Mindset For Success

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 ...