Well, there’s good news and bad news…Here’s the bad news: We have been infected! We’ve been infected with a selfish, self-centered, sin nature because of the fall. The good news is that Paul tells us that we can have unity of mind as we have the mind of Christ! AND the best news is that Jesus died so we no longer have to obey that sin nature any more. We can have victory over ourselves, but it means we must have a mindset of JOY – Jesus first, then Others, and then Yourself. We want to develop the same mindset and heartbeat that Jesus had. For the JOY set before Him, He endured the cross…His joy was seeing us walk free!!! Does that make your spirit soar?! It does mine! Just the thought that the sight of me walking in freedom motivated Jesus to die on the cross makes me want to jump for joy and excitement. He had a vision for me! He had a vision for you! I want to walk in that, don’t you?!
Here are some strategies for victory over self: (A) Set the tone – We are to be salt and light in this world. Be a tone setter in your world! (B) Dust out your pigeonholes (Boy, this point was convicting) – When you pigeonhole a person, you miss out on loving them, blessing them and being loved and blessed in return. Throw out the labels and ask God to give you God-blessed eyes to see what He sees in the people around you. (C) Renounce competition or cliquishness – Let’s put others first and stop trying to get our own way. Remember that we are all created in the image of God and we are all subject to the same trials and temptations. (D) Accept others’ weaknesses – You have 2 options, to accept or reject. When you don’t accept you are rejecting! Accept others as God accepts you. (E) Submit to God’s correction – God disciplines those He loves. Receive His correction and let it lead to total surrender. God uses discipline and correction to set you free!! Ask Him to give you a proper view of correction and not one that has been defined by imperfect authority figures in your life.
For application we will be asking God to counsel and train us in relating as we study the 5 characteristics of the mindset and heartbeat of Jesus which can be found on the “Victory Over Self Worksheet”. We are going to examine our attitudes toward the people God has called us to love, looking for specific ways we can put their interests ahead of our own. Also, we are going to incorporate the principles from the lesson into our thinking and ask the Lord to make them true of us!
Luke 6:38 TM – “Give away your life; you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity.”
Podcast: Download (Duration: 58:09 — 53.2MB)
Go into all the world and proclaim the gopesl to the whole creation. The business plan should start with family then comunity and go from there doing as Jesus said in Mark 16:15. The whole creation starts with the family and not just blood or law related family but also the church for if the disciple has a crumbling foundation then those he influences may be unsteady to. In the bible it says to use the gifts given to you so that u may use them to glorify God. I see the meaning of that as doing what we’re best at to bring others to God. For instant I’m horrible at speaking but love to cook (I.e. cookies), there are so many was to show the love of Christ throught giving when words are not enough. A desciple needs to be able to do what it takes to reach the people who are more sensitive than others like in other ways than speaking. Although speaking is important knowing is the first step. To sum it up the business plan for a desciple is to reach out to the world and show the love of Christ even to the so called unlovable.