Be a Believer, not an Unbeliever!

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⁸ Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. ⁹ Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. – 1 Peter 5:8-9 NIV

We resist the devil by steadfastly holding on to what God, through Christ Jesus (not Moses), says to us. God cannot lie and doesn't go back on His promises to us, He is not a meanie who would promise us one thing and then turn around and do the opposite as the devil would have us believe. If there is anyone trustworthy, it’s our Heavenly Father who loves us eternally. The Scriptures assure us time and time again “let God be true and every man a liar” (Romans 3:4).

The enemy cannot block what God has promised to do in, to and through our lives. The enemy cannot limit what God can do in our lives, but we can. Satan tries to deceive us into cutting ourselves off from God's ever increasing grace towards us by planting seeds of doubt and unbelief in our minds, for he knows once we entertain doubt and unbelief, we will effectively be limiting what God can do in our lives.

The story of the children of Israel is a good example of what not to do! God wanted to bring them into the land that He had promised them but because of their unbelief, they limited what God wanted to do, in, for and through them. The result: an entire generation perished in the wilderness, they short-circuited the will and plan of God for their lives. That’s how evil unbelief is…beloved let’s not entertain it...even for a second!

Unbelief may manifest as “wisdom”, “concern”, “being real or practical” or any other form but whichever way it rears its ugly head, it will ultimately cast a shadow of doubt over the very Nature and Character of God. Thankfully, by the grace of God, we are not ignorant of the enemy’s devices.

The enemy wants us to look at our failures as the reason why God isn’t going to bless us, but the truth is, if we are in Christ, our sins and failures have already been dealt with once and for all - Christ Jesus is our Eternal High Priest, should we sin, He is our Advocate with the Father and on top of that God remembers our sin no more! And what's more...in Christ we already have been blessed with every spritual blessing. No wonder we go from faith to faith, from victory to victory, from glory to glory! Isn't our Abba Father good?!

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Let us keep on fighting the good fight of faith by holding on to the assurance of what we hope for and by being convinced of what we cannot yet see (Hebrews 11:1). He who has promised is faithful and He will do it. 

Let’s keep on walking by faith!

Our Warfare: The Mind is the Battlefield

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For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; - 2 Cor 10: 4 - 5 KJV

If you believe in Jesus and confess Him as Lord then you are in warfare. This warfare is not physical, though some of its effects may be visible in the natural, this warfare is spiritual, it takes place in the unseen realm. The battlefield isn't out there somewhere above in the skies or in outer space or some "heavenly realms" as some think. The battlefield is in our minds. This warfare is basically between truth and lies, between what God says and what the Devil says about what God says. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life; the Devil is a liar and a murderer from the beginning. 

It is in our minds where the enemy seeks to establish and perpetuate strongholds. Why? To gain access into our lives to execute his murderous schemes. A "stronghold" can simply be defined as a mindset - that is - HOW ONE THINKS about something or someone. The verse "As a man thinketh in his heart so is he"...comes to mind.

The enemy's chief weapon of choice is not so much temptations to commit certain "sins" as some think, it is “False Teachings”, after all he is the Father of lies. False Teachings are teachings which are a mixture of half-truths and outright lies - a deadly concoction! Any teaching that seeks to add to or take away from Christ Jesus and what He did to reconcile us to God is a false. Any preaching or teaching in which Christ Jesus is but a footnote, as lofty or as deep as it may be touted to be, is to be considered suspect and must be tested in light of the teachings of Jesus and His early apostles.  

Our thoughts directly impact our lives. For example, if a child of God has a “poverty mindset", it doesn't matter how much money they get, sooner or later, they'll just end up right back in poverty. It is not because there is a legion of demons secretly stealing their money (could be...but highly unlikely ;) ), I submit to you that it has more to do with HOW THEY THINK about themselves, they cannot see themselves being anything else other than poor and destitute, always in need and consequently they make decisions that lead them there...Now such thoughts are a stronghold in their minds, obviously established by the lies of the enemy. Now that "poverty mindset" needs to be demolished and that is done by renewing the mind, ie. making that mind "new again" aka "re-new-ing" it to get it thinking in line with the person's true nature and identity - that of a beloved child of God.

A fairly simplistic example I know, but you get the picture, right?... Right! 

No wonder God through the apostle Paul instructs us to renew our minds. 

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. - Rom 12:2 NIV (emphasis added)

And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; - Ephesians 4:23 KJV (emphasis added)

You see beloved, if the enemy can get you to think the way he wants you to think concerning any area of your life, then you've already lost the battle there. He'll even let, if not encourage you to sing all the victory songs and choruses, confess and claim blessings all you want but as long as your mind is not renewed to align with the teachings of Christ, you'll continue to languish in defeat in that area of your life. 


We renew our minds by changing the way we think to align with the way God thinks. That is done by allowing the Word of Christ to dwell in us richly, in all wisdom, of course. Only then can we experience true godly transformation. 

