What the Bible is asking here is, "Lord, who can walk in your presence? Who will become as fruitful as youíve designed us to be?" The Lord answers with two things that are invisible and one thing that is visible, those who: walk with integrity, works righteousness, and speaks truth in his heart. What He is talking about is building an everyday faith when no one is looking, something that may not be visible to the naked eye.

About 9-10 years ago, we began construction for New Hope Hilo on a 20-acre piece of land. All together it was a $4 million project. We put in $1.5 million for the groundwork because we were building from scratch. So they dug the ground up, building huge drainage ditches, pulling waterlines, and underground electrical systems. Then, they covered it over.

I remember standing there looking at the property, noticing that it didnít look like anything had changed. The contractor stood next to me, and I said, "This is the most depressing day of my life."

He asked, "Why?"

I said, "Well, we just spent a million and a half dollars and I donít see any change at all. It looks the same."

Then he said something really interesting, "Maybe it doesnít seem like thereís much difference, but thereís one huge change. Even though you donít see a change on the outside, it is different because you can build on it now, whereas you could not before. The land is now prepared."

Sometimes the most important things are not readily visible to the eye, but without them, God canít build anything in your life. We want to discuss a faith that is built when no one is looking. Who you are when no one is watching. That is what God looks for, our dipstick if you will, where He checks our lives to see if weíre ready to have His promises built upon us. It is the groundwork that nobody sees.

If there is going to be stability in our faith, we need to lay a firm foundation that people cannot see. So how can we build this stable faith? We are not talking about slick appearance, but faith that is solid to the core. Over the years, Iíve watched people who have gone through storms and Iíve seen people survive, thrive, and become successful while others do not. In each of these cases, I have found this common denominator. The stability that they have in their lives is built in private times.

Many of us have a great Sunday faith, but it is not strong enough to withstand the storms, defy crosscurrents, and resist temptations. A faith, that instead of grumbling, is able to receive creative solutions to problems, and is not easily derailed. Through the Scriptures, we will examine three principles, that I have seen work over and over again. The first one is:

You have to be, in a good way, a stubborn man of God. You have to set your mind to follow Godís ways, even amidst the devilís obstacles.

Airline pilots do this on every flight. They set their course. If they are going to go from LA to Seattle, they file a flight plan. Once they set their course, they know they will only go to Seattle. However, if you donít have a course, you will land in any city that looks enticing. But, if you set your mind and your flight plan, then you are not tempted to land in Sacramento, Eureka, Medford, or Portland.

In life, if you donít know where you are going, any road will be tempting. But, once you commit to focusing on God, our lives get much simpler because we know what to say ënoí to, and what to say ëyesí to. Set your mind to serve God, and say, "Iíve just got one life to live, one chance to be a man or woman of God, and Iím going to start today. Iím going to set my mind, because this is my chance!" There is no reincarnation. Sorry to disappoint some of you, but the Scripture says, "It is appointed for man to die once, then cometh the judgment." (Heb. 9:27)

When you fix your heart on the Lord, a process of purification takes place because you prune away all of the things that are not Godly. Do you know why some people have a weak faith? It is because they have not yet decided what is truly important. Hereís what you can do. Ask God what the most important things in your life should be, write them down, and set your mind to fulfill them. If you donít, youíll be distracted, and you will not be able to deny those distractions.

Now, all of us will sometimes get distracted, so what do we do in these moments?

When you mess up, what do you do? Do you beat yourself up? No! Renew your mind.

In other words, you will not know what God wants you to do unless you change the way you think.

Your mind is not a demilitarized zone where anything goes. You have to watch what is going on inside. First, you need to set your mind, but when it drifts off, keep making course corrections because your mind is a tool. It will either be dulled or honed for Godís use. Like a muscle, you have to use it and make sure that works right. It must be sharpened constantly in order to be effective.

Furthermore, we are not talking about your brain as much as we are talking about your mind. It is not enough to just have a brain, but we have to use it and develop it wisely. How well you use it, determines the quality of your mind.

Well, you might be thinking that youíre using your brain well, but you are struggling with wrong thoughts. That is why the Scripture says:

Here is a critical exercise that I work on every single day. John Wesley, a famous preacher from yesteryear has said, "I cannot stop birds from flying over my head, but I can sure stop them from making a nest in my hair." Now that might sound like the dumbest quote in the world, but what heís saying is that there are going to be times when thoughts are going to come through your mind. But it doesnít mean that you have to let them take up residence, pay rent and get a room. Then they will breed, reproduce and take over your mind.

