By Chris Griffiths, Jubilee Church Wirral

So there I was, sitting in my seat in a Sunday service a few weeks ago, listening to Dave preach in his usual flamboyant way, when mentally I hit the Emergency Stop button.

Dave had put a slide up with the words “Knowing the mind of God” on, and these few words had me stuck.

How could we, as simple human beings, even begin to know God’s thoughts – God, the creator of the universe, able to summon an infinity of stars into existence with just His will, there before time began and after time has ended, able to be everywhere and everywhen – compared to us, living in time, with physical needs, limited by our understanding. So I thought, and prayed, and here’s what God shared with me.

The first way we can begin to “know God’s mind” is through prayer, by building that relationship with Him through constantly opening our lives up to Him, in sharing our hopes and fears, longings and thanks, requests and blessings. And in that prayerful state, He will use the Holy Spirit to shape the way we think and feel, to prompt our prayers in ways we would not have considered, and in doing so to shape the way we think to be more like Him.

The second way is probably the easiest option for us but only comes about through the hardest of sacrifices a Father could make, and that is through studying Jesus’s life here on Earth, what He said, what He did, what He taught, how He lived. And we can get this from reading the Bible, from soaking up God’s words like a sunflower in the sun.

We can read from the accounts of people who actually walked alongside Jesus on a daily basis for several years, so as you read ask God to give you His insight into what you’re reading – after all He was there first time around!

A third way is through fellowship with other believers, we can get words of prophecy, of knowledge, of healing when we come together, and this is through God’s Spirit moving us to share God’s word for each other. It could be a picture or a verse that pops into your head, it could be that small voice that prompts you to do something for someone, it’s up to us to act on it, in faith and love. It’s all about us being open by giving God that “Access all Areas” pass to our lives, allowing Him to transform us.

So there we are – please be encouraged – the amazing truth is that we can begin to know God’s mind, and my prayer for us all today is that as a family of believers in Jubilee we will grow in His Spirit daily, for His glory, that we will love others as He has loved us, for His glory, and that He will bless us with His wisdom, to better share Him with all those in our lives, for His glory.

Bless you all.

Chris Griffiths, Jubilee Church Wirral