Unseen, Seen, Unseen-Selah111-CMAW215

Phil 4:8 "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things"

During my self-help days, I often heard "You are what you think about all day long"

or as it says in proverbs 23:7 "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he"

What should we think about, or focus on, in this life?

Our highest priority should be the unseen holy, set apart things, namely God and the things of God. The word for holy spirit or set apart in Hebrew is Kadosh

Col 3:2 says "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth."

Joshua 1:8 says "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night"

Psalm 119:97 "Oh, how I love Your law!
It is my meditation all the day"

I used to think that when the Bible talked about meditating, or thinking, about His Word all day long, it didn’t literally mean all day, but now I’m not so sure. I’m finding the more I focus on God the more I’m truly living.

In the Torah it encourages us to think about His word throughout our day

In Deut 6:6-9 says "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."

Number 15:39-41says "And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them, and that you may not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined, 40 and that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God. 41 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord your God.”

Lesser in value than the set apart kadosh things that are unseen but still having great value are those things that are seen but also set apart. What we experience with our 5 senses. You could say our natural reality.

Traditions in Judaism include saying prayers the moment you wake, when you walk to the bathroom, etc

By doing so we are making our natural world set apart or kadosh, not totally of course, since we are in a fallen world.

Gnosticism was a set of beliefs focused on knowledge and considered things natural to be avoided.

I believe by coming to earth and taking on flesh, in addition to the important work of providing the necessary sinless sacrifice, Jesus also demonstrated the importance of us living in our natural reality.

Also God wanted the tabernacle and then the temple to be made by human hands, and for us to it holy, even though they were types of the temple in the unseen realm.

There a number of Songs with the theme “this is not my home” or "this world is not my home" which capture this idea. I've also heard of the hotel analogy.  Our life here is like staying in a hotel room but our true home will come after our death.

That hotel room still has a purpose for us and is to be used and appreciated.

If you want to go deeper on the concept of the unseen realm check out the book "The unseen realm" by Michael Heiser who died last last year. Also the Naked Truth podcast.

So what are lesser thoughts or things we should avoid focusing on?

Things of this world that do not honor God, that Satan has twisted and perverted. This can include things we might consider wholesome and good and G rated, but if focus on them too much, relying on them or making an idol of them, they become unholy and forbidden.

There is another category of things to avoid, in my opinion even worse than the things of this world.

Those are the unseen things that are not holy, set apart, that do not glorify God.

This of course includes overtly evil practices like witchcraft, divination, going to a palm reader, playing with a ouige board, but it also includes things that most believers dont' think are a big deal but are also wicked and to avoided strongly. I’m talking about using your imagination to take you to a place that does not glorify God. This can include pornography as well as imagining images and activities that do not glorify God.

Jesus raised the bar when it came to what is considered sin when he said that looking with lust and hating someone was the same as committing adultery and murdering someone.

God cares about what we do but He seems to really care about what we think about or more specifically what is in our heart.

1 Samuel 16:7 says "For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

If you have taken solace with your hands being clean but your mind being dirty, you are at risk of being hypocrites like the scribes and Pharisees who in Matt 23:27 Jesus said were "like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness."

The line can blur between the seen and unseen both with things that are holy and things that are unholy.

Just take this one verse as an example

So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.

1Pet.2.1ESV

In that one sentence is a mixture of unholy things that are tangible actions as well as our thoughts.

I used to freak out over this idea of controlling my thoughts, thinking I could not control them. I now know enough about God to know He would not ask me to do something I could not do, and in His love gives me the Holy Spirit to help me.

2 Cor 10:5 says "casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,"

1 Cor 10:13 says "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it"

John 14:16 Jesus says "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever"

Martin Luther said, “You cannot keep birds from flying over your head but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair.”

I think of my thoughts as I do all of the commandments, they are ways for me to show my love for my heavenly Father, not a bunch of don’t’s I have to avoid out of fear.

On the other side of obedience is a closer relationship with my Crestor and a life of joy and shalom.

So to summarize, two things to focus on are both holy, one is unseen and perfectly holy, the other is seen and a type or foreshadow of holiness, or you could say a little slice of heaven.

This is similar to the two commandments which is a summary of the law and prophets, to love God (unseen) and to love our neighbor as ourselves (seen). Note the second one has two parts to love our neighbor and ourselves.

The two things to avoid, or to put more strongly to rebuke, hate and reject, are the unholy things, both seen and unseen.

Another verse which captures this is Rom 12:2 "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

This is part of our human existence and Gods plan for us, at least as I’m beginning to understand and appreciate though will never fully comprehend since His ways are greater than my ways

if you're looking for an application for your work, remember that you spend so much of your waking hours at your job, if you're going to focus on holy things all the day, you have to do so at work.  Your work is a great example of where the unseen and seen come together in a beautiful way.