Speaking God's Truth in Love

Speaking God's Truth in Love "A Touch From God"

In the book of Matthew chapter 9, and also in the book of Mark chapter 5, verses 24-34, Scripture records  the encounter of a woman with a special need who searches out Jesus simply to touch Him having the faith that a simple touch will heal her body.

Mark 5:24-34
24 So Jesus went with him, and a great multitude followed Him and thronged Him.
25 Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years,
26 and had suffered many things from many physicians.  She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse.
27 When she heard about Jesus, she cam behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment.
28 For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.”
29 Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction.
30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My clothes?”
31 But His disciples said to Him, “You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’”
32 And He looked around to see her who had done this thing.
33 But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.
34 And He said to her, “Daughter , your faith has made you well.  Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.”

We see this woman had been to see many doctors and she had spent all of her money trying to get relief from her illness, but there had been no relief for over 12 years.  The doctors couldn’t help her, the money she used couldn’t help her, and time couldn’t help her.   

I hear people say, “Time heals all wounds”.   However, I disagree; I don’t believe time heals anything.  God can heal a broken heart, God can heal the pain of losing a loved one, God can heal the damage caused by abuse and neglect, God can heal your body from illness, but time doesn’t heal a thing.

God can use time as a tool to heal, but I have seen too many situations where people are still carrying around pain from past relationships.  Too many times I have seen people who can‘t let go of bitterness, anger and hatred from relationships no matter how long ago the initial pain had begun.  I hear people relive situations that may be 10, 15 or even 20 years old, as if they had happened yesterday. 

However, people that have a genuine fellowship with Jesus Christ have an ability to move forward with time.  Not because time has healed their wound, but because they have experienced God’s healing through time spent with the Him.  There is a special touch that you receive when you genuinely experience God forgiveness.  What can get you from the stage of anger and bitterness to a stage of peace and love?  It is being able to see yourself as undeserving of God’s love and yet, Him giving it to you anyway. 

Jesus said to the woman, “your faith has made you well.”  It is our faith in Jesus to be the great healer that will make us well.  He has healed us of our terrible sinful state and He will heal our pain.  You can’t be healed by a pastor; you can’t be healed by self-help books, the only healing that works is the healing that comes from a faith that grows through a true fellowship with Jesus.

Doctors are gifted with special tools of God to help us through the illnesses and pains caused from our bodies deteriorating through time.  But when it comes to the pain and suffering of the heart and soul Jesus is our only answer.

The people in our churches need a special touch from Jesus today.  More and more people want to turn to drugs, alcohol, sex, or materialism to heal their deep seeded pain instead of searching out the only true cure that comes from Jesus.  The devil is more than happy to provide the way to stunt our spiritual growth and keep us from reaching out to God. 

Let your faith in Jesus make you well.

Speaking God's Truth in Love "Thank God For Forgiveness"

1^st John 1:9
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Are you as thankful as I am that God forgives us of our sins?  In this verse John says that God is faithful and just. 

• God is faithful, He has made a promise to forgive and His promises cannot be broken. 
• God is just, we are all sinners separated from God by our sin nature, but Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins has paid the price to a God of Justice so that we might be forgiven.

Isaiah 1:18
18 “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

• God’s forgiveness takes us from the very darkest separation from Him and brings us into the light of His holiness and Jesus’ blood is the detergent for our soul.

Psalm 103: 8-18
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious; slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
9 He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever.
10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
12 As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him.
14 For He knows our frame, He remembers that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are like grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
16 For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.
17 But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children’s children,
18 To such as keep His covenant, and to those who remember His commandments to do them.

• It is a wonderful thing that God is slow to anger and abounding in mercy.  Can you imagine where mankind would be if he dealt with us according to our sin? 
• The greatness of our universe is the measuring stick for how great God’s mercy is before us.
• There is no ability to measure how far the east is from the west.  Here we are told that God has removed the transgressions of those who ask for forgiveness, and believe in His name.  It is so far away the distance can’t be measured. 
• Many times we forget that we are just dust, but God created us and He never forgets our frailties or our inabilities.  He remembers the limitations of those who are called His children. 
• God shows His mercy for all of eternity to those who follow Him and keep His commandments.  Even though, many times, we step out of line or we bring disgrace on ourselves, God still forgives us when we ask for forgiveness.

