Mindset For Success

Stop fooling yourselves. If you count yourself above average in intelligence, as judged by this world’s standards, you had better put this all aside and be a fool rather than let it hold you back from the true wisdom from above.  For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As it says in the book of Job, God uses man’s own brilliance to trap him; he stumbles over his own “wisdom” and falls. And again, in the book of Psalms, we are told that the Lord knows full well how the human mind reasons and how foolish and futile it is. So don’t be proud of following the wise men of this world. For God has already given you everything you need. - 1 Corinthians 3:18-21 (Living Bible) Let any such man renounce his own wisdom in order that he may receive the wisdom of God. — Charles Hodge But the spiritual man has insight into everything, and that bothers and baffles the man of the world, who can’t understand him at all.  How could he? For certainly he has never been one to know the L...

All honor to God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; for it is his boundless mercy that has given us the privilege of being born again so that we are now members of God’s own family.  Now we live in the hope of eternal life because Christ rose again from the dead.  And God has reserved for his children the priceless gift of eternal life; it is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.  And God, in his mighty power, will make sure that you get there safely to receive it because you are trusting him.  It will be yours in that coming last day for all to see.  So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though the going is rough for a while down here.  These trials are only to test your faith, to see whether or not it is strong and pure.  It is being tested as fire tests gold and purifies it—and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold; so if your faith remains strong after being tried...

So submit to [the authority of] God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him] and he will flee from you. Come close to God [with a contrite heart] and He will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; and purify your [unfaithful] hearts, you double-minded [people]. Be miserable and grieve and weep [over your sin]. Let your [foolish] laughter be turned to mourning and your [reckless] joy to gloom. Humble yourselves [with an attitude of repentance and insignificance] in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you [He will lift you up, He will give you purpose]. - James 4:7-10 (Amplified Bible) We depend on him for our being and for our knowing—especially our knowing of him. We are because he is. We know because he reveals. We do not originate our existence or our knowledge. He is the ultimate source and foundation of both. And since God’s absolute being and revealing is essential to his glory, and since his glory is the greatest gift he could give, we are happy for him to be ...

 1. What does my speech reveal about my heart? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.  The good man, from his good treasure, brings out good things; and the evil man, from his evil treasure, brings out evil things. But I tell you, on the day of judgment people will have to give an accounting for every careless or useless word they speak. For by your words you will be justified and acquitted of the guilt of sin; and by your words you will be condemned and sentenced. - Matthew 12:34-37 (Amplified Bible) Do my words consistently build up or tear down? 2. Do I exhibit heavenly wisdom or earthly wisdom? But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be arrogant, and be in defiance of the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly (secular), natural (unspiritual), even demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing and morally degrading practice.  But th...

What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Isn’t it because there is a whole army of evil desires within you? You want what you don’t have, so you kill to get it.  You long for what others have, and can’t afford it, so you start a fight to take it away from them. And yet the reason you don’t have what you want is that you don’t ask God for it. And even when you do ask you don’t get it because your whole aim is wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.  You are like an unfaithful wife who loves her husband’s enemies.  Don’t you realize that making friends with God’s enemies—the evil pleasures of this world—makes you an enemy of God? I say it again, that if your aim is to enjoy the evil pleasure of the unsaved world, you cannot also be a friend of God. Or what do you think the Scripture means when it says that the Holy Spirit, whom God has placed within us, watches over us with tender jealousy? But he gives us more and more strength to stand against all such ...

If anyone can control his tongue, it proves that he has perfect control over himself in every other way. We can make a large horse turn around and go wherever we want by means of a small bit in his mouth. And a tiny rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot wants it to go, even though the winds are strong. So also the tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do. A great forest can be set on fire by one tiny spark. And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is full of wickedness, and poisons every part of the body. And the tongue is set on fire by hell itself and can turn our whole lives into a blazing flame of destruction and disaster. Men have trained, or can train, every kind of animal or bird that lives and every kind of reptile and fish, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is always ready to pour out its deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our heavenly Father, and sometimes it breaks out into curses against men who are made like God. And so blessing and cur...