Last week we talked about some of the wonderful things God has done for us. (SEE ARTICLE). This week we will talk a little about how to apply them to our lives.
There are no limitations!
Whatever you can see, whatever you can believe – YOU can have!
Genesis 13:14-17 – …lift up now your eyes and look from the place where you are…for all the land which you see I will give to you…arise, walk through the land, the length of it and the breadth of it, for I will give it to you.
Joshua 1:3 – Every place upon which the sole of your foot shall tread, that have I given to you, as I promised Moses.
Deuteronomy 11:23-25 – Then the Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you shall dispossess nations greater and mightier than you. Every place upon which the sole of your foot shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the River, the river Euphrates, to the western sea [the Mediterranean] your territory shall be. There shall no man be able to stand before you; the Lord your God shall lay the fear and the dread of you upon all the land that you shall tread, as He has said to you.
Luke 10:19 – Behold! I have given you authority and power to trample upon serpents and scorpions, and [physical and mental strength and ability] over all the power that the enemy [possesses]; and nothing shall in any way harm you.
Not only can I have whatever I see with no limitations, but no power can stop me as I go. No man shall be able to stand before me, and I can trample every power or force the enemy possesses, and nothing shall in any way harm me.
All things are possible!
Genesis 11:6 – …nothing they have imagined they can do will be impossible for them, nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them.
Mark 9:23 – And Jesus said, [You say to Me], If You can do anything? [Why,] all things can be (are possible) to him who believes!
Mark 10:27 – Jesus glanced around at them and said, with men [it is] impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God
Philippians 4:13 – I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency].
Set free from the old – Enter the new!
I was made new when I received Jesus into my life. I am a new creation spiritually, but it takes some time to work my salvation out till it fills my entire life.
2 Corinthians 5:17 – Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
Ephesians 2:10 – For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
The way I change myself outwardly is to change the way I think. It is to see what God has done and accept it. It is to apply who He says I am to myself. It starts with knowledge. My outward life is transformed only to the degree my mind is renewed. I put aside my former nature and discard my old unrenewed self by being constantly renewed in the spirit of my mind and putting on the new nature ( that God has already created). This new self is ever in the process of beig renewed and remolded through knowledge into His image.
Romans 12:2 – And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…
Ephesians 4:22-24 – Strip yourselves of your former nature [put off and discard your old unrenewed self] which characterized your previous manner of life and becomes corrupt through lusts and desires that spring from delusion; and be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude], and put on the new nature (the regenerate self) created in God’s image, [Godlike] in true righteousness and holiness
Colossians 3:8-10 – But now put away and rid yourselves [completely] of all these things: anger, rage, bad feeling toward others, curses and slander, and foulmouthed abuse and shameful utterances from your lips! Do not lie to one another, for you have stripped off the old (unregenerate) self with its evil practices, And have clothed yourselves with the new [spiritual self], which is [ever in the process of being] renewed and remolded into [fuller and more perfect knowledge upon] knowledge after the image (the likeness) of Him Who created it.
God has made us new. He has put His very life and nature within us. We can put aside the old man and put on the new, beautiful, successful creation to whom all things are possible – by the renewing of our minds, by reaching out beyond what is likely or possible and letting the limitations of God and His Word become ours!
We can change, and we are changed as we change our thinking to match up with His concerning everything. The more we do this, the more we are transformed, the more of the new we put on and the more of the old we put aside and the more we can actually walk in and enjoy all that He has provided. Anything in you can be changed. But you must take the time to renew your mind. Renewing your mind is not necessarily learning to think as the church world around you thinks – no, it is learning to think like God! And many times there is quite a difference!
Press on and take hold!
Philippians 3:12-14 – Not that I have now attained [this ideal], or have already been made perfect, but I press on to lay hold of (grasp) and make my own, that for which Christ Jesus (the Messiah) has laid hold of me and made me His own. I do not consider, brethren, that I have captured and made it my own [yet]; but one thing I do [it is my one aspiration]: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the [supreme and heavenly] prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward.
Hosea 6:3 – So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; and He will come to us like the rain…
Hosea 10:12 – Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord until He comes to rain righteousness on you.
1 Timothy 6:12 – Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called…
He has given us His life, His nature, His abundant life, all that we could ever need in life – but we must fight to take hold of it. This is the same as in the Old Testament when they were given the land but had to fight the enemies and kick them out to possess it and live in it. We have been given everything we need for life and godliness – every time, in every area – but we must fight to take hold of it. As much as we kick the old thoughts and images out of our minds and replace them with the truth is as much of His life as we take and actually enjoy. And the enemies in your thinking must be kicked out from the root, from the heart, and not just superficially.
Matthew 11:12 – And from the days of John the Baptist until the present time, the kingdom of heaven has endured violent assault, and violent men seize it by force [as a precious prize—a share in the heavenly kingdom is sought with most ardent zeal and intense exertion].
No stronghold is too great for God!
Job 36:8-12 – If they are bound in fetters and are caught in the cords of affliction, then He declares to them their work and their transgressions that they have magnified themselves (He gives wisdom as to the reasons they are bound). If they hear and serve Him, they shall end their days in prosperity and their years in pleasures.
No matter how long a way of thinking has been in control or how deep the patterns of bondage and oppression – if you obey and serve Him, if you humble yourself and take His way and thoughts above your own, you shall end my days in prosperity and your years in pleasure.
Isaiah 40:24-25 – Can the prey be taken from the mighty man or the captives of a tyrant be rescued? Surely thus says the Lord, even the captives of the mighty man will be taken away, and the prey of the tyrant will be rescued, and I will contend with the one who contends with you…
Isaiah 50:2 – …Is my hand so short that it cannot ransom? Or have I no power to deliver?
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 – Our weapons are divinely powerful (mighty before God) for the destruction of fortresses, destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.
Notice again the battle is in the thoughts.
Job 14:14 – …all the days of my struggle I will wait until my change comes.
Change can come to you. Change will come if you do these things!
Psalm 40:1-2 – I waited patiently and expectantly for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, steadying my steps and establishing my goings.
No matter how deep the pit, how horrible, how slippery the path out, no matter how deeply ingrained the ways you think, no matter how great your bondage – He can and will draw you out of your pit and set your feet on a solid place and steady your steps in a new way of victory. His Word as it takes hold of your life will save your entire being (James 1:21-25).
Summary:
He has given already absolutely everything we could ever need in our own lives and to help those around us. We are only limited by our own thinking, our ideas and perceptions. So we need to renew our minds. We need to change our thinking. We need to expand ourselves to think like God – to see all things as possible, to see no limitations. Whatever we can see, we can have. Whatever we can imagine, we can enjoy. Whatever we can believe is in the realm of possibility to us!
So take the time to renew your mind. Change your thinking. This is the way you take and enjoy the promises of God. This is the way to take hold of the abundant life Jesus has come to give. This is way you can actually change anything and everything in your life.
It doesn’t come naturally, nor is it easy. It is a battle. It is a fight. But victory is assured!
No person can help me. But God is mighty to completely and totally deliver me from all that the enemy has built into my life (1 John 3:8; Hebrews 7:25).
I wait in His presence expectantly, submitting worshipfully to Him. From Him only comes my salvation. My hope and expectation are from Him. All the days of my struggle I will wait until my change comes.
And it will come! Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered.
Even the deepest stronghold in my life is not beyond the reach of His salvation. His hand is not shortened but can reach to the depths of my being and make me completely whole so that I can be the highest and best He intended.. And He will! Actually, He already has.
