God-Centered Part 1

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Jesus’s Goals

Intro Stop! If you are reading this, understand that we will be discussing how to live a godly life. My name is Prophet Brown, and today, we are getting into the deep details of Jesus’s goals and the mindset we should have toward discipleship, our community, and people outside it.

Discipleship and the Christian community are, in fact, a community. One that embodies what we should value as people, and their principles are all life-changing. "Why is that?" you would ask, and I would say because they have God on their side.

When you become a Christian, you must be God-centered. Being God-centered means you focus on God and His word. You apply His word to your life. Too many people say this is difficult because you have to obey what the Bible says, and many people like to pick and choose what they want to follow or do.

A Way of Thinking

Today I woke up thinking about God and fighting with my demons. God wants us to be God-centered. How do you become God-centered? How do you change how you think to how God wants you to? Well, today we are going on a field trip through the Bible to find out how God says that we are supposed to. Before we do, let's take a step back and think about these questions and allow God to instruct us. Bow your head and pray.

One of the first scriptures that come to mind is the one below. It explains that we aren't supposed to follow the ways of the world but God's way. That our life and doctrine should be one and not divided because both are important. Of course, we know that from reading 1 Timothy 4:16. By doing this, we start the process of being God-centered.

I realized that before becoming a disciple, my life and doctrine did not match at all. Haha, I would say that I really did not have any structure to my life or know exactly what I wanted. All I did was play video games and work, which yielded no fruit besides depression, anxiety, anger, and, well, heartbreak. Which brings us to,

Romans 12:2 "Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."

This scripture means that we need to expose our minds to the scriptures and through prayer. This means sorting out your thoughts mentally through what God has given us. Philippians 4:6-9 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

I don't believe that there is any other way to say this: when you take each situation that you're in and apply the Bible to it, things become clear, and praying slays whatever beast is trying to take hold of you. My beasts were these mental health battles I had to face, plus my ADD, short-term memory, my addiction to games, and impurity. Often at times, I still have to deal with these things and go to God for help.

Our 2nd point is “Focus on things above.”

In Colossians 3:2, the scripture says, “Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things.” How do you focus on things above? It’s simple: sit down and open up your Bible. Read through the Bible and learn all the promises, commands, and laws, and sing songs of praise whenever you take a break. Being a part of God's Kingdom will help you with this as well because you can talk with your brothers or sisters to help you grow in the areas you find difficult to understand. Now, there will be times when you will be "bored" and don't know what to do. Right now, that's just a way that the devil tries to get a hold of you. Kick him out of the picture. Fill your life with different things that will help you grow. Learn a craft or pick up a hobby that's going to help you better yourself. Therefore, help build your relationship with God.

Why do I say to do this? There are many scriptures that talk about keeping busy. Being busy isn't a bad thing unless it's keeping you from doing God's work. Now, this opens a new way for you to give more to God and to His kingdom. 1 Peter 4:10 and Colossians 3:23-25. Praying to God about what craft to get into is a good way to get guidance and getting advice from your discipler.

If a brother or sister doesn't know how to help you with scriptures or an issue that you're having, learn together. God loves each and every one of us. This is one fact that we have to keep in mind when trying to be God-centered. Like, have you ever been in love with a hopeless romantic? God is what you would call one, only He isn't helpless. No, no, He is helpful, and if you don't believe me, well, that's your issue to deal with. But I know I feel my brother's love. Focusing on His love is something that brings a smile to my face and causes me to dance around like a fool.

His love is why He died for us and why He still shows us grace and mercy. Love is something we all should focus on spreading because, through that, people are saved and led home to where Jesus is waiting for them. The two greatest commands are "Deuteronomy 6:5 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." Leviticus 19:18 "Love your neighbor as yourself." How do we know that these are the greatest commands? Because Jesus said so in Matthew 22:37-39.

This is why it's said in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 "And yet I will show you the most excellent way. If I speak in the tongues of men and angels but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 1 Corinthians 14:1 "Follow the way of love and eagerly desire the gifts of the Spirit."

I find that once you actually are doing your best to do this, your own evil desires seem to fade away, and you become more resistant to it. Jesus is the heart of my life, and through Him, I feel free, but without Him? I feel like this life is meaningless. What I realize is that it's all meaningless without God. Just like it says in Ecclesiastes. If you don't know about this book of the Bible, I encourage you to read it, and then you will understand a bit more. Remember, seek understanding through the word of God.

To be continued...