Have you ever asked yourself, “Am I doing what I’m called to do? Am I where God wants me to be? What do I want to see in my life?”

You would be amazed to know how many people live their lives without a sense of purpose or direction. They don’t know where they came from or where they’re going. Of course, if they believe in Christ they know that heaven is their eternal home, but what about this life? They find no answers in their aimless, day-to-day existence.

If you find yourself in this condition I have good news for you. You can have a new beginning! The secret is to commit yourself to change. You have committed yourself to the Lord; now allow Him to develop you. The fruits of self-discipline, joy, love and perseverance are in you.

See yourself with the image of a new creation! You are not bound to be the person of the past. The old man is dead, and now you are a resurrected person with the potential of God in you!

Over and over it is stated that the just shall live by faith. Faith is the atmosphere the Lord has chosen for people to live in.

If you were to walk into the ocean you would not live very long without a tank of oxygen. Why? You’re not equipped to live in water. People are not equipped to live in a fallen world without faith. Some may exist a little longer than others, just like some may swim in the ocean a little longer than others. All will eventually drown without oxygen in water, and all will perish without faith in this world.

Faith is the evidence of things not seen. We have been given a sixth sense to see what others can’t see, and to declare the unseen as ours. If you’re sick you have an ability to see yourself whole by faith in God’s will for all to be healed. If you’re poor, you have an ability to see beyond your poverty to a promised abundance!

In Jesus’ parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30, the servant who hid his talent had a wrong perception of his Master. He said “I knew you were a hard man.” The ruler only asked for a minimum increase. In other words, just do something with what I give you. He was not making it hard. He was making it fair. A wrong perception of God causes fear, and fear causes wrong actions that result in destruction.

God is for you! He understands the fallen environment you live in and has given you gifts to overcome in this environment:

He gave you the gift of eternal life so you would have peace of mind about your future.

He breathed into you part of Himself so you would have awareness of His presence.

He gave you the name of Jesus so you would have authority over all evil spirits.

He gave you His promises for every area of your life so you would know His best for you.

He is not hard, He is benevolent! Right thinking will bring right increase!

When I was in Moscow one winter, record setting freezing temperatures froze the pipes of the heater units and caused a real flood, as well as a dangerous freeze inside. Our director had the good idea of an old iron gas heater in the center of the main room to warm up the house until we could replace the whole system. The heater had to be turned off at night, and the first thought in the morning was how to get the heater going again. A little spark was all it took, and everyone would gather round until the warmth began to spread.

Friends, don’t start your day without a spark. Yesterday’s spark won’t do! The fire has to be rekindled every morning. What is that spark to you? You probably know how to find that java jolt for your body, but it might take a little more time to spark the divine impulse within you that will lift you to a place of expectation and peace as you deal with the day’s issues. When you are warm then everybody around you will benefit.

“Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:6).

 “Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior…” (2 Peter 3:11).

We live in Florida where bugs thrive in the moist, humid, hot weather. If you don’t place some kind of protection in and around your house, soon you’ll be sleeping with the fleas and stepping on the cockroaches.

The devil is utterly defeated and powerless, but he is an opponent looking for entrance into your home. Like the roaches, he flees when you turn on the light. Our light is the truth of God’s Word. The devil cannot exist in truth, because he is the father of lies.

We observe this truth overseas quite often. Many times we present the Gospel to people groups that have lived in false religions or atheism for a thousand years, and suddenly in a moment, they completely change when they hear truth!

The only weapon the devil has is deception, and his only entrance into a born-again believer is the mind. He is looking for you to grab hold of a lie so he can have a foothold in your life. Allow God’s Word to wash your thoughts and steer your thinking into right paths, and you won’t be tripped up by the devil!

Most people think that their job is their work. That’s just not the case in God’s Kingdom!

Paul, talking to slaves two thousand years ago, told them to serve honorably with joy and there would be great reward for them. There can’t be a worse job with less natural reward, comfort or satisfaction, yet Paul looked beyond their slavery to their work of serving the LORD. Even slave labor is rewarded if done unto the Lord and not to men.

When reflecting on Peter’s work we don’t think of his fishing skills, even though fishing was his vocation. We think of his leadership skills in the church. We don’t model ourselves after Peter by getting a job on a boat!

