Start Your New Life Today (7 page)
If you are not satisfied with your relationship with God, there is always more to know about Him. We are to seek the Lord, not an experience, and He alone decides how and when to manifest His presence in our lives. He deals with each of us individually, but He does promise that if we seek Him, we will find Him. If we ask the Father to give us the Holy Spirit in a greater measure, He will do it.
I started that day feeling as if everything had come to a discouraging end. But that night, I went to bed knowing I was at a place of new beginnings. That is how God is. He often moves suddenly in our lives. God is faithful and ever true to His word (see Hebrews 10:23). He is no respecter of persons—what is available to one is available to all. God may not answer each of us exactly the same way, but He will answer our prayers and meet our needs.
We are to seek the Lord, not an experience, and He alone decides how and when to manifest His presence in our lives.
Our seeking must be sincere and we should always be ready to make a deeper commitment. When that is the case, God will move and send His Holy Spirit to touch each of us in a special way. Ask and believe by faith that God will do something wonderful. While you wait for Him to do it, thank Him, and offer Him praise. Open yourself up to Him and tell Him you want everything He has for you.
What are you pursuing in life? Is it money, position or popularity? I encourage you to make the pursuit of God your number one goal in life. If you seek Him with your whole heart you will find Him. If you seek Him sincerely He will reveal Himself to you. One touch or one word from God can change your life forever.
Spiritual Weapons
T
he weapons of our warfare are not of the natural realm. Second Corinthians 10:4 tells us, “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds” (
KJV
). Our weapons are spiritual because our battle is not with flesh and blood.
We have the power of God’s Word, the authority of Jesus through the use of His name, and the blood He shed for our forgiveness of sin, healing, and protection.
What’s in a name? A lot more than most of us realize. When we call a person by name we are making a declaration about that individual. By calling Sarai “Sarah,” Abraham and all of those who spoke her name were helping to change her image of herself.
Sarai was a barren woman, a woman who probably had a poor self-image because she had not been able to give her husband a child. She was an old woman, and in conventional thinking had no hope of her situation ever being any different, but God changed her name! Everyone who called her Sarah was calling her a princess. She must have begun to see herself differently. She must have felt faith rising in her heart. By calling her Sarah, or Princess, like God they were literally “call[ing] those things which be not as though they were” (Romans 4:17
KJV
).
The same is true when we speak the name of Jesus. It is not just a name, but a declaration of His character and, what He has come to do; it declares all He has accomplished. As the Gospel of John states, “whatever you ask the Father in My Name [as presenting all that I AM]” (John 15:16
AMP
). Even His name carries immeasurable power. His name represents Him.
When God appeared to Moses in a burning bush, Moses asked who he should say sent him. God responded with, “I Am.” It should be enough for us to know the Lord is with us and He is everything we need now—or ever will need.
Jesus’ name is above every other name there is. He has given us the authority to represent everything He is in His name (see Ephesians 1:21; Philippians 2:9). Jesus’ name is above all names, and by using the authority of His name we have power over the works of the devil. Jesus came to earth so we could have life more abundantly. He defeated the devil’s power with the blood He shed.
Ephesians 6 tells of the spiritual weapons of defense which include the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, the shoes of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and one offensive weapon—the sword the Spirit wields, which is the Word of God.
Jesus’ name is above every other name there is. He has given us the authority to represent everything He is in His name.
And God’s Word is more powerful than a two-edged sword, so powerful it can divide soul and spirit. A sword is a weapon with which one attacks an enemy. A sword in the sheath is of no value. It must be wielded, or taken from the sheath and appropriately used. The Word of God is the believer’s sword, and he must learn to apply it accurately.
The Holy Spirit will often protect an individual against attack even before the attack becomes evident to him if he has learned to wield the sword of the Spirit. As he does so, the Holy Spirit applies the right scripture to the problem. For example, if a person feels grouchy and impatient, scriptures on financial success won’t help him. But scriptures on kindness, love, and not being moved by feelings will strengthen him and help him walk in victory above his feelings. We can see why learning the Word of God is so important.
In my own life I find that when I am faced with problems or challenges, scriptures or Scripture-based songs will
rise within me.
I have learned to speak them out, sing them, or meditate on them even when I do not particularly know what may be transpiring in the spiritual realm. I believe the way the Spirit wields the sword is by the Holy Spirit in the believer knowing exactly what scripture to use in every situation. He knows precisely what type of attack the believer is encountering.
The Word is alive and powerful. When we speak God’s Word, it contains the power to accomplish what it says it will do.
The Word of God holds power for the believer who has understanding concerning the blood of Jesus. Under the Old Covenant, the high priest offered atonement for the people’s sins once a year. Under the New Covenant, Jesus became the only sacrifice needed for sin. Through shedding His blood on the cross, dying for our sins, and rising from the dead, He gave new life to those who believe in Him. He restored mankind’s relationship with God—the relationship lost in the Garden of Eden when mankind disobeyed God, separating us from Him.
The New Covenant shows us a new way of living. We can live by faith in Jesus and actually enjoy everything He purchased with His death and resurrection.
Jesus died to give us a new life, but the devil will try to deceive us and steal that life unless we have instruction on how to use our powerful weapons of warfare to defeat him.
Jesus has promised to be with us always (see Matthew 28:20). We can win every battle we face in life because we have the power of God on our side.
Your Soul—Mind, Will, and Emotions
Your Mind
A New Way of Thinking
W
hen God begins to deal with us about wrong behavior, it’s easy enough to say, “I can’t help it,” but it takes real courage and faith to say, “I’m ready to take responsibility and get my life straightened out.” Avoidance, or not facing issues, is a major problem. Wrong things don’t go away just because we refuse to acknowledge them. We often stuff things. We hide from them, and as long as we do, they have power over us.