I, for one, am extremely happy that we were given these verses.  I am a wretched man, just as the apostle Paul wrote about in Romans 7:24

“O wretched man that I am, Who will deliver me from this body of death?”

I Thank God with all that I am, and you should thank God with all that you are that what delivers us from our body of death is “Nothing But the Blood of Jesus”.  

“O God, I ask you for forgiveness today.  I am a man of unclean lips living in a society of unclean lips.  Lord, thank you for promising me your love, mercy and grace even though I am not worthy.  Lord, thank you for sending your Son to pay the price for my sin, though I do not deserve it.  I am awe struck by your love.”

Speaking God's Truth in Love "Where is Your Faith?"

Luke 8:22-25
22Now it happened, on a certain day that He got into a boat with His disciples.  And He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side of the lake” And they launched out.
23 But as they sailed He fell asleep.  And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy.
24 And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!”  Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water.  And they ceased, and there was a calm.
25 But He said to them, “Where is your faith?”  And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, “Who can this be?  For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!”

When Jesus asks this question “where is your faith”, if I am Pete, or one of the boys, I am probably afraid to say anything out loud, but there is a good chance I’m thinking, “Well, our faith was in the bottom of the boat lying down taking a nap.”  They wanted the miracle worker awake and doing something about the situation. 

So what was Jesus trying to show them?  Could it be He wanted them to realize that when they were in His presence they would be protected no matter what was happening around them.  They need not fear because the One who created the wind and the water was the One they were hanging with?

You ever have those moments?  You are a believer in Jesus, you know that He can calm your storm, but you are wondering if He is taking a nap.  You are being tossed to and fro and want some action here and God wants you to know that all you really need is to be in the boat with Him.  Just hang on for the ride, He hasn’t lost control.

Having faith in things we can see or touch is easy isn’t it?  Every time I place my foot on the brakes in my car to slow down for a stop sign I have faith that they are going to work.  When I reach out and flip on the light in the morning I have faith that the room will get bright.  I don’t know anything about the way a car’s brakes actually get from my foot to the wheels to stop the car, I really have no clue how the electricity gets through all those wires from the electric plant to my house, but still yet I expect those things to work.  Even more than expect I believe they will work.  I believe they will work because I have a lot of experience using them and they very seldom, if ever, let me down. 

Unlike a set of brakes or a light switch that will hardly ever let you down, but still have the ability to fail, Jesus has made us an unbreakable promise, “I will never leave you, nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5).   We can’t see Him, we can learn much about Him, but we can never know how He works.  We have to have faith in the fact that if we stay close to Him, we are protected by His presence.  

The more we experience God’s ever present work in our lives the stronger our faith in Him will become, but we take so much for granted.  He protects us in every move we make.  He guides our path, He shelters us from the storm, He is our refuge in times of danger. 

When a storm rises in your life, and it’s not if, it’s when, don’t worry about having to wake the Savior up.  Just make sure you’re in the boat with Him and leave the rest of the situation in his hands.  He created the universe, He created each of us, He has parted seas, made water come out of rocks, He has healed the sick, raised the dead, and comforted the weary.  Your problems may seem huge in your little world, but they are a piece of cake in the hands of God.   

Speaking God's Truth in Love "The Church That's Hard of Hearing"

Revelation 3:20
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”

For years preachers from various denominations have used this text to tell us that Jesus is standing at the door of your heart knocking and all you have to do is open the door and let Him in.  Though that analogy might be heart wrenching using it in such a way takes it completely out of context.

The truth is, Revelation 3 is part of section that was written as a warning to the church in Laodicea.  Read the entire section with me.

Revelation 3:14-22
“And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God:
15 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot.  I could wish you were cold or hot.
16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.
17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked--
18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich, and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed, and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.  Therefore be zealous and repent.
20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.
21 To him who overcomes, I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
22 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’”

In verse 22 Jesus says that He is talking to “the churches”.  You can’t be a part of the church until you are saved.  So then, Jesus is warning the church about being ‘cold or hot’, about being ‘miserable, poor, blind, and naked’.