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Renewing our minds enables us to see ourselves the way God sees us and then go on to live from that vantage point. Beloved, you are perfectly loved by your Heavenly Father, not only that, He loves you to the point of making you His very own child and dwelling place - His Temple. Meditate on that and watch all the fear-filled, negative, doubtful, accusing and condemning thoughts fizzle away. Blessings! 

GOD gave us HIS VERY BEST - JESUS! why wouldn't HE GIVE us the rest?

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Child of God, why let the circumstances you are going through overwhelm you? Why allow lack to rob you of your joy and peace?
Your Heavenly Father is not withholding any good thing from you, in fact when He gave us His Son, Jesus, He has graciously gave us ALL things with Him.
Know this, before that circumstance showed up, The Father had already made provision to take care of it, before that problem presented itself, The Father had already provided a solution, Heaven isn't caught unawares. Our loving heavenly Father is way ahead of anything that we might face and He not only holds us in His hand, He also holds the future... He never plays catch-up! He is the beginning and the end yet without beginning and without end!
Choose to rest in your Father's grace today and as you do, may the Holy Spirit quicken this Scripture in your heart:

32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? - Romans 8:32 - ESV
Meditate on it and receive the sight, insight and foresight to walk in your Father's gracious provision for you today. Blessings!

FIRST THINGS FIRST: Your Relationship with God

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Jesus wasn't impressed when people sought Him out only for the material blessings they could get from Him. When the multitudes went all over looking for Him after enjoying His miraculous provision of fish and bread, instead of commending them for diligently seeking Him, Jesus actually rebuked them saying:

²⁷ Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life…” – John 6:27 NKJV

Yes, God has promised to supply our needs. Yes, He even invites us to ask Him for provision, but – NEWSFLASH – God is much more interested in transforming us into the image of His Son than in meeting our temporary fleeting needs. He is a loving, responsible Father who’s got His priorities right. He is not our errand boy, nor is He some genie in a bottle waiting to grant our every whim and wish… Sometimes I feel like our modern version of Christianity has made God into a cosmic vending machine. You put in the right amount of money, punch the right buttons and voila…you have whatever it is you want. We’ve reduced our relationship with God to a business transaction of sorts… no fellowship, no intimacy whatsoever.     You see beloved, even in the natural, healthy relationships are reciprocal, to have a relationship with someone solely based on what you can get from them is pretty selfish and somewhat abusive too. The thing is, when you have a healthy relationship with someone, access to each other’s stuff is simply a byproduct of that relationship.

Through Christ’s death and resurrection, we are privileged to have an intimate relationship with God. We have an eternal Covenant with God and in that Covenant we have been made joint heirs with Christ. We can do ALL THINGS through Christ...How awesome is that!

Beloved, spend quality time with the Lover of your soul, throughout your day talk to Him, share stuff with Him, get His viewpoint on issues. He is very interested in what interests you, remember it is He who gave you those pure desires in the first place, so don’t compartmentalize your life – share it with Him – not just needs and wants but all of it...plus, He is with you 24/7! Don’t limit Him to only “church time”, Bible study or all the other Christian ministry stuff you do. Include Him in everything you do, ask for His input and direction. He so loves that and enjoys seeing you excel in what you do, no wonder the Word says:

⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths. – Proverbs 3:6 NKJV

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You see beloved, once we have a healthy vibrant relationship with the Lord, we will enjoy His provision, direction and everything else as byproducts of our intimacy with Him. No more fretting over our needs and wants for He shall supply them abundantly as we continue to delight ourselves in Him.

Amen!  

WHAT ARE YOUR WORDS IMPARTING? Grace or Corruption?

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²⁹ LET no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. – Ephesians 4:29 NKJV (Emphasis added)

  

Beloved, we have the power to both “LET” and “NOT TO LET” corrupt words out of our mouths and sadly many have gone right ahead and done the former with dire consequences. It is better not to speak at all than to spout off corruption filled words. The long and short of it is, if our words aren't imparting grace to those we converse with, then they are corrupt – regardless of how eloquently we express them. We may even lace them with Scripture but they are still corrupt, there's no two ways about it. The good news is, we are well able to change all that, and we will...or won't we? 

If our words are to reflect the Father’s heart concerning ourselves, other people and situations, if our words are to have a positive, edifying effect on others … we must first believe that we have been made righteous before God and we are perfectly and unreservedly accepted by the Father based solely on Jesus' perfect sacrifice of Himself. We must believe that we have been born from above, we have become New Creations in Christ, and we have been joined to the Lord and so we are now one with Him. We have become His Temple, His Dwelling place, His habitation. In Him we live and move and have our being. We have the mind of Christ. In and through Christ, we are conquerors and more than conquerors…All that to simply remind us of who we truly are – God’s own beloved children.  

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Now, since words proceed from thoughts, let’s start by refusing to spout off those unnecessary, non-edifying, good-for-nothing thoughts that pop up in our heads. We have the power to both “LET” and to “LET NOT” as far as our words are concerned.

