Victory Comes Through Practice

I ran across a most interesting statement. “Practice makes perfect is not a cliché but in fact an axiom. Practice cuts new grooves into your mental wiring while your body develops muscle memory – performing the same action over and over until muscle and synapse work in unison and thinking was erased from the equation.” In other words, a new habit is formed.
This goes hand in hand with what I said earlier this week. Biblical Christianity is about replacing me with Jesus not adding Him to me. Practicing the Freedom process everyday is how the Spirit gets it done. We tend to make bad decisions, use our drugs of choice, when we’re in emotional, spiritual or physical pain. Our drug of choice is how we cope with the pain. The Bible calls this an unhealthy stronghold (2 Cor. 10:4), which the Spirit wants to pull down and replace with another stronghold – Jesus. Living His way is the only to find what we’re searching for in life – love, significance and security.
The more we practice (Phil. 4:9) allowing the Spirit of God to replace the lies in our thinking with and then practicing the truth at the point of that lie, He’s rewiring our brain. As this happens, we’re replacing us with Jesus so that when no matter where the pain comes from we’ll respond in a Christ-like manner. Victory over the sin-confession-sin cycle is done through Spirit empowered practicing the truth. Keep practicing!
Set “Free” Nowww

Be an Experiencer not Picture Taker

When I go to Israel each year, I have the opportunity to see Israel’s many sides. This country has so much to see that it’s almost impossible to soak it all in. Because of this, I find it interesting to see people scrambling to take pictures, and then running to the next spot only to scramble to take yet another picture. It appears they’re so busy taking pictures that they never stop to enjoy the place they’re visiting.
Christians can be the same way. We talk about heaven and going home so often that we forget that Jesus came to earth so we can enjoy life now, not just when we arrive at the Pearly Gates. Let’s not forget that He is the Way, the Truth and The Life. We’re not supposed to just hang on until we get home. We’re to enjoy spending life with Him each day.
Living with a biblical worldview makes this possible. The Set Free Nowww principles help us filter out the lies that rob of us Life so we can be an experiencer of Life, not a picture taker. Slow your thoughts down today. Have a conversation with Jesus as your go about your day. I don’t know about you, but enjoying Life is better than rushing through it.
Set Free Nowww

Authentic or Dress Up?

I love to read espionage novels. I found the following line most insightful, “Dress him up in a suit and tie and put him up in $1,000 a night suite, but once a terrorist always a terrorist.” Dressing up the outside does nothing to change the person inside.
I just got back from my MiniChurch that reaches people who strongly dislike church and would never go back (though they didn’t realize they were in church) where I asked, “What comes to mind when you think of Christianity, religion or relationship?” The instant reaction, to a person, was religion. I asked, “What does religion look like?” They all said Christians focus too much on outward conformance and following certain man-made rules. It was this mentality that made church repulsive to them.
To them the above quote could be said of so-called Christians. Dress them up in a suit and tie and put them in a church building, but they’re still not worth being around. If believers in Jesus want to make a difference in this world, we must start being real with each other and with those around us.
We must stop focusing on looking good on the outside and conforming to Christian or Church traditions and start being real with our challenges, letting the Spirit change us from the inside out and continue learning how to listen to Jesus and do what He says in our daily lives (i.e. living with a biblical worldview).
As this happens, not only will we get back to the Christianity of relationship, but those around us will also crave the One we love. And the perfect place to start is to be in a Bible Impact Group (see Resources). Make the commitment to meet with at least one person to let the Word of God and the Spirit of God change your life from the inside out.
“Set Free Nowww”

When Replacement Parts Are Better

We own an above ground salt water pool with metal top rails. Each year we have to take a wire brush to these top rails and paint them with white Rustoleum because the rust keeps eating through the metal. After picking up numerous pieces of metal on the bottom of the pool, we finally bit the bullet and replaced the metal rails with new composite salt water proof rails.
Biblical Christianity is about replacing the metal with the composite rails, not painting over the old ones. It’s about replacing me with Him, not adding Jesus to me. When Christians focus on their behavior, rather getting at the lie in their thinking, they will get stuck in the sin-confession-sin cycle. They’re painting a new behavior on top of the old behavior, which will eventually rust through.
If we want to replace us with Jesus, we must let the Spirit expose the lies in our thinking, replace them with Scriptural truth and then empower us to exercise those truths in our daily lives. If you want to keep working on the same rail year in and year out, focus on the metal rails – your behavior. If you want to be free from all that work, let the Spirit renew your mind (Rom. 12:2). True freedom from our drugs of choice comes when Jesus replaces our character with His.
Set “Free” Nowww

Use the Tools

We have new home construction taking place in our area. It’s fun to watch these construction workers do their job, tool belts hanging at their side. Imagine with me, though, how effective they would be in they tried to build a house with their tool belt, full of the tools necessary to do the job, sitting in their car.
We’d think they were crazy and stare in horror at the site of the workers pounding nails with their bare hands. They not only couldn’t do their job, but imagine the pain and frustration they’d feel as well. Yet, this is what 9 out of 10 believers in Jesus do every day. They leave their tool belt full of tools at church when they leave on Sunday!
The Bible has given us tools (principles of a biblical worldview) the Spirit will use to build homes that will last forever (1 Cor. 3). The tools themselves don’t change your life. They’re simply used by the Master Carpenter to change your life. Make the decision today to retrain your brain by learning what those tools are (i.e. Set Free Nowww) and how to let Jesus use them to build His home in you, one that will stand the test of time and weather any storm.
Set Free Nowww