TAKE HEED WHAT YOU HEAR

Sarah Bassey it was, who at one of our meetings, led young men women to pray that they would not make costly mistakes in their lifetime. I have made some and they cost me dearly so I understand why that prayer point is great. There is no doubt that we would make mistakes in life. In the course of life, we are bound to make one wrong decision or the other; however, we can be so led by The Holy Spirit that we never make a mistake that alters the trajectory of our lives. Can you imagine how terrible it would be for one to be on the right path to fulfilling their destiny and then make a mistake that takes them completely off course? Even if they return to that right path, they would have lost time and may have to endure terrible consequences that one is unable to wipe away. May God help us. 

John 14: 26AMP “But the Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor - Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name (in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf), He will teach you all things.”

John 14: 6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, truth, and the life”

God knew we would sometimes have challenges with our decision making so He provided us with a Helper - The ultimate Guide who fully understands the path of life because He is the Spirit of Life who searches the mind of Life. This Life is also The Way. As a result, Our Guide is fully equipped to help our decision making and if we follow Him we should be fine; but the problem is with following Him. Now more than ever before, there are many voices out there.  These voices of distraction, which are most dangerous, say nothing useful; they just make enough noise to distract us. They are often so subtle one does not immediately realize their capacity to take them off course until you are already off course. They sound just like the other voices and may not even be obviously wrong but wrong nonetheless. Even correct word coming from the wrong spirit is wrong. The spirit negates the seeming truth of the word.

Acts 16: 17 – 18TPT “She kept following us, shouting, ‘these men are servants of the Great High God, and they’re telling us how to be saved!’ Day after day she continued to do this, until Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit indwelling her, ‘I command you in the name of Jesus, The Anointed One, to come out of her, now!’ At that moment, the spirit came out of her!”

Mark 4: 24NLT “Pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given.”

We are in perilous times; we must all be very careful what we lend our ears to. The bible does encourage us to listen well as soon as we start listening so that one is able to very quickly discern if it is something they need to turn off instead of wasting time listening to the very end. I feel like hell is pouring out words to counterfeit the fact of God speaking to us in these last days through His word. Everywhere, everyone is speaking.  Please don’t waste all of your time listening to things you should not be listening to. If it is a conversation you are not able to walk away from, shut out their words and think on things that are pure, true of honest report. 

Hebrews 1: 2NLT “And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through His son”

Philippians 4: 6TPT “So keep your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honourable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind. And fasten your thoughts on very glorious work of God, praising him always.”

2 Corinthians 11: 14b - 15 TPT “even satan transforms himself to appear as an angel of light! So it’s no wonder his servants also go about pretending to be ministers of righteousness.”

There are so many “prophecies” out there which somehow find their way into our phones. Sadly, we don’t even check to see if the prophet is committed to Christ; as long as it sounds like something one Christ led prophet has said, it becomes our self-consuming ambition to seek its authenticity. Leave it alone. Whether true of not, is it from the right place? Don’t you know that even the devil transforms himself to appear like a true angel? Let us stop chasing shadows especially in these times when there is so much to “care about”. We don’t want to invest energy and time in the wrong things. We must guard our ‘ear gates’ so that our hearts are guarded so that we make less bad decisions. Costly mistake is not a luxury we can afford. If it happens it happens but we must do our part to prevent them. God does not want us to make them hence the presence of our Helper in our lives. Please be careful.

Borrowed culture – The “mini-me” Idea

The fact that a number of us look to the world for mentoring is a sad reality. Many of us, despite that we are believers, let the world set the pace for our lives and then try to fit our Christian beliefs in that pace. A lot of us have borrowed culture from Hollywood “stars”, a people made known by their vocation which often places them, in a manner of speaking, “in our faces”. Enabled also by social media, we see them so much, we think we know them and they have become the people we look up to. The problem with this for believers is that we look up to them so much they help form our thinking & culture because we begin to think and talk like them. Unfortunately, Contrary to our belief, it is not possible to look to them so hard and still look to Jesus as we should. Moreover, it is only natural to become like what you admire and most of them are unbelievers who don’t have access like we do to sacred information.

