GraceCreates

By Jon Walker

“I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit.” Ephesians 3:16 (NLT)

God empowers you to successfully do everything he asks to do. He gives you abilities to use in service to others, and he transforms you inwardly with a growing desire to serve others.

The Holy Spirit within gives you the ability to tune into God, to hear him, to listen to him – and to talk with him. Please hear this: he didn’t create you for failure; he created you to succeed with the Holy Spirit energizing your abilities and empowering your efforts.

Perhaps you’ve noticed the small stickers on many computers that say, “Powered by [‘this-brand-of’ chip].” In a sense, you have the “God-chip” powering your life as a follower of Christ; you are empowered by the one and only, Holy God, who’s placed his Holy Spirit within you.

God designed you to succeed, but only when you’re dependent upon him. Without him, you simply will not succeed in the things God calls important and calls you to do. With him, you’re guaranteed to succeed in all he’s called you to complete.

What does this mean?

• Trust God and succeed – In order to succeed at your God-mission, you need to trust God; in other words, believe in faith that he will empower you to succeed. Tell God your fears and ask him to replace them with faith.
• Inner strength comes from God – “I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit.” (Ephesians 3:16, NLT)

Jon Walker is the teaching pastor for “The Purpose Driven Life Daily Devotionals,” and resident writer at www.GraceCreates.com. This devotional is copyrighted 2008 by Jon Walker. Used by permission.

By Jon Walker

“Jesus turned to Peter and said, ‘Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, and not from God’s.’” Matthew 16:23 (NLT)

Jesus says we should think like He thinks – with a heavenly perspective above and beyond mere human thinking.

This doesn’t mean we become mindless robots; rather, our thoughts should begin to match the thoughts of God as His Spirit works within us, helping us to look at people and circumstances from his perspective: “From now on, then, we do not know anyone in a purely human way. Even if we have known Christ in a purely human way, yet now we no longer know Him like that.” (2 Corinthians 5:16, HCSB)

We set our minds on the things of God and abandon self-absorbed thinking: “Set your minds on what is above, not on what is on the earth.” (Colossians 3:2, HCSB)

Thinking like God means –

• We trust His guidance and no longer rely on our own understanding.
• We allow God to interpret the facts, since He knows the whole truth.
• We measure our thoughts against God’s Word and God’s character.
• We take ungodly thoughts captive and bring them before King Jesus.

We can’t change the way we think without His help. We must allow Him to renew our minds, acknowledging our need for His help as we bring our thoughts in line with His. We allow the Holy Spirit to guide our thoughts so God can guide us toward what to say and what to do.

This is why obedience and trust are such an important aspect of loving God. He wants us to dance in perfect step with Him – so much so that our heart, soul, strength, and mind will keep perfect time with His own steps. God is calling us to love Him with everything we’ve got in order for us to become like Christ, Who first loved us, wholly and fully.

What does this mean?

• Ask, “What would Jesus think?” – If you want to develop the mind of Christ, you need to begin thinking like Jesus. His thoughts were focused on the Father; He was in constant conversation with the Father. Jesus was self-forgetful, thinking more of others than Himself.
• Jesus understands your struggle – Jesus told Peter, “… You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, and not from God’s.” (Matthew 16:23, NLT) If seeing things from a human point of view, rather than God’s point of view, is a dangerous trap for Jesus, how much more is it a dangerous place for us to be? But, this also means Jesus understands your struggle to get your eyes on the things above.
• Question to consider: What thoughts roam your mind that you already know should be taken captive for Christ? Ask Jesus to help you “round them up,” so you can place them at His feet.
• Be encouraged – Jesus confronts Peter about his way of thinking, not to condemn him, but to teach Him the ways of God. God knows you can’t do this alone and that is why He’s placed the Holy Spirit within you to transform your mind into the mind of Christ.

Jon Walker is the teaching pastor for “The Purpose Driven Life Daily Devotionals,” and resident writer at www.GraceCreates.com. This devotional is copyrighted 2008 by Jon Walker. Used by permission.