You’ll never rise above the view you have of yourself. That little movie screen in your mind that keeps showing your mistakes and weaknesses of the past has to go, because that’s NOT who you are anymore! When you were born again and became a New Creation IN CHRIST, the old you in Adam ceased to be, and Jesus came to live in you with all His power and ability. Start finding yourself in the scriptures, then stand up and be who you really are!
The reason some fail to receive what God has already given to them is because they’re believing what they see, hear and feel, instead of believing what God has told them in His Word. The sense realm is where the devil operates. God’s Word is spirit and TRUTH! “So, we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Cor. 4:18 HCSB).
Religious tradition teaches that God uses sickness to teach us. But if that were true, then every person seeking medical help and every doctor who treated them would be in rebellion against God for attempting to heal that afflicted one. Every hospital and medical office would be houses of rebellion. The truth is, Jesus was a revelation of God’s will as He went about HEALING all who were oppressed of the devil! (Acts 10:38)
God tells us in 2 Corinthians 6:16, “I will dwell in them and walk in them and I will be their God and they shall be my people.” You are the temple of the living God! You walk, He’s dwelling in you; you talk, He’s living in you; you experience life, He’s experiencing it through you—you are one with Him! “… he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him” (1 Cor. 6:17).
Fixing your eyes and your heart on Jesus will protect you from all the tricks and traps that this world and the devil try to set against you. A commitment to believe and yield to God’s Word, and His transformation process in you is a good place to begin. He is alive and working, and will lead you down the path He put in your heart, as well as get you off any path that isn’t for you!
The Apostle Paul said in Phil. 4:6-8 not to be anxious about anything, but that when we thankfully commit those things to the Lord, He will guard our hearts and minds with peace. He follows that up by telling us what to think on instead—whatever is true, good, virtuous, pure, loving and commendable. In other words, don’t let your thoughts keep you slogging through the gutter of worry, fear and anxiety about what MIGHT happen. Remember, the future is a phantom—it hasn’t happened! Keep your thoughts and thanksgiving in the NOW, trusting God to take care of those things you have placed in His care. Let HIM take care of the future!
The attempts the devil makes to frighten and/or oppress you are, in reality, like a toothless lion pretending he has a roar. YOU ARE IN CHRIST! The Lion of Judah lives in you, and the devil can’t touch you, no matter what your situation may look like to the contrary. This New Year, prioritize the time to get the Word of God rooted and grounded inside you, letting Jesus teach you. When you do, your understanding will be renewed and changed, and the devil will flee when YOU roar!
In many areas of life you can slip back into old patterns that you had previously freed yourself from. You wake up one day and realize you are back in the rut of doing what you were stuck in 10 or 20 years ago! This can also happen in your thinking, which ends up limiting the power of God actively working in your life. It happens when you start reading the Bible more as a history book than as a living letter to you, to be applied and acted on every day. Remember, back then it was the ministry of Jesus in a Jew. BUT NOW, it’s not just history, it has become the ministry of Jesus carried out through you!
It’s a lie from the devil that you can’t be used by God until you are perfected. You and I will be renewing our minds until the day we die, so we should never let anything hinder us from going and doing!
What is the fight of faith that all believers are called to? The fight of faith is continually choosing to think like scripture says rather than what the world is saying. It is holding onto a word from God when all else looks otherwise. It’s not getting on my knees and struggling with devils, but is rather keeping my mind and emotions focused on truth, and my words in agreement with God’s Word. It is believing what God says is the truth over what my body, my bank account or my friends may say!
