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I want to share with you about the warfare that takes place between our two ears called our mind. There is good news that is available to every one of us. We can change how we feel and we can change our minds. We can change our lives. Romans 12:2 tells us “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” This verse is crucial for us to live a victorious life. It’s one thing to ask Jesus into our heart, to have our spirit become new and enjoy the assurance of knowing we are going to heaven, but that doesn’t mean we will automatically think differently or even live in victory here on earth. If someone was a negative person when they were born again, chances are they are still going to be a negative person. However, to get that negativity out of their life, they are going to have to change the way they think. It’s important for each one of us to have our minds renewed by the Word of God.
Ephesians 4:23 says, “Be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” Being renewed means to be filled with the presence of God. Change is not something to fear or resist. Change is good.
Proverbs 23:7 says, “For as a man thinks in his heart so is he.” If we believe we can do it, we can. All things are possible with God. It is a matter of can we believe. God says if we can believe for it we can have it. It’s all based on how we think. If we have a negative outlook on life or a fearful outlook on life, that is exactly what we will get out of life! We can change the way we think to a positive outlook and decide today that we are going to have a heart that trusts in the Lord.
You are what you think.
It is important that we understand what the truth is. The truth is we are a King’s kid, a child of the Most High God. Now in Genesis, it says we are created in His image and likeness. The world would like to encourage us to identify with everything else. One of our jobs at this church is to equip people and to give them the truth so they can live a victorious overcoming life that God wants them to live. He does not want us to make it into heaven and just live a hellish life on earth. No, His Word says: ‘Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.’ Each one of our lives should be heavenly, not hellish. Will we have challenges? Of course we will. The Bible says many are the afflictions of the righteous but we can overcome them. Jesus deprived the world of the power to harm us. Greater is Christ Jesus who is alive inside of us than he who is in the world. The same spirit that raised Christ Jesus from the dead is alive inside of us quickening and healing our bodies, but we have to believe.
As a man thinks, so is he. As a woman thinks, so is she. What is amazing to me is that we can see a gorgeous woman and she perceives herself to be ugly. Then we could know a not so attractive woman, but she feels great about herself. People look at her and think she is pretty, all because of how she perceives herself. As a person sees themselves, so are they.
A lot of what people believe about themselves is what they have been told. I am here to tell all that we are created in the image and likeness of God and that all things are possible for us. Absolutely nothing is impossible for us to do because God is on our side. If God is for us, who could possibly be against us? This is why it is so crucial that we speak words of life over one another. When we do speak the right words over each other, we help people fulfill their divine destinies. We really do not want to be doubting Thomases in one another’s lives. I know personally just this week my husband, Mel, got this great idea about something he wanted to do and as he was plowing away on it, in my mind I started to think about the complications. I thought I should probably bring up some of the things he was not aware of. There is something in us that wants to “protect” those we love. We don’t want them to make a mistake, so we feel we have to tell them about all the horrible things that could happen with this great idea they got from God. Fortunately, the Holy Spirit arrested me and told me to shut my mouth. God instructed me to get in agreement with my husband and make my words 100% in support of him. We have to be careful. Sometimes we try to protect people and actually, we are just being the doubting, negative person in the crowd.
Proverbs 18:21 says death and life are in the power of the tongue.
To change your confession, you must change your mind.
We will never be able to change our confessions until we change our minds. I remember when Mel & I got a hold of the power of the words in our mouths. When we first heard that life and death are in the power of the tongue and that we could chart our course by the words of our mouth, we were correcting each other all day long. “Oh, don’t say that,” we’d say. “That’s going to happen to you because you just spoke that!” We were getting on each other’s nerves big time. We just weren’t getting it. We were trying to change our confession, but there were things in us that just caused the negative words to pop out. Why? Because we were trying to change our words but we still had work to do in our hearts. It is out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. (Matthew 12: 34) We can’t get around it. Whatever is in our heart is going to come out.
We can try to say the right thing but it’s not going to happen until we change our minds.
