A Time for War: A Battle for Your Mind
(Please refer to https://bebrainfit.com/human-brain-facts/ for brain facts)
A Time for War Week 4
The Battle for the Mind
Scriptures:
Romans 12:1-2
Conformed: “Fashioned After” “Assume the form of”
World: “The present age, state, and time of worldly operations”
Transformed: “form a habit” (habits which are holy and healthy) “To set in motion habits that alter thinking and life style”
Renewing: “To develop as new through the power of God”
Mind: “The reasoning or intellect of a person”
Summary:
As followers of Jesus we are to be a living sacrifice to God. This is only possible if our minds are alienated from worldly ideologies and transformed by making your mind new through the power of God. The transformation of mind gives us the ability to discern the good will of God. The question we need to ask is “How does the mind be renewed and not conformed”?
Ephesians 4:21-24
Summary:
What is bad about the mind that we have? Why must it be put off, captured, and renewed? The sin we are born with has wrecked our brains and the fallen “I” and Satan have or are ruling it. Our minds have built up fortresses that must be turn down. These fortresses hold every thought and imagination that is against God. In order to transform our minds and living a battle must rage. This means the transforming of the mind is not an easy task. Spiritual weapons must be employed to win the battle of the mind.
What is bad about the mind that we have? Why must it be put off, captured, and renewed? The sin we are born with has wrecked our brains and the fallen “I” and Satan have or are ruling it. Our minds have built up fortresses that must be turn down. These fortresses hold every thought and imagination that is against God. In order to transform our minds and living a battle must rage. This means the transforming of the mind is not an easy task. Spiritual weapons must be employed to win the battle of the mind.
A Prized Possession
Because our minds are prized possessions to us and God Satan wants to rule and ruin them.
Jesus died and rose again to redeem and restore your full personal including your mind. Even before redemption your mind is/was a prized possession to God, hence the cross of Christ and His suffering to liberate your mind. The mind is the seat of reasoning, emotion, physical activity, dreaming, and imagination. If you capture the mind you capture the person. The mind exists to bring glory to God. The mind reasons what the body should do from the management of time, relationships, and habits of the body. The mind is so powerful, quick, useful, and magnificent that Satan wants to destroy it and God wants to free it. The body is the temple and the mind the seat of worship in the temple. It is a very prized possession!
Over Spiritualizing
My fear is when talking about the mind in church it is easy to over spiritualize the warfare. That is, we replace the reality of the warfare for the mind with an idea of warfare of the mind. Preaching on the mind me be heard like this, “prayer is the right thing for the mind, and not eating right” or “attend church, but sleep has little to do with it” or “serve others, but exercise and drinking water does not help with the battle of the mind” This is a half-truth. The whole truth is taking care of your body and doing that which is holy before God are both needed in the battle for the mind. Your physical body, the temple of God, has much to do with your mind, the seat of worship. What you eat and drink can effective your mental state greatly. This means it affects your state of worship to God. The body and spirit of a man walks hand in hand. The battle for our mind will be observed as a whole using the physical and spiritual elements. You pray with your lips, listen to God’s word with your ears, serve God’s and his people with your feet and hands, and it is all accomplished with your physical body. When we over spiritualize the battle of the mind we can stick the body unchanged in one corner and fight an imaginary battle that will never be one with the mind if we are not cautious.
Weapons in the Warfare of the Mind:
Now that we see that the battle for the mind is a physical and spiritual battle that is fought together as one and not simply a one-sided fight one way or the other, we must ask what is available to us to fight the battle of the mind with.
We have two enemies. The fallen ego and Satan. These two desires to cripple the mind from bringing glory to God through personal and public worship. How many edifices, songs, cures, discoveries, and communities could be built for the glory of God and sake of man if the mind of man was left untouched by the enemy? Our minds are in a constant battle. Strongholds have been built and reinforced by the enemy to keep us from acknowledging who God is and patterning our lives in a healthy and holy way that reflects God’s image. What the church appears to be originates in what it thinks. What we think is influenced by sin. Sin must be dealt with if the appearance and influence of the church is to reach max potential. The weapons we need to fight a good fight for the mind is within our reach. God has equipped us with the weapons that can destroy the strongholds of the mind and bring unholy thoughts into submission to the will of God. Prayer, giving, fasting, service to God and others, right food, and hydration, the word of God to know what is holy for the body and mind, and the great gift that makes all these things powerful Jesus Christ and His cross.
The Road Less Traveled:
Did you know that you lay paths in the mind and then travel them often?
In 1916 Robert Frost’s poem the Road Not Taken was published. He ends the poem like this
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
What laid before the traveler was as path cleared by travelers who had come before. Travelers going from point a to b had all agreed upon a path, but the traveler in Frost’s poem chose one that had not a path, and that made all the difference. We, through choice, lay down paths in our brains. Our brain knows how to get from point a to b by the path most traveled. Addictions and habits travel these paths. The brain is not looking to take the road less traveled, it is looking to get from point a to b in a familiar way.
Eating right, exercise is hard, staying commit to your spouse is hard, breaking addictions are hard, turning off the T.V. is hard because we have traveled the same paths for so long the brain does not want us going another way, or maybe it doesn’t know how to go another way. Young children and adolescents need to know you are laying the paths your brain will walk for many years to come. Your ideas of a “good time” become habits of force. When the road you have been traveling or the road you are laying in your mind is sinful its time to go to war against false paths of joy, spiritual awakening, relationships and physical health.
Attack Angles
The mind is being attacked from all angles. The spiritual is one. The mind is fallen and turns on itself in many ways. One angle of attack is within. It has been said on average 70% of our thought life is negative. Sin has distorted everything that enters the mind. The mind is turning the good gifts of God into negative ungodly things. Not only is sin polluting the mind, the consequences of sin, disease and death are working hard to cripple the mind. When the mind is crippled true worship in the mind and body is halted.
Another angle of attack is what we put in our body or what we do not put in our body. Many people around the world do not have adequate food or water this is by satanic design. When missionaries go to poverty-stricken parts of the world food and water are on the list of top priorities to bring to the people the lack of food and water makes it hard, if not impossible, for the mind to properly function.
The mind is being attacked from all angles. The spiritual is one. The mind is fallen and turns on itself in many ways. One angle of attack is within. It has been said on average 70% of our thought life is negative. Sin has distorted everything that enters the mind. The mind is turning the good gifts of God into negative ungodly things. Not only is sin polluting the mind, the consequences of sin, disease and death are working hard to cripple the mind. When the mind is crippled true worship in the mind and body is halted.
