Living Faith Church of Augusta

…If anyone intends to come after Me, let him deny himself [forget, ignore, disown, and lose sight of himself and his own interest]….-Mark 8:34

Having self on the mind all the time insures a miserable life. 

I find it a challenge to keep myself off my mind, but the more I obey the Lord’s command in this area, the happier I become.

I think all of us form the habit of trying to take care of ourselves. We want to make plans for ourselves and be sure that we are well provided for.

Obviously, one cannot live without giving some thought to himself and making plans, but when you and I move into a selfish, self-centered mind-set, we are out of God’s will.

Our society promotes “me-ism,” but the Word of God does not.

It is imperative that God’s children resist the magnetic pull of worldly ways and refuse to be excessive in self-centered thinking. I believe many people are depressed because they spend all their time trying to make themselves happy. True joy comes only from giving life away-not from striving to keep it.

Don’t ruin your life by trying to keep it. Be a blessing to others, and you will be blessed. Give and it shall be given unto you. Die to self-centeredness and really begin to live!

 

…be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude]….-Romans 12:2

Every change in our life requires a change in our thinking. God regularly teaches us new ways to think, because we cannot act differently if we don’t think differently.

What would be considered a normal mind for a Christian? Remember, what is normal to the world is not acceptable for God’s children in most areas. For a believer, worry is not normal. Confusion is not normal.

Negative thinking is another type of thinking in which a Christian should not indulge. There are many other kinds of thinking that should be considered abnormal for a child of God.

The Lord has shown me that when we think hateful, mean, judgmental thoughts about people, not only can we injure them, but also judgmental, resentful, unforgiving thought patterns can cause us great harm.

We have an opportunity to think creative, loving thoughts about people and to pray positive, faith-filled prayers.

Use your thought life wisely. Think about other people the way Jesus would, and think about your circumstances in light of God, Who says, Behold, I am the Lord…; is there anything too hard for Me? (Jeremiah 32:27).

[Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ… – 2 Corinthians 10:5

If we are going to give God glory, we must manifest excellence. An excellent life begins with an excellent thought life and excellent attitudes.

All fruit has a root from which it began. The root of all of our actions is our thoughts. Words come from thoughts. Attitudes begin with thoughts, and emotions (moods) take root in our thought life.

Choosing excellence in one’s thought life is a private thing. No one but God and the individual knows exactly what is going on in his own mind. I call it “inner purity.” Inner purity is a challenge that Christians should be excited about taking on.

In Second Corinthians 10:5 the apostle Paul teaches us to cast down all wrong thoughts that disagree with God’s Word. He is, in essence, saying, “Keep your minds reserved for God’s thoughts (His Word) alone.”

God desires truth in the inward parts. (Psalm 51:6.) I encourage you to begin paying more attention to your thought life. Your words, moods, and attitudes are rooted in it. Dedicate your entire self to God. Live as if you were private property – reserved for God alone!

Cultivate inner beauty, the gentle, gracious kind that God delights in. – 1 Peter 3:4 message

We have an outer life and an inner life. The outer life is our reputation with people. The inner life is our reputation with God. 

We need to pay attention to what is going on inside us. Thoughts and inner attitudes, motives, and desires-all of these things are important to the Lord.

As far as God is concerned, the inner person is the real person. A truly powerful Christian is one with a pure heart, one who wholeheartedly serves God.

Our inner life is comprised of our soul and our spirit. Our human spirit is indwelt by the Holy Spirit at the time of the New Birth. God’s will and desire for us, then, is that we desire and allow the Holy Spirit to dwell in our soul also.

Our soul is our mind, our will, and our emotions. Our spirit mingled with the Holy Spirit performs the functions of conscience, intuition, and communion with God.

We must cooperate with God to allow the divine life force that came into our spirit when we were saved to dwell in and be at home in our entire inner being.

May you be challenged to be accountable for your inner life.

Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind)….rooted, established, strong, immovable, and determined….- 1 Peter 5:8,9

An emotional person is someone who is easily affected with or stirred by emotions. Their conduct is ruled by emotion rather than reason. A person who lives by emotion lives without principle.

We all have emotions, and they are not going away, but we cannot trust them. We should seek God to learn to manage our emotions and not allow them to manage us.

We are created to operate in the fruit of self-control. Self-control is a freedom-not a bondage. We are free to use wisdom, free to obey God, free to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. We are free not to be pushed around by our feelings. We don’t have to do what we feel like doing; we are free to do what we know is wise.

Be honest with yourself in this area. If you believe you are not managing your emotions, begin to pray and seek God about emotional maturity. Remember:

1. He who lives by emotions lives without principle.

2. We all have emotions, but we cannot trust them.

3. We cannot be spiritual (walk in the Spirit) and be led by emotions.

4. Emotions won’t go away, but we can learn to manage them.

Make emotional maturity a priority goal in your life.