2 Corinthians 3: 18 “So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord-who is the Spirit-makes us more and more like him as we changed into his glorious image.”

Joshua 24: 15 “choose today whom you will serve.”

So we love Jesus but we also love “the life of the “stars” which is most often unreal. This may not have been a problem but for the fact that we admire them so much, we are unable to focus on Jesus as we should. We gaze on them adoringly; idolizing them. So, they influence our mindsets to the point where we lose the “Jesus mindset” and return to the mindset we were saved from. Sadly, we don’t really appreciate the “born again stars”. We love Jesus Christ and enjoy serving Him; we believe we look to Him when in reality, we don’t. Our general perception of life is shaped by the lifestyle of these stars.   

Hebrews 12: 1b – 2aKJV “… and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.”

Contrary to the belief of some believers, their lifestyle is not without its cost. If we accept the culture, we must pay the price too. It is only natural to suffer similar consequences if we make similar decisions. If you plant cassava, you won’t harvest oranges except God works a wonder; which He can, but He already told us the wise thing to do which is to plant what you desire to harvest. We also can’t live the borrowed “star” life even when it contradicts God’s word and expect bible result. Indeed some of the things we see about them are a mirage; like most people, they also ‘put their best foot forward’. So we take on extra burden measuring our lives against an illusion and ourselves against people. The end is misery.

Galatians 6: 7 “Don’t be misled … You will always harvest what you plant.”

One the things we learnt from this borrowed culture which has the potential to impact mental health and ruin generations, is the “mini-me” idea. Believers, more than others, should know that no two persons are exactly alike, not even parent and child. Though we all are mad in God’s image, He made each person wonderfully and very special so that we may ultimately, “display His many-sided wisdom”. We all must be allowed to express our individuality within the limits of our God given liberty and as inspired by God’s word. Whilst it is true that some children look exactly like a parent, they are not the parent. Indeed, some children referred to as “mini-me” have grown up looking a lot different from the parent who refuses to accept this truth. Please think, when did it start to matter whether or not they look just like you? I have met people who could be mistaken for me who have no blood ties with me.  

Psalm 139 “Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous-how well I know it.”

It is even worse when the parent tries to, directly or indirectly, manipulate the child’s response to life or circumstances so that they make decisions they would have made just so that people can say they are really alike. In doing so, they unwittingly truncate the child’s destiny or make it more difficult for the child to be who God made them because they make two personalities in one person; one is who they want the child to be and the other is who the child is. This is especially worse for children who are desperate to please; a good trait the parent exploits. It is not fair to the child and can cause self-esteem issues. It’s almost as though they question God’s choice of who the child should be. Your child is not you and has a destiny to fulfill which they need to be real to do. You don’t have the power to re-create; you are not God.   

Colossians 2: 9 “For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.

These parents really desire to perpetuate themselves through the child. Some decisions they instigate the children to make have terrible consequences but they are so deceived they erroneously believe they can manipulate the consequences. Many young people are suffering for this kind of “abuse”. The “mini-me” thing is not a God thing and the long term effect of it is devastating. It is time to rethink some of these things we borrow from the world especially in the face of the challenges young people face. Parents, as custodians working with God to ensure children accomplish their God pre planned purpose, must resist the temptation to attempt to recreate a child.   

THE RESTORER OF LIFE – He Restores The Mind

God is as good as He is great. When I think of the fact that His breathe gives life, I don’t understand why He is so meek. Without God’s life, we would be nothing more than vessels formed from earth. Man is in truth, very fragile. It only takes for God to withhold His breathe from us and our journey on earth ends. No one can explain how life enters a being; we know not now it happens. It is indeed a true expression of God’s benevolence. The more one thinks on that, the more one sees the depth of God’s goodness. That He would be so good as not to hold back breathe from the wicked indefinitely is a sure evidence of His goodness especially because He knows He can do it. All life exists because of God.

 

Deuteronomy 32: 39 “See now that 1, I am He, and there is no god besides Me; It is I who put to death and I who give life.”

If for any reason, anyone or thing loses life and requires restoration, God is able to deal with that; He is the originator anyway. Difficult and almost impossible as it often seems to us, restoration of life is not a big issue to God as long as it aligns with His will. Recall the bible’s account of how man was made. All it took for dust to breathe was for God to breath into it. It is certainly not out of place to call on God for this purpose, whether it is physical or spiritual life needed. He restores any form of life on any and all levels. The thing is, we often forget to turn to God when we need life. For physical life, we turn to the doctors and God definitely uses them, but even then if His breathe isn’t there, the doctors are helpless. They use machines sometimes to keep people going but those have to be switched off at some point and if life is not restored, the person will not survive. As we go to them for help, we must seek life from He who alone has it to give.

John 11: 25a “Jesus said to her, I am the Resurrection and the life.”

Interestingly, the life God gives does more than keep people living. It is active and fills us with joy. The life is activated on the inside of us and flows out. It releases joy, peace and several other good things that not only make us a delight but delights us and keeps our mind healthy. This God’s life is health to our spirits, souls and bodies. It has been said that a healthy mind is one of the recipes for good health. The problem is that we often forget to also call on Him, alongside doctors or other men, when our minds are troubled. A troubled spirit is sick and so is a troubled mind or body. If our minds are troubled, they are unhealthy and the word of God is the best cure because Jesus Christ, who is the life, is the word. He also is God whose life strengthens our minds when it gives up on itself. He not only heals the mind but keeps it going because He gives life and does so abundantly. If invited, He heals and if the healing is a process, He is also a Balm that softens the pain while the mind is becoming whole. Doctors have confirmed that medicines do not heal the mind, they just make chemical adjustments to the body that they hope will help; but this God’s life heals.

John 10: 10b “My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”

Psalm 16: 11 “You will show me the path of life; in your presence is fullness of joy. In your right hand there are pleasures forevermore.”

1 Peter 1: 8b “Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy.”

Sometimes we turn to other people or things for life for our minds. That is expecting too much from any human who also depends on God for life for their entire being. The most man can do is ignite a fire which leads one to the Source of Life Himself. Of course, the expectation that someone will give us life is bound to be disappointed which leaves one feeling even worse than how they felt initially. Even if it looks like it worked in the immediate, it can never be a long term solution. God’s life which heals the mind is most often transmitted By His Spirit through the spirit of man to His mind. God wants to give fresh life to every mind that needs it and heal every mind that needs healing. Please give Him a chance. Your mind is not too far gone, He can’t restore life to it. He is waiting for you to call on Him.

Change – A Constant In The Kingdom

Over time, I have found that change is one of the things that remain constant in Christianity. We are constantly being transformed: consistently evolving. From the very beginning of our true relationship with God, He begins to change us that He may truly be able to fellowship with us. As one yields oneself to the word of God, the word begins to turn a lot of things in our lives around and the ‘real us’ begins to be expressed. The word won’t allow the real person hide anymore because the ‘real us’ is who God sees and wants to work with. He made that person for His pleasure. This transformation sounds so easy but in reality I would say, it is easy and yet tough. It is tough, not just for the person or persons evolving but also for all those around them. It is a process for all parties affected and one from which they will all benefit. Of course, there will always be those who fight the change because it changes everything for them. Yes! They believe they love you and may be close to you but they are acting in the flesh and unwittingly trying to frustrate their friend’s destiny just like Peter tried to stop Jesus from fulfilling his purpose. It is your responsibility to ensure that doesn’t happen.

Mathew 16: 23 “Jesus turned to Peter and said, get away from me, satan! You are a dangerous trap for me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”

2 Corinthians 3: 17b “And we all, with unveiled face, continually seeing as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are progressively being transformed into His image from (one degree of) glory to (even more) glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