Another angle of attack is what we put in our body or what we do not put in our body. Many people around the world do not have adequate food or water this is by satanic design. When missionaries go to poverty-stricken parts of the world food and water are on the list of top priorities to bring to the people the lack of food and water makes it hard, if not impossible, for the mind to properly function.
American Christians have the resources to eat and drink plenty, but we eat and drink plenty of the wrong thing. Wrong foods cause the stomach to affect the brain. Moods, depression, and anxiety can increase with the wrong diet. When your body is 2% of more dehydrated your brain is affected negatively in the area of memory, mood, pain sensitivity, and motor skills. It is important to understand that exercise and sleep affects mental stability and quality of mental state.
A third angle of attack is what your body is around. Your mental state is hindered or helped by the environment. Christians are told to encourage themselves and each other in spiritual songs and hymns. They are to add quality to their environment hence the analogy of being salt and light. When your mind is unhealthy spiritually or physically then worship can be hindered mentally.
A third angle of attack is what your body is around. Your mental state is hindered or helped by the environment. Christians are told to encourage themselves and each other in spiritual songs and hymns. They are to add quality to their environment hence the analogy of being salt and light. When your mind is unhealthy spiritually or physically then worship can be hindered mentally.
How to win the battle of the mind-
Proposition: E/c can win the battle for their mind daily
Transition: By utilizing the following weapons in their battle
Proposition: E/c can win the battle for their mind daily
Transition: By utilizing the following weapons in their battle
We will divide our weapons into sections much like the military has surface, water, and air strategies.
The physical
The Connector
The Spiritual
How can we be and do the things that Paul writes for us to be and do? First, understand that Paul is writing to blood washed, Spirit filled, Jesus followers. We are not hoping that we can erase our past desires, but we are aiming to bring them into captivity through Jesus. We want to put thoughts and actions against God into submission. The paths we have trodden mentally will not grow over. Once a path has been laid it tends to stay, but our desires, habits, addictions, and ways of life can be overpowered by that which is Greater and Jesus is greater. An example of this is someone who has an addiction to stealing. The thief heads out at night over joyed that he will be able to take what is not his. He has selected a house where a family is out of town. He picks the lock and enters the back door. As soon as he makes it to the living room he smells the scent of dog. Then in the moon light though a window he sees the image of a full-grown Rottweiler. It is at that very moment that his impulse and addiction to steal is taken captive and he flees! When we behold that which is greater than our sin and impulses the desire to sin flees. We do not overpower sin on our own, but by grace do we stand.
I. The Physical
I. The Physical
Food- A happy stomach makes for a happy mind.
Drink- A hydrated brain is a happy brain
Sleep- A rested brain is a rejoicing brain
Exercise- an exercised brain is an ecstatic brain
Senses- A brain that hears, sees, smells, touches, and taste healthy and holy things is a satisfied brain.
When all these things are set right the mood to learn about God, worship God, and energy to serve God are peaked in the mind. Thinking through problems in daily life and reasoning out decisions are affected if these physical things are not overseen correctly. Research shows that eating and drinking things with additives reduce our I.Q. by an average of 14 pts. Compound this with other effects of inadequate oversight of our bodies and we see the difficulties of growing in Christ mentally to be a big problem mentally
Question: Are you giving your mind the best chance to succeed at worshiping God and living for Him?
II. The Connector
The first weapons we have are physically in front of us. There are physical things that we can do that will help us be renewed and bring strongholds of sin into captivity, but these things are not easy, and we need something to connect us to the Will to do them. We need God to avoid temptation and do right with our temple and mind. We need a power source bigger than ourselves. We are fragile and lazy creatures that are led by natural urges to easily. We need a good Shepherd to lead us from temptation and to still waters. And thank God, we have a way to reach Him and that way is through Prayer.
What to pray about- Prayer is mighty weapon to pull down strong holds. When you pray, ask God to grant you wisdom and desire to get things right physically. Pray that your physical life will bring glory to God. Ask for help to watch, hear, and touch that which is holy. Ask for the will power to make your mind as strong as possible. Pray that you will be a living sacrifice.
Question: Do you specifically pray to do right with your physical body?
III. The Spiritual
Ephesians 6:12 and 2nd Corinthians 10:3- We battle the flesh, but not with the flesh. Over powering the pattern of thought in our heads are a must if we are to worship God in a deep and filling way. Conquering Satan and the flesh is not going to happen by merely eating, drinking, sleeping, and exercising right. The battle is going to be fought and won on a spiritual level, but remember the physical and spiritual walk hand and hand. We only can wrestle Satan and the flesh to the ground with spiritual weapons. Here is what God has equipped us with spiritually in Christ:
Faith- Faith is the weapon that tells us to believe and obey God’s word over our own reason or standard. We must tell our minds to believe and obey God first. When this happens the fortress of the enemy is surrounded.
Self-Control- This describes the fruit of the Spirit produced in believers. Employing self-control is like a cannon to the walls of the enemy. If we control our desires then the walls of the enemy begin to crack
The Gospel- The mind needs a daily dose of the gospel in word and song. When we behold the beauty of God in the gospel our old ways are over powered for Jesus is the ONLY WAY!
Fear-I have listed fear as a spiritual weapon because fearing God above all other fears puts the enemy in shackles. I have faith that God is real and just. He is a rewarder of them that seek Him. My faith in God helps me accomplish things in life that I could not by myself. Myself is controlled by the faith I have in God. All the while the Gospel of Jesus is powering me to live holy by example. I know through the Gospel who Jesus is and how He lives, therefore I know how I should live. And then finally I fear what I know. God is true and just and wicked deeds do not go unpunished. If I abuse my temple it will be destroyed. If I disobey God I will be disciplined. Holy fear is a great weapon. The fear of God is so great you can look at the enemy and have no fear to waste on them. I will fight my addiction daily because I both love and fear God. I will be faithful to my children and wife because I love and fear God. I will take care of my temple because I love and fear God. Satan is scary, but has he seen God? I cannot be bullied into sin because I fear God. I believe God and I fear God walk hand in hand. If I believe that God is as He says then I fear Him with holy fear. I like my addiction, I like my life style, I like my sin, I like the way I eat, and all these natural urges and desires I like, but nothing is more beautiful and fearful than God. I will let the grace of God cause me to fear that I may be saved from sin to the glory of God! Fear the Lord and reverence Him as Holy!!
Question: What weapons are you employing in the war for your mind?
WatchNotesDownloadDateTitle
- Jan 28, 2018A Time for War: A Battle for Your Mind
A Time for War: A Battle for Your Mind(Please refer to https://bebrainfit.com/human-brain-facts/ for brain facts)
A Time for War Week 4
The Battle for the Mind
Scriptures:
Romans 12:1-2
Conformed: “Fashioned After” “Assume the form of”
World: “The present age, state, and time of worldly operations”
Transformed: “form a habit” (habits which are holy and healthy) “To set in motion habits that alter thinking and life style”
Renewing: “To develop as new through the power of God”
Mind: “The reasoning or intellect of a person”
Summary:
As followers of Jesus we are to be a living sacrifice to God. This is only possible if our minds are alienated from worldly ideologies and transformed by making your mind new through the power of God. The transformation of mind gives us the ability to discern the good will of God. The question we need to ask is “How does the mind be renewed and not conformed”?Ephesians 4:21-24Summary:
What is bad about the mind that we have? Why must it be put off, captured, and renewed? The sin we are born with has wrecked our brains and the fallen “I” and Satan have or are ruling it. Our minds have built up fortresses that must be turn down. These fortresses hold every thought and imagination that is against God. In order to transform our minds and living a battle must rage. This means the transforming of the mind is not an easy task. Spiritual weapons must be employed to win the battle of the mind.
A Prized Possession
Because our minds are prized possessions to us and God Satan wants to rule and ruin them.
Jesus died and rose again to redeem and restore your full personal including your mind. Even before redemption your mind is/was a prized possession to God, hence the cross of Christ and His suffering to liberate your mind. The mind is the seat of reasoning, emotion, physical activity, dreaming, and imagination. If you capture the mind you capture the person. The mind exists to bring glory to God. The mind reasons what the body should do from the management of time, relationships, and habits of the body. The mind is so powerful, quick, useful, and magnificent that Satan wants to destroy it and God wants to free it. The body is the temple and the mind the seat of worship in the temple. It is a very prized possession!
Over Spiritualizing
My fear is when talking about the mind in church it is easy to over spiritualize the warfare. That is, we replace the reality of the warfare for the mind with an idea of warfare of the mind. Preaching on the mind me be heard like this, “prayer is the right thing for the mind, and not eating right” or “attend church, but sleep has little to do with it” or “serve others, but exercise and drinking water does not help with the battle of the mind” This is a half-truth. The whole truth is taking care of your body and doing that which is holy before God are both needed in the battle for the mind. Your physical body, the temple of God, has much to do with your mind, the seat of worship. What you eat and drink can effective your mental state greatly. This means it affects your state of worship to God. The body and spirit of a man walks hand in hand. The battle for our mind will be observed as a whole using the physical and spiritual elements. You pray with your lips, listen to God’s word with your ears, serve God’s and his people with your feet and hands, and it is all accomplished with your physical body. When we over spiritualize the battle of the mind we can stick the body unchanged in one corner and fight an imaginary battle that will never be one with the mind if we are not cautious.
Weapons in the Warfare of the Mind:
Now that we see that the battle for the mind is a physical and spiritual battle that is fought together as one and not simply a one-sided fight one way or the other, we must ask what is available to us to fight the battle of the mind with.
We have two enemies. The fallen ego and Satan. These two desires to cripple the mind from bringing glory to God through personal and public worship. How many edifices, songs, cures, discoveries, and communities could be built for the glory of God and sake of man if the mind of man was left untouched by the enemy? Our minds are in a constant battle. Strongholds have been built and reinforced by the enemy to keep us from acknowledging who God is and patterning our lives in a healthy and holy way that reflects God’s image. What the church appears to be originates in what it thinks. What we think is influenced by sin. Sin must be dealt with if the appearance and influence of the church is to reach max potential. The weapons we need to fight a good fight for the mind is within our reach. God has equipped us with the weapons that can destroy the strongholds of the mind and bring unholy thoughts into submission to the will of God. Prayer, giving, fasting, service to God and others, right food, and hydration, the word of God to know what is holy for the body and mind, and the great gift that makes all these things powerful Jesus Christ and His cross.
The Road Less Traveled:
Did you know that you lay paths in the mind and then travel them often?
In 1916 Robert Frost’s poem the Road Not Taken was published. He ends the poem like this
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”What laid before the traveler was as path cleared by travelers who had come before. Travelers going from point a to b had all agreed upon a path, but the traveler in Frost’s poem chose one that had not a path, and that made all the difference. We, through choice, lay down paths in our brains. Our brain knows how to get from point a to b by the path most traveled. Addictions and habits travel these paths. The brain is not looking to take the road less traveled, it is looking to get from point a to b in a familiar way.Eating right, exercise is hard, staying commit to your spouse is hard, breaking addictions are hard, turning off the T.V. is hard because we have traveled the same paths for so long the brain does not want us going another way, or maybe it doesn’t know how to go another way. Young children and adolescents need to know you are laying the paths your brain will walk for many years to come. Your ideas of a “good time” become habits of force. When the road you have been traveling or the road you are laying in your mind is sinful its time to go to war against false paths of joy, spiritual awakening, relationships and physical health.Attack Angles
The mind is being attacked from all angles. The spiritual is one. The mind is fallen and turns on itself in many ways. One angle of attack is within. It has been said on average 70% of our thought life is negative. Sin has distorted everything that enters the mind. The mind is turning the good gifts of God into negative ungodly things. Not only is sin polluting the mind, the consequences of sin, disease and death are working hard to cripple the mind. When the mind is crippled true worship in the mind and body is halted.
Another angle of attack is what we put in our body or what we do not put in our body. Many people around the world do not have adequate food or water this is by satanic design. When missionaries go to poverty-stricken parts of the world food and water are on the list of top priorities to bring to the people the lack of food and water makes it hard, if not impossible, for the mind to properly function.American Christians have the resources to eat and drink plenty, but we eat and drink plenty of the wrong thing. Wrong foods cause the stomach to affect the brain. Moods, depression, and anxiety can increase with the wrong diet. When your body is 2% of more dehydrated your brain is affected negatively in the area of memory, mood, pain sensitivity, and motor skills. It is important to understand that exercise and sleep affects mental stability and quality of mental state.
A third angle of attack is what your body is around. Your mental state is hindered or helped by the environment. Christians are told to encourage themselves and each other in spiritual songs and hymns. They are to add quality to their environment hence the analogy of being salt and light. When your mind is unhealthy spiritually or physically then worship can be hindered mentally.How to win the battle of the mind-
Proposition: E/c can win the battle for their mind daily
Transition: By utilizing the following weapons in their battle
We will divide our weapons into sections much like the military has surface, water, and air strategies.
The physical
The ConnectorThe SpiritualHow can we be and do the things that Paul writes for us to be and do? First, understand that Paul is writing to blood washed, Spirit filled, Jesus followers. We are not hoping that we can erase our past desires, but we are aiming to bring them into captivity through Jesus. We want to put thoughts and actions against God into submission. The paths we have trodden mentally will not grow over. Once a path has been laid it tends to stay, but our desires, habits, addictions, and ways of life can be overpowered by that which is Greater and Jesus is greater. An example of this is someone who has an addiction to stealing. The thief heads out at night over joyed that he will be able to take what is not his. He has selected a house where a family is out of town. He picks the lock and enters the back door. As soon as he makes it to the living room he smells the scent of dog. Then in the moon light though a window he sees the image of a full-grown Rottweiler. It is at that very moment that his impulse and addiction to steal is taken captive and he flees! When we behold that which is greater than our sin and impulses the desire to sin flees. We do not overpower sin on our own, but by grace do we stand.
I. The Physical
Food- A happy stomach makes for a happy mind.
Drink- A hydrated brain is a happy brain
Sleep- A rested brain is a rejoicing brain
Exercise- an exercised brain is an ecstatic brain
Senses- A brain that hears, sees, smells, touches, and taste healthy and holy things is a satisfied brain.
When all these things are set right the mood to learn about God, worship God, and energy to serve God are peaked in the mind. Thinking through problems in daily life and reasoning out decisions are affected if these physical things are not overseen correctly. Research shows that eating and drinking things with additives reduce our I.Q. by an average of 14 pts. Compound this with other effects of inadequate oversight of our bodies and we see the difficulties of growing in Christ mentally to be a big problem mentally
Question: Are you giving your mind the best chance to succeed at worshiping God and living for Him?II. The Connector
The first weapons we have are physically in front of us. There are physical things that we can do that will help us be renewed and bring strongholds of sin into captivity, but these things are not easy, and we need something to connect us to the Will to do them. We need God to avoid temptation and do right with our temple and mind. We need a power source bigger than ourselves. We are fragile and lazy creatures that are led by natural urges to easily. We need a good Shepherd to lead us from temptation and to still waters. And thank God, we have a way to reach Him and that way is through Prayer.
What to pray about- Prayer is mighty weapon to pull down strong holds. When you pray, ask God to grant you wisdom and desire to get things right physically. Pray that your physical life will bring glory to God. Ask for help to watch, hear, and touch that which is holy. Ask for the will power to make your mind as strong as possible. Pray that you will be a living sacrifice.
Question: Do you specifically pray to do right with your physical body?III. The SpiritualEphesians 6:12 and 2nd Corinthians 10:3- We battle the flesh, but not with the flesh. Over powering the pattern of thought in our heads are a must if we are to worship God in a deep and filling way. Conquering Satan and the flesh is not going to happen by merely eating, drinking, sleeping, and exercising right. The battle is going to be fought and won on a spiritual level, but remember the physical and spiritual walk hand and hand. We only can wrestle Satan and the flesh to the ground with spiritual weapons. Here is what God has equipped us with spiritually in Christ:
Faith- Faith is the weapon that tells us to believe and obey God’s word over our own reason or standard. We must tell our minds to believe and obey God first. When this happens the fortress of the enemy is surrounded.
Self-Control- This describes the fruit of the Spirit produced in believers. Employing self-control is like a cannon to the walls of the enemy. If we control our desires then the walls of the enemy begin to crack
The Gospel- The mind needs a daily dose of the gospel in word and song. When we behold the beauty of God in the gospel our old ways are over powered for Jesus is the ONLY WAY!
Fear-I have listed fear as a spiritual weapon because fearing God above all other fears puts the enemy in shackles. I have faith that God is real and just. He is a rewarder of them that seek Him. My faith in God helps me accomplish things in life that I could not by myself. Myself is controlled by the faith I have in God. All the while the Gospel of Jesus is powering me to live holy by example. I know through the Gospel who Jesus is and how He lives, therefore I know how I should live. And then finally I fear what I know. God is true and just and wicked deeds do not go unpunished. If I abuse my temple it will be destroyed. If I disobey God I will be disciplined. Holy fear is a great weapon. The fear of God is so great you can look at the enemy and have no fear to waste on them. I will fight my addiction daily because I both love and fear God. I will be faithful to my children and wife because I love and fear God. I will take care of my temple because I love and fear God. Satan is scary, but has he seen God? I cannot be bullied into sin because I fear God. I believe God and I fear God walk hand in hand. If I believe that God is as He says then I fear Him with holy fear. I like my addiction, I like my life style, I like my sin, I like the way I eat, and all these natural urges and desires I like, but nothing is more beautiful and fearful than God. I will let the grace of God cause me to fear that I may be saved from sin to the glory of God! Fear the Lord and reverence Him as Holy!!
Question: What weapons are you employing in the war for your mind? - Jan 21, 2018A Time for War: A Battle for Your Relationships
- Jan 14, 2018A Time for War: A Battle for Your Body
A Time for War: A Battle for Your BodyA Time for War
“The Battle for the Body”1st Corinthians 6:9-20A Word of Encouragement
Good morning, it is my hope and my joy to know that the battle for our time has begun in Christ. Though you may have made little steps in the past week to win the battle it is still progress worth celebrating. Some of you began devotions with your family, started praying, listening to messages, reading scripture, cutting back of social media and T.V. time, and began to look for ways to better use your time for the glory of God and sake of man. Even if you have not taken a step physically, if the idea of how to rearrange your time to make the most of it, then a victory has been won on some level. I trust each of us has a way to go to fully reclaim our time, but the battle has begun and that is better than the alternative of being captive by the will of Satan. I pray that you continue in the battle for your God given time. It is valuable, and it is worth fighting for. I also want to give a reminder that you can win your battles with Christ as the High Captain of your life. You can do all things through Christ and you are more than a conquer through Him and also where sin abounds the grace to wage war with sin abounds much the more. Therefore, we are well equipped and without excuse. You can win, so please keep winning your time for the Lord’s glory and man’s sake.The Next Battle:
As we move on to our next battle let us not forget our to enemies, the “flesh” (Our fallen Ego that seeks to gratify itself at all cost) and Satan (The leader of wickedness). There is something that each person in this room has in common. It is true we differ on about every level of our being. Height, weight, eye color, body shape, hair color and length, and skin tone. But the one thing we all have in common is we have a BODY. I would also speculate we like our bodies. Sure, there are aspects about your body you aren’t crazy about, but overall, we love our bodies, and rightfully so for they are a great gift of God. Here is what we know about our physical bodies from scripture.
