DIG for Tuesday the 30th of January…..want to be more healthy, be an optimist then…..Proverbs 17 v 22

I am really enjoying preaching at the moment as I am looking at how our thoughts direct our lives, and there are some wonderful verses to teach from!

Take Proverbs 17 v 22 for example.

Proverbs is stuffed full of advice as to how we should live our lives.

In this verse we are told that it is healthy to be an optimist.

If we have merry thoughts, if we are on optimist, this is like taking a medicine.

We take medicine to make us better, to bring us back into health, so this verse is saying merry thoughts can make us well!

You may think this is nonsense, but science is actually now proving this truth.

Studies have shown that optimists are sick less than pessimists.

Science is actually catching up with the Bible in this area!

What is your dominant thought pattern in this area, do you think like an optimist or a pessimist, do you look on the good in things or focus on the bad?

How you think can determine your levels of health!

So if we know this and alter or improve our thinking, we can improve our health; this is so exciting!

We can affect our lives through our thoughts; this is an amazing Biblical truth.

You can control your thoughts and you should!

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that I can alter and improve my thoughts and as a result improve my life”

Proverbs 17 v 22…..A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones

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DIG for Saturday the 7th of October……above all; to believe is a choice…..Ephesians 6 v 16

Our Spiritual armour is an awesome defence against the wiles of the enemy, and Paul reveals the most important part of it, our shield of faith.

When the enemy strikes with his attempts at lies and deception we immediately have a choice to make.

We have the choice to choose either one thing or another.

We can either believe the lie whispered and the accusation made against us, or we can believe what God has already said about us and declared to be the truth about us.

When we choose to believe God’s Word over every other thing, and exalt His opinion of us over any other accusation, our choice is like a shield defending the soldier from all the arrows of his enemy.

And our faith does even more than just shield; it takes all the fire out of the enemy’s attack!

When we stand firm in the truth of who we are and all that we have in Christ any wiles and schemes designed to bring us down will be easily extinguished on that powerful shield.

Again, this is all about knowledge.

We need to know the truth of your righteousness because of the Gospel, put this knowledge above every other fact, and be determined to stand on those facts.

That is what Paul is describing as the shield of faith and it will deal with ALL the fiery darts of the wicked.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for the arrow deflecting, fire quenching power of faith. Thank you that my knowledge of the facts about my position in Christ is a mighty shield”.

Ephesians 6 v 16…Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked

DIG for Sunday the 1st of October…..Be strong in the Lord, be strong in His might……Ephesians 6 v 10

As you know I’ve been preaching about the armour of God recently, so Nunsy reminded me that she wrote a series of DIGs in 2014 about this very topic, and suggested I bring them out, “tweak” them a wee but and then publish. So here we go!

Our enemy has no real power; all he has is deception, but the trouble is that he is very good at it!

He is scheming and wily, and he is doing all he can to deceive mankind.

His only battle plan is to try and win our minds for the purpose of stealing, killing and destroying (John 10 v 10).

He is after how we think, because our life follows our thinking. We go where we think (Proverbs 4 v 23).

If he can get us thinking his way, according to the world and the flesh, then our minds are diverted from the truth of God’s Word.

This is why guarding our hearts (Proverbs 4 v 23), renewing our minds (Romans 12 v 2), and being spiritually minded (Romans 8 v 6), is so important.

If our hearts and minds are full of God and His Word, the enemy can’t touch us.

Right thinking is our defence against the enemy.

Right thinking is our armour and our weapon.

Strength, power and might come directly from right, Godly, Word-based thinking.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord, that knowledge of Your Word gives me strength, power and might”.

Ephesians 6:10…Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might

DIG for Friday the 30th of June…..indoctrination and brain washing can be a good thing…..Romans 12 v 2

Doctrine seems to be a word that has a ‘bad’ reputation in the world and in the church.

It conjures up images of indoctrination and brain washing, and this of course has happened over the years many times in a negative way.

However, as I said in church last week, indoctrination can be a good thing.

It is a good thing if Biblical doctrine, i.e. the truth, is being used.

When we are born again our spirit is made perfect, however our soul (mind, will and emotions) is not.