The truth is there is a high price to change for the person changing, yet we must allow God change us. Our God wants us to be like Him. To be like Him is certainly not to physically look like Him since God is a Spirit, but to look like Him in the spirit which is the core of man. Then whatever we are on the inside, will be reflected on the outward. The end product of this transformation work will certainly be beautiful; for our God is so beautiful, He is indescribable. This change is a process because it is in stages which actually makes it more difficult. Just when one thinks they are settled, here comes another exercise and all of these together can be frustrating; so frustrating, it has caused some to fall from the faith. I guess it may have been easier if the change was only in man’s spirit; but it transforms the entire being impacting the soul and body and our wills are not often easy to deal with. The process begins with God’s word taking us apart thereby ensuring that we see ourselves as we are and realize we need to drop certain things, turn away from them and align with God’s Word. No one ever suffers permanent damage for this process; instead it takes us higher from one level of glory to another. In those tough times, before all things become beautiful, we must know for certain that God through the process, is working His eternal purpose and at the end of it all, we will come out beautiful fitting into His picture.

Romans 12: 2 “… be transformed and progressively changed (as you mature spiritually) by the renewing of your mind (focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes)...”

Hebrews 4: 12 “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our inner most thoughts and desires.”

Though the word of God is not seen, it is active and powerful and as such, does not need man’s help to accomplish His purpose in any life who is yielded to Him and has their eyes fixed on Him. Though we sometimes feel the need to push and prod people to improve on their work with God, I think it just makes us feel like we are doing something because all our pushing does nothing except God’s word does it. To see the written word is to see The living Word – Jesus Christ. To study and meditate on the written Word is to keep one’s eyes on God. Uncomfortable as change is, God demands that we keep changing, getting better and better. If we insist on remaining the same then we cannot be like God. I think we always think the ugliness of the process is an indicator of the finished product so a number of us abort the process. However, it is not so; the result is awesome. So, though we may be afraid of change, we must allow God change us; the benefits are immense.

God Opens Doors: Find Them, and Walk Through Them

I am sure you know the saying “when one door closes, another opens”. It sounds like something people say to make it easier for one to accept that “one door” and probably the only door they have had for a while, is closed. Well, I believe it is true especially for believers in Christ. It is very unusual for a major door to shut for a believer and God not have another door opened. All we need to do is find this new door and walk through it. The problem with some of the doors God opens is that they are often “window size doors” which may be incomparable in size to the ones that shut. As my Pastor would say, “wisdom is to go through the little door that would most likely lead to a much bigger one” which would remain unreachable until one goes through the little door. A number of believers are stuck for looking out for big doors. We often assume God will not open a door smaller than or even same size as the closed one. Unfortunately, it is often not so. Perchance, the journey from the window size door to the big door may expose us to that process we need to keep going forward. My point is “Ignore the size of the door and go through.” Great miracles are born in mangers sometimes.

Ruth 2: 11 & 15 “Boaz replied ‘But I also know about everything you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband. I have heard how you left your father and mother and your own land to live here among complete strangers… when Ruth went back to work again, Boaz ordered his young men, let her gather grain right among the sheaves without stopping her, and pull out some heads of barley from the bundles and drop them on purpose for her. Let her pick them up, and don’t give her a hard time.”

Ruth was humble. She started out gleaning like the others but before long, had barley left deliberately for her. What if she hadn’t gone out to glean because it was too low a job for her? Pride, which God opposes anyway, is a major stumbling block to believers. It prevents us in various ways, from enjoying all the goodness God has laid out for us. Sometimes it does this by ensuring we choose the losers package which is often more attractive; God’s best gifts sometimes come in tiny sizes making them too small for “our big egos”. Worse is the fact that it also disconnects between God and us so we are unable to see from God’s perspective or enjoy His grace. This either leads to frustration or discontentment and finally, murmuring and complaining pushing God even further away. Until that wrong attitude of mind is changed, one suffers when God already laid out good which remains unreachable, for pride.  

James 4: 6 “And he gives grace generously. As the scriptures say, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

I sometimes think it may be easier for successful people to be humble. They should not feel the need to prove any point. I see a lot of people who seem to be going through “temporary difficulties” struggling with pride. They desperately want people to think they are doing great when they really are not. Sadly, very often, the people they think are watching them don’t even see them. They are themselves very busy trying to resolve their issues. Meanwhile, God is ever willing to help if and when we humble ourselves. He will restore us also. There is nothing to be ashamed of. Sometimes to get to the top of the next mountain which may be much higher than the last one you were on, it may be compulsory to walk through a valley. Walk in humility and listen out for our Shepherd who guides us through the journey to the next mountain. Too many believers are wandering in the valley who ought to be at the top of a mountain. If Ruth didn’t take the lowly gleaning job, she would never have ended up in the lineage of Jesus Christ and we would not be talking about her today. It was not the most convenient thing but her attitude was right from the

Ecclesiastes 10: 18b “idleness leads to a leaky house.”

