Mindset For Success

I can do all things [which He has called me to do] through Him who strengthens and empowers me [to fulfill His purpose—I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency; I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses me with inner strength and confident peace.] - Philippians 4:13 (Amplified Bible) Am I executing His plan, His way, and in His power? As transformed followers of Jesus Christ, we realize that our purpose on this earth is to know and execute God's plan for our lives. When we accepted Christ as Savior and began to understand the magnitude of the price paid to ransom our souls from eternal separation from God, the transformation process began. The justification of our souls was immediate and eternally secure based on the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and nothing that we had done ourselves. At that point, the Holy Spirit entered our hearts and began the sanctification process of transforming us into Christ-likeness. A transformation

For if a man is in Christ, he becomes a new person altogether—the past is finished and gone, everything has become fresh and new. All this is God's doing, for he has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ, and he has made us agents of the reconciliation. God was in Christ personally reconciling the world to himself—not counting their sins against them—and has commissioned us with the message of reconciliation. We are now Christ's ambassadors, as though God were appealing directly to you through us. As his personal representatives, we say, "Make your peace with God." For God caused Christ, who himself knew nothing of sin, actually to be sin for our sakes so that in Christ we might be made good with the goodness of God. We look at it like this: if one died for all men, then, in a sense, they all died, and his purpose in dying for them is that their lives should now be no longer lived for themselves but for him who died and rose again for them.- 2 Corinthians 5:17

Like newborn babies [you should] long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may be nurtured and grow in respect to salvation [its ultimate fulfillment], if in fact you have [already] tasted the goodness and gracious kindness of the Lord. - 1 Peter 2:2-3 (Amplified Bible) When faced with a health issue, we become acutely aware of the impact of quality food and exercise on our physical well-being and adjust our diet and activity accordingly to improve our overall health. Similarly, our spiritual well-being is impacted by the spiritual food (God's Word) and exercise (obedience to God’s Word) it receives. Authentic faith is evidenced in our lives as we feed on God's Word daily. Am I feeding on God’s Word daily? How can I develop a desire for the truth of God's Word? 1. Remember your life's source  Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. - John 15:5 (NLT) 2. Eli

And how can we be sure that we belong to him? By looking within ourselves: Are we genuinely trying to do what He wants us to? Someone may say, "I am a Christian; I am on my way to heaven; I belong to Christ." But if he doesn't do what Christ tells him to, he is a liar. But those who do what Christ tells them to will learn to love God more and more. That is the way to know whether or not you are a Christian. Anyone who says he is a Christian should live as Christ did. 1 John 2:3-6 (Living Bible) Authentic faith is evidenced by obedience to Christ. A true Christ-follower is set apart from sin to God so that they might obey Jesus Christ. Obedience to God's Word and God's way is the objective assurance of genuine salvation. The true believer will hate his sin even while he is committing it and always after he has done it because it is now completely contrary to his new nature in Christ. Even though a believer's humanness sometimes draws him into sin, and, like Pau

I am the true Vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that continues to bear fruit, He [repeatedly] prunes, so that it will bear more fruit [even richer and finer fruit]. You are already clean because of the word which I have given you [the teachings which I have discussed with you]. Remain in Me, and I [will remain] in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself without remaining in the Vine, neither can you [bear fruit, producing evidence of your faith] unless you remain in Me. I am the Vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him bears much fruit, for [otherwise] apart from Me [that is, cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown out like a [broken off] branch, and withers and dies; and they gather such branches and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you remain in Me and My words remain in you [that is if we are