06 May 2018
Two-Minute Features | 13 May 2018

The Spirit Renews Our Minds to Hope, Part 2 (TMF:885)

Friday, May 11, 2018
Peace to Live By: The Spirit Renews Our Minds to Hope, Part 2 (TMF:885) - Daniel Litton
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       So, the Spirit will help us cultivate a more hopeful mindset, if we allow him. It can’t be stated enough. The thoughts that we think in our minds are so critical to our growth in Christ. We need to yield to the Spirit has he leads us to put to death fleshly attitudes of negativity, fear, and unbelief, and replace those with positive, faith-filled, and hopeful attitudes. As we do this, we will be able to say with the Apostle John, “ “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us” (1 John 4:16, ESV). I just want to take somewhat of an extended discussion here and note that we cannot be growing into becoming more like Jesus if we are continuing to tare ourselves down with negative thoughts about ourselves. Some church leaders may tell you to throw away your confidence, that it’s worldly or something like that, but don’t listen to them. God wants us to be confident that we can do all things through him. Remember, the Spirit is not doing everything for us, but we are doing things through his power.

The Spirit Renews Our Minds to Hope, Part 1 (TMF:884)

Thursday, May 10, 2018
Peace to Live By: The Spirit Renews Our Minds to Hope, Part 1 (TMF:884) - Daniel Litton
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       As we grow to become more and more like Jesus, God the Holy Spirit will renew our minds into a more hopeful mindset. This is a process for all of us, and some of us have more strongholds that need to be dealt with. We should be living through the mind of the Spirit instead of the mind of the flesh. One way we do this is by always keeping in mind all the good things God has done for us, in the here and now, and keeping attention on those things. This not only gives us a thankful attitude, it gives us hope for the future because if God has done a lot of good for us in the past, which he has, and has made everything work out, then we can count on that for the future. So, the Spirit will help us cultivate a more hopeful mindset, if we allow him. The thoughts that we think in our minds are so critical to our growth in Christ. We need to yield to the Spirit has he leads us to put to death fleshly attitudes of negativity, fear, and unbelief.

Not Just Love, But Faith & Hope Also (TMF:883)

Wednesday, May 09, 2018
Peace to Live By: Not Just Love, But Faith & Hope Also (TMF:883) - Daniel Litton
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       Recall the Apostle Paul talked about faith, hope, and love at the end of 1 Corinthians chapter 13. These are the three greatest attitudes we should have in this life. As Paul told the Galatians, “For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness” (Galatians 5:5, ESV). And our hope, by the Spirit, is not just for Heavenly things in the future, or to see Jesus, but this hope also includes good things in the here and now. It includes successes in this life, both for the kingdom of God and for personal successes. God does want to bless our lives. The problem is that we often don’t think that he really does, and therefore, he is unable to give us the desires of our hearts because of our, again, unbelief.

The Spirit Causes Us to Abound in Hope (TMF:882)

Tuesday, May 08, 2018
Peace to Live By: The Spirit Causes Us to Abound in Hope (TMF:882) - Daniel Litton
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       Now, the Holy Spirit also causes us to “abound in hope” (see Romans 15:13). The opposite of this is not believing good will happen to us and for us both now and in the future. If we have the negative attitude of unbelief in our minds, we cannot have hope, and we will not see the power of the Spirit flowing in our daily lives. If you ever feel like as you go throughout your day that you are not enjoying your day and you don’t have peace, odds are you are living in unbelief. When we live in unbelief, we cannot enjoy ourselves because we are looking at life with a negative overcast. And we believe that God is negative, and doesn’t really want to help us or give us anything. I pray that the Spirit will convict us of this type of thinking, and bring it to attention. Some of us need more work than others in this area. But, with continual persistence, we can make the change for the good in our minds.

The Spirit Guarantees our Inheritance (TMF:881)

Monday, May 07, 2018
Peace to Live By: The Spirit Guarantees our Inheritance (TMF:881) - Daniel Litton
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       When the Spirit bears witness with our spirit, we know that we belong to God and that we will go to Heaven in the future when we die, or are Raptured. But Paul’s emphasis here is that the Holy Spirit guarantees our “inheritance.” That is, the good things that we will receive in Heaven from our following the Spirit in this life, our obedience to Jesus and his Word. This should be very encouraging for us. This is a great thing. Remember, Jesus said to “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:20, ESV). And, of course, this is for God’s glory and praise. God loves to give us good things, and he is going to give us great things in the future. Jesus is preparing a place for us right now, and even though we love to follow God with our hearts and perhaps don’t expect or require anything in return, he will give generously to us nonetheless. Again, God loves to give us good things.