Vol. 04, No. 09

Mt. Baker Beacon - 2025

Steven J. Wallace
03/09/25 - Mt. Baker Beacon - 2025

THE DEPTH OF THOUGHT

Steven J. Wallace

THOUGHT – An invisible force of the mind that shapes our views, our words, our actions, and even our destinations. Every act of evil or kindness begins with a thought. Every destructive deed, every invention, and every masterpiece of art starts as a thought. Libraries are vast storehouses of recorded thoughts. The news delivers thoughts in the form of information. From the moment we wake up to the time we sleep, we are constantly thinking.

In all our thinking, let’s remember:

God’s thoughts are not ours. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)
God declares His thoughts to us. “For behold, He who forms mountains, and creates the wind, who declares to man what his thought is, and makes the morning darkness, who treads the high places of the earth—The LORD God of hosts is His name.” (Amos 6:13)
God’s thoughts toward us are many. “Many, O LORD my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done; and Your thoughts toward us cannot be recounted to You in order; if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.” (Psalm 40:5) David stood in awe, asking, “LORD, what is man, that You take knowledge of him? Or the son of man, that You are mindful of him?” (Psalm 144:3). The word mindful (Piel stem) expresses an intense and ongoing concern—God is not just aware of us; He continually thinks upon us with care and purpose.

With these thoughts in mind, ask yourself:

Since God’s thoughts are so much greater than mine, do I take an interest in them? Do I trust His wisdom over my own?
Since God declares His thoughts, am I listening? Do His thoughts shape my daily life?
Since God has countless thoughts toward me, do I value them enough to seek them out? Am I concerned about what His thoughts are toward me?

But how can we know the thoughts of God? Paul answers:

"For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual." (1 Corinthians 2:11-13)

If we truly desire to know God's thoughts, we must go to where He has revealed them—the Scriptures. The Bible is not just a book of history or moral instruction; it is the mind of God made known to man. "The entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever." (Psalm 119:160)

Are you searching His Word to know His thoughts?

Want more biblical insights? This article is part of Light for the Journey, a blog dedicated to sharing God’s truth for daily living. Read more at: www.mtbakercoc.com/resourcesarticles/light-for-the-journey.

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The INDWELLING and WITNESS of the SPIRIT

AM: Romans 8:1-9

PM: Romans 8:10-13

Paul speaks of the indwelling and the bearing witness of the Spirit in Romans 8:1-17.

What is the primary work of the Holy Spirit, and what method in fulfilling this work does He use? (John 16:8-15; 2 Peter 1:20-21)
How does the Holy Spirit dwell in Christians, and how does this shape our daily lives?
What does Jeremiah identify as being deceitful above all things? (Jeremiah 17:9)
Where is there “no condemnation,” and what does this necessarily require of us in our manner of life? (Romans 8:1)
What does it mean to be “carnally minded”? (Romans 8:6, 7)
Identify some contextual clues that help us understand the nature of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling in Romans 8.
Through what is a person conformed into the image of Christ? (Romans 8:28-29; 2 Corinthians 3:17ff)
What connection should be drawn from Ephesians 5:18-19 and Colossians 3:16?

Romans 8:10-13 – Paul transitions from discussing the Spirit’s indwelling to its transformative power. Though the body is mortal due to sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness (v. 10). Just as God raised Jesus, He will also give life to our mortal bodies through His Spirit (v. 11). This leads to a moral obligation—not to live by the flesh, which leads to death, but by the Spirit, putting to death sinful deeds and finding true life (vv. 12-13).

“And if Christ is in you…”

Does having Christ in you nullify the natural condition and sentence against the physical body?

A key point from Romans 8:10 is that the Spirit brings true life, not apart from righteousness but because of it.

If the Spirit is life because of righteousness, how should that shape our daily choices and priorities?
What must Christians learn to put to death? (Romans 8:13)
What did Paul say God would give to your mortal bodies, and when will He do this? (Romans 8:11; 1 Corinthians 15:22-26; 2 Corinthians 4:12ff)
How does this teaching in Romans 8:10-13 frame all the sufferings of the present time? (Rom. 8:17)

THOUGHT QUESTION: What does the Spirit of Christ look like in the life of Christ, and what effect should these things have on us?