Thinking of Paul the tentmaker, we don’t seek wisdom on how to sew tents. He earned money to pay bills by sewing, but we think of him as a great missionary and adventurer. He didn’t consider himself a sewer of tents, as but a man of God. How do you consider yourself?

Faith is a force coming out of the spirit man. It is being convinced of a truth spoken by God even though you don’t see it yet. 

I remember an incident years ago when I was still learning how to walk by faith. I was facing a tuition payment at Bible school, and my boss had just told me she was closing the shop where I worked and there would be no paycheck! My roommate was pretty nervous about it because he had seen several students dismissed because of no payment.

It was serious yet I had the greatest peace, and when I arrived at school on the last double-due payment date I had joy in my heart.  By now my roommate thought I was going crazy, but  confidence remained fixed in my heart as I went up to the Dean of Students to explain my problem. He looked at my records and said there was no problem…that morning someone had paid in full for the semester!

It requires the utmost discipline to hold to that truth when all evidence says otherwise—in fact it’s real work! If your mind cannot stay focused, then you don’t stand much chance of seeing your faith miracle, because you will flood your thought life with doubts and fears, which will put out the light of faith.  Our work is to believe!!

There is a picture of poverty that can attach itself to your thinking. We were preaching in Tomsk, Siberia, and the hall was full of graffiti. The chairs were all broken and it smelled of poverty. I asked the pastor how long he had been meeting there and he said five years. I told him that was unacceptable! Get some paint and a hammer and make this place respectable even if you don’t own it. Poverty thinking will keep all your people bound to low expectations in life.

A new power is in operation, a new land is available for every believer—but there will be giants to face. Who cares?! If God said the land is ours, who can stop it from being ours? Well, our own expectation and unbelief can. The children of God forgot the promise of God. They forgot that God was with them. They forgot that giants are not bigger than God.

Even if you have lived in poverty all your life and haven’t made ends meet for years, you can change your past experience now by embracing the words of life and blessing contained in Scripture. When we understand that prosperity is an inheritance of the believer, then no giant of past experience can stand before us!

The devil wants to convince you that prosperity isn’t for you. If that doesn’t work, he’ll try telling you that prosperity isn’t for you today, but maybe tomorrow.

He pulls out his flip chart and starts reciting all the reasons why you don’t qualify. He wants to know what you’ll believe, so he can lock you into that belief system of limiting the unlimited God. Then he’ll recite to you the reasons for your poverty:

“God wants to keep you poor to train you.” 

“God has hidden blessings for you in poverty.” 

“Jesus was poor and you’re following His example.” 

“Poverty is a form of holiness.” 

Don’t allow yourself to land on his flip chart! Keep your spirit alive! Paul said, “Now to him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (Ephesians 3:20).

God has given you power! You are not a victim, but a VICTOR!

We are designed to fly! All our internal signals are like the cockpit of a plane equipped to give us lift in life and a sense of soaring over circumstances. All we need to do then, is release the weights that hold us.

Start with the first weight of your sin. We have the solution in the blood of Christ that speaks 24 hours a day. Sins past, sins present, and sins future are paid for by the sacrifice of the cross. That is true redemption!

As you begin to lift off you may feel the pull of other weights, like bondages, habits, and condemning thoughts. What frees you?

“For, though we are still living in the world, it is no worldly warfare that we are waging. The weapons with which we fight are not human weapons, but are mighty for God in overthrowing strong fortresses. For we overthrow arrogant ‘reckonings,’ and every stronghold that towers high in defiance of the knowledge of God, and we carry off every thought as if into slavery—into subjection to Christ” (Weymouth NT 2 Cor 10:4).

This battle to stay in flight is a battle in the thought life. Can strong thought patterns that have existed for years be removed? Can a strong tower be broken? Yes! One new thought, embraced and held fast, can transform a life!

Jesus said, “You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).

Your free flight is on the wings of truth. How do you keep lies from landing you? Satan is the ruler of darkness. He cannot operate in light. That’s why every society that has gone down a dark, evil road started with controlling the information given to its citizens. When you see a dark area in your life, don’t give it strength by trying to hide it, bring it to light.

Let truth set you free today—it’s time for take-off!