Your Body is in the image of God (Genesis 1:27)-Male or female are both in the image of God. This is why marriage between male and female is correct scripture. The two together proceeded forth from God and when united show a great image of God and the sacred relationship between Jesus and His Church.
Your Body will be transformed or changed (Philippians 3:21, 1st Corinthians 15:51-52)-The bodies we now have are marred by sin, when we follow Jesus as Savior we are following Him with the promise that our bodies will be transformed to the likeness of His glorious body. Salvation from a sin curse body and a sin cursed world awaits all believers in Jesus.
Your Body is to be sanctified and presented to God as a living sacrifice (1st Thessalonians 5:23 and Romans 12:1)-Our personal works do not save, but God who saves also works in us to do His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). This work He does is through His Spirit, which convicts of sin and righteousness (John 16:8). The Spirit of God works 24/7 to convict us of things, which do not glorify God, and encourages toward doing what pleases God. The goal of such work is to make us a living sacrifice, or the highest quality in the fold for the glory of God.
Your Body is a temple (1st Corinthians 6:19)-Your Body is a temple in the image of God that is being sanctified and awaiting a full-scale transformation. Your body is a place of worship. The Temple that Solomon built in the Old Testament was beautiful on the outside, but all the true splendor was on the inside. This is how it is to be with us. Our bodies are to be attractive (not as the world envisions attraction) on the outside and filled with enhanced worship to God on the inside. The outside attraction of our bodies is to be a physical mirroring of what takes place on the inside. This is what Peter had in mind in 1st Peter 3:3-5. A Temple that is inviting and worship within that is filling.
All these things about our body are amazing and beautiful. We were formed, imaged, redeemed, sanctified, and made a temple by God for a glorious purpose. Our bodies will be changed and we will live in a glorious physical body with Jesus throughout eternity. It is a gold mine of beauty and value to God and us, yet this great value makes it a great target to the enemy. Your body and the worship in it can give God glory and bring others to do so as well, Satan will not allow this without a full out war on your Image bearing self. If Satan lets you go about in the brightness of God’s glory, then many will come to know His enemy (God). Satan must fight within and without to keep your body in his clutches or he will suffer great lost. Satan will seek to kill you if you do not glorify God, and the more so if you do glorify God. Do not think you can sign a peace treaty with him and cut off the hook of his hatred against your body. You walk around as a billboard of his enemy no matter what you do. The air in your lungs means you are a testimony of God. Satan is waging war over your body as we speak. Fleshly desire is the greatest weapon in distracting men from salvation. Anything you do against to harm your body for lustful reasons pleases Satan. The church preaches being clean from addictions and vices because it is a weapon of the enemy. A holy life is preached because your Father is holy. It is time to battle addiction, lust, and the pride that fuels all sin in our body. Satan is not to win the war of your body. Your body is to be held forth as brightness for all to see and glorify God because of it.
Every Christian Can reinforce the battle for their body by reacting to the following truths;Truth #1
Actions with Your Body is Revealing (1st Corinthians 6:9-11)
The Words- The words in the text describe the perpetual lifestyle that proves a person is not a follower of Jesus. We will take a quick glance and move on to better news for the believer.
The Greek word in verse 8 “you do wrong” is the same word used to translated “unrighteousness” in verse 9. The force of the sentence is “you do wrong things and expect to inherit the kingdom of God, this will not happen”. Those doing wrong are not bearing fruit of repentance that comes from salvation.
Fornicators- Single persons who give themselves sexually to another or engage in unbiblical sexual gratification.
Idolaters- Those who esteem anyone or thing higher than God.
Adulterers- Those who break their marriage vows and have sexual relations with another besides the person they are committed.
Effeminate-
Abusers of themselves- same sex sexual activity.
Thieves- Those who take things without proper permission or by violence.
Covetous- Those who love money.
Drunkards- Those who drink excessively.
Revilers- Those who rant with their tongue.
Extortioners- Those who take from another what is rightfully theirs.
The scripture is plain. Living such a life style as Paul has mentioned in the body simply proves the individual is an outcast from the kingdom of God.
Good News for the Follower of Jesus (V:11)- Paul plainly states people who use their bodies to commit wrong practices are not heaven bound, but doesn’t stop there. He goes on and reminds believers that they are not that! They are washed and redeemed. Their body, because of salvation and the work of the Holy Spirit, is against such behavior. When a follower of Jesus knows they are heading in a direction, or has committed any of the offences afore mention they repent passionately and move forward in the forgiveness and mercy of God. God has justified us (declared us innocent legally) and is sanctifying us (teaching us how to be innocent and holy lives). Society can build new houses for old men, but God can put new men in old houses! No one but Jesus can make a man new. Verse 11 declares that Jesus can take those who are not fir for the Kingdom of God save them and place a new man in a vile condemned body!
When we react to the fact we are saved and sanctified by God then our bodies will not be given to vices of Satan. One of the great ways to react to salvation is to pray we enter not into temptation but are delivered from evil.
Truth # 2
Our Body is for the Lord and the Lord is for our Body (12-14)Because we are in Christ we are free to enjoy the good gifts of God. Paul mentions two natural desires (Sex and Eating) that can be fulfilled in Christ, yet these things can become bondage if we forget that the main purpose of these things are to glorify God.
Lawful but not Profitable (12)- Sex and food was available to Paul because of his liberty in Christ. This sounds way to attractive and pleasurable to be consider Christian right? Actually, these are things Christians can enjoy and are, in my opinion, the foundations of physical pleasure. Paul talked about sex and food in another place in 1st Timothy 4:1-5 “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; 3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. 4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: 5 For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.”
Paul knew that false teachers were going to arise and attack freedom to marry and freedom to eat. These false teachers were seeking to make Christianity a major drag and call it holy! These things are still heresies today. Sex is sold as a cheap thrill and food is unhealthy and unappreciated. Satan is hard at work to plant an ungrateful heart in the church toward the good things God gives to the body!
