Skip to main content
#
Your Church

email usour twitterour facebook page pintrest
home
contacts & services
my account
Sermon of the Week 
Tuesday, July 12 2022

Pre-conditioned for Victory...                                                                                  When I’m reading a story, I like to cheat and look at the end to see how it turns out, then it’s easier to handle all the drama that is part of the story. When you know the outcome, it’s easier to walk through the valleys, and keep out of the ditch. 

I heard of a guy was watching a football game with a friend. He said, I’ll bet you $1,000 on the Red Skins. Well, no one was betting on the Red Skins, so the friend says, “you’re on, I’ll take your money”. Sure enough the Red Skins won. What the friend didn’t know was that it was a replay and the big bet was because he has already seen the game. (The back of the book says we win) Our victory is assured before the battle begins. Jesus said “Before you call I will answer and before you cry out, I will hear”....Jesus bet his life on our victory, because He won and handed it to us!                                                                                                                               Last week we left off at Mark 4:38, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” Fear and unbelief will precondition us for failure, or at least will diminish our ability to reach our potential. What happens is that they will bring us under the law of condemnation and death to our hopes and dreams, and will bring us under the power of the destroyer. Your daddy had cancer so you are pre-conditioned to get it too. Your grandpa had heart trouble, so you are pre-conditioned to get it too. Your mamma was crazy, so you’re going to be crazy too!                                                                      The LAW, is about judgment, and retribution and making you pay.                        The LAW has no place for mercy, peace, grace or favor....The LAW is without love, joy, and hope. Satan wants us to think.... You’re not good enough, You’re not talented enough, You’re not knowledgeable enough, you’re not qualified.Why try, it hasn’t happened so why do you think it will ever happen? You’re bailing out the boat and more water keeps coming in.                                                                                                              Jesus didn’t help them bail out the boat, He focused on rebuking the storm. Stop the storm and nobody has to bail. Jesus was pre-conditioned to overwhelm the storm, instead of allowing the storm to overwhelm him. Matthew gives us a principle to use in pre-conditioning our mind for victory.....He was teaching the disciples to get rid of the bucket and pick up the scepter of rulership and authority.                                                                                                     Matthew 6:33 “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well’. This scripture pre-conditions us to know that...                                                                                      No matter how low we are. He can pick us up.                                                                  No matter how dirty we are. He can clean us up.

No matter how broken we are. He can bind us up .

No matter how financially broke you are. He can bring us out.

No matter how far we are. He can bring us back.

No matter how sad we are. He can cheer us up.

No matter how empty we are. He can fill us up.

No matter how lost we are. He can connect us back to the Father !

What if while you were crunching numbers in the budget, and seeing more red ink than black, and while you were struggling with where the money was going to come from, and how the gas bill, the electric bill, the water bill, the groceries, and the house payment were ever going to be paid.. You declare, “I have put the Lord first, so all these things shall be added unto me”....!

The truth will change our perspective. An alcoholic was told by his friend who was a nurse. “When you drink vodka over ice, it can give you kidney failure. When you drink rum over ice, it can give you liver failure.

When you drink whiskey over ice, it can give you heart problems.

When you drink gin over ice, it can give you brain problems.

The drunk came to the conclusion that ice is really bad for you. Sohe warned all his friends about using ice.                                                                                             Truth will do you no good if you don’t yield to it!                                                                    

How about, while you were struggling with victory over heart problems, back or joint problems, muscle cramps and pains, head aches, stomach trouble, cancer, tumors, skin disorders, blood disorders, and various infirmities and other physical conditions.....You declare truth, “I have put the Lord first, so all this victoryshall be added unto me”....!

Or maybe it’s problems in the family, in relationships, on the job, legal issues, court dates, juggling schedules, and trying to keep your sanity... You declare, “I have put the Lord first, so this victoryshall be added unto me”....!

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. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart”.

God wants to pre-conditioned us for that moment when He honors His word and comes through and makes a way where there is no way, no matter how it may look in the natural.                                                                                                                           A basket ball player will shoot thousands of free throw shots, to prepare for the moment in the game when the game is down to 2 points and he is standing on the free throw line....and it’s sink or swim.

A Quarterback will throw a football countless times, from every possible direction, standing and running, long and short, to prepare for that moment when it is the final inning, and the last play of the game, and the team is 6 points behind with the clock ticking. 

A professional golfer will hit sand trap shots, shots from the woods, from high grass, and from every conceivable hazard he may encounter, so that when he’s 3 shots down and it’s all on the line, his preconditioning comes through and allows him to not only finish well, but to win!

They are preconditioned to come through at the last moment, when the odds are against them and the pressure is on!

So we push through, because we know how great our Lord is. We know that He is a miracle worker, who knows exactly when to stand up in the boat and speak to our storm at the critical moment!

Without preconditioning your mind, your body, and your spirit, you will not make it to the other side, and if you do, it will be “when the saints come dragging in, instead of marching in”!!!

