Fearless

The Lord challenged us to suffer persecutions and to confess him. He wants those who belong to him to be brave and fearless. He himself shows how weakness of the flesh is overcome by courage of the Spirit. This is the testimony of the apostles and in particular of the representative, administrating Spirit. A Christian is fearless.
--Tertullian

The Mind

Our wills control our minds. At times, thoughts pop into our heads seemingly from out of nowhere and from outside of our control. Yet what we mentally dwell on requires personal volitional consent. In other words, we have the ability to focus our minds on what we will.  So, where do our thoughts come from? Sometimes they are developed purposely at the direction of our will and sometimes they originate without invitation placed by our fleshly state or God himself or even Satan. We therefore do not have power to prevent thoughts from initiating within our minds, but we do have the power (with the help of the Spirit} to control whether those thoughts persist. God tells us to "take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5) and to "set our minds on things above, not on earthly things" (Colossians 3:2). John Owen (The Glory of Christ) says that we become transformed into what we think about and so, when we think continually about the things of the world, we become transformed into the image of the world "becoming earthly, carnal and vain"  (Pg. 77, 2008 edition). Contrast this with the idea of beholding the glory of the Lord and "being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another" (2 Corinthian 3:18). It appears we are transformed into the image of that upon which we meditate. Thoughts can be divided into three major categories: first, thoughts about God and his glory and his kingdom; second, thoughts that are worldly but not overtly sinful, such as regarding plans for the next day of work; and third, sinful thoughts, such as lustful contemplations, covetous ideas etc. The first category is obviously good and beneficial, and the last is obviously wrong.  The second category however is the most convicting to think about for me. The reason is that the majority of my time is spent in thinking about the things of this world that are not necessarily sinful, but that are not prosperous from a spiritual standpoint. Some examples of this would be surfing the internet news for an hour or watching American Idol.  These mental activities can draw us toward a worldly state and away from God insidiously, without us even recognizing it. We must remember the scripture says "to throw off all that hinders AND the sin that so easily entangles..." (Hebrews 12:1 NIV).  All that hinders is anything that draws us to the world and away from God.  So let us practice the presence of God, thinking about him, speaking with him all the day long. Let our idle time be set on him mentally to his glory.

Knowledge Without Obedience

[W]e can often forget that a knowledge of Scripture alone is not sufficient. Of course, James won’t let us forget that we must “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22). This verse tells us that apart from obedience, knowledge can be deceptive. This puts an interesting twist on some of the favorite activities of good evangelical pastors: attending ministerial conferences, listening to sermons, and reading doctrinally sound books. All such activities afford us the opportunity for serious progress in personal godliness and ministry effectiveness. Yet each one can also be an instrument of progressive self-deception. 

. . . please understand: according to James, if you consume truth without applying truth, you risk the false and dangerous impression that spiritual growth was achieved without application. But it never is—never. We must be ever wary of the self-deception of which James speaks. Let’s recognize limitations of sound doctrine, and make the practice of truth a daily priority. Never stop watching your life.

—C. J. Mahaney, Preaching the Cross (Crossway, 2007), 120–121.

Two things strike me when considering the above. First, the importance of self examination in relationship to one's walk and second, the importance of community in living out an obedient life. We should regularly (daily?) examine ourselves to see if we are acting in disobedience to Almighty God. One method, which I have not done consistently as of yet, is to nightly review the day for disobedient acts or failures of omission with repentance and resolve to change. Community is necessary for accountability, love and spiritual fullness of growth. We cannot hold ourselves to the highest standard that God demands locked in our rooms reading books. The application of truth can only occur in a real sense in the arena of daily life surrounded by those God puts into our circle of influence.