDLE BOTH WHEN THE SITUATION DEMANDS IT.....

PAUL’S HELP WITH HANDLING PRESSURE

ONE COMMENTATOR ON PAUL’S SECOND LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS CALLED THIS LETTER, “THE MOST

VEHEMENTLY PERSONAL OF ALL PAUL’S LETTERS....PAUL STANDS BEFORE US IN THE PAGES OF THIS LETTER WITH

HIS FIREY ENERGY, HIS INDOMITABLE ZEAL, HIS MYSTIC RAPTURES, HIS ABYSMAL DESPONDENCY, HIS PRIDE AND

HIS HUMILITY AND HIS TENDER AFFECTIONATENESS AND HIS UTTERMOST LOVE AND WONDER AT THE GRACE AND

GLORY OF THE LORD JESUS........

HE BEGINS THIS 10th CHAPTER WITH A VERSE OF SHEER BEAUTY, A TENDER-HEARTED THOUGHT TO BE SURE

HE WROTE:

2 Corinthians 10:1 (NRSV)

I myself, Paul, appeal to you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with

you, but bold toward you when I am away!—

BY THE TIME WE GET TO CHAPTER 10 PAUL IS ABLE TO MAKE THIS APPEAL IN THIS WAY, AFTER HE HAD WORKED

THROUGH SOME SIGNIFICANT THOUGHTS & FEELINGS THAT, ONE HISTORIAN WROTE, CAME FROM A PLACE OF

“AFFLICTION AND ANGUISH OF HEART, WITH PAUL’S MANY TEARS.”

THERE HAD BEEN SOME PAINFUL INTERACTIONS BETWEEN PAUL AND THE CHURCH AT CORINTH THAT LEFT

LINGERING FEELINGS AND A MEASURE OF SEPARATION BETWEEN THEM...

CORINTH, THIS MAJOR CITY-STATE OF ANCIENT GREECE WAS THE PLACE WHERE PAUL PENNED NOT JUST LETTERS

TO THE CORINTHIANS BUT HIS GREATEST LETTER WAS PENNED THERE, HIS LETTER TO THE ROMANS......THIS PORT

CITY WAS A PLACE OF GREAT COMMERCE.....Here Paul resided for eighteen months (18:1–18). Here he first became

acquainted with Aquila and Priscilla......IF THERE WAS ANY CITY-STATE THAT HAD AN INFLUENCE ON PAUL’S

THINKING CORINTH SURELY WAS CHIEF AMONG THEM....

HOW GOD THINKS TENDER-HEARTEDLY ABOUT YOU

AS WE WRESTLE WITH OUR THOUGHTS AND THINKING DAY TO DAY WE WOULD BENEFIT BY REMINDING OURSELVES

OF THE MANY SCRIPTURES DEVOTED TO LETTING US KNOW HOW GOD THINKS ABOUT US.....

THE PSALMIST POETICALLY PENS A PIECE ABOUT TREASURING GOD’S THOUGHTS IN PSALM 139: 16-17

Psalm 139:16–17 (ESV)

Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

in your book were written, every one of them,

the days that were formed for me,

when as yet there was none of them.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

AGAIN, WHEN WE CONSIDER THE RICH FLOWING CONTOURS OF APPRECIATION AND AMAZEMENT IN THE TEXT OF PSALM 40:5

Psalm 40:5 (ESV)

You have multiplied, O Lord my God,

your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;

none can compare with you!

I will proclaim and tell of them,

yet they are more than can be told.

WHEN YOU PROCLAIM THE WONDROUS DEEDS OF GOD YOU ARE NOT ONLY WALKING IN GODLY OBEDIENCE YOU

ARE EVANGELIZING TO GOD’S PEOPLE WITHOUT EVER BEATING THEM OVER THE HEAD WITH RELIGIOSITY OR

JUDGMENT......YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT THE GOODNESS OF GOD IN THE LAND OF THE LIVING.....AMEN?

AND THE UTTER COMFORT JESUS SPOKE OF HIMSELF, IN THE GOSPELS ASSURES US OF GOD’S CARING CONCERN

FOR US THOUGH WE MAY FEEL LIKE WE’RE JUST STRUGGLING ALONG SOMETIMES.....ST. MATTHEW RECORDED

JESUS SAYING IN MATTHEW 10:29-30

Matthew 10:29–30 (ESV)

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But

even the hairs of your head are all numbered.