One of the problems we have in many of our churches today is an overwhelming desire to hold on to rules and regulations that have been instituted by leaders over the years, rather than following the will of God.  If Jesus says, ‘Go’ and we stay then we are following our own will and not His will.  If Jesus tells us to take care of those around us and we save up our money for a rainy day in order to be sure that we have enough in the hard times, are we trusting God to provide or are we trusting in ourselves to provide?  There is good reason for individuals to have savings to prepare for retirement, but the church is never supposed to retire.

Jesus is giving a warning to the church here; He is saying that the church shouldn’t be lukewarm.  I believe that Jesus has been standing at the door of many of our churches trying to get in for quite some time.  The time has come to let Him in!  What can your church begin to do to prove that Jesus isn’t on the outside trying to come in, He is already inside have supper with you?    

Speaking God's Truth in Love "Following God's Direction"

Proverbs 3:5-6
5Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own
understanding;
6In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

There are times in all of our lives when we aren’t sure the direction that God wants us to go.  Sometimes we use the excuse that we don’t know the direction when, in reality, it’s not that we don’t know, it’s just that the direction doesn’t fit into our plans or it might get us out of our comfort zone.  Yet the Scripture is clear. 

• We are to trust in the Lord. 

Psalm 9:10
10 And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.

Psalm 20:7
7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the
name of the LORD our God.

Psalm 91:2
2 I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in
Him I will trust."

Psalm 118:8-9
8 It is better to trust in the LORD Than to put confidence in man.
9 It is better to trust in the LORD Than to put confidence in princes.

Proverbs 16:20
20 He who heeds the Word wisely will find good, And whoever trusts in
the LORD, happy is he.

We are told not only who to trust, but how to trust Him.

With all your heart

Notice we are told to trust with our heart not with our head.  So many things in our lives would be changed if we learned to use our heart and not our head.

 Romans 10:9-10
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your
heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the
mouth confession is made unto salvation.

So much of our time is spent worrying about things with our head and not trusting God with our heart.

• Lean not on your own understanding.

Proverbs 14:12
12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.

Our experiences in life tend to set the standards we follow.  It goes against all of human nature to put our trust in anything or anyone other than ourselves.  Leaning on God, even though we might believe He is all knowing, is a very difficult thing to do.  Following God when our prior experiences have failed or when the people around us are telling us it won’t work takes a tremendous amount of trust.

• In all your ways acknowledge Him 

Not in some of our ways, but in all of our ways we are to acknowledge Him.  Webster’s definition of acknowledge is:  to recognize the rights, authority, or status of an individual.  In other words, “submit to Him.”

Psalm 115:1
1 Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, But to Your name give glory, Because of Your mercy, Because of Your truth.

We are to trust God with all of our heart, don’t use our own life experiences or our own understanding in searching for His direction, we need to acknowledge God for being the supreme authority in our lives.  The God of the universe created you and me and promises He will direct our paths if we will trust Him.

We tend to talk a good talk when it comes to trust, but are you walking the walk?    

Speaking God's Truth in Love "Who Do You Know?"

2^nd Corinthians 5:18-21
18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Chris, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,
19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.
21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

What a beautiful Gospel message verse 21 is.  God made His sinless Son Jesus to be sin that we might become righteous in Him.  Wow!  Does the explanation of Jesus and His mission on earth get any clearer than that? 

We know that God loves us so much that He sent His Son, we know that He died for us, but here Paul explains why, to become sin for us.  Our sin became His sin.  That is an incredibly simple statement with incredibly important implications.  The super-natural consequence of Jesus taking away the believer’s sin is that the believer no longer owes a sin debt to God.

That should be an easy explanation for any believer to give to a lost person.  Yet, as a pastor, one thing I heard over and over again was, “Preacher I sure wish you could talk to my co-worker or I’ve got a cousin that I want you to witness to.”  Why is it that most people want the preacher to be the soul winner?  Here in 2^nd Corinthians 5 the apostle Paul gives insight into each believer’s responsibility, not just the preacher.

Paul says, “we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us; we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.”

