Mindset For Success

It seems to be a fact of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love to do God's will so far as my new nature is concerned, but there is something else deep within me, in my lower nature, that is at war with my mind and wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. In my mind, I want to be God's willing servant, but instead, I find myself still enslaved to sin. So you see how it is: my new life tells me to do right, but the old nature that is still inside me loves to sin. Oh, what a terrible predicament I'm in! Who will free me from my slavery to this deadly lower nature? Thank God! It has been done by Jesus Christ, our Lord. He has set me free. - Romans 7:21-25 (Living Bible) Can you relate to the personal struggle Paul is describing here in his letter to the Romans? As transformed followers of Jesus Christ, we want to execute God's will for our lives. We know that living a life that brings honor and glory

Live as obedient children before God. Don't let your character be molded by the desires of your ignorant days, but be holy in every department of your lives, for the one who has called you is himself holy. The scripture says: 'Be holy, for I am holy. - 1 Peter 1:14-16 (Phillips) But without faith, it is impossible to [walk with God and] please Him, for whoever comes [near] to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He rewards those who [earnestly and diligently] seek Him. - Hebrews 11:6 (Amplified Bible) The equation of life can be very complicated and difficult to solve due to the multiple variables such as the myriad of tasks we need to complete each day, the voices that are trying to get our attention, personal goals we desire to achieve, people that we are trying to serve, etc. In mathematics, we are taught to reduce complex equations to their simplest form to facilitate the solution. The same can be said of the Christian life.  The main thing is to keep the

And do not be worried, for the joy of the Lord is your strength and your stronghold." - Nehemiah 8:10b (Amplified Bible) But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, - Galatians 5:22 (Amplified Bible) If you were to follow the wisdom of the world, then the goal in life is to be happy. As long as you are happy, then you are where you should be. However, when you stop being happy, you will need to make a change in your life to regain that happiness. The challenge with that philosophy is that happiness is a feeling, and feelings change like the blowing of the wind. When feelings are driven by a sinful nature that is controlled by self-serving motives, the result is what you see in the world today; a microwave culture that executes life by if it isn't immediately gratifying, then quit and go find what

And without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. - Hebrews 11:6 (NASB) Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed) and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses]. For by this [kind of] faith, the men of old gained [divine] approval. - Hebrews 11:1-2 (Amplified Bible) Our default mode as humans is to pragmatically operate life by the phrase "I'll believe it when I see it." Executing the Christian life by faith, on the other hand, operates by "I'll see it when I believe it." In other words, you will see God's best in your life when you execute His plan for your life in faith... ...for example, building a huge boat for 120 years to rescue your family from a flood, an event that no person on earth had ever seen b