Joshua 1:8 shows us how to have good success in life and how to change the way we think. He makes it very clear. “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have good success.” We can literally change the way we think. This is why Pastor Mel and I tell people to spend time in the Bible. We spend time in the Word because the Word of God is truth. The Word is Jesus. The Word is health and healing. This is B.I.B.L.E. – basic instructions before leaving earth. It will help us live life correctly. We’re trying to get your mind renewed and we’re trying to renew our own minds. We spend time in the Word of God for the same reasons we advise you to do it. We are all doing this together.
It really is about what you think.
Purifying our thoughts is critical. One of the areas I am concerned about for our society is the increase and easy accessibility of pornography. It is deeply troubling what small children have access to and what people are getting addicted to. What we watch gets into our minds and drops down into our hearts. People are not meditating on anything positive or godly when they are looking at porn sites. What they are looking at is degradation, victimization and godlessness. That is what they are meditating on. As a Christian, our eyes are supposed to be single minded and on Jesus. When our attention and our focus is on Him, there is purity, light, and love. Sometimes I look at people and I do not see those things but rather darkness and I think, “Oh no, they’re falling into a shadowy arena not meant for them.” If you’ve been into pornography, there is hope for escape. You can stop. You can change your mind. You can get purity and holiness back. We can get it back as a nation as well. We believe God is using His church for miracles, signs and wonders. When people witness the miracles of God and the changes He brings about in the lives of those who turn to Him, revival will hit this nation. God’s Word gives us these instructions. “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways (and if they will live a pure and holy life and turn off the porn sites) then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” God will heal the entire land when Christians get it right. You see it’s us. God is counting on us to do it right.
Philippians 4:8 “Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of a good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things.” This is where the warfare is –in our thoughts. There is a constant battle going on in the mind over what we are to think. Whatever we are thinking about is dropping into our hearts and into our spirits. It will come out of our mouths and that will direct our lives. It is crucial that we set a time in the morning when we talk to God. We must read the Word of God and meditate in it day and night, so God has a way to speak to us and guide us. Then we are in the zone where we are talking to God and our mind is in the right place.
Ephesians 4:23-24 “Be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new man who was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” We can choose what we are going to think. We can put on the mind of Christ. Bad thoughts are like birds flying around our heads. You can’t keep the bad thoughts from flying but we can keep them from building a nest in our hair. Part of that process is learning not to say everything we think. Sometimes we feel we need to “get it all out in the open or get it off our chests” but people don’t really want or need to know everything we are thinking.
Proverbs 29:11 “A fool utters all his mind, but a wise man keeps it till afterwards.”
Your mind does not stay renewed any more than your hair stays brushed. Sometimes people think they have ‘arrived’, but every one of us has a daily challenge regarding what we are going to think. Remember, whatever you watch, read, or listen to is going to get in you.
Philippians 2:5 “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.”
Do not be double minded.
James 1:8 states “a double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” I am sure we have all fallen into this at one time or another. There’s probably been a time when you were standing on God’s Word for healing in your body. You were declaring that by His stripes you were healed and then someone asked you how you’re doing. You said, “I’m going to die! I’m hurting!” That is being double minded. We must decide what we are going to go with. The same thing can happen when you need a financial miracle. You are speaking in faith that all your needs are met and then someone asks how you are doing. You reply, “I can’t pay my bills. I don’t have any money. I don’t know how I am going to make it!” It’s the whole fear thing. Fear and faith don’t mix. Fear is the opposite of faith and it’s called being double minded. The Bible says we won’t receive anything if we’re double minded. We have to alter our minds and decide that we are going to build our faith and believe God. How do we build our faith? It’s like a muscle. Faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God. We must meditate on the Word, speak the Word of God and work at building our faith in that area. Remember that faith without works is dead. Someone might say I need money; I need this and I need that. Well, you might need to go get a job as an activator of that faith.
James 4:8 states “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands you sinners and purify your hearts you double minded.”
James is comparing a double minded person with a sinner. He says to purify our hearts. How do we do that? We do it by drawing close to God. We draw close to God by entering into His presence. One way to do that is by getting to church on time for praise & worship. People who consistently show up late to their church services don’t understand the importance of entering into His presence. It’s powerful and it’s key for us.
