BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

I’ve seen this in myself. I may believe it’s the will of God that I be healed because I believe He’s my healer. Yet, with enough bad reports from the doctor and enough symptoms in my body, doubt starts to cross my mind. This is the carnal nature we have to deal with every day. It’s possible to believe that God is our healer, our deliverer and our provider, but still not quite trust Him to do those things for us. For some people, like those who grew up chronically ill, receiving physical healing for themselves is hard. Infirmity has been a constant part of their lives. People who grew up in poverty may have a hard time making the shift to prosperity. It’s easy for them to believe God takes pleasure in their poverty. Past experiences like these can establish areas in our lives where it’s hard to trust that the God kind of success is possible. And then there’s condemnation. Someone might say, “I’ve messed up. That must be why I’m not getting what I need.” But that’s just not true. You are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Period! There is no condemnation in Him. The Word says when you acknowledge you’ve missed it in some area, the blood of Jesus cleanses you from all unrighteousness. That wrong thinking is the byproduct of a religious, legalistic-works mentality. In all these cases, the problem is that there is a lack of unconditional trust in the Lord. Unconditional trust is what’s required for us to accept the healing, prosperity and protection that belong to us… …no matter what is happening in or around us. …no matter who is in the Oval Office. …no matter which party has the balance of power. …no matter what our employer threatens to do. …no matter what illness sweeps through the masses. Strongholds and the Mind The New Testament also has a lot to say about strongholds. Second Corinthians 10:4 says, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds.” This is talking about the evil kind of strongholds, the walls the enemy places in our lives. The next verse tells us how to pull them down: “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (verse 5). Strongholds—whether good or bad—are built in our minds. That’s where the war against the enemy’s strongholds will be waged and where good strongholds, based on God’s Word, will be built. We don’t defeat evil strongholds with carnal weapons but rather spiritual ones. The first step to defeating strongholds is to take wrong thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ. Romans 12:2 says, “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.” Renewing the mind means getting rid of every thought that exalts itself against Christ and replacing it with thoughts based on the Word of God. This is a continuous practice. Just like hearing the Word means hearing and hearing and hearing it, renewing the mind means renewing and renewing and renewing it. The mind determines whether we elevate our trust in God to a point where He becomes our stronghold. It’s a mental activity that must complement the faith we build in our hearts. If your thinking isn’t right, your words won’t be right, and eventually your behavior won’t be right. All believers who want to make God a stronghold in their lives have to work on this, especially when you know that certain thought patterns are wrong. Those patterns may be toward an individual or a people group. They may be toward a physical ailment or a financial state. When you identify wrong thinking, you must ruthlessly rid yourself of it and replace it with a God thought. In time, replacement becomes automatic. I know this from personal experience. There used to be issues I had to think about a lot in order to align my thinking with the Word. Then, one day I realized I could reject those thoughts before they took root. My thought patterns changed, and I was able to build a kind of stronghold that I could live in—one built on God and His Word, rather than the enemy’s distortions. Daily Practice As we train and renew our minds over and over on a daily basis, eventually it becomes easier. When your thoughts are wrong, grab them. Take those thoughts captive and filter them through the Word of God. Nothing brings success like making God a stronghold in our lives. This kind of unconditional trust invites the life we, as God’s people, want to live—lives of peace, joy, contentment, health, prosperity and protection. It is what Jesus provided through His death and resurrection. And as we renew our minds with the Word, we position ourselves to experience it. That’s when Psalm 91 becomes a reality in our lives—fully and completely. V Mac Hammond is senior pastor of Living Word Christian Center, in Brooklyn Park, Minn. For more information, go to lwcc.org. ************************** Watch Mac Hammond on VICTORY Channel® Mon. 6 a.m.; Wed. 9 a.m.; Sat. 8 a.m., 3 p. ET **************************** 24 : BVOV

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