The word Jericho means fragrant. It was one of the most important cities of Palastine. When Israel crossed the Jordan, their destination was the city of Jericho. It was a center of trade and enterprise. There are many accounts in the bible that prominently feature Jeraco.

At the time of our text, the city had rebuilt after many years of being cursed by God. The city had recovered, but the source of water for the city was still polluted. This poisoned spring was restricting the growth and progression of the city. The prophet asks for a cruse with salt in it. Elisha goes to the source and throws in the salt and declared them healed.

Jericho was beautiful, but the spring was foul. It is possible in life to be in a beautiful location, but still have a thing that makes it uninhabitable. This story shows that the solution to the problem is not always moving away. We have to go to the right source, but there is a answer. God is saying that we do not have to move to experience a change in life. We can have it right where we are. God has an answer right now and right here.

There are a lot of people troubled by old curses. We can rebuild all we want, but if we do not deal with the root problem, all we will have as a pleasant place with a lot of pain.

We can change the climate and atmosphere of our life by making the right decision. We are not stuck with an old curse.

If we are going to experience real change in life, we have to go to the source of the problem. Elisha went to the spring and specifically said he cast the salt there. To address the problem, we have to go to the root. Our world is full of medicines and remedies. Most of them are all treating symptoms. They do not address the root cause of the problem. There is a remedy for life’s problems, but we must attack it at the root.

The word Jericho means fragrant. It was one of the most important cities of Palastine. When Israel crossed the Jordan, their destination was the city of Jericho. It was a center of trade and enterprise. There are many accounts in the bible that prominently feature Jeraco.

At the time of our text, the city had rebuilt after many years of being cursed by God. The city had recovered, but the source of water for the city was still polluted. This poisoned spring was restricting the growth and progression of the city. The prophet asks for a cruse with salt in it. Elisha goes to the source and throws in the salt and declared them healed.

Jericho was beautiful, but the spring was foul. It is possible in life to be in a beautiful location, but still have a thing that makes it uninhabitable. This story shows that the solution to the problem is not always moving away. We have to go to the right source, but there is a answer. God is saying that we do not have to move to experience a change in life. We can have it right where we are. God has an answer right now and right here.

There are a lot of people troubled by old curses. We can rebuild all we want, but if we do not deal with the root problem, all we will have as a pleasant place with a lot of pain.

We can change the climate and atmosphere of our life by making the right decision. We are not stuck with an old curse.

If we are going to experience real change in life, we have to go to the source of the problem. Elisha went to the spring and specifically said he cast the salt there. To address the problem, we have to go to the root. Our world is full of medicines and remedies. Most of them are all treating symptoms. They do not address the root cause of the problem. There is a remedy for life’s problems, but we must attack it at the root.

The actions we take today can determine the what life will be like tomorrow.. We cannot tell the exact time, but we can impact and shape the future by our actions now. The bible uses the analogy of sowing and reaping to illustrate this principle. Galatians 6:7 tells us that as a man sows, so shall he reap. In 2 Corinthians 9:6 we read: He which soweth sparingly shall also reap sparingly. With this knowledge we can predict the future. When we get to December, we cannot look to others to blame if we have sowed sparingly or if we have sowed seeds of strife or discontent.

So what. It is a popular phrase in our world. It is an attitude of indifference and discontent. It conveys that no matter what we try or attempt, we cannot influence the outcome. It speaks to an attidute that what we do does not matter. So what if I don't pray. So what if I don't get involved. With one small change, we can move from an attitude of indifference and defeat. If we ask Sow What? It becomes a question of promise and submission. What if I did make an attempt? What if I did worship? What if I did pray? This small change represents a fundamental shift in our approach to life. We move from being indifferent to moving with purpose and intent. Purpose enters the equations and it changes everything. If we ask what we can sow, it moves us from passive, to active. It moves us from drifting along on the current of life, to directing and charting a course.

We come to church expecting to receive. If we change that focus to what can we do, what we do will be multiplied exponentially. What are we going to sow in the coming year? None of us are here by accident. We are all here by design. God has a purpose for each of us. By asking sow what? we yield to God's purpose. When we ask that question, we prepare ourselves to be used.

So what? Sow peace. sow friendship, sow love. If we want spiritual growth, we have to sow spiritual growth. This church is not about programs. We are not interested in filling a calendar. Our events, and activities must be motivated with a purpose. Life is not an accident. We must live it with a purpose. The time is now to choose what happens in the future. We can do that by asking the simple question: Sow What?

The actions we take today can determine the what life will be like tomorrow.. We cannot tell the exact time, but we can impact and shape the future by our actions now. The bible uses the analogy of sowing and reaping to illustrate this principle. Galatians 6:7 tells us that as a man sows, so shall he reap. In 2 Corinthians 9:6 we read: He which soweth sparingly shall also reap sparingly. With this knowledge we can predict the future. When we get to December, we cannot look to others to blame if we have sowed sparingly or if we have sowed seeds of strife or discontent.