Like the other writings of Paul in the New Testament the book of 2^nd Corinthians is a letter.  It’s a letter very similar to any letter that you may have written in your life.  Of course in today’s world we have a generation or two that may have never written a letter delivered by snail mail.  Rather than a letter, most things are delivered via the web or through texting. 

However, the apostle Paul wrote to his churches in long, flowing letters that were hand delivered.  When you read what we call the entire book of Ephesians you are reading one letter that Paul wrote.  That is why it is better to sit down and read an entire book when you read Scripture.  An entire book will make more sense than just reading a few verses here and there.  You wouldn’t read a text from a friend by reading a line or two today and then reading some more of it tomorrow, you would lose the meaning of the text.

I said all of that to say this, verse 1 of chapter 1 of 2^nd Corinthians says that Paul was writing to, “The church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in all Achaia.”  That simply means that Paul was writing to Christians not just preachers.  He was telling regular church folk that they were ambassadors for Christ.  So the message is that we are all supposed to allow God to “plead” through us.  It’s not just the pastor’s responsibility to spread the good news. 

So, the question I have for you is “Who Do You Know?”  Is it grand-ma or grand-pa, mom or dad, brother or sister, aunt or uncle, friend or neighbor, husband or wife, or maybe a co-worker?  Who Do You Know that needs the love of Jesus in their lives?  You are the ambassador, you are the conduit that God wants to use to reach a lost world.    

Speaking God's Truth in Love "Reaping and Sowing"

Galatians 6:7
Be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

Ah yes, the law of reaping and sowing.  We see it throughout the Bible.  In the Old Testament we might refer to it as the if/then principle.  Many times God told the children of Israel, “If you do this, then I will do this.  Isaiah 1:19-20 is a perfect example of if/then.

19 “If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;
20 But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword;  For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

When God makes a promise it can’t be broken.  If God were to break His promises then He wouldn’t be God now would He?  God promised rebellious people in the Old Testament terrible consequences for their sin, and the God that is the same yesterday, today and forever promised the same thing in the New Testament.

The analogy of reaping and sowing is so clear and should make perfect sense to us.  We know from the natural law that you reap what you sow; you reap after you sow, and you reap more than you sow.   The spiritual law of reaping and sowing is no different.  Yet we tend to live our lives as though the spiritual law doesn’t really exist.  We act as though God is a different God now then He was in Scripture.

I had one person tell me one time that I need to chill out about this reaping business.  God is love, and He is a God of mercy.  He would never hold us accountable.  Haven’t I ever read the part of the Bible that tells of God’s love for us? 

The truth is that God is a God of love and mercy.  He is also a God of wrath and judgment.  Time after time in the Old Testament the children of Israel suffered through the wrath of God’s punishment for disobedience.  We need to understand the He is not different today.  God wants us to obey Him.  When we don’t we should expect Him to bring discipline upon us.  Galatians 6:7 is as much of a promise to us as John 3:16.

When I was growing up I was disciplined by my father when I disobeyed.  He loved me enough to correct me so that I would learn how to function in society.  Our heavenly Father is no different.  We are told that He disciplines those that He loves (Hebrews 12:6).  As we journey through this life God grows us spiritually just like we grow physically.

I would love for you to pay attention to what I am writing today.  Look at your life and ask yourself, “Am I living in one of God’s if/then promises right now?  Am I in disobedience to His will and having to reap the consequences of my actions?”  You have the ability to stop living in disobedience, ask forgiveness for your sin and move into a life of obedience today.  I promise you, there is nothing better than living in God’s will.      

Speaking God's Truth in Love "Teaching Old Dogs, New Tricks"

Matthew 28:19
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”

I believe that Southern Baptist have the best organization for fulfillment of the Great Commission.  We have given money and sent missionaries all over the world for decades.  Because of the efforts of Southern Baptists and their charitable giving to various mission causes literally millions of lives have been changed for the cause of Christ.

I have been the pastor of mission minded churches.  It is wonderful to watch people with limited resources as they see the need and have the desire to give to mission projects.  A church that is mission minded is becoming spiritually mature in their understanding of the Great Commission.

There is another level of spiritual maturity however.  The next level is even more fulfilling for the Christian.  It includes not only being mission minded and opening your pocket books to help send missionaries to foreign lands.  It includes becoming “Missional” minded as well.  The “Missional” minded church has moved from just sending to going.