2 Timothy 1:7 “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind”.

Romans 12:2 “Do not conform to the patterns 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”.

God’s will is that you have a renewed, transformed mind! That download begins when you receive Him and open the word of God.                                                                         God tells us that He has a plan already in place that will prosper us.

A plan is already in place that will give us hope AND a future.

It’s not just about the goals we have in life, or our health or our finances.

It’s a super plan that gives us the ability to have everything Heaven has in store for us!

The ONLY stipulation is that we seek Him and be open and alert to hear Him when He speaks to us! The more we listen, the more He speaks. The closer we get, the better we hear. An old song we used to sing is.... 

“Walk with me Lord, walk with me. Talk with me Lord, talk with me. All along Life’s pilgrim journey, I want Jesus to walk with me. Hold my hand Lord, hold my hand. Help me stand Lord, help me stand. All along this pilgrim journey, I want Jesus to hold my hand”.

It’s the same way in EVERY relationship!!! Friendships fail because nobody is listening. Marriages fail because no one is listening, relationships and careers fail because no one is paying attention. 

One guy got tired of the Jehovah witnesses who kept knocking on his door, trying to make him change his mind.

"Please, someone help, they kept yelling!", "Let us out, we won't bother you again, we promise!", "Have mercy!" They are very good at talking but not listening!

In the 12th Chapter of Genesis, God gave Abraham (the Father of Faith) 3 commands that would pre-condition him for a transformed life.

(1) Get out of your lesser place, your not where you’re supposed to be place. Get out from under the world’s pre-conditioning that you have come under.

(2) Leave your in-laws and outlaws and nosy-laws and cousin cheap-as, aunt poor-as, uncle lazy-as and brother lying-as. (that’s not king James)

(3) Leave behind what you have learned and inherited which binds you to this world’s anti-God system, leave your status quo, and your pre-conceived thinking behind, that is not of God. Leave your stinking thinking and get a check-up from the neck-up, and I will show you a new way of living.

Abraham was being pre-conditioned to reach his potential. 

Abraham didn’t just go to another place, He went to another level and another REALM. THE REALM OF THE SUPERNATURAL!

I will enter His gates with thanksgiving in my heart, I will enter His courts with praise. I will say this is the new day the Lord has made. 

You were spiritually born again and made Jesus Lord of your life, through your belief and confession. DON’T STOP NOW!

Like Abraham, get out of that old place and old thinking and enter the level he has always had prepared for you.                                                                                   There was a kid that told the Russian president, that he wanted to be President one day! Putin told him... “Are you stupid? Are you an idiot? Are you out of our mind? Have you let go of your senses? The kid thinks for a moment and says: “You know what, forget about it, I never knew there were so many requirements”.

You’re moving to a new level and a new realm. You understand that God has a plan for your life. You know things have to change.You don’t know exactly how to accomplish everything, and often, you struggle between your new life and your old life. But you’re doing the drill, you’re going through your stuff, and you’re sorting things out, and you have two piles, the old pile and the new pile. (That’s a big step right there)

BUT DON’T STOP THERE!

(Philippians 2:5) “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus”. In this exhortation the apostle Paul is telling the people of God, “Let the mind that is in Christ—the very thinking of Jesus—be your thinking also. It’s now about “How does the Lord see this problem, how does he approach this situation”? His mindset is the one we all are to seek and activate.”

Say this with me.....”Father God, as I surrender to You, move me to the next spiritual level, so that I can achieve my potential in that new realm! I choose to accept the mind of Christ that I have been given! I choose to see things as You see them so that I may walk in the realm of the impossible. I accept, receive and put on the Mind of Christ”!!

If I get a credit card, I have to ACTIVATE it or it is useless to me. I have to activate the mind of Christ in my mind and spirit.

With increasing UNDERSTANDING comes increasing POWER!

With increasing POWER comes increasing AUTHORITY!                                                       With increasing AUTHORITY comes increasing MANIFESTATIONS!

What was ruling you, you are now ruling over.                                                                                                           Wholeness, joy and eternal hope now reign in your life.

We can’t remain who we were and enter into the abundance of the Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of God isn’t coming, it is already here. It’s flooding our being right now. We can be in the kingdom because the kingdom has come into us. 

1st Corinthians 3:18 “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit”.

If I want to be LIKE someone, I must THINK like them. If I THINK like them, I will ACT like them. I will do what I see them doing.  

Jesus said, He only did what He saw the Father do.                                                                                Each day there are so many who are stepping through into the next level of spiritual living. To see into the spiritual, is to walk in the supernatural. To have the mind of Christ, we must leave limited thinking, small vision, fearful living, and a doubtful mind behind us. (Abraham had to leave that placeof faulty thinking and limited living.)