So what. It is a popular phrase in our world. It is an attitude of indifference and discontent. It conveys that no matter what we try or attempt, we cannot influence the outcome. It speaks to an attidute that what we do does not matter. So what if I don't pray. So what if I don't get involved. With one small change, we can move from an attitude of indifference and defeat. If we ask Sow What? It becomes a question of promise and submission. What if I did make an attempt? What if I did worship? What if I did pray? This small change represents a fundamental shift in our approach to life. We move from being indifferent to moving with purpose and intent. Purpose enters the equations and it changes everything. If we ask what we can sow, it moves us from passive, to active. It moves us from drifting along on the current of life, to directing and charting a course.

We come to church expecting to receive. If we change that focus to what can we do, what we do will be multiplied exponentially. What are we going to sow in the coming year? None of us are here by accident. We are all here by design. God has a purpose for each of us. By asking sow what? we yield to God's purpose. When we ask that question, we prepare ourselves to be used.

So what? Sow peace. sow friendship, sow love. If we want spiritual growth, we have to sow spiritual growth. This church is not about programs. We are not interested in filling a calendar. Our events, and activities must be motivated with a purpose. Life is not an accident. We must live it with a purpose. The time is now to choose what happens in the future. We can do that by asking the simple question: Sow What?

The human mind is an amazing thing. The more that science learns about the mind, it underscores the fact that we are all fearfully and wonderfully made. The brain has the processing capacity of .1 quadrillion instructions per second. It is hard wired to learn. it has the ability to develop and adapt. A brain that has been damaged can reconfigure itself to function normally. God made us with the ability to adapt and change. A healthy mind is not stuck in any situation or problem. The word mind is used 56 times in the New Testament, most frequently by the Apostle Paul. The mind and the heart are often used interchangeably in scripture. The book of proverbs mentions the heart often. It is easy to interchange the word mind in it's place. In Proverbs 4:23, we can substitute mind for the word heart and it would make equal sense. The mind is the gateway to success, but it can also be the pathway to destruction and defeat. As a man thinketh in his "mind", so is he. The mind, and the state of thinking is the key to life. If we want to break out of a rut, we have to break out of the cycle of thinking. If we think we are defeated, we will be. To break the habitual thinking of failure, we must break out of that habit. Habit is the reason that many are still bound by their sin. They can try everything except changing their thinking. The mind of a over comer refused to be bound by what he was thinking yesterday. He forces himself to learn something everyday. Life is much bigger than what we already know. Learning tht life does not have to be perfect for us to live it. Scientist say that we have an average of 60,000 thoughts each day. Only about 12% of those are about the future. As a child of faith, we must look to the future and not become so mired to the present or the past. The future is where God's best awaits. Heaven is in the future. Glory is in the future. Transformation is in the future. Faith is the substance of things hoped for. We need a future mindset to break out of the things from the past that try to hold onto us. Harvard experts found that 94% of people spent their thoughts about things other that what they were presently doing. We are distracted. We cannot stay focused on those things that we need to. Smartphones have contributed to a culture of distraction. The mind of an over comer is one that has girded up it's loins and remains focused on what God has called us to do. It is estimated that 80% of our thoughts are negative. It is not wrong to have a negative thought, but when we verbalize those negative thoughts we give power to that thought. When we begin to speak those negative thoughts, we give life to them. Often we become what we speak. We need to use or voice to speak the right things. Proverbs 18:21 says Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Our words reflect our fate. The word of God says if we speak it from our mouth, we give it life. What we say must be carefully guarded. We are affected by our associations. Who we surround our self with, what we listen to, what we read all contribute to who we are. We must guard our associations and our environment. The mind of an over comer is one that changes the way it thinks, and the environment that it is in.