…forgive…in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes. – 2 Corinthians 2:10, 11 NIV

Most people know what it is like to hurt emotionally. Emotional wounding comes through various sources. Satan is the originator of our wounds, and he works through situations and people to hurt us for two major reasons.

First, he enjoys destruction. He wants to build a dam in our lives that consists of emotional wounds. 

Second, he wants to control our feelings. The devil knows that when we have been hurt emotionally, we usually act emotionally. If he can hurt our feelings and get us to react accordingly, he will be able to keep us separated from many of God’s blessings.

We cannot expect never to get hurt. But we can expect to learn how to stay in control of our reaction to our hurts. We can expect to be the victor, not the victim. 

Here are some things God has shown me we should do to overcome the devil’s schemes:

First, turn to the Holy Spirit, don’t run to people. Second, remain stable during hard times. Third, remember that God is our vindicator; He will see that we are repaid for our pain and loss. 

If you are hurting, I exhort you, don’t fall into Satan’s trap: be the victor, not the victim.

…God assured us, “I’ll never let you down, never walk off and leave you…” – Hebrews 13:5

Many people are lonely, often even those who have others around them. The death of a loved one can leave a person lonely and confused as well as feeling abandoned.

Your circumstances do not have to be quite so severe to put you into the category of loneliness. Perhaps you have moved to a new neighborhood, have begun attending a new school, or have just started a new job, and you just don’t seem to fit in yet. 

I know what it is like to be lonely. “Social poverty” is under the curse. Learning to like myself and learning to pray for favor have changed my social status, and it will change yours too. 

I encourage you to pray for favor. I also encourage you to be friendly. Don’t just wait for someone to fall into your life before you are willing to have fellowship. Beware of being passive. Get involved. Giving always brings joy.

Remember Jesus as He prayed in the garden of Gethsemane. All of His friends had disappointed Him. He needed them for only one hour, and they had let Him down by falling asleep. (Matthew 26:36-43.)

The Lord does indeed know how you feel, and He has promised never to leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5), so that you will be strengthened to press on.

Therefore, [there is] now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live [and] walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit. – Romans 8:1

Guilt and condemnation are major problems for many believers. 

It is Satan’s greatest delight to make us feel bad about ourselves. He never tells us how far we have come, but rather, he constantly reminds us of how far we still have to go.

When the enemy attacks me, I say, “I’m not where I need to be, but thank God I’m not where I used to be. I’m okay, and I’m on my way.”

Like David, we must learn to keep ourselves encouraged in the Lord. (1 Samuel 30:6.) None of us has arrived at the state of perfection. We cannot perfect ourselves: sanctification (holiness) is the job of the Holy Spirit, and it is worked out in our lives as a process. 

The Bible teaches that we can have complete forgiveness of our sins (total freedom from condemnation) through the blood of Jesus Christ. We must decide if Jesus did a complete job or it He didn’t. WE don’t need to add our guilt to His sacrifice. He is more than enough. 

Let Jesus do His job. He wants to forgive you. All you have to do is receive His forgiveness. Complete forgiveness is completely free!

….In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.] – John 16:33

Stress is on the rise in today’s world. The good news is that, although we Christians may be in the world, we are not of the world. (John 17:11,14.) We do not have to operate on the world’s system-thinking, talking, or acting like the world-and we shouldn’t. In fact, our attitude and approach toward the situations of life should be entirely different from the world’s.

The source of our stress is not really difficulties, circumstances, and situations, but our attitude and approach toward them.

Jesus said that difficulties will come our way, but they do not have to upset us. We don’t have to accept the stress being offered us. We have the privilege of approaching the challenges of everyday life in a calm, peaceful manner.

I believe we can live stress free in a stressful world, but it will require some decisions-possibly some radical decisions.

Allow God’s Spirit to lead you out of a stressful lifestyle into one of peace and joy. Change your attitude and approach, and God will change your circumstance in due time.

Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith…. – Hebrews 12:2

Do you fellowship with your problem or with the Lord?

The devil wants us to think about our problem, worry about our problem, talk about and try to reason out our problem. God desires for us to spend time with Him, talk to Him, and think about Him and His Word. 

Jesus is the One we are to look to in order to have our needs met. If we dwell in Him, our problem has no power over us, but if we dwell on the problem, we magnify it above Him. The more attention we give our problem, the more we feed it, the more power it has over us.

I remember when my husband and I were having financial struggles. I would give Dave the bad report, and he would give me the Word, telling me to cast my care on the Lord. He would fellowship with God while I fellowshipped with the problem. The more I did so, the more upset I became.

The devil starts the problem rolling. The more you think, worry, reason, talk, plan, and scheme about it, the bigger it gets. If you look to Jesus, you will experience the miracle power of God as you trust in Him.