Heart Tracks - The Skull

"They came to a place called Golgotha (which means 'the place of the skull). Matthew 27:33

Many have said that the great battlefield every believer faces is that found in the mind. The battle is between whether we receive His Truth or the enemy's lies. One or the other reigns in our minds. Which one reigns in yours?

Jesus said that from the beginning, Satan was a liar, that he is the father of lies. In his first encounter with our human ancestors, he weaved lies in with half-truths. He has been doing so down through the ages. He does so today. Those who have been ensnared by those lies are also captive to them. Many have been set free in their hearts, but remain in bondage in their minds. Some fully, others partially, but really, all of us on some point or matter. The enemy's lie is always rooted in the character of the God we say we trust in. He has seemingly endless angles from which to attack us in this. They can range from the trustworthiness of His promises, to His ability to bring them to pass, to His desire to really want to help us. We are born into this world as a fallen race. Christ the Redeemer was sent by His Father to break the curse of sin and its power, and to dispel all the lies we have believed to be true. He did this at the cross, and the key to understanding this can be found at that cross.

Jesus was crucified at Golgotha, "the place of the skull." At the top of that skull shaped hill, with His cross driven squarely into it. Think on that picture for a moment. The skull encases the brain. It is in the brain where our perception of what is true and what is a lie is found. The cross of Christ literally penetrated that skull like hill. His cross, and all that it signifies also penetrates our own "skulls" and the brain within if we will but receive the fullness of that work. In His crucifixion and resurrection Christ brought the promise of freedom and victory. Truth triumphs over every lie, even the deepest and most destructive that we have believed. The work of the cross not only captures our hearts, but our brains as well....if we'll but receive it.

It is recorded that at the cross, a soldier pierced his side with a spear, and that water and blood flowed from the wound. Someone said of this that "the water of His Word washes our mind and His blood breaks all the power of sin over our minds." For so many, His blood has covered their sin, but they have never allowed the water of His Word to wash and cleanse their minds. Someone said that we cannot take a destructive (lying) thought out of our mind. It can only be replaced by a more powerful (truthful) one. This happens when we allow our minds to be washed, cleansed, of all the lies we have received and believed. Scripture says that He speaks words of "Spirit and life." At the cross, the Truth, His Truth, penetrated the domain of the Father of lies. In His resurrection, the pathway into the fullness of His Truth was laid open to us. Isn't it time for each of us to enter into that fullness, to exchange every lie we have believed for the Truth that He has spoken? 2000 years ago, at the place of the skull, Truth broke all the power of the lie. Have you entered into that Truth in all it's fullness? Where are the lies still lurking, sending out their poison? The power of the lie, all of it was broken at the cross. His Truth now reigns. Receive it that it may now reign in you.

Blessings,
Pastor O