GOD KNOWS YOU BETTER THAN YOU KNOW YOURSELF AND YOU GOT UP THIS MORNING UNDER THE COVER OF

GOD’S AWESOME LOVE..........THAT LOVE IS THE SAME LOVE THAT REDEEMS YOU, THAT HAS SET ASIDE A PLACE IN

ETERNITY FOR YOU.....IT’S LOVE THAT’S UNENDING.....LOVE FOR WHICH GOD’S MERCIES ARE NEW EVERY MORNING

GOD KNOWS THE NUMBER OF HAIR ON YOUR HEAD....BUT THAT LOVE IS AVAILABLE EVEN WHEN YOU’RE

STRUGGLING WITH YOUR THOUGHTS....DAY TO DAY

ONE CHRISTIAN, STRUGGLING MIGHTILY WITH HER THOUGHTS WROTE THIS:

OUR THOUGHTS ARE OFTEN NEGATIVE, IRRATIONAL, FILLED WITH ANXIETIES, AND NARROW MINDED.

RESTLESS,

DOUBTFUL THOUGHTS FILL MY HEART AND I ALLOW THE DEVIL TO WHISPER MORE LIES. GOD’S THOUGHT’S

FOR

ME AND FOR YOU ARE PURE, FILLED WITH PEACE AND ENLARGED. JESUS WANTS TO WHISPER

UNCHANGEABLE TRUTHS THAT I AM FOREVER HIS IN MY SOUL. IN THE MIDDLE OF OUR BROKEN HEART,

JESUS STANDS IN THE FURNACE WITH US.

SO WHAT IS YOUR FURNACE TODAY, BELOVED? WHERE IS THE PLACE YOU WILL “SEIZE YOUR THOUGHTS SO THAT

JESUS CAN HOLD THEM CAPTIVE?” AS OUR TEXT SAYS THIS MORNING.........INVITE JESUS INTO YOUR FURNACE AND

THERE HE WILL ENGAGE YOU WITH THE RIGHT MIX OF TOUGHNESS AND TENDERNESS YOU NEED TO FACE YOUR

TODAYS AND YOUR TOMORROWS.....

CONCLUSION

DR. M. SCOTT PECK, WHO STUDIES THE MIND AS HIS LIFE’S WORK DOES NOT WANT US TO FOCUS ON THOUGHTS

AND THOUGHTS ALONE.....HE SAYS, “WE ALL ARE MIRED IN UNCONSCIOUSNESS....GIVEN THE REALITY THAT WHILE

SOME PEOPLE THINK IN DEPTH, MANY THINK VERY LITTLE AND SOME SIMPLY FAIL TO THINK AT ALL....” FOR HIM, IT

IS CONSCIOUSNESS WE’RE STRIVING FOR, CONSCIOUSNESS OR SELF-AWARENESS…HE REMINDS US THE

CONSCIOUS MIND MAKES DECISIONS AND TRANSLATES THEM INTO ACTION....WHILE OUR UNCONSCIOUS MIND

RESIDES BELOW THE SURFACE.....

HE WENT ON TO SHARE A MARVELOUS PIECE OF MARILYN VON WALDNER’S BEAUTIFUL VERSE FROM HER WISDOM

SONG CALLED “WISDOM IS A SPIRIT”, FROM THE BOOK HE

CO-AUTHORED WITH HER: GIFTS FOR THE JOURNEY.....IT’S REFRAIN SAYS:

AND I SAY ASK AND YOU WILL RECEIVE. SEEK AND YOU WILL FIND. KNOCK AND IT WILL BE OPENED TO YOU.

AND I

SAY: THE LORD WILL GIVE YOU HIS MIND, THE LORD WILL SHOW YOU THE WAY, THE LORD WILL MAKE YOU

THE LIGHT.

ARE YOU READY BELOVEDS, TO RECEIVE MORE OF THAT LIGHT FROM PLACES AND TIMES WE FEEL AND KNOW

WE’RE MOST CONSCIOUS?....MOST AWARE OF OUR THOUGHTS WHETHER TOUGH AND TENACIOUS OR TENDER-

HEARTED......IF SO, HERE IN ONE PLACE ARE 4 SCRIPTURES TO REFLECT ON AND RETURN TO, TO WRITE ON YOUR

HEARTS AND INSPIRE YOUR MINDS AND THOUGHTS.......I CLOSE WITH THEM TODAY:

PRESS ON BELOVEDS FROM PHILIPPIANS 3:13-14

Philippians 3:13–14 NRSV

Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

2. RELY ON YOUR SOUND MIND FROM 2 TIMOTHY 1:7

2 Timothy 1:7 KJV (WS)

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

3. BE ENCOURAGED EACH TIME YOU RE-PLAY THIS ONE 1 CORINTHIANS 2:9

1 Corinthians 2:9 NET

But just as it is written, “Things that no eye has seen, or ear heard, or mind imagined, are the things God has prepared for those who love him.”

4. YOU ARE AND REMAIN MORE THAN A CONQUERER IN CHRIST JESUS FROM ROMANS 8:36-37

Romans 8:36–37 (KJV (WS))

As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all