The human mind is an amazing thing. The more that science learns about the mind, it underscores the fact that we are all fearfully and wonderfully made. The brain has the processing capacity of .1 quadrillion instructions per second. It is hard wired to learn. it has the ability to develop and adapt. A brain that has been damaged can reconfigure itself to function normally. God made us with the ability to adapt and change. A healthy mind is not stuck in any situation or problem. The word mind is used 56 times in the New Testament, most frequently by the Apostle Paul. The mind and the heart are often used interchangeably in scripture. The book of proverbs mentions the heart often. It is easy to interchange the word mind in it's place. In Proverbs 4:23, we can substitute mind for the word heart and it would make equal sense. The mind is the gateway to success, but it can also be the pathway to destruction and defeat. As a man thinketh in his "mind", so is he. The mind, and the state of thinking is the key to life. If we want to break out of a rut, we have to break out of the cycle of thinking. If we think we are defeated, we will be. To break the habitual thinking of failure, we must break out of that habit. Habit is the reason that many are still bound by their sin. They can try everything except changing their thinking. The mind of a over comer refused to be bound by what he was thinking yesterday. He forces himself to learn something everyday. Life is much bigger than what we already know. Learning tht life does not have to be perfect for us to live it. Scientist say that we have an average of 60,000 thoughts each day. Only about 12% of those are about the future. As a child of faith, we must look to the future and not become so mired to the present or the past. The future is where God's best awaits. Heaven is in the future. Glory is in the future. Transformation is in the future. Faith is the substance of things hoped for. We need a future mindset to break out of the things from the past that try to hold onto us. Harvard experts found that 94% of people spent their thoughts about things other that what they were presently doing. We are distracted. We cannot stay focused on those things that we need to. Smartphones have contributed to a culture of distraction. The mind of an over comer is one that has girded up it's loins and remains focused on what God has called us to do. It is estimated that 80% of our thoughts are negative. It is not wrong to have a negative thought, but when we verbalize those negative thoughts we give power to that thought. When we begin to speak those negative thoughts, we give life to them. Often we become what we speak. We need to use or voice to speak the right things. Proverbs 18:21 says Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Our words reflect our fate. The word of God says if we speak it from our mouth, we give it life. What we say must be carefully guarded. We are affected by our associations. Who we surround our self with, what we listen to, what we read all contribute to who we are. We must guard our associations and our environment. The mind of an over comer is one that changes the way it thinks, and the environment that it is in.

Imagine the largest and most powerful army in the world marshaled against you. They are poised to overrun you and your cities leaving death and destruction in their wake. So far they have ravaged the countryside and are now surrounding your capital city. This was the predicament in which Hezekiah found himself. For days the Assyrian army mocked and jeered that God would not protect him. Hezekiah did not succumb to this pressure and remained vigilant. In one night, God destroyed the enemy marshaled against them. It is after this miraculous display that the psalmist penned the 46th Psalm. Bro. Hughes draws three resources from this psalm to use during times of trouble. The first point deals with fear. Fear is one of the most powerful forces in life. It comes from many sources. The bible tells us that fear is a tormentor. In verse two the writer says even though the earth may quake. When life comes to pieces and everything in life is shaken, we can rely on the refuge and place of hiding that God has provided. For every fear, God has a hiding place for us. The second force that shakes us is weariness. Life can wear us down. We all need something that can keep us going when life overwhelms us. God provides a method to refresh ourselves in times of pressure and weariness. God's answer to weariness is a river. A stream that refreshes. A source of power and replenishment that no one knows about. We have something that the world does not know about that will sustain us in all the pressure and demands of life. We can wait out anything if we have a supply. Finally the Psalmist addresses one of the most troubling issues of life: Worry. When things get tough, we worry. We stress, We fret. Worry is a very real problem that comes to everyone. God has an answer for worry and that is simply: Be still and know that I am God. In the Hebrew Be Still means literally "Take your hands off" Human nature is to fix things. We will try to fix things. God does not need us to fix it. If we look close enough, it is usually our hand print on things that trouble us. God does not need our help. The answer to most of life's problems are Let God be God. The revelation is that God is God and we are not. God is not constrained by our situation. These three things are resources for life's struggles.

Imagine the largest and most powerful army in the world marshaled against you. They are poised to overrun you and your cities leaving death and destruction in their wake. So far they have ravaged the countryside and are now surrounding your capital city. This was the predicament in which Hezekiah found himself. For days the Assyrian army mocked and jeered that God would not protect him. Hezekiah did not succumb to this pressure and remained vigilant. In one night, God destroyed the enemy marshaled against them. It is after this miraculous display that the psalmist penned the 46th Psalm. Bro. Hughes draws three resources from this psalm to use during times of trouble. The first point deals with fear. Fear is one of the most powerful forces in life. It comes from many sources. The bible tells us that fear is a tormentor. In verse two the writer says even though the earth may quake. When life comes to pieces and everything in life is shaken, we can rely on the refuge and place of hiding that God has provided. For every fear, God has a hiding place for us. The second force that shakes us is weariness. Life can wear us down. We all need something that can keep us going when life overwhelms us. God provides a method to refresh ourselves in times of pressure and weariness. God's answer to weariness is a river. A stream that refreshes. A source of power and replenishment that no one knows about. We have something that the world does not know about that will sustain us in all the pressure and demands of life. We can wait out anything if we have a supply. Finally the Psalmist addresses one of the most troubling issues of life: Worry. When things get tough, we worry. We stress, We fret. Worry is a very real problem that comes to everyone. God has an answer for worry and that is simply: Be still and know that I am God. In the Hebrew Be Still means literally "Take your hands off" Human nature is to fix things. We will try to fix things. God does not need us to fix it. If we look close enough, it is usually our hand print on things that trouble us. God does not need our help. The answer to most of life's problems are Let God be God. The revelation is that God is God and we are not. God is not constrained by our situation. These three things are resources for life's struggles.