The “Missional” minded church has moved from knowing there is a need to send people on mission to actually becoming the people that act out the Great Commission.  The “Missional” minded church has changed their mind set to see mission projects everywhere.  In the last several years we are seeing more and more “Missional” minded churches cropping up across America.  Churches that are seeing and acting on great needs in their own towns, churches that are putting feet to their faith and opening clothes closets, food pantries, hot meal programs, free pharmacies, clinics, and shelters.   “Missional” minded churches desire to experience the Great Commission rather than just finance it.  

I pray that your church will become a “Missional” minded church.  Whether it’s seeing the family down the road that is in need of a helping hand or whether you go to one of the various locations around the world where Southern Baptist are spreading the Gospel through medical missions and disaster relief, my prayer for you is that you continue to grow and become “Missional”.

 

Speaking God's Truth in Love "When it Pleases God"

Galatians 1:11-16
11 But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man.
12 For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.
13 For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it.
14 And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace,
16 to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood.

I love how the apostle Paul gives us this account of how God worked in his life.  Paul says, “But when it pleased God.”  Not that is interesting to me.  God is in total control.  He allowed Paul to persecute the church, he allowed Him to be zealous against those who called themselves Christians, yet when the time came for Paul to become a Christian, God grabbed him. 

It was in God’s timing not the Christians who were being persecuted.  God allowed Paul to be used to hold the coats of those that stoned Stephen to death, God allowed Paul to throw Christians into prison, but when God was ready for Paul to come to Him, He revealed His Son and the rest is, as they say, history.

What I want to remind you of today is that nothing happens that is outside of God’s timing.  Many times we pray for things to happen and when they don’t follow our time frame we get bent out of shape.  We need to remember that God is working in all or our lives to fulfill His plan in His time.  He will work His way, in His time, for His purpose.

How many Christians do you think were praying for God to remove Paul from the scene or to change his mind?  I’m certain that this man who had been terrorizing anyone calling themselves Christians was considered an enemy of the kingdom and was constantly in the crosshairs of their prayers for God’s judgment to fall upon him. 

Yet that wasn’t what pleased God.  Instead God would take this enemy of the kingdom and use him in a mighty way to give us the majority of the New Testament.  When it pleased God, in God’s time, to fulfill God’s plan, in God’s way, God worked His purpose. 

Keep that in mind today as you wonder why God hasn’t answered your prayer the way you want it answered.  Much of the time we are asking God to give us a microwave oven solution to a crock pot problem.  Things are always worked out better when what works out pleases God. 

Speaking God's Truth in Love "Control Your Thoughts"

What you think today is going to determine who we are tomorrow.  What you thought yesterday has brought you to the place where you are today.  Our thoughts affect every aspect of our lives.

• The Bible is full of truth about the importance of controlling our minds.  Unbelievers set their minds on what comes naturally to humans—pursuing sensual, selfish or materialistic things. 

(Romans 8:5-2)  
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.  6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.  7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.  8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

• Controlling our thoughts is a vital part of spiritual warfare.    

(2 Corinthians 10:4-5)  
4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.

• We are commanded by the Scriptures to change our thought patterns after we become Christians.

(Romans 12:2) 
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

• In order to transform into a new creation we need to realize that that our thought pattern can never be the same as before we were saved.

(2 Cor 5:17)  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

• Scripture tells us that we have died to our old life, and we have been raised to walk in newness of life.

(Romans 6:4) 
Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Think about the beginning of your Christian life, when you went into the baptismal waters you were immersed in the water which is a symbol of being buried with Christ, then you were brought up out of the water which is a symbol of you being raised to a new life.

Ask yourself today if your thoughts are consistent with the thoughts of the world or with the thoughts of a new creation separated from the world.  There is a spiritual battle going on every day of your life.  It is a battle for your mind.  Who you determine to let win that battle today will determine exactly where you will be tomorrow.

“Dear Lord, take my thought patterns today and transpose them into the thoughts that are in line with the new creation you want me to be.  Mold me into a servant for you.  Remove the worldly thoughts and create in me a new mind.  In Jesus’ name amen.”