Romans 12:2 - "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."


As Christians, we are supposed to be representing Christ to the lost world.  We should be a witness and a worker.  God is our authority, even when it comes to our thoughts.  It is a difficult task, I'll admit, to model our thoughts after God.


Thank God that, despite our sin, His thoughts are for grace and peace. 


Don't do as the world does, but follow God. Seek Him daily.  Listen to Him speak words of wisdom into your day.  


Renew your mind today!

Hebrews 11:1 - "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."


The Bible makes it clear that faith brings results, and we receive this faith from God.  This faith starts in believing from the heart.  It's not head knowledge, or being able to quote scripture, but true faith in God is to believe in what He says, will come to pass.


When you start believing, from the inside, then it will manifest itself on the outside.  If you see me smiling and genuinely loving others through a trial of my own, you'll know that I'm not crazy or weird, but I'm believing that my God is in control and that He will be with me through this trial.  Why?  Because I have faith, in things I cannot see.


Faith comes when you hear God's Word, accept the Word for yourself, and believe it in your own heart.


Got Faith?

James 4:6 - "But He gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 


Godly humility is being comfortable with who you are in the Lord.  This means putting others first.


Being humble also means that we don't rely on ourselves, but God to help us, in all things.  Thanking God for our talents and strengths and recognizing that without God we would be nothing.


Look for someone to build up today.  Pray that God places someone in your path so that you can use the gifts and talents that God gave you to bless that person today.  


Stay humble!

2 Corinthians 5:8 - "We are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord."


The simple truth of the matter is that we're all being prepared for eternity.  The question is, where will your eternity be.


God is concerned about our character, and our motives.  The trials that we go through are no mistake, or any of it by chance.


God is looking at our eternal life, but we live in a world that wants everything now.  We need to see things as God sees them.  Things here on earth are only temporary, but the things that are not seen are eternal.


Only when we set our minds and hearts on things above, can God truly use us to the fullest extent for His glory.


Think Eternal, instead of the uncomfortable position you're in right now.

We can trust God's plans for us, if we remember God's character.  


1 John 4:8 - "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."


God is also a God of justice.  He will always make anything that is wrong right.  I can testify to this in my own life.  Generally, when someone does something wrong to me, I know that my God will make it right.  However long it takes, and through whatever means He arranges it, it will always come back around to something good.


These are just some of the attributes of God's character:


Eternality
Goodness
Grace 
Holiness
Justice
Love
Mercy
Omnipotence
Omnipresence
Righteousness
Sovereignty


With these qualities, God's character speaks for itself.  Trust God with your life.  He's the beginning and the end!

Hebrews 11:6 - "And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him."


We have to learn to turn away from sin to gain more of Christ.  When we do this, obeying will come naturally.  One, is because our hearts won't be drawn to sin since we will already be satisfied in Christ.  And, two, is because we will have the desire in our hearts to obey him so that we can gain more of Christ in our lives.


This may sound foreign to you, but here's the basic simple truth (from my own experience).: When we have a pure, devoted relationship to Jesus, we communicate constantly.  When we obey what He has commanded us to do, He is pleased with us.  When this happens, power is transferred, and we can do anything through Christ.


Trust in Him.  He has power!  Obey Him and you can have power too!

Galatians 6:10 - "So then, while we have opportunity, les us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of faith."


God wants us to rely on Him.  Fully.  Yes, we all have problems, but if we take the view of using our problems as opportunities to rely more fully on God, we could reach our highest potential in life.


I like this quote by Charles Swindoll - "We are all faced with great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations"


This is so true, but most of us can't look beyond the problem/situation.  We feel defeated and all alone with this difficult problem.  If we stop focusing on 'us' and focus on 'HIM' (God), then we start to guide our minds toward ideas of "wonder how God will turn this around for good?'


Most people are blinded by the glimpse of an opportunity coming from problems.  They just can't see it.


Any conflict can be met with positive focus.  Think of that difficult marriage.  This could be an opportunity to love as one has ever loved before.  Think of that wayward kid.  This could be an opportunity to witness and be a Christ-like example of what it is to have hope in Christ, amongst all difficulties.


Opportunity says that hardships for those of us who are Christians, never come without hope.  


So, yes, it is possible to turn problems into opportunities.  Trust HIM.

Proverbs 28:14 - "Blessed is the one who fears the Lord always, but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity."

We all have them.....skeletons in the closet.  Past mistakes, hurts, sins that have haunted us for years.  But, when Jesus came and died for us, he removed those skeletons from the closet.

Refusing to deal with the past robs us of our future.  We have to face and accept the truth and receive grace instead of guilt. 

Remember, these skeletons of the past can be Satan's greatest weapons.  But on the other hand, they can be God's most powerful tools.

Revealing your past can show others that you're not spotless.  You're not perfect.  We're all sinners and yes, some of us have more skeletons in our closets than others, but that's why Christ came.  He came to take away those sins.  He bore the weight of all those sins so that we may be free of guilt, shame and lawlessness.