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Part 1: Looking at Life with the Eyes of the Eagle
Part 2: When I Think of The Eagle
By Pastor Katie L. Dargan

 

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Part 1 - Looking at Life with the Eye of the Eagle

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I can now understand why the scripture says that during our waiting on the Lord we will renew our strength like that of the Eagle.  This is because we too have to go through a process of spiritual renewal. Isaiah 40:31 says, "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." 

The Eagle is majestic and known to have the longest life span among birds.  It is said that It can live up to 70 years, but in order to do so, the eagle must make a decision in its forties to undergo a renewal process. When the eagle is in its 40’s its long and flexible talons can no longer grab its prey,  Its long and sharp beak becomes bent, its wings become old and heavy and due to age its feathers become thick and stuck to its chest, making it difficult for the great bird to fly.  At this particular and critical time in its life, the eagle is left with two options: he can die or go through a painful process of change which last 150 days.  The process requires that the eagle fly to a mountaintop and sits on its nest.  There, the eagle knocks its beak against a rock until it plucks it out.  After plucking it out, the eagle waits in its nest until a new beak grows and then it pluck out its talons.  When its’ new talons grow back, then it will start plucking its aged feathers, one at a time.  After five months the eagle takes its famous flight of rebirth back to the earth and lives for another thirty years before it dies.

Here is the message:  If, we are willing to undergo the painful process of change in our lives, just like the eagle, we too can soar without restrictions in our daily manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit. We will bubble in love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance and against this spiritual significance, there is no law.  We are free to do as much of these as we want. We can soar like the eagle, flying free and wild in the realm of the spirit!

Honestly, the eagle has always been fascinating to me ever since I came to Christ and read about it in the Bible.  But, more so, as, I have grown into my spiritual awareness of the Kingdom of God.  Luke 17:21 says, “Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! For behold, the kingdom of God is within you.  It is with the wings like unto an eagle’s that I have been able to mount upon and soar without restriction above the gravitational pull of the earth plane.  To me, the eagle represents the highest heights and deepest depths one can spiritually achieve. 

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Part 2 - When I Think of The Eagle

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When I think of the eagle, I think of spiritual growth and development.  2 Pet. 3:18 says “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

 

When I think of the eagle, I think of all who are growing spiritually and have come to know that “the sky is not the limit,” Instead, the sky is limitless and its operation in the realm of the spirit is of unlimited jurisdiction.  The "sky" is only "the limit" to those who strive to achieve only in the social, economic, academic and physical realms of life, for there are always higher heights and deeper depths to attain in Christ.  1 Cor. 2:9-10 states that “But as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

When I think of the eagle, I think of all those who have grown and those who are growing spiritually and can soar high above the earth realm in their attitudes and emotions and are not governed by the gravitational pull of the earth plane with it planetary influences.  Psalm 121:6 tells us that “The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.

 

When I think of the eagle.  I think of all who have pulled off and those who are still pulling off the old man and putting on the new; those who have suffered and those who are still suffering in the flesh, struggling to cease from sin. 

 

When I think of the eagle, I think of freedom and all who are growing spiritually, and are free to act and not react; those who don’t allow external circumstances to alter their inward disposition.  Eph. 4:14 states that, “we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.

When I think of the eagle, I think of the fact that there should be no restrictions on spreading the wing of the fruit of the spirit  Gal. 5:22-23 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”

 

When I think of the eagle, I think of a person with power and might who stands fast during personal storms and seasonal changes.   2 Tim. 1:7 states that, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” Since the eagle represents power and force, I believe that as we clear the way for a clear and clean conscience, it will generate spiritual energy and divine force in our lives.  Acts 24:16 clearly states that “And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void to offence toward God, and toward men.

 

Finally, in  order to gather with the eagles, we must be of the same mind with Jesus our Lord.    Amos 3:3  says, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed? When, we attain this standard of living, no matter what Christian development level we are, we are all bound by the same rules.  Phil. 3:16 says, “Neververtheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.”

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​A Medley of Thoughts

Pastor Katie L. Dargan

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​“You’re predisposed. You are a part of statistics. What happens to one happens to all. Your daddy and/or momma had it and you’re going to have it too.”  These are all statements that are commonly used and accepted as true.  I too was caught up in this kind of thinking until one day the Holy Spirit asked me a question; “Katie, why are you repeating or thinking these statements?  This is what the social norm thinks.  These are lies and are a part of Mass Mind Thinking.  This is what people have accepted, and the thought processes that are common among the masses. They accept these thoughts and ask no questions. They believe that what happens to one happens to all, and so they will readily say; “well, statistics say that everybody that has this, this is what happens to him or her.”  Guess what? That does not have to be true for you.  There may be 50 people in a crowd, but you have to see and think of yourself as one while the rest are 49. Trust me, what happens to the 49 doesn’t have to happen to you.  You are an individual, not a part of the masses.  You are separate and peculiar, so says the scripture 1Peter 2:9, and, it reads “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.”  You are not a part of the masses.  It doesn’t matter what happened to your momma or your daddy, none of those have to happen to you.  You are an individual and God has endowed you with the power to determine what happens to you and to change the course in your life whenever necessary.  This fact is so beautifully illustrated in 2 Timothy 1:7 which says, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”  I have learned through this passage that I am not powerless. In fact, I could alter and have altered the course of many things in my own life with God being my Helper.