Second Peter was written to a group of believers who had gone beyond the initial stages of a church. These believers were good people. Time had passed and in that time there came to be things that needed to be addressed. Peter was looking ahead to the literal last days and he saw things on the horizon that he felt were critical issues of the closing hours of time. Peter begins by stating his purpose to do everything he could to stir a people. The literal translation of the word in the original Greek was to wake up fully. He wanted to remind the people about the things that had come before by way of the prophets, and apostles and from Jesus Himself. In particular he says he wants to stir up their pure mind. In the Greek the word pure referred to something that had been sifted so thoroughly that there is nothing but pure grain left in the mix. Peter was not writing to a back slid people. He was not writing to a church that had turned away from the truth. Peter is writing to a people who have lived for God for a long time. They were the saved and sacrified. They were the best of the church. As pure as these people were, Peter understood that no man is beyond the danger of deception, disillusionment or corruption. Peter knew that the flesh is corrupt. Even those who are the most connected can become disconnected because their worship becomes a matter of habit. There are people who know more about church than anyone, but they cannot be stirred to move in their relationship with God. None of us are exempt from this danger. We must not get to the place where we act of of habit not out of heart in the kingdom of God. The familiar becomes a trap of complacency. We must guard against becoming complacent on our worship or our relationship with God. None are lost in an instant. It is a gradual progression of eroding. We need a stirring because we need to be reminded of what we already know lest those things slip away. We need to be stirred because we become cold without even knowing it. Not only do we need to be stirred to keep from getting cold, we need to be stirred because we forget. Time has a way of erasing memories. We must stir up those memories to keep them active. Time has a way of dulling the importance of things. We sometimes must be stirred to remind of of the importance of things. Peter knew that there were two dangers that he wanted to alert his people about. One was a doctrinal issue. Even in the early church, there was an effort to alter the truth about one God. The Romans believed in multiple Gods and persecuted the church because of their one God belief. The other issue was their lifestyle: The way that they lived and were viewed as a people. We must embrace our separation from the world more than at any other time. We must not allow our culture to cause us to embrace or allow to seep into our life, those things that God has declared as a abomination. We live in perilous times. In times like this, we must stir to our remembrance those things most of us know, but perhaps have fallen aside. We must be stirred.

Second Peter was written to a group of believers who had gone beyond the initial stages of a church. These believers were good people. Time had passed and in that time there came to be things that needed to be addressed. Peter was looking ahead to the literal last days and he saw things on the horizon that he felt were critical issues of the closing hours of time. Peter begins by stating his purpose to do everything he could to stir a people. The literal translation of the word in the original Greek was to wake up fully. He wanted to remind the people about the things that had come before by way of the prophets, and apostles and from Jesus Himself. In particular he says he wants to stir up their pure mind. In the Greek the word pure referred to something that had been sifted so thoroughly that there is nothing but pure grain left in the mix. Peter was not writing to a back slid people. He was not writing to a church that had turned away from the truth. Peter is writing to a people who have lived for God for a long time. They were the saved and sacrified. They were the best of the church. As pure as these people were, Peter understood that no man is beyond the danger of deception, disillusionment or corruption. Peter knew that the flesh is corrupt. Even those who are the most connected can become disconnected because their worship becomes a matter of habit. There are people who know more about church than anyone, but they cannot be stirred to move in their relationship with God. None of us are exempt from this danger. We must not get to the place where we act of of habit not out of heart in the kingdom of God. The familiar becomes a trap of complacency. We must guard against becoming complacent on our worship or our relationship with God. None are lost in an instant. It is a gradual progression of eroding. We need a stirring because we need to be reminded of what we already know lest those things slip away. We need to be stirred because we become cold without even knowing it. Not only do we need to be stirred to keep from getting cold, we need to be stirred because we forget. Time has a way of erasing memories. We must stir up those memories to keep them active. Time has a way of dulling the importance of things. We sometimes must be stirred to remind of of the importance of things. Peter knew that there were two dangers that he wanted to alert his people about. One was a doctrinal issue. Even in the early church, there was an effort to alter the truth about one God. The Romans believed in multiple Gods and persecuted the church because of their one God belief. The other issue was their lifestyle: The way that they lived and were viewed as a people. We must embrace our separation from the world more than at any other time. We must not allow our culture to cause us to embrace or allow to seep into our life, those things that God has declared as a abomination. We live in perilous times. In times like this, we must stir to our remembrance those things most of us know, but perhaps have fallen aside. We must be stirred.