“For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.” (Heb. 4:12 NLT)

Promises of God are faith activated

Transforming your mind is the process of bringing your thoughts in line with God’s thoughts (2 Cor. 10:5). You do this by personalizing Bible promises, mixing faith with them and confessing them as yours. (Heb. 4:2)

All the promises of God are “yes and amen” (2 Cor 1:20)

• I possess salvation — I confess Jesus as my Lord

“…if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” (Rom. 10:9-10 NASB)

• I possess healing — I confess, "by His scourging I am healed"

“But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.” (Is. 53:5 NASB)

• I possess absolute freedom — I confess, "the son has made me free"

“So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36 NASB)

• I possess the ability to love everyone — I confess, "the love of God has been poured out within my heart by the Holy Spirit."

“and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Rom. 5:5 NASB)

• I possess lion-hearted boldness in spiritual warfare. — I confess, "the righteous are bold as a lion"

“The wicked flee though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.” (Prov. 28:1 NIV)

“Do not conform 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.” (Rom. 12:2 NIV)

How to control your thoughts

Personalizing and confessing God’s Word in prayer is a powerful way to control your thoughts and “renew your mind”. The following is part of what I confess daily. All these statements are taken from God’s promises in the Bible. I have personalized them and say them by faith. At the end of the list are the verses they come from.

My daily positive confession

• "I am God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, to do good works which He has prepared in advance for me to do."

• "Greater things I will do because Jesus has gone to the Father."

• “All that I am and all that I do is from Him.”

• “I stand with firm confidence on His promises!”

• "I can do all things through Christ Jesus which strengthens me!”

• “My blessings are a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over and poured into my lap.”

• “Through faith, I believe that God is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him, and I know Biblically that this is what pleases Him. Amen.”

(Eph. 2:10; John 14:12; Phil. 4:19; 2 Cor. 2:20: Phil. 4:13; Luke 6:38; Heb. 11:6)

“For as he thinks within himself, so he is. (Prov. 23:7 NAS)

What’s on your mind?

There’s an old saying, “You aren’t what you think you are, but what you think, you are.” It’s true, you are actually the sum of your thoughts. That’s why it’s very important to control what you think about and to make your thoughts obedient to Christ.

Take captive every thought

“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Cor. 10:5 NIV)

Think about these things

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Phil. 4:8 ESV)

“For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” (Rom. 5:10 ESV)

Reconciled all things by the blood on the cross

“And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him…” (Col. 1:20-22 ESV)

God entrusted us with the ministry of reconciliation

“All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:18-21 ESV)

Be reconciled to your brother

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.” (Matt. 18:15 ESV)

“So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.” (Matt. 5:23-26 ESV)

Therefore…

“Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” (Heb. 12:14 ESV)

God has given you a body

“May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thes. 5:23 NIV)

Body: The physical part of you.

You are three parts

According to the Bible, you are made up of three distinct parts: Spirit, soul, and body! Understanding what this truth means to you personally, and as a follower of Jesus Christ, has great potential to help you tremendously! The last couple of days we looked at your first two parts, your spirit and your soul. Today, we will look at your third part, which is your body.

Your body, the third part of you, is the easiest part to understand, because you can see and feel your human body. If I ask you how you feel you can easily know and tell me. If I ask you if you are cold or warm, you can easily answer.

This part of you, (your body) is not transformed when you become a Christian. If you are fat, skinny, tall, young, or old, when you are born again, you will be that way afterwards. The Bible calls your body “the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19), and also only temporary as in “jars of clay” (2 Cor. 4:7). We are told to take care of our bodies and someday they will die and our spirits will leave them (2 Cor. 5:6).

There will eventually come a day at the appearing of Jesus that our bodies, too, will be transformed and we will then have brand new transformed ones, (2 Cor. 5:3).

To recap

The Bible says, “as long as we are in this earthly tent” (your body), you must work to do everything you can do to serve God faithfully until He returns, (Heb. 3:14-18).

You must study your Bible to discover God’s truths (2 Tim. 2:15) and apply them to your thinking to transform your mind (Rom. 12:2).

You must pray for and about things (spirit), (1 Thes. 5:16-18).

God will do it!

And, finally, the next verse following today’s promise about your spirit, soul, and body says that God Himself, will make it happen for you “He will do it”, because He is “faithful!”

“The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.” (1 Thes. 5:24 NIV)

And, that too, is an amazing and wonderful promise!

“May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thes. 5:23 NIV)

You are three parts

According to the Bible, you are made up of three distinct parts: Spirit, soul, and body! Understanding what this truth means to you personally, and as a follower of Jesus Christ, has great potential to help you tremendously! Yesterday we looked at the spirit, which is your first part. Today, we will look at second part, which is your soul.

Your soul (your mind): The part of you that you cannot see because it is invisible. It’s the part of you that thinks and reasons, which is your human mind.

Your mind is not transformed instantly as your spirit is, when you receive Christ. You must continually work daily to bring your thinking into alignment with God’s Word, which is a lifelong process (Phil 1:6). This continual process “renews your mind” and enables you to “prove (demonstrate) what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

“And 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.” (Rom. 12:2 NKJV)

This process, or lack of it, explains why some born again Christians continue to struggle with fear, sin, and addictions, even though they are actually redeemed. The better you get at “transforming your mind” and bringing it into agreement with God’s Word, the more victorious you will be in life and as a Christian.

“May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thes. 5:23 NIV)

You are three parts

According to the Bible, you are made up of three distinct parts: Spirit, soul, and body! Understanding what this truth means to you personally, and as a follower of Jesus Christ, has great potential to help you tremendously! Today, we will look at the first part, which is your spirit.

Your spirit: The part of you that you cannot see because it is invisible.

Your spirit is like a radio or TV signal in that you cannot see them either, yet they exist and are very real. The Bible says that what you see (the physical world) is only “temporary” and what you cannot see (the spiritual world) is “permanent.” (2 Cor. 4:18)

This spiritual-world concept is a little hard for some to comprehend because they cannot physically see the spiritual world. But, it is true! The Bible tells us that God, Himself, is “Spirit” and that we must “worship Him in Spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).

Inside each one of us is our own spirit which is the part of us that gets transformed when we become “born again”. Jesus explained this truth to Nicodemus in John 3:1-12.

Made brand new and perfect!

You become a new creature by Jesus, (2 Cor. 5:17), your spirit becomes instantly brand new and perfect, (1 John 4:17, 1 Cor. 6:17, Eph. 4:24)

And after that your spirit is sealed, protected, and kept by the Holy Spirit.

“After that you believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” (Eph. 1:13 KJV)

“You are the light of the world…” (Matt. 5:14a)

As Christians, we often avoid dark places. But, anywhere we do not go becomes darker in our absence! Jesus sent us into the world to shine the light of the gospel so that those in the dark world should see the light.

Followers of Jesus have the light of life

“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12 ESV)

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Peter 3:9 ESV)

Light overcomes darkness

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:5 ESV)

Let your light shine with your good works

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matt. 5:16 ESV)

Walk in the light as He is in the light

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7 ESV)

“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” (3 John 1:4 NIV)

Love in deed and in truth

“Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” (1 John 3:18 ESV)

Truth is from Jesus

“For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17 ESV)

God’s Word of is truth

“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” (John 17:17 ESV)

The truth will set you free

“And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32 ESV)

Therefore…

“Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.” (Psalm 25.5 ESV)