As Christians, we cannot be a part of Mass Mind Thinking.  In Philippians 2:5, the Bible tells us the kind of mind we should have and how we should think. It says, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”  And so, our thinking should be as written in Philippians 4:8-9, that ”Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.  Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”

The mind is the thing that believers have to serve the Lord with.  People strive to protect their cars, houses, money, etc., but, their minds are left empty and unprotected.   I have come to the realization that a Christ like mind does not automatically happen.  It is a mind by choice.  That is why the scripture says “Let this mind be in you which is in Christ Jesus”.  We must allow or permit the mind of Christ to be in us.  You may ask, “How is this possible?” or “How can I do this?” The answer is simple: The way to do it is by deliberately choosing one’s thoughts.  Thoughts are things.  They are always seeking the proper mind soil in which to grow.  Have you ever been in a meeting or even during the Sunday school and some thoughts ran threw your mind?  But you dismissed them and said to yourself, “ I could not be saying that; those thoughts are just not good enough, etc., and so you didn’t say those thoughts, and later, someone else said the same things that came to you. You then said within yourself, “those are my thoughts!!! They gave my thoughts!!!”  No, they were not your thoughts; they just came to you, but unfortunately, you refused to accept them and speak them out.  Remember, thoughts are things; they travel until they find a mind that is receptive to them. That is why it is important to train one’s mind by choosing the right thoughts. 

This may be contrary to scientific belief, but I do know that there is a spirit in me and the inspiration of the Almighty gives me understanding that the human mind is fluid. It is either charged negatively or positively, and out of ignorance, our minds could become negatively charged.   However they are charged, whether positively or negatively is what will determine the kind of thoughts that are attracted to them.    If a person’s mind is charged negatively, it is that person’s responsibility to change the polarity of his or her mind from negative to positive.  It has been my experience that one can change the polarity of one’s mind by deliberately choosing one’s thoughts.

A person must watch one’s own self so as to be aware of the kinds of thoughts that come to one’s mind every minute of the day. In addition, one should be willing to actively refute the negative thoughts and only accept the positive ones.  “Watch as well as pray.” so says the scripture.  It takes practice, practice, nothing else but practice.  When one may have  practiced refuting negative thoughts long enough, automatically the mind will start to refute negative thought on its own without effort from the person.  When that happens, then, the mind has reversed its polarity from negative to positive and can only accept that which is like itself, because, likes attracts likes on the mental plane.

The brain is not the mind, but, serves as a house for the mind. Nor does the mind distinguish right from wrong. It will respond to whatever we give it.  That is why we must teach the mind the right things and feed it with the right food.  So if the brain is the house for the mind, then it is only logical to think that the door of the house should be locked from any intruders.  I found out that some thoughts are like intruders, they like to break into so as to sneak their way into the mind.  For instance, one can get up in the morning and start out by thinking good thoughts, but somewhere along the way a negative thought would creep in and by noon one’s thinking is weighed down.  So it is with the brain.  The door of the brain must be kept locked to keep out unwanted thoughts to the mind.  I remember back in the sixties when my thoughts were helter skelter.  That time, any and every kind of thoughts ran through my mind simply because I didn’t know that I could deliberately choose my thoughts. To help one gain control of one’s thinking, visual effects can be very helpful.  When I first started to learn how to choose my thoughts, I was in the eighth grade, and before going to my regular classes I had what was called home room. I would sit in my homeroom and draw a circle on a sheet of paper and put a dot in the center of the circle. The dot represented me.  Then, I would write inside the circle only words that I knew represented good thoughts and which I wanted to think on. For example, I would write words such as God, peace, love, joy, etc. and I would write outside the circle all the negative thoughts I didn’t want to think on. For instance, I would write words like “devil,” “Satan” and so on.  Then I would draw a door with a lock on the circle to represent the thought that the door of my brain was locked and everything negative on the outside of the circle could not enter into my mind.  Believe me, the war was on.  Many days and nights I held fast and believed that nothing could enter my mind unless I took the lock off my door.  Not only did I fight to keep thoughts out, but, I had to fight to empty my mind of all the negative thoughts that I had already accepted before I became aware of what was going on.  For several years I memorized and recited day in and out the words of Philippians 4:8, 9. I repeated them consistently  Those words were, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.  Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”  After a while, an amazing thing happened.  I no longer had a struggle because the polarity of my mind had changed from negative to positive and I felt my mind automatically refuting negative thoughts at the door.  Apparently, the words of James 4:7 was in effect in my life. It says, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” The same can and will be said concerning you if you simply allow this mind to be in you, which was in Christ Jesus our Lord (Philippians 2:5). To God be the glory!