THOUGHT PATTERNS FOR WINNERS : BE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND
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OUTLINE
1.TRUST
2.THANKFULNESS
3.TRUTH
4.TIMING
5.TRAVAILING
6.TEMPTER
7.TEACHABLE
THE MESSAGE
THOUGHT PATTERNS FOR WINNERS : BE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND
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1.TRUST
If we want our lives to be tranformed we must renew our mind.We must change our thinking before we can change our life. We must be thinking thoughts of trust and faith and confidence in God. We must put away thoughts of fear , unbelief ,worry ,suspicion ,unworthiness and doubt from our mind. Our mind must be dominated by thoughts of faith and trust in the faithfulness and goodness of God. Such positive thoughts will cause positive changes in our lives and we will be tranformed.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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Romans 12:2
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Phillippians 4:13
I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
Romans 4:18-21
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be."
Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.
Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,
being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.
2.THANKFULNESS
If we want our lives to be transformed we must fill our mind and heart with thoughts of thankfulness and gratitude towards God for all the blessings He has bestowed upon us.We must count our blessings and forget not all His benefits. Such an attitude of praise and thanksgiving will bring great victories in our life. We must put away all thoughts of depression, complaining ,murmuring, jealousy , criticism , judgement and bitterness. Our mind must be dominated by gratitude for what we have instead of dwelling with self-pity and complaining about what we do not have. Such a heart and mind of thankfulness will trasnsform our lives and fill us with joy and happiness.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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Psalm 103:1-2
Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-
Psalm 149:6-9
May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands,
to inflict vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples,
to bind their kings with fetters, their nobles with shackles of iron,
to carry out the sentence written against them. This is the glory of all his saints. Praise the LORD.
I Corinthians 10:9-11
We should not test the Lord, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes.
And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.
These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.
3.TRUTH
If we want our lives to be transformed we must fill our mind with thoughts of truth. We must meditate on the word of God and fill our heart and mind with the revelation of the truth from the word of God which will bring freedom and deliverance in our lives . We should not be deceived by the lies of the devil. We must put away thoughts of lies, slander, gossip, impurity, falsehood and evil.We must not allow our minds to be filled with filth of this world and not allow our mind to dwell on the evil that may reach our ears. We must meditate on thoughts of goodness and purity and truth and not allow ourselves to be deceived by appearances. When our minds are filled with the truth our lives will be transformed.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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John 8:32
Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
Genesis 3:1-5
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, ’You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?"
The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,
but God did say, ’You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ "
"You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman.
"For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
Romans 8:32
He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Psalms 1:2-3
But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.
Joshua 1:8
Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
Philippians 4:8
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.
4.TIMING
If we want our lives to be transformed we fill our minds with the understanding of God’s timing and purpose. God has His divine timing to fulfill His plans and purposes for our lives. We must not be restless and hasty and impatient with God. We must be patient until we receive the harvest for all that we have sown. Only then we can inherit the promises of God. God may bring deliverance little by little , step by step according to our ability to handle the changes it may bring.We must allow God to develop His character in us through the various circumstances through which He leads us.When our minds and hearts comprehend the timing of God we will alllow Him to transform our lives according to His divine plan and purpose.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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Hebrews 10:35-36
So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.
You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.
Galatians 6:9
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Deutronomy 7:22
The LORD your God will drive out those nations before you, little by little. You will not be allowed to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals will multiply around you.
I Peter 5:10
And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
James 1:2-4
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,
because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
5.TRAVAIL
If we want our lives to be transformed we fill our minds with thoughts of diligence and labour and travail .We must be people who are responsible,reliable, hardworking, committed to excellence and focused on our task. We must put away thoughts of laziness and sloth. We must not be wandering and uncommited people. We must avoid expecting everything to be easy and be prepared to handle difficult responsibilites .We must take responsibility for our lives and avoid putting the blame on others for whatever happens in our lives. When we fill our minds with thoughts of diligence and excellence our lives will be transformed.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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PROVERBS 21:5,25
The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty
The sluggard’s craving will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work.
PROVERBS 12:24,
Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in slave labor.
Proverbs 22:29
Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve before kings; he will not serve before obscure men.
Proverbs 13:4
The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.
PROVERBS 10:4
Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.
COLOSSIANS 3: 23-24
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,
since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
1 THESSALONIANS 4:11-12
Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you,
so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.
2 THESSALONIANS 3: 6-12
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us.
For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you,
nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you.
We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow.
For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat."
We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies.
Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat.
6.TEMPTER
If we want our lives to be transformed we must recognise the attacks of the enemy on our mind. The tempter will attack our minds with thoughts of evil, accusations, rebellion, strife etc. These unclean spirits wage a relentless war on our minds. We must recognise the suggestions of these evil spirits and resist them at once . When we fill our minds with the thoughts of God and refuse to entertain the thoughts presented by the tempter our lives will be transformed.We must allow the Holy Spirit to guide us in our prayers and pray in the spirit .
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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Matthew 4:1-10
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.
After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."
Jesus answered, "It is written: ’Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’"
Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.
"If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written: " ’He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’"
Jesus answered him, "It is also written: ’Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’"
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.
"All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me."
Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ’Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’"
Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
Matthew 16:13-23
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"
They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.
And I tell you that you are Peter,and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.
From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. "Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!"
Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."
Luke 22:31-34
"Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat.
But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."
But he replied, "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death."
Jesus answered, "I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me."
Ephesians 6:10-18
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,
and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
7.TEACHABLE
If we want our lives to be transformed we must fill our minds with thoughts of obedience to the will of God. We must not have a rebellious and stubborn mind which refuses to submit to the will of God. We must be willing to submit to the ways and thoughts of God . We must be teachable and willing learn from God .We must put away thoughts of pride and self sufficiency which refuses to acknowledge the need for God’s wisdom. When we allow our minds to receive the wisdom of God our lives will be transformed.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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Proverbs 3:5-7
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.
Isaiah 55:8-9
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.
"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Romans 12:3
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.
Galatians 6:3-5
If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else,
for each one should carry his own load.
Proverbs 26:12
Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
I Samuel 15:22
But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD ? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
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