DNA Systems

God’s ways are not our ways. His thoughts are higher than ours. It is different. He does not think the way we do.

And we haven’t always thought the same. Our thoughts and beliefs are conditioned, made and established through generations. 50 years ago people held different beliefs. 200 years ago people thought very, very differently to how and what we think now. But God doesn’t change. What and how He thinks is still exactly the same. We can’t even fathom the concept of never changing – everything we know constantly changes, it’s one of the things we have sayings for: “change is the only constant”, “nothing is certain but death and taxes”, etc.

Our thoughts are influenced and predestined by the generations before us. We have ingrained belief systems we adhere to, whether you believe it or not. There are opinions you have that are not 100% your own, but carried over by the people before you.

Best example: racism. My forefathers were racists, and extremely so. I am not. But I have to make that choice every time I go to town, every time I deal with a person of color. And not because I am an “undercover racist”, because the thought process & opinion about people of color is ingrained into my DNA. So my first reaction when I deal with a person of color, comes from the DNA. And I have to fight that every time. It’s a choice I make, and my hope is that I will break down this preconceived idea about people of color in the thought-DNA of my kids, and their kids.

Because the world thinks Jesus was a white man. He wasn’t. He was middle-eastern. Which means by today’s standards, He probably would have been seen as a radical, as a jihadist, based on His looks. This fact changed everything for me.

We live in a world where things run a certain way and you are expected to live your life in a certain way. You have to do certain things. Get a job, get married, have kids. Die bored and old in an old age home. Recently a lot of these preconceived notions have changed. Retirees start new jobs and new careers and live full lives for the last 20-30 years of their lives. Young people decide not to get married and have kids. Not even to have formal jobs but do “piece-jobs”, to work on spec and that on their timeline.

But the biggest system the world uses, is used by everyone: money. The idea is that you need money to live.

And you don’t.

Not in God’s plan.

God doesn’t deal in money. When the crowds were hungry, He didn’t ask who has money to go buy food and then made the money enough. He took the food there was and multiplied that. I have lived His provision. We had enough. Don’t know how. But we did.

We think work is a specific thing you do to make money, that thing you do that gives your life purpose and meaning. Sitting in a cubicle from 9-5 is work. Making dinner is also work, but not the kind you want to do. And raising kids is also work, except that it is seen more as self-inflicted punishment. (Also a very horrible concept the world thinks is funny – having kids is a blessing by God, making it a loathsome waste of your time is throwing it back in His face. Some jokes are not funny. Some things should not be joked about. Period.)

What if… we choose to break these destructive thought processes and re-classify what “work” is?

I have 5 kids. Raising them is my biggest “work”. Sometimes that means sitting down with them to watch a movie, playing with them, talking with them – discussing dinosaurs and why balloons are awesome (true story).

And then the DNA thoughts overwhelm me: But that’s not WORK!! I’m wasting time, I’m not doing anything that will bring in money at the end of the month. I am being lazy… O, and the torment continues. And I get up, tell my kids to go play, and I come and sit in front of this computer conjuring up something that resembles what the world sees as “work”.

Let’s not discuss the guilt that follows for NOT playing with my kids.

If what God sees is the most important, and my job in His eyes is raising my kids, then when was I actually “working”? Yes, when I was with my kids, doing my JOB as a parent. But the world system tells me I am not working, I am not doing anything worthwhile and I will die under a bridge in poverty.

Yes, talking to my kids about dinosaurs will not generate any income in any manner. But I am not here to generate an income. I am here to do God’s will, to do what He wants me to do, and He will take care of me and my family. How? I don’t know. And I don’t need to know. I need to TRUST and BELIEVE that He will.

7 years I have lived His provision – I still do! And I still battle with believing in God’s provision. It’s a battle He is winning, but it’s still a battle. Our ingrained DNA about what you’re supposed to be doing, is so very strong. But I sacrifice that and give it to God to help with regularly. He breaks down the old DNA and replaces it with new DNA. He can change your thought processes, your belief system, He can break down walls, He can make a way where there seems to be no way.

But you need to let go of the old way of thinking and give your life to Him to manage. I’m not talking about getting saved. Getting saved is one thing. Living a life lead by God, is quite another. You can be saved and still be trapped by the world’s systems. You need to break free from these systems, so God can live through you.

Laying down the old man is a continuous process. It doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a series of daily, constant choices. Our battle is making that choice: choosing God’s way over man’s. What comes next, how that will manifest, is not our problem. God will deal with that.

Let Him.

The secret place

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. – Ps 91:1

I have loved and cherished this verse from a very young age. I can’t even really tell you why, because I was too young to understand. All I know is that this verse held a very special place in my heart. As I grew older, I understood more of what this verse means and every time I read it, it’s like a weight that falls into my heart…

Because although this verse carries an amazing promise – that the Almighty God, the creator of the heavens and the earth, will protect you, it comes with a condition: if you dwell in His secret place.

There’s a lot of promises in the Bible, and someone somewhere just began proclaiming these promises and claiming these promises and there’s a whole movement of claimers out there. But a lot of these promises have conditions, and those conditions are not being proclaimed. You can claim the shadow of the Almighty all you want, if you are not dwelling in the secret place of the most High, you are not under His shadow…

And that’s the weight I feel. Am I dwelling in His secret place?

This verse always conjures up an image of an eagle’s nest high up on mountain ledge, with this massive eagle covering me in the nest with his giant wings and magnificent feathers. Probably because verse 4 describes being covered by His feathers. It doesn’t say eagle, just feathers and wings, but I always see this enormous, glorious, king of birds – the eagle. Apart from being an awesome bird, with some really amazing features and traits, what is also interesting for me, is that the picture in my mind is of being secluded.

You can read up on eagles, or find a sermon somewhere about them – there are a lot on the net comparing God and eagles. But this verse isn’t about the Eagle, it is about WHERE you should be. And eagles, especially these very big ones, live far away from civilization and usually very high up. Secluded, withdrawn, they come out to hunt, not to socialize or to be seen. There’s a lot of verses in the bible that talks about being set apart, about coming out, about separation from the world.

Where are you? Where do you really want to be? Where am I?

Am I separated from the world, set apart for Him? Am I dwelling in His secret place? Secret means no-one else knows. What is His secret place? And if I don’t even know what or where this secret place is, am I dwelling in His shadow, covered by His wings?

Don’t cheapen God’s promises by only proclaiming and claiming the GETTING part of it. Search your heart and your soul and your life – are you living a life that qualifies you for those promises? When people look at you, at your life, how you act, can they see you’re different? Can they see God in you, through you?

To dwell means to stay in a particular place – physical, like where you live, or more abstract: having your thoughts dwell on something… Where are you dwelling? What are you dwelling on?