By Jim Golden

"…That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does." James 1:7-8

For several years Jesus has been speaking to me about the double-minded man of Scripture. What this article hopes to address is the three specific manifestations of what is meant by a double-minded man. And secondly what is actually meant by double-minded. The first area of double-mindedness we will look at is in the area of the individual.

Scripture declares that we, as Christians have the mind of Christ. In my last issue the Editor's note addressed a subject called Our Daily Cross. Jesus said that the requirements to follow him was to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him. To deny self is to reckon yourself dead, as the Scripture puts it-crucified with Christ. The cross that we bare daily isn't a cross of morbid self-vilification, but of glorious proclamation. Each day, we must proclaim to ourselves, and anyone else that is listening, the incredible work that was accomplished on our behalf by Jesus Christ alone. The Word tells us that Jesus was making a spectacle of the powers and principalities that had previously enslaved us, triumphing over them in his cross.

Speaking recently to a dear friend of mine about the power of the Gospel to produce an ongoing salvation and maturity in God's children, I quoted something I heard a great man of God once say. Ern Baxter, one of the better preachers to come out of this century, quoting the Scripture, once said, "that he wasn't ashamed of the Gospel because it was the power of God for salvation. And if it is the power, there is no theer power-it's The Power!" I never forgot that, and as God began to speak to me about my double-mindedness he brought back this statement to me.

The Gospel claims that God takes the old heart out of you and puts a new spirit in you on which God writes his laws. This new spirit is utterly in love with its creator , Savior and Father. Like Jesus, it lives and longs to do God's will. God said to me, "Stop being double-minded about this forever." Next he said stop being double-minded about the old man and his lust-he is truly dead and buried with Christ. Those thoughts that seem so familiar are not your own but the thoughts of a familiar spirit. You are in Christ and you are a truly new species! All the Christian-psycho babble going around today simply serves to try and resurrect the old man, yet in reality it is doing nothing more that adding credence to the lie of the demon.

R.W. Schambach once said, upon being questioned as to whether a Christian could have a demon or a demon have a Christian responded simply, "I don't know, but by the time that demon walked through the Holy Ghost and waded through the blood of Jesus he would have to shake my hand and call me brother!" This somewhat comedic response cries out with the deep truth of the work of Christ at Calvary. Granted there are many who sit in the pews of our churches who need deliverance, but from the lies of demons and not the demon. The blood of Jesus' sacrifice at Calvary will never lose its power. Jesus said if you continue in my word then are you my disciples and you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. There is no place recorded in Scripture where a follower of Christ, after his death and resurrection, was ever delivered of a demon. I believe it is an automatic work of the cross. Our battle is for the mind. When we confess the glorious work of the cross over our lives daily, and resist and reject the deceitful lies and lusts of enemy he must flee from us. It's only as we believe the old man may still be alive and accept Satan's thoughts and desires as our own that we make them part of us and give him place. When we do this Jesus must come and wash our feet. Gird up the loins of your mind with the truth of Calvary and stop being double-minded.

Secondly, I would like to briefly speak about the double-mindedness that exists in our local churches. Satan's favorite tactic is to undermine trust and love in the local church. He uses pride and selfish ambition as two of his favorite weapons to accomplish this work, and wields the sword of accusational language like a skilled warrior dividing a house against itself. It is extremely important that once the leaders of a church have equipped the saints for the work of ministry, (by ridding them of their individual double-mindedness), that they create an atmosphere where the goals and objectives of their local church are single-minded and clear.

At this point I would like to make a few simple suggestions to assist you in determining these goals and objectives. Look at Jesus Christ and find out what the Scripture declares he came to do. Jesus said unless you abide in me you can do nothing. The devil will try to get a local assembly of God's people running in a thousand different directions but Jesus had a single minded purpose. He came to seek and save those that were lost and did that by destroying the works of the devil in the lives of everyone he came into contact with. He hasn't changed, we have! If the local church is running helter-skelter it certainly doesn't have a single mind. Is it any wonder that we see little or no new births in our churches? It is time the local churches in our region set the captive, Jesus, free in each of the saints. Jesus knows exactly how to triumph over the enemy.

Lastly I would like to speak about the double-mindedness that exists in the churches of our region. There are so many old scars and battle wounds that we look more like the walking dead to the enemy than the glorious conquering army of the Most High. Satan knows that as long as he can keep the pastors of this area ingrown and consumed with their own kingdoms he doesn't have to worry about God's kingdom overtaking his stronghold. Isn't it time we set aside past sin and wounds and allow the healing balm of Gilead to flow? We should be taking the sword of God's Spirit and swinging at the real enemies of God instead of each other. The Angels will separate the wheat from the tares, but there must first be a harvest!

Until the pastors of this region accept their high calling in God to unite the clans of Christ, and lay aside their mistrust and accusational thoughts and language we will never experience the move of God's Spirit He has destined for our region.

Pastors, you must make it a priority to seek each other out and ask God to establish you in the bonds of his love. Together you must remove double-mindedness from God's nation in this region, because a double-minded man (nation) is unstable in all his (its) ways and shouldn't expect to receive anything from the Lord.

In closing I would like to share a waking vision I had almost twenty years ago sitting in a pick-up truck in front of a row house in Washington, D.C. we were renovating. I was having lunch with a friend when suddenly God showed me an outpouring of his Spirit in our region that was so powerful, history had never before seen the likes of it. The media was covering every event. Thousands and thousands of people were coming to the Lord daily and extra-ordinary miracles were commonplace. The Spirit moved through almost every believer. I saw amputees actually growing new limbs from their bodies as the media stood by watching in utter amazement. The main story on every major news station wasn't about a rape or murder that had taken place but about the incredible presence of God that was filling the whole city of Washington, D.C. and the surrounding counties.

I can't speak for you, but I am certainly a candidate for a move of God's presence over our region like the one I saw in the vision. It is the kind of a vision that is worth giving your life for. It is the kind of vision that is worth binding up old wounds and destroying accusational thoughts and language for. It is the kind of vision reserved, not for a double-minded people but, for a single minded people, filled to over flowing with the love of God. It is the kind of a vision that can come upon us as suddenly as it came upon the little like-minded band, gathered together so long ago, in an upper room in Jerusalem.

 

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