It is established then that sex and food are good gifts given to people, but neither of these things come without warning. It is very possible to let these good things become a “law” that binds the followers of Jesus. Over eating or eating unhealthily can bind us. Thanksgiving can be affected even when we eat good. The gift becomes the prize and not a tool to glorify God. Feeling like marriage is a must can also be bondage, and sex in marriage can become a practice that loses Christ as its center. It becomes something to do and not a treasure to enjoy. Food and sex have a place, but that place is not the Master’s seat! Anything that keeps the body from being an instrument of glory to God is a thing that needs to be brought under control of the Spirit of God.
Refusal of Bondage- On the one hand we see a life that is not Christian and the other we see the Christian liberty that can yield bondage. Satan is not a quitter. He does not see Christian liberty and think, “there is no way I can use that”. No, Satan sees every thing good as a weapon that can be turned on believers. Paul decides nothing will master him. Good gifts are to bring us closer to God and others. Good gifts are not for self-gratification alone. Paul refuses to be in bondage to anything but Christ! Have good gifts become bondage to your body? What has you enslaved at this moment? Is it food, exercise, sex, work, or some other good gift gone bad? Pray with me that the good gifts granted to us by God will give us enjoyment, growth in our relationship to God and others, and place thanksgiving in our hearts to God! We can take this reminder with us “there are many good gifts God has given us to enjoy, but remember our bodies are for the Lord and not a slave to good gifts”.Proof of God’s Love (14)- God loves us! We are weak, tempted, and tainted by sin at every turn, but God continually shows us love and favor through Jesus Christ. We are troubled on every side in our flesh, we seem to lose most battles, and beg for forgiveness for our short comings. There are habits and sins we want to kick and we try with all our might and then fall back, but we keep fighting because the Spirit of Christ is in us and we hope to push the enemy back until the day we are granted a new body. The new body will match the new man that has fought sin here on this earth. The resurrection of Jesus means total victory will soon be ours to enjoy without a fight! The Lord came to redeem and resurrect our bodies because He loves us!
Application: Since the Lord’s body is for you, will you be for the Lord?Truth # 3
Remember you are a sexual creature and your sexuality is for the Lord (15-18)“Sex” is taboo in church. If you talk about it too much you are sinful, and if you do not talk about it then you are out of touch with reality. But if we speak where scripture speaks then we are right about the matter and so we will speak where scripture speaks and say what scripture says. Paul leaves food behind and reminds the Corinthian believers that their bodies are one with Christ. Our bodies are to be married to the will of God. When we experience our sexuality in the context God has given us then will our sexuality be full and God glorified.
Our body is meant for One (16-17)- Our lost nature (The fallen ego) yearns to give our body to whatever, whoever, and whenever it desires. The human sex drive is powerful, so it is married to the will of Christ so the great desire can be enjoyed completely in marriage. Since man transgressed against God our sexual desires are all over the place. Paul list the sexually immoral as unredeemed and not allowed into God’s Kingdom. Man cannot on his own will his way to a holy sex life, and so Jesus offers salvation which cleanses from sexual immorality and places in the believer the will to do right and wage war on that which is wrong. Remember your sexuality is reserved for what the Lord has commanded.
A very strong desire- Today Grandparents, parents, and children struggle with sexuality. It has been deemed normal for sexuality to be explored and abused but not commit. There are very strong desires in each person in this room that need to be crucified and raised with Christ. What can be done with our strong sexual desire?
Remember it is a gift from God
Do not “kill” it but marry it to Christ
Enjoy your sexuality in the bond of marriage
Live committed and not loose (18)Application: Are you aware of your sexual desire? Has it over come you? Will you commit your sexuality to Christ?Truth # 4
Your Body is Not Your Own (19-20)When Jesus suffered He did so to obtain rights to your body. His prize was the glory of God and YOU! It doesn’t even sound like the two things should be joined in the same sentenced, but they are because it is true. Jesus redeemed your body from the power of sin to destroy it. Left to ourselves we would ruin many times over the wonderful gift of our body which is God’s image. Jesus now owns me and for that I am happy. I was not a very good master, sin was a bad master, and Satan is a murderer! Jesus being owner of me is a JOY! When I invite you to be saved make no mistake I am inviting you to turn over the rights of your life to God. I am pleading with you to be saved from self, sin, and Satan and to the Savior Jesus Christ! Now when you buy something you buy it with a purpose. You buy it for joy or work and the same is true of God. He has purchased us to worship Him and for His pleasure.
The Temple- We are God’s temple. A place of beauty and coordinated worship. The Holy Spirit shines in us and radiates into a dark world to make God known.
The Task- Our task is to make God known. We use our influence to make God stand out as God. The god of this world is blinding people to the One true God and we are to make God stand out in a positive way. How do we glorify God with our bodies? Look no further than the gospel accounts of Jesus. What did He do? Pray, serve others, teach about God, sing, be obedient, and suffer on behalf of God, give, and much more. We sum this up at Bethany with “Love God, Love Others, and Serve Both”.
Application: Are you making God known with your body? Is what you doing with your body influencing others to know God and love Him? People needed to be saved; does your body teach that? - Jan 7, 2018A Time for War: A Battle for Time
A Time for War: A Battle for Time
A Time for War
Ecclesiastes 3:8
Romans 7:23
2nd Corinthians 10:3-5
Ephesians 6:13
Galatians 5:1
Galatians 5:17
2nd Timothy 2:24-26It is for freedom that Christ has saved each of us. Freedom to rule and reign with Christ and where should the ruling and reigning with Christ begin? Within our own personal kingdoms that make up our whole empire of being. If we are to rule and reign with Christ in unseen heavenly places, then we are to begin our training in ruling over, with Christ, the things that pertain to this life. If Christians concede the liberty(freedom) that has been granted to them in any area of life the bright life we hold forth to the world becomes dim and our kingdom looks as theirs, full of gloom, dread, and headed to destruction. What are the “kingdoms” that constitute our own “empire” (full being)? The Sword (God’s Word mainly the gospel contained within) is the only weapon given to us in this war. Yes, we have armor that is very important, but the only weapon we wield is the bible you hold in your hand.
The knowledge of what is contained within the blessed pages is of upmost importance. The art to communicated and desire to live it is equally important. Bethany Baptist Church is aware of how important the Word is as a weapon. This is why we are equipping families to know the word together through our “blueprint”. You need to know the word it needs to be read in our homes daily. Bethany Baptist will also launch its Bible institute in February because the Word is a necessity in this warfare. We will also apply the Word to our marriages at our Made marriage conference. There is no better way to defend and delight in marriage than through God’s Word. Bethany is aware of how important the Word is as a weapon and we intend to train each soldier how to use it properly. When the Word is put to good use we will discover how to win back and beat the enemy back from the following Kingdoms of our godly empire.