We have the Spirit of Christ in us, as we follow His leading our words will unveil and reflect Christ – through whom Grace and Truth came – to those we cross paths with. Blessings beloved!  

God’s True Portait: JESUS

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If the idea of God you have in your mind is any different from that of Christ Jesus, then I submit to you that what you have is at best, a distorted picture of God.

God looks nothing like what religions, the various flavors of the Christian kind included, paints Him out to be, you know some version of a mean- faultfinding-always furious- uptight-hard-to-please-sadist or something similar. Nothing could be further from the truth, a quick look at Jesus paints a very beautiful picture of God. Nothing like what religion, for so long, has conditioned us to believe.

The thing is, no one has ever seen God, that is, no one except Jesus, and He is the one who reveals Him to mankind. Wasn’t He even appropriately called “Emmanuel” –“ God with us”?!

Jesus made that point over and over again. Let’s go over a couple of instances, shall we?

Speaking of Jesus, John the apostle writes:

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was in the beginning with God. ³All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. – John 1:1-3 ESV

Then he adds:

¹⁸ No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.- John 1:18 NKJV

Jesus speaking:

¹⁹ Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. – John 5:19 NKJV

³⁰ I and My Father are one.” – John 10:30 NKJV

The apostle Paul came along and by inspiration of the Holy Spirit penned this powerful truth:

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, - Colossians 1:19 ESV

For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, - Colossians 2:9 NIV

So there we have it, Jesus came to reveal God to us and in all His interactions with people, He did just that. He expressed the heart of His Father every single time. Now the religious leaders of His day thought with all the Scriptures, the rules and the regulations they had, if anyone knew God and His ways, it should be them. How sorely mistaken were they! To say they were opposed to Him would be an understatement – they hated him.

And just like God - His Father - Jesus did not avoid those religion considered sinners and outcasts in society. He welcomed them, ate with them, spent time with them so much so that the religious folk complained against Him:

² And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.” – Luke 15:2 NKJV  

And interestingly, those considered "sinners" were flocking to Him and gladly listening to Him, as Luke once noted and this, as we all know, didn't sit well with the religious leaders.

Jesus himself repeated one the many accusations leveled against Him by those who considered themselves righteous...

¹⁹ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by her children.” – Matthew 11:19 NKJV (emphasis added)

Now the Good News is:

If Jesus is your Lord and Savior, then be reminded that this same Jesus is in you

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today by His Holy Spirit and through Him you have been born from Above. You are now one with the Father just like Jesus is one with the Father. You are complete in Him, you lack nothing! So beloved, since the love of God is already poured out in your hearts, go ahead and joyfully express your Father’s heart in all your interactions today! And if religious folk criticize you, well..rejoice...you're in good company! 

Blessings!

    

GOD is for YOU, Yes YOU…

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The fact that you are here, alive on this planet is proof that God loves you. He created you and put you here for a reason. In all His dealings with you, He has your best interest at heart. He so desires to have a healthy relationship with you, a Father child relationship with you and He has made provision for that to be a reality for you today. He is not against you, He is for you.

For far too long religion has misrepresented the true Nature of God, painting Him out to be nothing like He really is. He is not waiting for you to mess up so He can strike you down, He is not looking for opportunities to make your life miserable…No, no, no…

On the contrary, He is waiting for you to realize how much He loves you and how He’s made it possible for you to become His Child. That is, by believing in Jesus and what He did by taking the sins of the entire world, yours included, and dying on that rugged cross – resurrecting three days later – just so you can be a brand New Creation reconciled to God and begin to relate with Him as your Father. He so desires for you to know Him, only then can you truly know yourself and enjoy the abundant life He has in store for you.

  

When Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father, this is what Jesus said:

⁹ Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? – John 14:9 ESV(emphasis added)

Jesus is the perfect representation of God the Father. So if we want to know what God looks like and how He acts, we would do well to take a closer look at Jesus and how He conducted Himself.

Paul the apostle was inspired by the Holy Spirit to reiterate this truth and so he wrote:

⁹ For in Him (in Christ Jesus, that is) dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily – Colossians 2:9 NKJV (emphasis added)

He loved, taught, healed and blessed people, He welcomed the outcasts and those considered not socially desirable like the tax collectors and “sinners”. Heck, the Pharisees, a self-righteous religious bunch complained about Him in Luke 15 saying "this man receives sinners and eats with them"; His response to them revealed the Father's heart towards us through the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the prodigal son. 

Now that’s exactly what God is like! Isn’t He awesome!

His harshest words were reserved for the political and religious leaders of His time who had so misrepresented God to the people and had them bound with empty religious rituals.

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Be encouraged, God is for you not against you. He loves you just the way you are and He is not shocked by anything you’ve done, He knows everything about you and He loves you with an everlasting, perfect love. His loves towards you doesn’t fluctuate, it is always perfect. His arms are wide open to you at all times. 

Believe in the Lord Jesus and begin to experience His promise of eternal and abundant life now. Blessings!