Sound Mind Set

Today, once again we will focus on just one verse … Matthew 5:9 … God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God. (NLT) In this world of war, trouble, and conflict, we realize peace never comes easy. Sin causes peace to be elusive. So to get peace, to be at peace, is going to take some work, some effort on our part. Yes, God’s brand of peace is a gift from Him, b...

Today, we will focus on one simple and single verse … Listen to Proverbs 29:17 … Discipline your children, and they will give you peace of mind and will make your heart glad. (NLT) In our western culture, we tend to always associate discipline only with punishment. But the true definition and connotation of discipline is structure, form, parameters, guardrails. Yes, punishment and consequences are...

Listen to Psalm 95:1-7 … Come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come to him with thanksgiving. Let us sing psalms of praise to him. For the Lord is a great God, a great King above all gods. He holds in his hands the depths of the earth and the mightiest mountains. The sea belongs to him, for he made it. His hands formed the dry land, too. Come, le...

We all know we live in a chaotic world filled with noise coming from all directions. We know that God ordained and blessed the family as the first union and community. So, for ourselves and our kids we need to take every step possible to make our homes into a sanctuary where God’s presence and peace are welcome and manifested. Let’s start this week with a very familiar passage. Let’s take the word...

Our final passage for this week is a familiar one, but has so many great applications for our lives to encourage us to seize the day … Philippians 3:12-16 … I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it...

Our Scripture today is Colossians 3:12-16 … Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together i...

Our own minds, along with the words of the Accuser, are going to constantly try to bring the past back up, acting as if it is today’s headlines. The more we press into the Lord and His love, the less this will occur, and the more we can deal with it in health. Listen to Psalm 85:7-10 … Show us your unfailing love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation. I listen carefully to what God the Lord is sayi...

To make peace with our past, we have to understand that peace will always be a choice. Often a daily choice. Listen to the spirit of Philippians 4:6-7 … Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (NL...

To make peace with our past, the very first step, is to first, forgive ourselves and next, and for some of us this can be a really tough one, to forgive others. Essentially, we need to clean house of all unforgiveness. If we don’t let go, the past is going to keep haunting us because we are giving it the power to stay current, which then hinders our future. A great place to start is with Jesus’ ow...

Luke 22:39-42 … Then, accompanied by the disciples, Jesus left the upstairs room and went as usual to the Mount of Olives. There he told them, “Pray that you will not give in to temptation.” He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” (NLT) For most of us,...

Psalm 91 is one of the most powerful chapters in the Bible for asking God’s protection and provision when troubles come. There is a hopeful tone in the words that cut through the darkness. Listen to verses 1 and 2 … Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and...

Today, our passage is about Jesus in John 1:1-5 … In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness ca...

When we are walking through dark days, reading Scripture and praying Scripture can be very comforting, especially David’s words in the Psalms. Listen to Psalm 40:11-13 … Lord, don’t hold back your tender mercies from me. Let your unfailing love and faithfulness always protect me. For troubles surround me—too many to count! My sins pile up so high I can’t see my way out. They outnumber the hairs on...

When we think of someone in the Bible who experienced dark times, Job has to be near the top of the list. Because he was the most righteous man on the earth in his day, the enemy wiped out his family, his livelihood, and even threatened his health. But when we fast-forward to chapter 42 after many chapters of questions and discussions, we find an amazing revelation as a response to his suffering....

2 Timothy 1:8-10 … So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord. … For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. And now he has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. He broke the power of death and illumi...

There is a passage in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian church where he talks about what he called his “thorn in the flesh.” There’s a powerful lesson for us about grace in what he shared. Listen to 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 … … to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. Three different times I begged the L...

Romans 5:18-21 … Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous. God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and m...

Focusing on God’s grace, listen to Romans 3:23-28 … For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, sheddi...

God’s grace … the apostle Paul had much to say on this topic because it is so crucial for us all to understand as Christ-followers. Listen to Ephesians 2:4-9 … But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the de...

Today, our Scripture is taken from Romans 15:1-13 … We who are strong must be considerate of those who are sensitive …. We must not just please ourselves. We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord. For even Christ didn’t live to please himself. … May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for follo...

Today, our Scripture is 1 Peter 4:8-13 … Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay. God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself wer...

Today, our passage is James 5:13 through 16, 19 and 20. Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have com...

Today, our Scripture is Romans 12:1-5 … And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then yo...

We’ll begin our week with Philippians 2:1-5 … Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble...

Today is our final day of a week spent challenging ourselves to place all our confidence not in ourselves or others but in God. Let’s go back to King David in the Psalms and look at a declaration He wrote for his life that we too need to choose to make: Listen to chapter 118, verses 5 thru 9 … In my distress I prayed to the Lord, and the Lord answered me and set me free. The Lord is for me, so I w...