The Advantages of Purifying Your Thoughts and Changing Your Mind
You will have supernatural peace. Isaiah 26:3 reads “I will keep in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Me.” Some of the thoughts the enemy brings to our minds can be tormenting. He creates some pretty wild scenarios that play out in our heads. His plan is to get our minds on the negative and what could go wrong rather than on the Lord and everything that could go right.
Philippians 4:7 says that “the peace of God which surpasses all understanding can guard your heart and mind through Christ Jesus.”
You will prosper. Joshua 1:8 – meditate on the word day and night, then you will be prosperous. Then you will have good success.
You will be transformed. Purify your thought realm and you will be a changed person. You will be transformed into what you are supposed to be. You will reflect the image and the glory of God. (Romans 12:2)
You will live. Romans 8:6 “To be carnally (fleshly) minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” The war is raging for your life. The devil comes to rob, kill and destroy. He accomplishes his goals through the mind.
I can remember growing up as a little child in a house where all kinds of demonic activity took place. At ten years old, I used to take my jump rope into the closet and pretend I was hanging myself. I used to hear these voices all the time. There were times I would take knives because I would hear voices instructing me to do this. I was living in a demonized house, consumed with the New Age movement. We used to think these were just people from past lives but they were demonic spirits sent by the devil. Remember when Satan was cast out of heaven he took one third of the angels with him. Those demons are traveling around telling people they are Cleopatra or whoever from a past life, telling them to do destructive things. We should have nothing to do with these voices. We must tell them to go. Any voice that tells us to be fearful or says we’re no good is the voice of a stranger and we are to have nothing to do with it. We must stand up for ourselves and tell that voice who we are. We are children of the most High God and greater is Christ Jesus inside of us than he that is in the world. If we hear a voice that tells us to kill ourselves, we are to stand up and declare that we will live and not die and the devil must go in the name of Jesus. Whether the voice is telling someone to kill themselves or is telling them they can’t pay their bills, it is a lying voice. Get your mind renewed by the Word of God.
You’ll understand truth. Remember, it is the truth that sets us free.
1Cor. 2:16 states “For who has known the mind of the Lord that He may instruct them. But we have the mind of Christ.” If we are children of God, we have the mind of Christ. Now that is the truth and anything other than that is a lie from the pit of hell. Don’t fall for the lies. You are not doomed to get Alzheimer’s. You are not going to go crazy or be taken out with cancer. You have the mind of Christ. You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. You can win. You can live a healthy, victorious, significant life in which your weaknesses can be turned into strengths that help others to be free.
Desiree Ayres is co-pastor of one of the fastest growing churches in Southern California. In His Presence Church is a 2700 plus congregation that meets in the heart of Warner Center in Los Angeles. Desiree is impacting Southern California & beyond with messages that challenge others to have a real, radical & passionate relationship with Jesus Christ. Her ministry has seen amazing fruit of miracles and healings of numerous ailments including cancer and AIDS. It is Desiree’s mission to strengthen the Body of Christ so all may live an evangelistic life on purpose, pursue godly relationships and fulfill their divine destiny thereby impacting their communities, cities and nations all to the glory of God.
Desiree’s most recent book God Hunger: Breaking Addictions has been helping people all over the world take hold of their lives and experience victory like never before! For 10 years Desiree struggled with anorexia, bulimia, and compulsive binge-eating. Since successfully overcoming those challenges, Desiree has become an expert in her field at showing others how to overcome addictions. With 20+ years of victory, she compels people to focus their
attention on the solution to their problem and not the problem itself. Her message is designed to encourage the hurting and broken. Her humorous style, along with her uniquely illustrated stories, enables her to easily touch the hearts of those needing a fresh dose of hope.
 Desiree Ayres grew up in Hollywood where her family's profession was stunt work. A highly motivated person by nature, she rose to become one of Hollywood’s top stuntwomen, with credits for shows such as Dukes of Hazard, Remington Steele and the Fall Guy, among others.
Desiree has made guest appearances on The Phil Donahue Show, the Joni Show, Sid Roth and Geraldo. She has had a weekly radio show in Los Angeles and has been featured on WBPI –TV 49 as well as Daystar TV.
www.inhispresencechurch.com
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