For many years, I refused to deal with the sexual abuse in my childhood. My father abused me, so I left home the week I turned eighteen. I thought I was getting away from the problem by leaving, but I didn’t realize the problem had infested my soul. It was in my thoughts, attitudes, and words. It affected my actions and all my relationships. I buried my past and stuffed my stuff. We don’t have to live in the past—in fact, we are encouraged by God’s Word to forget it and let it go. However, that doesn’t mean we are free to ignore the results of it and pretend we are not hurting when we are.
I had a lot of bad behavior and negative attitudes. I also had lots of excuses. I wasn’t dealing with anything from the past; I was merely feeling sorry for myself and saying, “I can’t help it. It’s not my fault I was abused.” And it wasn’t my fault. But it was my responsibility to let God help me overcome all the bondage I was experiencing as a result of that abuse.
God began setting me free by dealing with me about all the wrong thoughts I accepted and allowed. Before my life could change, my mind had to change. At first, I didn’t even want to take responsibility for my thoughts. I thought, I can’t help what I think—things just come into my head! I eventually learned I could choose my own thoughts, and I could think things on purpose. I learned we don’t have to accept every thought that falls into our minds. We can cast down wrong ones and replace them with right ones. I learned that instead of feeling helpless over the thoughts filling my mind, I can—I must—do something positive.
We don’t have to accept every thought that falls into our minds. We can cast down wrong ones and replace them with right ones.
Much of our thinking is habitual. If we regularly think about God and good things, godly thoughts become natural. Thousands of thoughts flow through our minds every day. We may feel we have no control, but we do. Although we don’t have to use any effort to think wrong thoughts, we have to use much effort to think good thoughts. As we begin to make changes, we will have to fight a battle.
The mind is the battlefield, and Satan’s primary way of initiating his evil plan for us is through our thoughts. If we feel we have no power over our thoughts, Satan will entrap and defeat us. Instead, we can determine to think in godly ways. We constantly make choices. Where do those choices come from? They originate in our thought life. Our thoughts become our words and our actions.
God has given us the power to decide—to choose right thinking over wrong. But once we make that choice, we must continue to choose right thoughts. It’s not a once-and-for-all decision, but it does get easier. The more we fill our lives with reading the Bible, prayer, praise, and fellowship with other believers, the easier it is to continue choosing right thoughts.
It may sound as if I’m saying that trying to live the Christian life is nothing but one continuous struggle. At times we may all feel as if that’s true, but that’s only a piece of the story. Too many people want to live victorious Christian lives, but they don’t want to fight the battles. Victory, however, means winning and overcoming obstacles. We must also remember that living a life of disobedience to God is harder than choosing to live in victory. Yes, there are struggles but they are worth it in the end.
To think in the right way takes practice, and it is not always easy, nor does it feel natural for us to focus only on the good. But if we know this is the pathway to life—both now and in eternity—it’s worth the effort and the struggle to think positive thoughts.
When we’re bombarded with doubts and fears, that’s when we need to take our stand. We don’t ever want to say again, “I can’t help it.” We want to believe and say, “God is with me, and He strengthens me. God enables me to win.” The apostle Paul said it this way: “But thanks be to God, Who gives us the victory [making us conquerors] through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be firm (steadfast), immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord [always being superior, excelling, doing more than enough in the service of the Lord], knowing and being continually aware that your labor in the Lord is not futile [it is never wasted or to no purpose]” (1 Corinthians 15:57–58).
We can choose. Not only can we choose, but we do choose. By not pushing the bad thoughts from our minds, we’re allowing them to invade us and take us captive. It takes time to learn to choose good and push away evil. It won’t be easy, but we’re moving in the right direction every time we take responsibility and make right choices.
Be Careful What You Think
I
n the early days of computers, they used to say, “Garbage in, garbage out.” That was a way of explaining that the computer only worked with the data put into the machine. If we wanted different results, we needed to put in different information.
With computers, most people have no trouble grasping that concept, but when it comes to their minds, they don’t seem to get it. Or perhaps they don’t want to get it. So many things demand our attention and beg for our focus. And not just sinful things. The apostle Paul said that although everything was lawful for him, not everything was helpful (see 1 Corinthians 6:12).
Those who meditate on God’s Word are those who think— and think seriously— about what they’re reading.
If you are going to win the battle of the mind and defeat your enemy, where you focus your attention is crucial. The more you meditate on God’s Word, the stronger you’ll become and the more easily you’ll win the victories.
Too many Christians fail to realize the difference between meditating on the Bible and reading the Bible. They like to think whenever they read God’s Word, they’re absorbing the deep things of God. Too often people will read a chapter of the Bible, and when they get to the last verse, they have little idea about what they’ve read. Those who meditate on God’s Word are those who think—and think seriously—about what they’re reading. They may not put it in these words, but they are saying, “God, speak to me. Teach me. As I ponder Your Word, reveal its depth to me.”
Psalm 1 begins by defining the person who is blessed, then points out the right actions of that person. The psalmist wrote that those who meditate—and do it day and night—are like productive trees, and everything they do prospers.
The psalmist made it quite clear that meditating on and thinking about God’s Word brings results. As you ponder who God is and what He is saying to you, you will grow. It’s really that simple. Another way to put it is to say you become whatever you focus on. If you read about and allow your mind to focus on God’s love and power, His love and power operate in you.
The apostle Paul says it beautifully in Philippians 4:8: