Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ! I pray you are
doing well and enjoying God's promises coming to pass in your life today
and in the days to come. My wife and I are certainly praying for
restoration, safety, and protection for all those who were affected by
Hurricane Sandy, and we would ask you to do the same. We also really
appreciate all of the prayers, love, and support we've received from so
many following the passing of my mother.
At the close of my last blog, we were looking at the effects of
distractions in the life of a believer. We're going to pick right back
up with that same subject. Basically, we have to deal with this carnal
mind. It can be our biggest hindrance. If the enemy wants to bring
division in our homes, it just takes one minor distraction. Yes, one tiny little distraction
can bring so much division, and it's all because of our carnal minds.
The carnal mind is at enmity against God, so once again we see the
importance of Romans 12:1-2.
I beseech you therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not
be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your
mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect
will of God.
It can be anything in life, and yet, it affects every area of our
lives. When we're sick and in need of healing, our perspective
determines everything. Is our perspective based upon the Word of God, or
is it simply based upon the way we feel? What are we thinking about?
What are we meditating upon? We might look at our finances and begin to
doubt God's provision because we're carnally minded. Then we may feel
guilty because we're not doing something right or we're doing everything
wrong . . . or God loves him more than he loves me . . . or the devil
this or the devil that, and half of the time it ain't even the devil!
It's because of the decisions we make. Our decisions are based upon the
way we think, and the way we think comes from our perspective.
We are where we are because of decisions we have made.
That's called personal responsibility and accountability. We have to
take responsibility. I don't care if we're talking about our health,
wealth, or relationships. It's amazing to me how many Christians think
that it's not necessary to take care of his or her body in order to
remain healthy. Sheer foolishness. We think we can eat whatever we want
to without any negative implications.
I like to use the example of ol' Jack Daniels. If you think you can
consume whatever you want to eat, stick nothing but poison in your
system, and believe that it's not going to affect your physical body,
then I challenge you to go to ABC Liquor, get a quart of good ol' Jack
Daniel's Whiskey, pray over it, and ask God to remove the alcohol. See,
some people will pray over their food asking God to remove the sugar
demons. There ain't no sugar demons! No, you're addicted to sugar and
that poison has an effect on you! "Pray for my diabetes." I pray for so
much diabetes sometimes (and don't stop coming for prayer), but I just
want to smack some folks up the side of the head,
spiritually and in the natural. How about you change your diet? "Well,
the doctor said . . ." Do you mean to tell me that you love your sugar
more than you love life? Huh? You have to change something! You have to
take steps.
Many of our challenges and hindrances to progress are due to our
own choices and perspective. Oftentimes, it truly boils down to personal
responsibility and accountability. Let's become more cognizant of the
effects our choices are having in our lives and make a commitment to
move full-steam ahead and not "one step forward, one step back" any
longer!
In Him,
pg
No comments:
Post a Comment