Mind renewal/Transformation – Shinnecock Revival Center

Jesus, Our Rock

People will sometimes say, “The only constant is change.” Fortunately, this is not true. There is One who never changes: Jesus Christ always remains the same. What a comforting truth! But it’s hard to find refuge in someone we don’t know well. So let’s explore the Lord’s actions to learn more about His nature.

Jesus forgave others. He showed mercy, not judgment, to those who recognized their sin. For example, Jesus had compassion on the woman caught in adultery and stopped her death penalty with a few wise words. Then, instead of pronouncing condemnation, He said that her sins were forgiven (John 8:1-11).
Jesus comforted the hurting. He visited Mary and Martha, who were mourning the loss of their brother Lazarus (John 11:1-45).
Jesus provided for needs. After spending three days healing all kinds of disabilities, He was concerned that the large crowd hadn’t eaten. He could have sent all 4,000 away to find their own food, but He provided more than enough to satisfy their hunger (Mark 8:1-9).
Jesus interceded for His disciples. Just before He was crucified, He asked the Father to protect and sanctify His followers, which includes you and me (John 17:15, 17, 19-20).
Jesus strengthened believers and gave them power to do God’s work. In Acts 1:8, the Lord sent His disciples out to share the gospel, assuring them, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.”

Jesus still forgives, still comforts, still provides, still intercedes, and still empowers. What a blessing that we can find refuge in our amazing Lord!

Shared from In Touch Ministries.

Learning From Failure

Luke 22:31-34

Peter was a man of great faith and bold action. But as readers of the New Testament know, his brash style sometimes led him to make humiliating mistakes. More than once, this disciple had to wear the label of “miserable failure” rather than that of “obedient servant.”

We can all relate when it comes to falling short of expectations. Obedience to God is a process—something we learn. And failure is a part of our development as humble servants. When we yield to temptation or rebel against God’s authority, we realize that sin has few rewards, and even those are fleeting.

Failure is an excellent learning tool, as Peter could certainly attest. Through trial and error, he discovered that one should never take his eyes off Jesus (Matthew 14:30); God’s plan must always have priority over man’s (Matthew 16:21-23; John 18:10-11); and humility is required of believers (Luke 13:5-14). He took each of those lessons to heart and thereby grew stronger in his faith. Isn’t that Romans 8:28 in action? God caused Peter’s failures to be put to good use as training material because the disciple was eager to mature and serve.

God doesn’t reward rebellion or wrongdoing. However, by His grace, He blesses those who choose repentance and embrace chastisement as a tool for growth.

We would all prefer to grow in our faith without ever making a mistake, but we cannot deny that missteps are instructive. Failure teaches us that it is much wiser to be obedient to the Lord. That’s a lesson we all should take to heart.

Shared from In Touch Ministries.

Preparing for Battle

Read 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

An unprepared soldier won’t hold out against the enemy. Since believers are at war with Satan, we must train wisely so that our heart stays clean and our testimony remains strong. Here, then, is a Christian soldier’s guide to preparing for battle:

• Soldiers must acknowledge the war. The Bible is clear: The devil is determined to destroy the saints. For this reason, we must view our life as a battleground (1 Pet. 5:8).

• Soldiers must know the enemy. Satan’s ways and tricks are recorded in Scripture. We know that his words are deceitful—but also very tempting.

• Soldiers must undergo training. Every day believers have the opportunity to demonstrate their trust in God in at least some small way. This is preparation for facing future decisions or adversity with wisdom and courage.

• Soldiers must know how to use their weapons. The Word of God is very helpful in combating Satan, encouraging the heart, and guiding decision making. Prayer keeps us in touch with our Commander in Chief.

• Soldiers must resist propaganda. Satan will use any worldly means possible to entice us—the media and entertainment industries, educational systems, and false religions are all tools of his trade. Believers must be wise in deciding what to allow into their minds.

A prepared soldier is a believer whose mind and heart are full of the Lord and His Word. The Spirit-filled warrior will be victorious against Satan’s attack.

Can You Hear?

…I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. —Philippians 4:11-13

We are always willing to follow the Holy Spirit into blessings, but we can get “hard of hearing” if His leading means we are not going to get what we want.

After his conversion and baptism in the Holy Spirit, Paul heard from the Spirit about some of the difficulties he would be required to endure (See Acts 9:15,16). Paul went through many difficult situations, but he was also to be blessed in his lifetime. He was privileged to write a large portion of the New Testament, under divine inspiration. He had spiritual experiences so magnificent he could not even describe them. He saw visions, received angelic visitations and many other wonderful things. Yes, he was blessed, but he also had to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit when things weren’t so full of blessing. He heard and obeyed the voice of God whether it was convenient or inconvenient, comfortable or uncomfortable, to his advantage or not to his advantage.