We have to see and know God’s ways before we can WALK IN God’s ways.                                                                                                                                                                                                                      God said His ways were HIGHER, He didn’t say they were impossible to see and know! The mind of Christ is the ability to discern things of the Spirit as Jesus did. It is about thinking as Jesus did, in our relationships, places of influence and responsibilities.                                                                                                                   To pray, “thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven,” is to pray that we, will also be an overwhelming force in the earth by the presence of God.           Make up your mind that you will not be limited by anything that has happened to you in the past! You’re stepping through.

Romans 12:1-2 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship. 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”.

Romans is telling us that as we surrender, we are pre-conditioned for Transformation. The word translated “transformed” is the word from which we get the English word “metamorphosis”.

This is an inner change, which has observable outward manifestations. This is not something you can do yourself.

Metamorphosis is actually beyond our understanding. We can only state plainly that a caterpillar will become a butterfly, we cannot explain why or how. It is the work of God. The caterpillar simply yields himself to the process. Likewise, we yield ourselves to God so that the work of transformation may have its way in us.

The OUTSIDE expresses and manifests what is on the INSIDE. It is the outflow of a new life which pre-conditions us for the mind of Christ.

Why have some Christians transformed quite drastically, and rapidly, and others take a longer time or never.

Because its about our willingness to yield and to trust. 

What we put the Word into our mind, it changes us! We become what we think. God cannot work in a vacuum. We have to give Him something to work with. Our minds cannot be empty of the truth of His Word. If we don’t choose what goes in our minds, Satan will choose for us! The bible says that in the last days, they were ever learning, but never coming into the knowledge of the truth.

Our spiritual well-being is a reflection of what we are thinking on, and putting into our minds. What do you think is the ratio between the amount of time you spend in God’s Word and listening to the truth, and the amount of time you take-in the messages from the world through television, and the internet? Is it more Google than Gospel!

2 Corinthians 10:3-6 “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, our weapons have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 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. 6 And we are ready to punish every act of disobedience, once our obedience is complete.”

There is great freedom, release and effectiveness that comes when we allow our minds to be pre-conditioned by the mind of Christ.

Let’s say that a friend agreed to meet you for dinner. You looked forward to it and changed your tight schedule to fit them in. You got to the restaurant early and waited. It was getting late, in fact, your friend did not show up at all.

You got upset, that’s another way of saying you got mad. You could not get them on the phone. No news, no phone calls, nomessage, nothing. You left the place steaming. You resolved not to take their call. “She is always like that” you tell yourself. You do not want to talk to them at all.

A few days go by and you get an “AAHA” moment. You meet herbrother on the street and you find out that she had had an accident on the way to the restaurant that day and was in the hospital.

At that instant, all your anger and toxic thinking just vaporized. Not only that, sympathy and compassion filled your heart in its place.

Can you see how our feelings can change instantly with new knowledge, information and understanding? There was a transformation of the mind with new thoughts and actions... now you want to go visit her in the hospital and see how you can help. All the old feelings of anger and toxic thinking are gone....

Yielding to the right thinking activated the new information and action took place to support it. Fill your mind with the truth of God’s Word. Read it, study it, memorize it, meditate on it and hear it as often as you can.                                                                                  Remember, when you activate new information (say it with me)                                                        With increasing UNDERSTANDING comes increasing POWER!

With increasing POWER comes increasing AUTHORITY!                                                        With increasing AUTHORITY comes increasing MANIFESTATIONS! 

What was ruling you, you are now ruling over. I am what I think! You have what you activate. You can achieve what you activate. You can become what you activate....So what are you activating? I pray that we will all have many “Aha” moments this coming week!

Our prayer today.....”Lord Jesus, when the winds of change are blowing strongly in my direction and nothing seems to be going according to plan. I know that You are protecting me from the things I thought were best for me, and You are making all things work together for my good. You have done it in the past and I know You will do it for me now. I will not allow the fear of change to consume me because my Faith in You is a strong tower.  

Lord my mind is set upon You, my eternal Rock. I know You will do what Yousay You will do, and I can anchor my faith on Your Word. Open the eyes of my spirit, Lord, so that I may be able to identify the plans of the enemy. Nothing in this world escapes Your sight. You are the God that sees, that hears and will deliver me. I activate divine wisdom within me so that I will not be a slave to my flesh or the carnal mind. 

I choose long term spiritual well-being over instant gratification. I look forward to the victories and blessings that are ahead. And I declare and decree that all changes in my life will push, mold, and shape me into a better person daily, as I leave my burdens at the foot of the cross.

Lord, open my ears to hear what the Spirit is saying, as I allow the Holy Spirit to operate in and through me. Father, today I activate the Holy Spirit as I draw near and I receive discernment in all that I do. Rise up in me Lord, and take full and complete control of every aspect of my life. In Jesus name, amen”.

Posted by: AT 09:56 am   |  Permalink   |  Email
Latest Posts
Archive

      ©2014/5 Eagles' Rest Christian Center | P.O. Box 2820 | Key West, FL 33040