Another sad thing is many of us try to anesthetize the pain from the valley experience but it fails. Instead of investing energy in making it less painful, we could leave that to God and invest all our energy in going forward instead. We can’t see clearly or hear correctly when in the valley if we are also focused on making the pain feel better or hiding it from others. Our Shepherd is managing the pain as it should be and if any pain seems outside of His care, He allowed it to build us up for the next level. The shame of returning with nothing made Naomi call herself “bitter”. She already felt “put down” when God had not put her down. She wanted to ‘say it’ before someone else tells her. The truth she had forgotten is that a chain of bad occurrences never determine your life’s destination except you allow that. Only you and God have the power to determine that and God’s plans for us are always good to bring us to a glorious end. 

Mathew 18: 18 “I tell you the truth, whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.”

Jeremiah 29: 11 “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

He Is Working; You Just Don’t Know How

Today, I am thinking of Naomi and cannot help but be glad that Ruth came into her life. Interestingly, Ruth was not even her own child but we probably would never have heard about her if Ruth did not enter her life. Her own children had all died. They died too early for her to reap the full benefits of having children. However, it was for one of them that Ruth came into her life and I guess this was God’s way of consoling her; no wonder the saying “the replacement is always better than the first”. I wonder if her children would have done all Ruth did for her and even put her in Christ lineage. The thing is, God works in mysterious ways and we must give Him room to do that which He does best. Most of the bible stories are nothing less than fascinating but someone paid the price for us to either be corrected or even encouraged by them. We must learn to wait patiently for God even when it looks hopeless because He is very often working to cause everything to work together for our good.

Hebrews 10: 36 “For you have need of patient endurance (to bear up under difficult circumstances without compromising), so that when you have carried out the will of God, you may receive and enjoy to the full what is promised.”

Ruth 1: 20 “Don’t call me Naomi, she responded. Instead, call me Mara, for The Almighty has made life very bitter for me. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me home empty. Why call Naomi when the Lord has caused me to suffer and the Almighty has sent such tragedy upon me.”

Naomi had become so bitter at her God that she had decided to alter the course of her destiny, by asking to be called “bitter”, to align it with the events of her life as she saw it then. What she did not realize was that she had enough time left on this side of eternity, for God to change her story and enter her name in this book that will be read as long as earth remains. In her opinion and to all intents and purposes, the best period of her life was over and there was nothing to live for anymore; but God was just beginning. There was no indication of an exciting future for her. She more or less returned home hopeless which is understandable given her circumstance; but she forgot that God is Himself, Life. Naomi must have loved and trusted God at one point otherwise her daughters in law would not have met with and fallen so deeply in love with her God that they wanted to serve Him but tragedies of her life had dulled her love.  Love is obviously more than a feeling; it is a commitment. True love endures all and is long suffering. It takes a commitment to see love through to the end inspite of all.

Revelation 21: 8 “But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshippers, and all lairs-their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

I wish God would always move just when we are about to give up but it is not always so. We can’t explain it either. I think it gets more complicated because He doesn’t tell you that He is working on “it”, not does He let you know that it will soon be over. God truly wants us to trust and love Him. Thank God for Ruth who trusted God enough to believe Him to the very end despite everything. It is worthy of note that Naomi went from that woman whose life drew others to God, to the woman who was so disappointed in life and frustrated with God that she complained to the point where she asked everyone to call her “bitter”. This is not unlike us when God seems to be looking the other way as terrible events unfold in lives. Sometimes, they happen so rapidly that it seems like God has set out to destroy one; but it is not so. Not only is He setting such persons up for great good, He is also preparing them to deal wisely in life.