In today’s verses, Paul wrote of being content whether he was enjoying blessings or facing struggles. In the following verse, he declared that he could do all things through Christ Who gave him strength. Paul had learned to draw on the strength of God that was in him. He was strengthened for good times, to enjoy them and keep a right attitude, and also for hard times, to endure them and keep the proper attitude in the midst of them, too.

The Holy Spirit leads us during good times and during difficult times. We can count on Him to speak to us, teach us and help us—no matter what is going on in our lives.

Fear of God

The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverse mouth I hate. —Proverbs 8:13

People are frequently confused by talk that has to do with fearing God. Scripture admonishes us to fear the Lord (2 Tim. 1:7), but at the same time, we are told that God has not given us a spirit of fear. So how are we to understand this phrase?

Fearing God does not mean always looking over your shoulder in anxiety to see what He will do next. The fear of the Lord is something positive and healthy that is clearly defined in several different scriptures. A particularly helpful one is today’s verse, where we are told, “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil.”

Many people are bothered by the thought of hating anything. Yet God says we are to hate evil because He Himself hates it in all of its forms for a simple reason—namely, the Lord sees the corrupting, destructive influence that wickedness has on us. We often fail to see any corruption at all. In fact, we sometimes look at evil and think that it’s not really too bad.

Satan’s job is to camouflage iniquity until it appears quite innocent or even attractive. In fact, the enemy is so successful in his deception that we often fall into his snares without any compunction. That is why we must learn to view things as the Lord sees them. We need to develop such a holy hatred for evil that we shun and refuse it at every turn. When we get the Lord’s view of transgression, the Devil will be stymied in his efforts to seduce us. Although it may not be a popular stance, we can choose to love the Lord and to hate evil.

Alive in Jesus

Because the Apostle Paul knew the limitations of the human mind, he used words to show and illustrate the spiritual concepts. In Romans 6:11, Paul wrote about being “alive in Christ.” He pointed out that prior to the Lord rescuing us, we were spiritually dead. But once we received Jesus as our Savior, we became alive in Him.

If we use our own human reasoning to help us grasp a spiritual truth like this one, we often become confused. Only through the teaching of the Holy Spirit can we begin to comprehend its full meaning. Besides, God’s living Word is meant to be experienced. We can know the fact that Jesus has given us a new nature, but only when we experience this new nature and the freedom it brings do we truly discover the scriptural meaning of “made alive.”

Think about the examples Paul chose: baptism and circumcision. Set aside your human logic, and depend on the Holy Spirit for understanding. Believe that you are a new creation—that the old nature is gone and has been replaced by the new one (2 Cor. 5:17). Practice what you learn. Spiritual joy will fill your being as you experience the truth of the revealed mystery of being fully alive in Christ

People Pleaser, Pt. 2

Another big indicator that we are people pleasers is that we do things out of a sense of duty instead of desire. In other words, we do something for someone because we feel obligated or because it is expected of us. We are afraid if we don’t do it, others will get mad at us or think badly of us. But doing things because we feel forced to do them or are fearful of being rejected is doing things for the wrong reason.

Now, please understand that we do not have to want to do everything we need to do. There are some things that we are required to do, and if we don’t do them, problems develop. I may not want to or feel like cleaning my house, but if I never clean it, things will become disorganized, out of order and very stressful. You and I may not want to do the laundry, but if we never do it, we will eventually run out of clothes to wear.

So there is a balance in this area that God will help us find. We just need to remove the pressure and expectations from others so that they do not feel obligated to do something for us. In the same way, we need to get out from under the pressure and expectations of others to do something for them.

God may not show you the complete picture of what He’s calling you to do before you even get started. But He will guide each small step that you take.

Let’s look at Numbers 9:18. It says, “At the Lord’s command the Israelites journeyed, and at [His] command they encamped. As long as the cloud rested upon the tabernacle they remained encamped.”

I love that they didn’t try to go where God wasn’t leading them. Just imagine how much better our lives would be if we did the same thing! You know, it’s not the end of the world when we make a mistake or get side-tracked because God will always help us ﬁnd our way back. Don’t let your mistake mark the end of the road, but rather a road to a new beginning.

Think what a beautiful thing it will be to look back at your life and remember the journey you’ve had with God; to celebrate the ways He has worked in your life. I want to share a bit of my journey with you because if you can see where I started in comparison to the ministry you see today, you’ll realize: There’s no way it could happen without God! But with God, all things are possible.