This needs to be renewed; in a sense you could say we need our ‘brain washed’ to remove the nonsense and filth of the world.

Mind renewal (or washing our brain of nonsense and replacing with the truth) is a Biblical truth and an essential process for growth (Romans 12 v 2).

Indeed this is the only process that guarantees lasting and permanent change for the believer.

Doctrine is not a bad thing; it is simply the teaching of a teacher.

And when this teaching is Biblical truth from a teacher rightly dividing the Word of God it is powerful.

Good sound doctrine can change your life.

Good sound doctrine will change your life if you let it.

But you need to remember bad doctrine can have the opposite effect, so take car in what you listen to and what you read and watch.

Speak this out today……”Thank you Lord for your Word and thank you that this should be the basis of our doctrine”.

Romans 12 v 2…..And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of GOD

DIG for Wednesday the 31st of May…..replace the lies with truths and renew your mind…..Romans 12 v 2

Have you ever had negative things spoken over your life?

I think we all probably have at different times in our lives.

Have you been told that you are worthless, that your life will amount to nothing?

Do you still believe these lies?

Well, I have some Biblical truths that can set you free tonight.

According to the Bible you are now a son or daughter of the Living God, having been adopted into His family (Ephesians 1 v 5).

According to the Bible you are have been completely accepted by God (Ephesians 1 v 6).

According to the Bible God knew you before time or creation and created you in awe and wonder (Psalm 139 v 14).

According to the Bible God wants you to live in abundant life, living in health and prosperity (John 10 v 10 and 3 John 2).

According to the Bible you already have all you need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1 v 3).

In other words, God knows you, loves you, has a plan for you to be a success and has equipped you for this success.

You are not a failure and you are not worthless; the Lord God Almighty has a plan and purpose for your life.

You can speak these truths out over your life and make a real difference.

If you believe these truths (renew your mind) your life will be changed for the better (transformed) (Romans 12 v 2).

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that you created me with a plan and purpose, thank you that you created me for success”.

Romans 12 v 2…..And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God

DIG for Sunday the 21st of May…..have you fully removed your graveclothes and napkin…..John 11 v 44

While I was reading the account of the resurrection of Lazarus yesterday I had a wonderful picture about our salvation.

When we recognise Jesus and hear His voice we are brought back from spiritual death, and created new.

However when we come to salvation we are still bound up with many of our old attitudes and mind-sets.

We still cannot see all the truths about Jesus in His Word.

So, as Lazarus had to remove the graveclothes from his body and the napkin from his face, we needed to remove the bondages holding us back from our true potential.

If we have our spiritual eyes covered we cannot see the truths in the Word.

If we are still in bondage to our graveclothes (religion and legalism) we cannot move into the freedom of what we have in Christ.

We remove our ‘graveclothes and napkin’ through renewing our minds to the truth in His Word.

Mind renewal is key to moving into the abundant life that Jesus came to provide for us (John 10 v 10).

Mind renewal removes error in our thinking and helps us move into health and prosperity.

Wrong thinking leads to wrong living, as right thinking leads to right living; and mind renewal is the key to this.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that I have been created new in my spirit and have been brought back to spiritual life through faith in Jesus Christ”.

John 11 v 44…..And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus said unto them, Loose him, and let him go

DIG for Monday the 12th of September…..change your attitude, choices and priorities…..Romans 12 v 2

I was reading a section of a Derek Prince book this afternoon and it made me think about the results of mind renewal.

I often write about renewing the mind, after all it is the way to lasting and permanent change in the life of a believer.

This ties in with what I’ve been learning from another teacher recently that mind renewal is more than just understanding the Word of God.

That is where the process starts; we need to renew our mind through God’s Word, as that is where we find truth after all.

So mind renewal is more than gaining knowledge and understanding, although this has to happen for the process to reach its conclusion.

With knowledge and with understanding there must come a change in thinking, there needs to be an improvement in attitude and the way we think.

Mind renewal brings a change in priorities and it brings a change in values.

For mind renewal to take place there must be a practical use of knowledge, we must ‘do something’ with that knowledge.

Mind renewal includes putting into place and ‘practicing what we preach’.

Those around us should see the evidence of our mind renewal.

They should see us behaving differently, with renewed priorities and improved choices.

