Mindset For Success

Write this letter to the angel of the church in Ephesus. This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lampstands: I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. You have patiently suffered for me without quitting. But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me as you did at first! Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches. - Revelation 2:1-5 (NLT) But I have this [charge] against you, that you have left your first love [you have lost the depth of love that you first had for Me]. - Revelation 2:4 (Amplified Bible) How would you feel if your spouse told you that they did not love you anymore...

Then Jesus began to denounce the towns where he had done so many of his miracles, because they hadn’t repented of their sins and turned to God. “What sorrow awaits you, Korazin and Bethsaida! For if the miracles I did in you had been done in wicked Tyre and Sidon, their people would have repented of their sins long ago, clothing themselves in burlap and throwing ashes on their heads to show their remorse. I tell you, Tyre and Sidon will be better off on judgment day than you. “And you people of Capernaum, will you be honored in heaven? No, you will go down to the place of the dead. For if the miracles I did for you had been done in wicked Sodom, it would still be here today. I tell you, even Sodom will be better off on judgment day than you.” - Matthew 11:20-24 (NLT) The ultimate verdict on the gospel is not made by its rejecters. The ultimate verdict on the gospel is made by those who receive it and demonstrate its truthfulness in their repentance, in their faith, and in the fruit of ...

Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, surrounded by a cloud, with a rainbow over his head. His face shone like the sun, and his feet were like pillars of fire. And in his hand was a small scroll that had been opened. He stood with his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land. And he gave a great shout like the roar of a lion. And when he shouted, the seven thunders answered. When the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write. But I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Keep secret what the seven thunders said, and do not write it down.” Then the angel I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand toward heaven. He swore an oath in the name of the one who lives forever and ever, who created the heavens and everything in them, the earth and everything in it, and the sea and everything in it. But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as He preached to His servants the pro...

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) There are only two paths in this life.  Mine and God's. The two paths are as distinctly different as east and west. To illustrate this point, we can look at two individuals in the lineage of Adam.  Enoch, who was seventh in line from Adam through Seth, walked with God and never experienced death as he was taken directly to heaven.  Lamech, who was seventh in line from Adam through Cain (who murdered his brother Able and was sentenced by God to be a "restless wanderer on the earth"), was the first recorded polygamist in history.  Clearly, two distinctively different paths. One controlled by God, and one controlled by self. To walk with God requires death to self. I have been crucified with Christ [that is, in Him, I have share...