In fact, the only thing we ever have to be concerned about in life is, Am I following God?

If you feel something strongly in your heart, step out and ﬁnd out.

Don’t let other people make your decisions. Follow God’s destiny for your life. Find what’s going to fulﬁll you—and start embracing all that you’re meant to be in Christ. Choose boldness!

A Sound Mind

As you begin to claim your mind back from the enemy, he will not want to give up the place that he has had. You will have to do battle with his lies and confusion.

Your first step is to declare out loud that you will not allow any outside force to do your thinking–no man and no spirit. There are spiritual laws that demons must obey. They cannot stay where a man wills them not to stay. Your power is in the Name of Jesus, the Blood of Jesus, and the Word of God. Ask God to give you discernment of the lies of the devil.

Think about what you are thinking about. As you recognize a lie to your mind, always defend yourself out loud. That means speaking to Satan and the evil forces out loud, binding them in the Name of Jesus, and forbidding them to lie to you and to use your mind.

When you catch a lie to your mind, use this prescription regularly–and you will regain peace, your memory, restful nights, and the ability to concentrate and comprehend.

You are in a battle–you are not alone–for all of God’s people fight this same fight (Ephesians 6:12). Make up your mind not to give up! According to Colossians 3:2, set your mind on things above and keep it set! As you begin this battle, it will seem worse than ever. The reason is that the demonic powers are fighting to keep their place in your mind (and in your thinking). Call upon God’s grace in the Name of Jesus, and He will give you the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome every evil tendency fully.

Remember, regaining your mind is a process. We all fail at one time or another. God knows our weakness; that is why He gave us 1 John 1:9. Just ask for forgiveness and see the Blood of Jesus washing away your sin. Don’t give up! Continue claiming what belongs to you (your mind and your thinking belong to you), and Jesus will help you overcome.

Second Timothy 1:7 says, “For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind!”

Loving God as We are Obedient

“If they obey and serve Him, they shall spend their days in prosperity and their years in pleasantness and joy.” —Job 36:11

One of the most important aspects of our Christian life is obedience, which reveals our love for God. We simply will not make progress with God unless we are willing to obey Him. Disobedience of any kind, on any level, is sin.

I encourage you to make up your mind that you are going to be extremely, even radically, obedient to God. First John 3:22 says: “We receive from Him whatever we ask, because we [watchfully] obey His orders.” Does that mean we have to be perfect? No. It is true that God in His grace will bless those who make mistakes, but we should not be satisfied to stay the way we are. God blesses us even though we are not perfect, but at the same time, our hearts need to be longing for growth and improvement. We cannot deliberately and habitually sin and then expect God to give us a life filled with His blessings. Our attitudes need to send God a message that says: “I don’t want to stay this way. I want to grow. I want to change and I’m pressing toward that mark.”

If we do the best we can and we are sincerely sorry when we make mistakes, then we know that God will continue blessing us because He is very merciful. But, on the other hand, if we remain in disobedience, knowing we are disobeying God, and not making an honest effort to grow spiritually, then we really do not need to be blessed because if God blesses us in the midst of that attitude or behavior, we will not want to change or grow.

We hurt ourselves every time we do not obey God. But when we do obey God, we position ourselves for great blessings and become people that God can work through for His glory.

Following & Trusting the Holy Spirit

So if the Son liberates you [makes you free men], then you are really and unquestionably free. —John 8:36

I once read that we believers are like ships that God wants to turn out to sea to sail wherever the wind and waves carry us. That sea represents the freedom we have in God, and the wind is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. But as new believers, we are tied to the dock because that is the only place we can avoid becoming shipwrecked until we learn how to follow Him.

When we learn to follow those inner promptings of the Holy Spirit, we can be untied from the dock and sail the seas of life under His leadership without the fear of becoming lost.

Paul explains, We [Jewish Christians] also, when we were minors, were kept like slaves under [the rules of the Hebrew ritual and subject to] the elementary teachings of a system of external observations and regulations. But when the proper time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born subject to [the regulations of] the Law, to purchase the freedom of (to ransom, to redeem, to atone for) those who were subject to the Law, that we might be adopted and have sonship conferred upon us [and be recognized as God’s sons]. And because you [really] are [His] sons, God has sent the [Holy] Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba (Father)! Father! (Galatians 4:3-6)

When the Spirit of God is in you, the law of God is written in your heart. You no longer have to memorize the law because you can follow the leadership of the Holy Ghost, who will lead you in the right direction.