Sound Mind Set

Wholeness was our state in the Garden but then the enemy of God came along and, through disobedience, robbed us all of that God-given state. The spiritual battle for us every day is choosing God over that same enemy, just as everyone in the Bible had to deal with as well. Listen to 1 Peter 5:6-11 … So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in hon...

Colossians 2:6-10 … And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him.  Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and...

Today’s passage is Romans 6:21-23 in The Message Bible … As long as you did what you felt like doing, ignoring God, you didn’t have to bother with right thinking or right living, or right anything for that matter. But do you call that a free life? What did you get out of it? Nothing you’re proud of now. Where did it get you? A dead end. But now that you’ve found you don’t have to listen to sin tel...

So much of our Christian lives is spent trying to get rid of things, things we hold onto and struggle with, all while knowing we need to let them go. From attitudes to toxic behaviors to unhealthy relationships. Today, we read a crucial concept for this process. It’s called the Principle of Replacement. Listen to Ephesians 4:31-32 … Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander,...

To get serious about wholeness and total health, we have to take a hard look at ourselves. Today is a tough Scripture passage from Jesus, but also a reminder that there is freedom on the other side of our battles. Listen closely … Jesus is not angry here, just being honest … “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others.  The standard you use in judg...

On our final day of focusing on stability in a season of instability, we will once again take a look at our available place within a solid and supportive community. The original Body of Christ should always be our model for our current Body of Christ. God always has one way and what we find in Acts 2 is His way for and to community. All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, a...

This week in our look at finding stability in a season of instability, today and tomorrow, we will focus on the support we all need within a solid and supportive community. When we come to Christ, we are grafted into His family tree. We become a part of His body. That’s what the Bible teaches. We enter into an eternal community where we have a definite and intentional place in which we fit right n...

This week as we look at finding stability in a season of instability, this is never going to truly come when we keep trying to avoid loneliness by just filling the void with a person. Jumping into relationships when God is not involved or we are not ready just become major distractions that keep us from growing deep roots and getting our lives built on what we talked about yesterday, the Rock that...

This week our focus is finding stability in a season of instability. Yesterday, we went outside ourselves to God. Today, let’s look into our own hearts. In Matthew 7, Jesus’ teaching covers quite a few topics, but He offers us a clear metaphor of stability vs. instability and the action we can take to enact His help. Listen to verses 24-27 … “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wis...

This week is a huge topic for anyone these days—finding stability in a time of instability. For Solo parents, there are several factors in play … the first is working on surrender to God to allow His stability to enter our hearts and minds. The second is working on ourselves to be stable in our own feelings and emotions. The third is finding stability, not in trying to fill the void with another r...

On our final day we will focus on a very well-known but always powerful chapter in Scripture - this is from Psalm 139. Listen carefully to the words of verses 1 thru 6  “… O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You...

When the Pharisees asked Jesus which was the greatest commandment, He basically answered by boiling them all down to what appears to be two, but is actually three. Listen to Matthew 22:37-39 … Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as your...

One of the most powerful chapters in the New Testament is Colossians 3. Paul reminded us to try and remember Heaven when all Hell is breaking loose in our lives and to not allow the stuff of earth to rule our emotions, thoughts, and actions. We have to have a ground zero for our own hearts and minds, to take care of what we need to do and not do in our own lives. Since you have been raised to new...

One of the greatest disruptors in this day in which we live in our relational stability and our personal peace is anger. Especially on-going and unresolved anger. Listen to Ephesians 4:26-27 … And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil. (NLT) 99% of anger in our lives is at a person that we are in a rel...

One of the aspects of Jesus’ life we can easily miss because we know how often he was in large crowds was how He went away to be alone and to pray. He not only got away from people in general, but also even His small circle of friends and disciples. Listen to Mark 1:35 … Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. This is one of those verses where you...

While Revelation can certainly be a challenging book for us to understand, there are some very powerful passages of what we are promised as Christ-followers. Listen to Revelation 21:3-5 … I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them.  He will wipe every tear from their eye...

Jesus taught some fascinating principles about the persistence we should have in prayer in Luke 11 … Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story: “Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’...

I want to encourage you that no matter how many times you have read or heard this passage, try to hear this today with new ears and a fresh heart. Listen to Matthew 15 … Then Jesus called his disciples and told them, “I feel sorry for these people. They have been here with me for three days, and they have nothing left to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry, or they will faint along the way....

One of the greatest prayers in the New Testament was actually a cry for help to Jesus. An honest, vulnerable plea from a dad about his son’s hopeless dilemma. Listen to the story in Mark 9… One of the men in the crowd spoke up and said, “Teacher, I brought my son so you could heal him. He is possessed by an evil spirit that won’t let him talk. And whenever this spirit seizes him, it throws him vio...

The idea of “having enough” is really about perspective, right? Saying we don’t have enough in the U.S. is a very different concept than not having enough in a third world country. Or maybe at some point in life, we have had a lot, and now there’s not nearly as much. Everything compares to when there were better days. I heard ex-pro ball player and sports analyst Charles Barkley talking about his...

Today, I want us to take a close and honest look at where we are spiritually. Guiding our kids spiritually starts with us, in our life. Here’s a question … was there a time in your life when you were closer to Christ? When was that? Why were you closer then? What happened? Regardless of your answer, what will it take for you to grow and mature to the next place God has for you? Listen to Hebrews 6...

Today, I want to focus on a very simple yet profound statement that I hope you will memorize and repeat as needed. What I allow God to transform in me, I will be able to transfer to my children. Let’s repeat that … What I allow God to transform in me, I will be able to transfer to my children Listen to Paul in Romans 12:1-2 … Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform...

A huge part of training our children in the ways of God is, first, not being afraid to do it in a culture that is going in the opposite direction. And two, is to be confident that, regardless of your past and whatever has happened in your family, God wants you to teach your kids. Let go of your fears. Let go of the “who am I to teach anyone about God?” lies. Please know that in Christ you have all...

The old saying goes: “We can’t take anyone any farther than we are.” I can’t teach you things that I don’t know. I can tell you, but I can’t teach you. So, that is a challenge for us that if we want our kids to grow deep in Christ, we will have to go deep first. Listen to Psalm 25:4-10 … Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me, for yo...

Discipling our kids comes in two forms—taught and caught. We need to teach them about our faith, how to have a relationship with Christ, and the value of God’s Word. But what is so crucial is to allow them to catch us living out our faith in front of them. Honestly, the “taught” part is often easier than the “caught”. Because it’s more of a “don’t do as I do, do as I say” thing. But God wants to u...