One of the things that we need to do when we sense that a thought is not in obedience with Christ, is reject the thought. Many times a day, I say to myself, "I reject that thought. Iím not thinking that way," and I move on. I donít sit there, curse it and get mad at it. If a wise man sees a weed, he doesnít sit and just curse the weed. He smiles a little bit because he knows that since itís been spotted, it will be removed. When you recognize a wrong thought, renew the spirit of your mind and reject that thought! Your mind is not a garbage can, it is a tool for the Lordís use!

If you have a thought in your mind and youíre dwelling on it for more than five minutes, thatís way too long. What you will do is build a habitual pattern of poor thinking until it becomes comfortable for you. Then you start to default to that way of thinking.

Do not allow yourself to dwell on the wrong thought patterns. If the devil can get you to dwell on the wrong thoughts, then he will win because Satan is a headhunter. Your mind is the battlefield, and your imaginations are his trophies. If he gets you to use your imagination for his purposes, through worry, self-destructive attitudes, and bitterness, he will destroy you from the inside out.

So how can we sharpen our minds?

Monitor your thoughts!

The way you think will be the precursor to what you will become. If you can change the way you think, to where it becomes pleasing to the Lord, then your life will become pleasing to the Lord. Your core values are the eyeglasses through which you perceive life. That is where faith builds when no one is looking.

In counseling, I notice that it is often the way people think that defeats them more than the actual problem. Regardless of the problem, whether it is marital, financial, or work related, if people change their perspective, they are able to overcome their situation. If I canít get them to change that, then the problem is insurmountable. Often it is our own thinking that is much worse than our problems.

Someone said it this way, "Sow a thought, reap an action. Sow an action, reap a habit. Sow a habit, reap a reputation. Sow a reputation, and reap a destiny." Your mind is a powerful gift to be used for His purposes. It can be creative or destructive based on what you feed it. If you feed it wrong questions, it will give off a destructive energy of worry.

If however, you ask yourself the right questions, it will bring the best out of you. For example, ask yourself, "What do I need to do now to make this better? How can I prepare my heart to hear the answers from the Holy Spirit to resolve this problem?" The very questions you feed your mind will cause it to be creative or destructive. Renew the spirit of your mind. Remember that you are not run by your mind, but by the spirit of God that lives inside of you. Feed your mind good things, and reap good treasure.

You choose what you will store in your mind, good or evil. So how can you get help to build groundwork for an everyday faith?

• DEVELOP WISE FRIENDSHIPS!

One of the best ways to expand our lives is to model the lives of those who are fruitful and being used by the Lord. If you want a good marriage, find those who have good marriages and hang around with them. If you want a good walk with the Lord, hang out with those who have a good walk with the Lord.

God is asking us to evaluate our friendships because they will affect the way we think. Now, a word of caution, he is not talking about family members and spouses!

• DAILY DEVOTIONS!

Iíve always wanted to make friends with David and the prophets of old. I wanted to get to know how they thought and how they dealt with problems. The Lord answered me by saying, "Read my word. Their lives are there for you to become friends with them."

As you read the Bible, Godís word starts to fill your heart, and thereís nothing greater than filling your heart with Godís word because it will give you wisdom in how to live in fullness.

• SPEAK TRUTH IN YOUR HEART!

What kind of thoughts do you allow to lodge within you? Donít let junk into your heart. Monitor the way you think! One of the best prayers that Iíve ever prayed is this, "Lord, may my thoughts please you today." Then I started to watch my thoughts to ensure that they pleased the Lord. It was tough at first, but it was the best thing that I ever did, because it helped me to get my mind clean.

For the next week, go on a mental diet. Watch what you are feeding your mind. Take conscious control and take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. Control your mind so that you can use it for the Lord. Commit not to dwell or indulge in anything that is wrong in the eyes of the Lord for seven days. The goal here is not to ignore problems, but to lay an inner groundwork and come up with solutions.

As a personal rule, I never spend more than 20% of my time on the problem. I spend 20% of my time on the problem, and 80% of my time on figuring out the solution. That is how I use my mind just enough to recognize the problem, and get to work on a solution. If you do not do this, you will become self-destructive and fall back into worry.

Commit yourself to take every thought captive. Lay the groundwork and create a foundation for Christ to build an everlasting work in your life!