When I think of our kingdoms that we are empowered to reign over here is what comes to mind.The Kingdom of time: Our time here on earth is most precious and at our redemption Christ purchased for us all the time we are to spend in this body. Our time was ruled and reigned over by our enemies prior to the Conquering of Christ. Now we stand in liberty (complete freedom) to do the will of God with our time.The Kingdom of Our Body: Our bodies were for sinful lust and pleasure only. We were told what to eat, drink, dress, and do to please the body. We were trapped by addictions and carnal desires, but in Christ freedom has come to do what is holy, right, and pleasing to God. The body is the place of worship and is to be holy and sacred place dedicated to God.The Kingdom of Our relationships: Our allegiances were dictated by our skin color, nationality, social statue, and whatever lifted up our fallen ego, but in Christ all men and women have our allegiance. We are free to love, without any measure of hate, all people.The Kingdom of our Spirit: The Spirit is our grand castle where the supplies for our warfare flows. When the spirit is captive the whole man is captured by the enemy. When worship flows from our Spirit in truth to God all other kingdoms are supplied for adequately.A Full Revolt
It would be a bit ignorant of me if I did not acknowledge that many believers here today are fighting from a point of captivity. Your Time, Body, relationships, and Spirit are shackled by many satanic and fleshly chains. Your time is filled with things of no value. You have committed to things that matter none in eternity and your fallen ego tells says you cannot afford to change those things now. Your body is addicted to medication, alcohol, perversion, self-image, and social ideals. Once your time is chained your body soon falls. Relationships spin out of control.Today I call on a full revolt of every captured Christian. I call on you to take back each kingdom granted to you in Christ. I call on you to wage full out war on the enemy. Give your neighbors a glimpse of what a beautiful bright kingdom your life can be in Christ. Show them life and power in the Empire of your being. It is time to war for our faith with our faith. In this war you are either fighting or captured. You are beating back the enemy or being beat by the enemy.
I call every warring Christian to take heart, reload, and guard the walls of your kingdoms. Pay the price protect the cities of your children and heritage to come. Are you tired? Then be renewed in the strength of the preaching of the gospel. STAND FAST IN THE FREEDOM CHRIST FREED US FOR. Plant your flag of freedom in the overrun kingdoms of your life put on the full armor of God and declare WAR!What You Need to Know About WarWar is a contention by FORCEWar protects a way of lifeOur Enemy in this War is Our flesh and Satan
I define the “flesh” not as the body, but the fallen ego (See Galatians 2:20)
Paul states that one “I” was crucified and another “I” lives. There is the fallen ego that only looks after its own pleasure that needs to be crucified and the new “I” governed by the Spirit of Christ that needs to emerge. The “new man” needs to put the “old man” in submission.
Satan is the leader of the dark forces we battle against
There are two conditions of this warWarring
CapturedWar is not pretty nor pleasant. In my office are replicas of newspaper articles from World War II. War became a way of life in order for America to be victorious. Sacrifices were made, ordinary items became useful items to build machines for war, and big and small decisions alike were made with winning the war in mind. War occupied the lives and minds of Americans to the point of obsession, but we won. As I flipped through articles there was zero evidence that the war was fought half way. You lose wars when the all-in mind set is dead. It is evident from the scriptures we read this morning that we live in an on-going war with an alliance between two major enemies “Satan” and “the flesh”. The enemy desires for the unsaved to remain captured and the saved to be unproductive and unholy; thus, rendering the mission of the Church, which is to glorify God by living holy and bring souls into Christ Kingdom, obsolete.During the month of January Bethany Baptist Church will be encourage and equipped to make radical changes that we reclaim the realms of life that have been captured by the enemy. The goal is to be warriors aimed at holiness and bringing souls to Jesus Christ through 2018.Battle for Your Time
“You can not kill time without injuring eternity”Every person in here feels the stress of time. It is such a heavy wait that it gets ignored or squandered. Years of our lives are spent watching T.V., movies, and scrolling though social media. Hours a day are given to those things yet we find it near impossible to make simple things at home happen. Worship surely takes a hit. We wait till we have an idle moment then we attend church or worship God. I think most of us agree that our time is precious and that we are wasting precious time on things that are not so precious. So how do we reclaim the freedom of our time? We are not trying to create more free time, but more freedom with our time. How can we do this? We must make war with our daily schedule. Our calendar that is loaded with unhealthy, ungodly, unproductive, unsatisfying things must bleed.Every Believer can reclaim their time by:Requesting Hard Truth from God (Psalm 39:4-5)
The Plea- Teach me that I will die. Remind me that I am very fragile and that the time I have here is precious. Put me in reality and move me from fantasy, is the plea of the song writer. Once the reality of our time running out takes hold on us in a godly way the desire of our heart leads us to war against things that would still our time. Prayer is the walkie talkie that gets us through to the Commander. Praying that our knowledge of limited time increases the quality of our lives is the first step to winning back our time from the enemy.Request To know the Power or Value of Your Time (Psalm 90:12)
The Idea- The idea behind this verse is not counting, but valuing. It is very easy to fill as if your time will make no difference and will accomplish so little. We can think: The world is very large and the population very high. There are important people out there that the world needs, but is it me, of course not. Moses planned to finish his life out on the run on the backside of nowhere. God showed him the value of his days. Your days are valuable. They are very important to you, your family, friends, church, and community. Your days are powerful do not waste them. Beg God to teach you to value your days, though they be short they are powerful!Strip Your Calendar and Prioritize Your Time (Colossians 4:5)- Look at your daily schedule, right it down as it is, then war with the things that are not worth keeping. How do you know what is worth your time? Measure it in three dimensions to see if it has the height width and depth of value.The glory it brings to God- Does the thing in question bring glory to God? That is does it exercise your fatherhood, motherhood, childhood, position, or calling in such away that people are in awe of God? If you are a boss, student, employee, mom, dad, child is what you do for the benefit of gospel? Is an hour a day on social media glorifying God? If the answer is yes then keep it going and enhance it. If the answer is no remove it.The help it brings to man- Is what you doing with that thing at that time bringing help and hope to others? Are you spending valuable time with your wife and children? Are you working as a boss to make pay, working conditions, and training opportunities, to be the best they can be? Are you showing people through the use of your time the grace of God? Does your time help others in anyway?The quality of Life it gives to you- Is what you doing with your time adding value to your life. Does it give you joy and fulfillment? Are you walking carefully with your time by allowing it to add fulfillment to your life? - Dec 31, 2017New: A Prelude to “A Time for War”
New: A Prelude to “A Time for War”New: A Prelude to "A Time for War"Joshua 4:18-24Introduction:
Here we are at New Year’s Eve again. It is an exciting time where people have a chance to set the pace for a New Year. Many people set new goals and then make resolutions to help accomplish the goals. With that being said getting something new is generally exciting and fun, but doing something new, well that can be a whole other story. Learning a new language would be a wonderful challenge this year, but just thinking of the time, energy, and money that would cost is exhausting! Many times, the thought of what it cost to do something new stops me from ever doing it. I would like to get in tip top shape, the image in my head of a healthy muscular little man looks good, but thinking about running, sweating, high heart rates, and being short of breath is more than I can bear. Doing new things takes work, a lot of work and dedication. Today we will look at the new things that the children of Israel were facing when Moses died and Joshua became the new leader. It is my hope that this message is good prelude to our January Series “A Time for War” by laying out the foundations that makes doing new things as a believer possible.What New things were Happening in the life of Joshua?