It does however all start with getting into the Word and gaining knowledge.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for your Word and thank you that I can be transformed through the renewing of my mind”.

Romans 12 v 2……And be ye not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God

DIG for Thursday the 24th of March…..the Word can change you…..Romans 12 v 2

Now, I am not writing this DIG to show how spiritual I am or to show how good I am, I am writing it as encouragement to show you how the Word can renew your mind so that you can see transformation in your life.

I have not always been as caring and compassionate as I would like, I would have to be honest and say compassion never was my strongest point (and it still probably is not).

But, I met a sister in the Lord today who has spoken out against me in the past; indeed she stood up in a service one time and berated me prior to walking out.

Speaking honestly again I did not have much care, love or compassion for her at that point and indeed going forward.

But once again being honest I felt nothing but care, love and compassion for her when we met this morning.

What she had said and done had not changed, yet I had changed.

My attitude and thoughts were so different and this was due to the fact that my mind had been renewed through the Word over the period of time that had elapsed since we last met.

My heart went out to her and I offered help and prayer if required.

The Word had transformed me for the better; this is my testimony.

Yes, it has taken time and I do still need more compassion in my life, however I have changed for the better and know more transformation is on the way as I further renew my mind to how caring, loving and compassionate the Lord has been to me.

As we renew our minds about the goodness, love, mercy and compassion of the Lord we will see our thoughts, actions and lives transformed for the better; this is a Biblical truth and cannot fail to happen.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for your Word and thank you for the process of mind renewal and transformation”.

Romans 12 v 2…..And be not conformed to this world: and be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God

DIG for Sunday the 6th of March…..all, such a little word but such a huge meaning…..Ephesians 1 v 3

In the DIG yesterday we saw that we have already received spiritual blessings from the Lord; we received them in our spirit at the second we were born again.

There is however a little word in this verse describing the blessings we have received, and that word is ALL.

ALL means to the exclusion of nothing.

There is nothing that we require from God that we have not already received; He has not kept anything back.

The blessings we get from God have nothing to do with being good or religious performance; they cannot be about this as we got everything at that one point in time.

Now you may be saying, “but I am still in pain and in lack, so I still need to receive a blessing of some sort”.

No, that is not true.

In the spiritual realm, in your born again sprit, you already have everything you need.

What is required now is that you renew your mind through the Word of God so that what is in your spirit comes into your body (or the physical) to see you transformed (Romans 12 v 2).

God is not holding anything back from you, and you do not need to beg God to bless you with health and prosperity for example.

God has already blessed you with ALL spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus.

If you are in Christ Jesus (that is born again) you already have ALL the blessings you will ever need.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that I have already received ALL spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus”.

Ephesians 1 v 3…..Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ

DIG for Wednesday the 20th of January…..knowledge, knowledge, knowledge…..2 Peter 1 v 2

 

Knowledge is the key to the kind of life that you live.

Now I am not talking about education in terms of the qualifications and degrees that you have, that’s not the type of knowledge I am speaking of.

Yesterday in DIG I wrote about knowledge of Jesus leading to life and godliness (2 Peter 1 v 3).

In the verse before that Peter writes something very similar.

He says that grace and peace can be increased (or multiplied) through knowledge of God and Jesus (2 Peter 1 v 2).

So as well as knowledge of Jesus giving us abundance and less sin in our lives, it can also provide us with more grace and peace.

Knowledge in a worldly sense cannot provide this; only knowledge of a spiritual sense does that.

And this spiritual knowledge of God and Jesus is found in His Word.

Yes, you can receive it through good Biblical teaching from anointed pastors and teachers, however the best way to receive this is through revelation from the Holy Spirit as you study and meditate upon the Word yourself.

Now I know this is the point at which I have “lost” some of you!

You want God or others to do the work for you; well, I’m afraid to tell you that this is not the way it works.

YOU are transformed when YOU renew your mind (Romans 12 v 2) through knowledge received when YOU study His Word.

Get into His Word today, start increasing your knowledge of Him and see your life and circumstances being transformed.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you for your Word Lord, the incorruptible seed that I can use to increase my knowledge of you and of the Lord Jesus”.

2 Peter 1 v 2…..Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord