Week 20 of the 2010 Challenge: Psalm 31; Galatians 4-6

“The mind of man is the battleground on which every moral and spiritual battle is fought.” (J. Oswald Sanders)

Why is our thought life so important? It’s where every action begins.

Sow a Thought = Reap an Action

Sow an Action = Reap a Habit

Sow a Habit = Reap a Character

Sow a Character = Reap Destiny

Stop entertaining the enemy’s lies. It’s time to serve an eviction notice to every lie of the devil! Our hearts and minds are guarded by PEACE that passes understanding.

Philippians 4:7, 8 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.

2010 Challenge Scriptures: Week 19 – Isaiah 43, Galatians 1-3

This year are GOING BIG! B = Battle I = Invasion G = Generate. The I in “BIG” stands for INVADE, but before we can “invade” our promise land–we need God to invade us!

Invasion: to enter as if to take possession; to penetrate; spread over into

When God invades my inner world…

1. He changes my choices
2. He heals my hurts
3. He overcomes my obstacles
4. I surrender my secrets

John 3:30 “He must increase, but I must decrease.” When we think of this scripture, we usually get it backwards and think, “I have to decrease so that He can increase.” I love how The Message version paraphrases this scripture saying, “This is the assigned moment for Him to move to the center, while I slip off to the sidelines.” How does this power transfer and soul invasion happen? By, inviting Him to come into every area of my life, and praying to see things through His spirit and not through my temporary fleshly feelings–then my way begins to take a backseat.

God wants to come in and renovate some thing, have you given Him the permits?

(2010 Challenge Scriptures: Week 19 – Isaiah 43, Galatians 1-3)

“Fight the GOOD fight of faith.” 1 Timothy 6:12

Are you a lover or a fighter? My grandfather used to ask me that question, because I was a little spunky and seemed to be looking for a fight. Generally, people tend to lean toward either running from a fight (those who hate any confrontation) or starting them (those who initiate confrontation). In our personalities, balance is not something we walk in easily–it’s something we learn as we yield to the Spirit. The fact is there is a time to fight and a time to hold still because the battle is not worth the risks. (Notice I didn’t say a time to surrender, because we have the victory in Christ. There is no white flag waving here.)

Pastor Duane’s message Sunday will get you thinking about what we are fighting “against” and what we are fighting “for”. Joshua and Caleb were the only ones who had the revelation that the battle was not against the GIANTS, but for the promise land. The difference may seem subtle–but it’s the difference between victory and surrender.

“Don’t waste your time and energy fighting battles that have no spoils.” When David went down to fight Goliath, one of the first questions he asked was what the reward for killing him was. Look at the major battles of your life right now. What are the rewards for the victory? Is it really worth fighting for? How many churches split or friendships end over trivial things like what color the carpet should be–in the scope of eternity, does it really matter?

5 Things Worth Fight For:
1. Inheritance Received – Joshua 1:1-3 Our promises from God are worth the battle.
2. Kingdom Realities – Matthew 6:10, Romans 14:17 What is the Kingdom about?
3. Local Church Release – Matthew 16:18 What’s Jesus building?
4. Real Relationship – Ephesians 1:17 If my relationship Him is growing, so do all my other ones.
5. Races Ran Well – Acts 20:22-24, 2 Timothy 4:7-8 As I fight to fulfill my calling, I enable others to do the same.

We are GOING BIG this year. The months of May, June, July, August we will focus on the “I” in BIG which is INVASION! Arise, (strike your position) our day is here! (Joshua 1:2)

Cause a Commotion! (week 16 Isaiah 42, 2 Cor.4-7)

If you didn’t quite understand physics at school then don’t break out into a cold sweat when I tell you that Pastor Kris taught us physics at the Bridge yesterday! Don’t worry…she admitted that physics didn’t make that much sense to her either but then she went on to explain Newton’s Laws of Motion in a way that made me think I’d actually have passed physics if she’d been teaching it! Anyway…her points, as always, made so much sense…I’m sure I’m not the only one who says ‘oh, I get it now’ every time she preaches! Newton’s Laws are so true in our everyday lives but what we really need are God’s huper Laws of Motion…the exceeding, abundantly, beyond all we could ever think, dream or imagine laws of God.

Law 1: objects at rest will stay at rest…also known as the law of inertia (or the law of the Sunday afternoon nap on the sofa!). Inertia = a dullness with regard to motion, inactivity, inaction, a lack of purpose or direction. As Kris said ‘the huper life of God needs to push us out of our inertia’. I wonder what areas of inertia there are in my life…where do I need a huper push from God?

Law 2: objects will move further and faster when they are pushed harder…if you’ve ever taught a child to ride a bicycle then you’ll know this is true! But in God’s huper laws, Kris explained that our momentum is a result of our yielding to the force of Heaven – the more we yield the further we go…yielding = obeying! Galatians 5:25 shows that we are created to move in partnership with God.

Law 3: for every action there is an equal and opposite action…or in the huper laws…there is always an opposing force resisting your momentum (see 1 Corinthians 16:9). But when that opposing force or pressure comes, how do we respond? Do we respond with the fruits of the spirit or our flesh? (Ouch, she asks some tough questions sometimes.) Kris said that when we respond in the flesh we end up doing the enemies work for him!

COM = with or together, MOTION = move…working with the Holy Spirit we can together, move the forces that are coming against us! We’re getting ready to invade, so what kind of commotion are you going to cause?!!