Have you had a problem with believing and trusting something in the Bible, or better
yet with obeying it, because it didn't make sense or it made you feel uncomfortable?
I'm not talking about obscure things.
I'm talking about clear things.
In everything give thanks, consider it all joy, love your neighbor and your enemies.
You have died and your life is hid with Christ in God.
Hi, I'm Suzy Marvin.
I spent decades feeling like I had to force my mind to believe something or choose to
do something because God is God and He says so.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding was
the first verse I memorized, but my own understanding didn't know how to cooperate.
I also avoided reading parts of the Bible because I didn't know what to do with them.
After many years of trying to please God or avoid His displeasure, I realized I was actually
resisting Him and the parts of the Bible I couldn't grasp.
I went to Him to receive what He has for me instead.
We entered into the process of Holy Spirit calling me near and guiding me into the truth
I need now in a way I can receive.
It's my unrestored mind and resulting emotions that resist Him and His word.
And He's in the business of restoring my mind.
I found I can say yes to Him with my restored mind.
For me, that means I can intentionally receive a truth in the core of my being with trust
instead of my own understanding and it doesn't feel dishonest or inauthentic.
He's opening my awareness, which restores more of my thinking, which changes my behavior.
Romans 10, 9 refers to us believing in our hearts.
I'm suspecting that our minds are not where we believe.
I would guess that most of us have thought we relate to God with our spirits primarily
in our minds and also our hearts.
I have learned that I can engage with His face-to-face presence in my center, my core,
where He empowers me to believe Him and say yes to Him and love Him wholeheartedly and
want what He wants.
And when I say Him, I mean them, the three, Father God, Lord Jesus, and Holy Spirit.
Over the years, I had experienced God's overwhelming presence on several occasions, but they were
like visits with fond memories.
I was sure that I couldn't actually live in that presence and function in the physical
world.
I am so grateful that isn't true.
The New Testament mentions our inner man.
It also says we have a midriff, that sounds like center or core to me.
The Greek word for the center place is phrein, it's spelled P-H-R-E-N, pronounced F-R-A-N-E.
That's our core, our center, our gut.
God has created all of us with a mind and a center place.
We're familiar with our minds and our thinking, and most people also know about gut feelings
and intuition, but I had not learned what God has to say in the Bible about our center
because the Greek words about our phrein are translated with mind-related words.
Exploring the verses referring to our phrein helps us recognize when God is talking about
it and not our thinking or understanding.
I am excited to share what I've discovered.
There are many ways people refer to this gut, center, core, inner place.
I'm going to use the Greek word phrein and leave it up to you which word you want to
use instead.
How would you describe your phrein?
What is Holy Spirit showing you about your phrein?
The Bible talks more about the exercise of the frame than the frame itself.
What words would you use to describe what happens in and through your frame?
I'd appreciate hearing what you have to say in the comments section below. Thanks for watching.