When we open the bible, and begin reading in Joshua chapter one we learn the Moses is dead and now Joshua has charge over a multitude of people that are on the brink of the promised land (Joshua 1:1-2). Joshua is now a new leader, and before him new challenges. Jericho’s walls and Jordan’s overflowing waters are on his desk when he starts the job. He crosses the Jordan into the promise land which is also enemy territory at this time. There he circumcises the children of Israel, again this is something new for that generation (Joshua 5:2). Finally, God is going to change how he feeds the people. The manna was to stop and the people were going to take responsibility to feed themselves (Joshua 5:12). There was more change facing Joshua then in his life than any of us are facing today. But God had a game plan built into all these changes. He had ways that would encourage His people to make good decisions that would change their lives and bring new things to pass.E/c Can do things that glorify God in 2018
By laying the following stones as foundation to accomplish new thingsI. Remember (4:21)-Memory is a powerful thing. It can motivate you or it can detour you. Moses had recently died, but it was not the memory of Moses’s death that God sets as a foundation to do that which is new. No God decides to take His people across the Jordan and set up a memorial of His power, grace, and justice to the living generation. He wanted them to remember Him at every turn of their journey. God decided to use stones to arouse the memory of all those present and to come. God has done much for each of us this past year and we can stack those memories up to remind us of God. It is not any old stone that will do, just like there is not just any old memory that will do. God has specifics when it comes to things He wants us to cling to. Not every stone, not every memory will help new things happen.The Place of the Stones (4:3)- God wanted the stones collected from “where the priest’s feet stood firm”. God wants us to go to the place where faith conquered fear and did not waiver. Our memories that push us forward are to come from the place where faith stood firm. It may not be where or feet stood, but it needs to be where someone’s feet did! Collect stones and memories from the victories of faith.The people of the Stones (4:6)-12 men were selected to get the stones. The stones mattered to the generation present and the ones to come. Natural curiosity would cause the next generations to ask “what do you mean by these stones”. Our children and grandchildren need to be evoked to serve and worship God by what we pull out of our present. There is noting more motivational to me than to see and hear from the more seasoned believers how God wrought wonderful things in their life. It reminds me God can do it for me as well.Illustration: I recently read about the last days of William Tyndale. William suffered unto death for translating the bible into English. His faith and work created a new thing that earned him death. Reading the last letter William wrote gave me strength and encouragement in the ministry. The letter was not long and complex, but it was real and carried with it the spirit of a warrior for Christ. The “stone” he left was his letter and martyrdom. It is such memorials that give me courage to continue in service to Christ and the desire to do more.Application: What are you remembering today about God that pushes you forward, what are you leaving today to push others forward in the future?II. Recalibrate (5:2)-Joshua led his people across the Jordan with collected stones to commemorate the event. Once settled on the other side of the Jordan the people were commanded to be circumcised. Their faith and commitment would have to be adjusted to a higher level. They had just witnessed the power and care of God toward them and now they would be commanded to give flesh off their body in keeping the commands of God. Their faith was called to an Abrahamic faith (Genesis 17:10-12). It was no small request to ask that all the men be circumcised. Once in the history of Israel a whole group of people died when the fighting men of the city were circumcised. Joshua would know the story very well because it was his ancestors that did the massacre (Genesis 34:18-29). What God asked seemed very untimely, but it is never timely to serve God. Serving God always cost and it cost dear. When transitions are happening and new things are to be accomplish be prepared to be obedient to God on a higher level. Christian new year’s resolutions should be more than diets and work outs. It should begin with a desire and then design to grow in Christ and serve God to a higher degree. Doing new things for God is possible when our faith is adjusted to a higher temperature.Illustration: Zell Kravinsky knew he wasn’t cut out for the wealthy way of living. Sure, he had made millions investing in real estate in his native Pennsylvania, but Kravinsky decided his dollars had a grander purpose than just fattening his bank account. In 2001, he began donating money and land to various charities until his contributions reached $45 million dollars. By then, his family and friends thought that he was being too impulsive, but Kravinsky brushed their reservations aside and said that he could always earn more money—though he’d likely give it away as well.However, Kravinsky still felt that donating money and land wasn’t enough. He decided up the ante and gave his kidney to a total stranger. His move was met with mixed views, ranging from praise to disbelief. Even his wife threatened to leave him, although that was later defused thanks to famous singer Pat Boone, who knew what Kravinsky did and urged her to forgive him for being too generous. As for Kravinsky, he said that he would readily give any of his body parts again for any who need who needed it.We should continually adjust our faith toward God until we will give anything for Him. This is love without limits.Application: What has God ask of you to adjust your level of faith?III. React (Joshua 6)-Joshua 6 is about the fall of Jericho. The people watched the wall fall only after the obeyed the Lord. The people under Joshua’s command showed their reaction to who God is and what He says makes the impossible possible. The stones lay in another place to remind them that God can do the impossible, their circumcision proved they were committed, and their marching showed that it was not all for naught.What were the people reacting to?
The people were reacting to God’s desire for them. God’s people had wanted to return to Egypt. That was their desire. They wanted to be continually fed with manna and not have to worry about crops and harvest and the such. Their own desires were carnal and deadly. But when the people reacted to God’s desire for them the walls of a great city fail before their feet with a few days march. As a father, mother, employ, or boss whose desires are you reacting to?
It is now time to react to God’s desire toward you. He desires that you love Him with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself.Application: Will you react to God’s desire for you in 2018?