1 Corinthians 10: 13 “The temptations in your life are no different from others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure.”

Sadly, complaining and murmuring against God is never a solution; instead it facilitates our disconnection from God. Though complaining may be instinctive sometimes, we must practice self-restraint at times like that seeking help from The Holy Spirit. God is not pleased with complainers and murmurers. Whilst it may not be unusual to get to that point where one is fed up; it is what we do when we get there that is most important. That is the point when one seeks help form The Holy Ghost like never before. Don’t try to do it yourself or in your strength which will fail you: we have no capacity in ourselves to carry the weight of life’s challenges. Life throws very hard punches sometimes and often when we are ill prepared, but God is never caught unawares. One day you will find that you came through it all and you are still standing.

God Already Took Care of It - Our Minds

No doubt, life has changed so much in my own lifetime. The changes are so significant that if I don’t, myself, make a number of changes I probably would not be able to survive. So, life is a lot different now from what it used to be. With all the civilization, what should have been an improvement on our lives appears to be more of a problem. It feels like hell unleashed demons like never before; and much more sophisticated ones too so that all the innovation meant to be a blessing seem to be destroying lives much faster than they are improving them. There is always one demon waiting to use that new idea against humanity. Yet, not one of these has taken God by surprise.

Isaiah 60: 2NKJV “For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; But the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you.”

Job 5: 12 – 14 “He frustrates the plans of schemers so the work of their hands will not succeed. He traps the wise in their own cleverness so their cunning schemes are thwarted. They find it is dark in the daytime and they grope at noon as if it were night.”

Truth is that many believers do not believe that God always knew that all of these would happen. We seem to think the devil takes God by surprise with his every act. Almost like God only starts putting His response together after every satanic attack: but that is not correct and it is sad that we don’t know better. It is sad not only because it belies God’s greatness, but also because that mindset would ensure that we never respond correctly the challenges. There is truly “nothing new under the sun”. God saw it before the beginning of time and already did all that is required to ensure satan is never the victor in any challenge we face. This truth must be real to us so we can live it. Sadly also, we often don’t even care to know Truth; we would rather that God does all the work, fixes the problem and we wake up to the solution. Unfortunately, it is not so. God completed His part, we must do ours. We always have a part to play and God has given us Help in the person of the Holy Ghost who is a very willing Helper.

Proverbs 25: 2 “It is God’s privilege to conceal things and the King’s privilege to discover them.”

Ephesians 1: 13 “And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago.”

As soon as we get born again, we are sealed with The Holy Spirit so that from the very beginning we have all the help we need to survive in this “tough world”. God immediately goes to work on our minds knowing that in a strange way, we fall or rise in our minds. In giving us The Holy Spirit, God is already working from the very beginning to ensure that our minds are kept very healthy setting the stage for our victory in every difficult situation. He then goes further to let us know how to work with the Holy Ghost so we can enjoy having His help fully. Straight up, one of the first things that happen in us after we get saved is soundness of mind which The Holy Spirit facilitates. Our minds are healed.

2 Timothy 1: 7 “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity or cowardice or fear, but (He has given us a spirit) of power and of love and of sound judgment and personal discipline (abilities that result in a calm, well-balanced mind and self-control.”

 

God knows that a sound mind is required to live a successful life and the devil knows this too so he works assiduously to ruin our minds. The Word of God who is also Jesus Christ, is the biggest healer of the mind. The fact that life throws challenges at us is not surprising; we were warned from before the beginning of time: our challenge is with the health of our minds because that is the determinant of whether or not we will be taken down. God gave us a very healthy mind, we must work to ensure it remains so by ensuring its alignment with God’s truth. This is the real issue – are you allowing your mind that transformation? The world has always been known to have superficial values; but when one gets saved, to desire to retain the superficial values whilst yet seeking to grow in Christ leads would only lead to an unhealthy mind. Keep your mind healthy.

Romans 12: 2 “And do not be conformed to this world (and longer with its superficial values and customs), but be transformed and progressively changed (as you mature spiritually) by the renewing of your mind (focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes), so that you may prove (for yourselves) what the will of God is.