A great commitment to make and keep for yourself is to never feel down about yourself or your own life. Always think and feel the best about the potential God has given you in Christ, and delight in the reality that He has great things in store for you. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 7:11(NLT), “So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.” God has given us the sacrifice of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. He’s given us the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit, and He has redeemed us and restored our friendship with Him through Christ. This should prove to every person living, or that has ever lived, that God is good, and He wants to share His goodness with us!
We can’t beat God’s giving. He has poured into us every good thing we need to live a more than abundant life through Christ, and He has equipped us to stand firm against every dart, trick, plot, and deception of the evil one. Our Dear Heavenly Father wants us to be blessed coming in and blessed going out. Psalm 84:11(NLT) tells us, “For the LORD God is our sun and our shield. He gives us grace and glory. The LORD will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right.” He doesn’t withhold but showers us in His blessings, and in Ephesians 2:10, He tells us that we’re His masterpiece and He’s made us brand new in Christ by placing His Holy Spirit within us! He then goes on to say in this verse that He did all this so that we can do all the good things He planned for us long ago.
He had plenty of time to think about His redemption plan and how He’d perfect us in Christ. Now, God has us right where He wants us to be, and on this we can be sure. He never makes a mistake, and He has called us, given us a purpose in His plan, justified us and made us perfectly suited for all He wants us to do in this life and the next. He’s completed everything for us, and now all we have to do is trust Him.
For many of us, this has been the issue. We are not trusting God with a fully persuaded heart and mind. He will not punish us for this, but our lack of faith in God will show up in our lives in ways that are unsatisfactory to us. We may call it many different things, but the truth of the matter is that everything that plaques us in this life is due to a lack of faith. One of the ways that we come face to face with this is through prayer requests that appear to us to be delayed.
2Peter 1:21(ESV) tells us, “For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” God’s Word is the definitive authority pertaining to every aspect of life. In His omniscience, perfection, and brilliance, there are no cracks or crevices that were missed. When God says something, it unequivocally must be so. There are no ifs, ands, and buts when it comes to believing His Word. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us that we cannot lean on our own understanding, because we can’t see what He sees and we don’t know all that He knows; instead, we must trust with our whole hearts and acknowledge Him in all our ways.
What does that look like for us? It looks like a commitment from us to God to renew our minds to His Word. We can’t be doubleminded when it comes to having faith in God’s Word. Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes by hearing the Word of God, so if we’re praying for deliverance and new blessings, God is clear, we must know His Word in order to build up our faith.
2Timothy 2:15(AMP) tells us to “Study and do your best to present yourself to God approved, a workman [tested by trial] who has no reason to be ashamed, accurately handling and skillfully teaching the word of truth.” Often, we want the prayer request to materialize without this step. We want Him to grant the desires of our hearts when we haven’t shown ourselves approved before Him and haven’t shown increased interest in studying His Word more than what we have already.
Renewing our minds to God’s Word and knowing it in our hearts is the only way to spiritually prepare ourselves for what God wants to give us. Many believers assume 2Timothy 2:15 is just for those who stand behind a pulpit or teach God’s Word, but this verse is God’s requirement for all believers. The psalmist said in Psalm 138:2(NKJV), “I will worship toward Your holy temple, And praise Your name For Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word above all Your name.” God has lifted His Word above everything, and we must do the same. We must prove to God that we honor His truth by renewing our minds to it and having faith in it. This is the key that unlocks the door to the blessings with our names on them.∎
English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Amplified Bible (AMP)
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
“Renew Your Mind to God’s Word”, written by Fran Mack. Edits by Kim Times and K. Stephens for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2024. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.