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!

The Word of God is absolutely TRUE. Almighty God, the Creator of heaven and earth, the author and giver of life—has given you His Word and has declared to you, “This is the TRUTH.” That means God’s Word is what is REAL, and therefore what our reality is meant to look like as new creations in Christ. Not what the world says, not what your past experience says, and certainly not what the enemy wants you to believe!

When the Apostle Peter was put in prison, a group of Christians met to pray for his release. Later, when they were told that Peter was knocking at the door, they didn’t believe it. They were praying, but obviously not really expecting much to happen! Expect an answer! Jesus wants to show the world that He is alive and unlimited in His ability to answer prayer. “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:24).

The life of God within us equips us to face every enemy of doubt, fear, shortage, sickness, disease and ALL of the evils of darkness, with the same calmness, confidence and presence of mind that Jesus demonstrated in the earth. Whatever came against Him, He released the supernatural in the same instant that He faced it!

Sickness, disease and all types of infirmity are rebellious to the truth that your body is the temple of God. But those infirmities can be dealt with, because there is an authority higher than they are—the name of Jesus! Sickness is an enemy every bit as much as the devil is, and as a Christ-filled believer who is one spirit with Him, you have the absolute authority to not just cast it out, but to live in divine health!

The Lord never told us to pray for the sick, He told us to HEAL the sick! In other words, He commissioned us to act in His name, to use the power that He has given us to speak with authority, and to EXPECT healing to come!