Renewing Our Mind

Read: Ephesians 6:10-18

Read this verse very carefully:
"The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure."

- 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NLT)

Many people misinterpret this verse by saying that God will not give us more trials than we can bear. Clearly, this is not addressing hardships, but is about the temptation to sin. Every recognized version of the Bible, which you read will give you this same word…tempted.

God does not diminish our trials, because He uses trials to work character in our life (James 1:3). He does, however, strengthen us to resist the temptation to sin. He wants us to walk away from temptation as victors, rather than to succumb to Satan’s trickery as his victims.

Temptation is common to all of mankind (1 Corinthians 10:13) and does not affect our Salvation. The first unholy thought is not a sin; it is a temptation. It is Satan’s tool to draw you away from spiritual pursuits. We only sin when we agree with and entertain those ungodly thoughts and quests. When we are tempted, God always gives us His wisdom to see right through Satan’s lies, if we will just take the time to pay attention.

One way we withstand temptation is by renewing our mind (Romans 12:2) with the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). Another way to outsmart the devil is by pursuing eternal matters rather than allowing issues in the earthly realm to consume us. This is easier said than done.

Since we live in this world, its shackles continually pull us back to earth. Some people are spiritually immature and do not recognize Satan’s wiles. They give in to a wider range of fleshly, degenerate, fraudulent behavior that ends up bringing God’s judgment on their lives.

Others are less overtly sinful; yet, they are still excessively preoccupied with worldly pursuits. Some people are just idle gossips or full of anxiety or prideful about their own accomplishments. These are all sins, however, that God always gives us a way to escape from, if we will listen to His still, small voice.

If we make a commitment to follow Christ, then withstanding temptation gets easier every day. As we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, read the Bible, listen to the preaching of God’s Word, worship with fellow Christians and share with others what Christ is doing in our life, then Satan will find very little that he can use to tempt us to sin. This is especially true if we renew our mind by putting on the mind of Christ (Psalm 27:11).

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank You for the tools You give us to live a faithful life, which is victorious over sin. When Satan attacks, prepare us to do battle using Your armor (Ephesians 6: 11-14) as our defense.

Thought for the Day:

Our defense against temptation is to be fully dressed for battle (Ephesians 6:10-18).

Victim to Victor

Read: Romans 8: 31-39

“Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.- Romans 8:34

Did you grow up and/or are you living in an abusive situation? Are you living in a perpetual downhill spiral that never seems to end? It is very easy to model our current life on the basis of our history and to choose to believe that our past and present is our “reality”. To be stuck in this victimized thinking, however, will continue to create negative energy in our soul and it will perpetuate the idea that we cannot help but to be victimized by life and others.

There is a huge need in most people today to be liberated in our beliefs, thinking, words and actions by the Word of God. Do you know how fortunate we truly are? God gave us the wonderful ability to make decisions. In reality we are never truly stuck. We can decide to create a new life and move forward no matter what our “reality” looks like. It may seem that we are powerless, but the truth is: we are actually more than conquerors (Romans 8:37).

Even when you have a supportive family and friends, at some level you know that you are the only person who can get you out of the negative spiral in which you are living. This fact can feel terrifying. After all, aren’t you so grieved and broken already that the thought of getting strong and motivated and making balanced and authoritative decisions feels about as feasible as climbing Mount Everest without any equipment?

When we are shattered by hurt and loss, anything new, self-confronting and empowering seems light years away from our capabilities to achieve. However, the Good News is that when we are weak, God in us is strong for us. We can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. Even if we are terrified and have to crawl along, or curl up in a corner somewhere and grieve for a while, Christ is waiting to help us to find the victory.

When we finally understand that God has a plan for our life, we realize that we really do want to hold onto and honor the life He has given us. Through His power, we can let down the walls within us that keep our shattered soul from being healed and set free.

Christ gives us the victory to know that our life CAN change for the better. This is how we overcome depression and defeat. This fact keeps us from getting sidetracked and drawn down by the upheavals and chaos of our circumstances and the people in our lives.

Humility is incredibly empowering and transformational. Humility admits that we cannot, but God can. The humility to admit that we are powerless leads us to surrender to God. Our most important function in our road to recovery is to submit to God as He develops His character and fruit within us.

It isn’t until we are forced to our knees that we finally understand God’s purpose in all the pain we experienced throughout our lifetime. As we release the pain of the past and survive, we start to realize that we truly will thrive through Christ in us. Then, He gives us the potential to experience the aspects of our life that our heart truly desires.

The key is to create a solid sense of Who We Are in Christ (see former post on this blog). Then regardless of what is occurring in our outer world we have these truths filling our personal concept of who we are. Jesus is our inner security, anchor, direction and purpose in life. Godly principles do not react to anything – they remain constant and consistent. Life evens out and things flow more smoothly. This strongly formed core of values is consistent in the face of outside influences. Life may be changeable, but Biblical values and principles are timeless and unchangeable.

This inner security comes from knowing our true identity in Christ and having healthy self-worth based on the fact that you are a child of God. With this fact firmly planted in our mind, we know that we have the ability to emotionally, and if necessary, to physically detach from situations outside of our self that we have no control over. This gives us a firm mental, emotional and spiritual foundation within our self.

Since Christ lives within us, Godly values and principles become our ultimate reality. All of our experiences are viewed through this lens, and our world completely changes. Even our vision of life, circumstances and ourselves begin to take on a new shape and are viewed from an eternal rather than an earthly perspective. We no longer react to life, but we act according to the direction of His Spirit within us.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus help us to submit our past, present and future to You, one moment at a time. Help us to view life from Your perspective and to love the things You love and to turn away from the things You despise. Help us to make Jesus the center of our focus and to walk in Your joy and peace throughout our life.

Thought for the Day:
But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. - 1 Corinthians 15:57

Renewing Our Mind

Read: Ephesians 6:10-18

"The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure." - 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NLT)

Many people misinterpret this verse by saying that God will not give us more trials than we can bear. Clearly, this is not addressing trials, but is about the temptation to sin. God does not diminish our trials, because He uses trials to work character in our life (James 1:3). He does, however, strengthen us to resist the temptation to sin. He wants us to walk away from temptation as victors rather than victims.

Temptation is common to all of mankind and does not affect our Salvation. The first unholy thought is not a sin; it is a temptation. It is Satan’s tool to draw you away from spiritual pursuits. We only sin when we agree with and entertain those ungodly thoughts and quests. When we are tempted, God always gives us His wisdom to see right through Satan’s lies.

One way we withstand temptation is by renewing our mind (Romans 12:2) with the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). We start pursuing eternal matters rather than allowing issues in the earthly realm to consume us. This is easier said than done.

Since we live in this worldly realm, its shackles continually pull us back to earth. Some people are spiritually immature and give in to a wide range of fleshly driven, decadent, corrupt behavior that brings God’s judgment on their lives. Others are less overtly sinful; yet, are still excessively busy with worldly pursuits. Some are even idle gossips or full of anxiety or prideful about their own accomplishments.

If we make a commitment to follow Christ, then withstanding temptation gets easier every day. As we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, read the Bible and listen to the preaching of God’s Word, worship with fellow Christians and share with others what Christ is doing in our life, then we renew our mind by puting on the mind of Christ (Psalm 27:11).

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank you for the tools You give us to live a life, which is victorious over sin. When Satan attacks, prepare us to do battle using Your armor (Ephesians 6: 11-14) as our defense.

Thought for the Day:

Our defense against temptation is to be fully dressed for battle.