Today's podcast is part one of five parts with the title or theme--- Factors For A Peace--Filled Mind. As we consider a factor, or factors for the purpose of this podcast, factors can be defined as circumstances, or conditions, that bring about a result or outcome. A factor can also be an element or something that makes a thing what it is. Factors can be positive or negative. It depends on our viewpoint of the circumstances of the elements that can produce negative or positive results or outcomes. 

Each week in this five part series we will use a particular word that provides the circumstances and conditions, the elements of which make a thing what it is , or simply the factors of a matter. Today's word as the core factor as to why a person's mind may not be filled with peace is people. 

The reason why there are those among us, that love God, faithfully attending church, joyfully serving Him, but their minds are not filled with peace is because of people. No matter where we go or what we do, people will always be a factor in our daily routine. Yet, when we engage the faith factor, we are empowered to conquer the people, pain, pressure or problems of life. Simply because as our Prince of Peace, Jesus, we walk in peace because of Him that gives us peace. These are Factors For A Peace-Filled Mind.

Overcomer's are Kingdom minded people who successfully resist the power, temptation and struggles of the world’s system as followers of our King, Christ the Lord. An overcomer further is one that has overcome the people, pain pressure and problems of life. The Greek word most often translated “overcomer” stems from the word "nike" which, according to Strong’s Concordance, means “to carry off the victory, implying a battle.” The Bible teaches us as Christians to recognize that the world is a battleground, not a playground. And God does not leave us defenseless in the battle. So Jesus says in the Message Bible, chapter 11, beginning at the 28th verse, Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” When we say an overcomer's mindset, that simply means that we have come over some things. Because we have learned the unforced rhythm of God's grace. How so?  The day that we received Jesus Christ, the day that we invited Him to be Lord of our lives is the day we received an infusion of an overcomer’s mindset because the word of the Lord in Ephesians 2:8 came alive in us, “For by grace are you saved through faith; and not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” As you listen to this podcast know that you are an overcomer!

In the Living Bible version of 1 Timothy 4:8, Paul says to his son in the faith Timothy, "Bodily exercise is all right, but spiritual exercise is much more important and is a tonic for all you do. So exercise yourself spiritually, and practice being a better Christian, because that will help you not only now in this life, but in the next life too.”

Athletics or sports have always been an important aspect of ancient and modern-day society. So Paul says to Timothy in the 8th verse, Bodily exercise is all right, but spiritual exercise is much more important and is a tonic for all you do. So exercise yourself spiritually, and practice being a better Christian. This further means that as we practice being better Christians, we train to respond spiritually and not react emotionally.

Naturally, many of us act out of our emotions without the benefit of the mind of Christ. In so doing, due to our emotions, we react naturally, rather than respond spiritually by exercising the mind of Christ.

The word exercise is the Greek word, "gym-na-zō," which means to train the body or the mind. Gym-na-zo is where we get our English word gymnastics; or, bodily exercise. Bodily exercise, Paul says, is all right, profits a little, but what Paul is teaching here is that we need to learn how to exercise ourselves, to respond to life’s matters spiritually rather than react naturally or emotionally.

Invite a family member or friend to listen to today's podcast, "Pressing Towards Spiritual Maturity," as we continue to learn to THINK LIKE GOD THINKS.

Dr. Gregory L. Cruell

God Thinkers (Isaiah 55:8-9)

In today’s podcast, we want to discuss principles and precepts for Battling Your Mind. There is a series of video games entitled Battlefield. In this game, there are tanks, battleships, and airplanes. Rockets and bombs exploding, machine guns firing, hand-to-hand combat… the game was created to simulate the realities of a battlefield where you must fight for your survival against a host of enemy soldiers.

Battling your mind is not a game. It is a reality that all of us are confronted with. Jesus himself in the garden of Gethsemane had to battle with His mind. The night before Jesus Christ was crucified, He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. Luke, a physician, recorded that Jesus’ sweat was like drops of blood: “And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44).

Agony is defined as a violent, intense, extreme struggle displaying both physical or emotional pain. The human experience consists of our thoughts and emotions that influence our behavior. There will always be some things that cause us to struggle or cause some sort of emotional distress, this is all a part of the battle for our minds.  Jesus, the Son of God was battling His mind; which consisted of His thoughts and emotions that influenced the reality of agony that He experienced in Gethsemane. The struggle is real.

The key to Jesus victory over His thoughts and emotions that impacted and influenced His body (sweat like great drops of blood) was His prayer...."Not my will, but Thy will be done." This is how we gain victory in Battling Our Mind.

In the Message Bible, Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus asks 3 questions.  “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it.

Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

In this passage of Scripture, Jesus provides us a cadence to life and ministry, a pattern for successful living. A cadence is a rhythmic sequence or flow of sounds in language or communication. A cadence is also the beat, time, or measurement of rhythmical motion or activity.

Rhythm may also be defined as a regular, repeated pattern of events, activities, or music’s pattern in time. In music theory, rhythm refers to the recurrence of notes and rests (silences) in time. When a series of notes and rests repeats, it forms a rhythmic pattern.

Unforced can be defined as free-flowing, deliberately designed, unconstrained; free. As God's people, if we are not in the Unforced Rhythms of Grace, we are out of alignment and need realignment.

When we live in the Unforced Rhythms of His Grace, this is where we get away with Him to "recover our lives and learn how to take a real rest" (Matthew 11:29). To recover is to return to a normal state of health, mind, or strength.

Most of us have learned that life is not a playground but a battleground. Invite a family member or friend to listen as we learn how to walk in the Unforced Rhythms of God's Grace for successful living and ministry.

Dr. Gregory L. Cruell

God Thinkers (Isaiah 55:8-9)

To have the time of your life, Psalm 90:12 declares, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12 can also be translated, “make us know the number of our days, giving us a heart of wisdom. We all know a lot of things, but we don’t know the number of our days.

If we knew that we had 7 days, 5 days, or 1 day left to live, what would we do differently? Would we spend more time with our family and friends? Would we treat people differently if we knew the number of our days?

Moses prayed to God for help, to gain a heart of wisdom, this literally means to “be skillful and practical, mastering the art of living” …

Living the life I love and loving the life that I live. This is mastering the art of living, numbering our days by a vision of our lives from God. Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” The word law parallels vision. In other words, the vision that God gives is an intended blessing to you if you keep it hold onto it, and believe in it. 

Life, the God kind of life is intended to be enjoyed, not endured. The Lord reminds us in the Passion Translation of John 10:10, “A thief has only one thing in mind—he wants to steal, slaughter, and destroy. But I have come to give you everything in abundance, more than you expect —life in its fullness until you overflow!”

This is the time of your life. Living life in all of its fullness through Jesus Christ until you overflow.

The Voice Translation of Ecclesiastes 3:1 declares, “For everything that happens in life—there is a season, a right time for everything under heaven.”

Solomon begins this chapter by stating a very basic fact that many of us do not consider: There is a time or season for everything, and also a time for every purpose or activity in our lives on the earth.

Think about this statement for a moment; it is one that is often quoted, but seldom fully understood. First, he was saying that our lives include a variety of activities and experiences.

Our time on earth is marked by diversity and change. Second, Solomon was emphasizing that the variety of events and experiences in life are ordered and appointed by God. A person’s life is a variety of experiences, activities, and events controlled by God. Good, bad, and sometimes ugly.

In Jeremiah 29:11, the Message Bible God says, “I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.”

Things do not happen by chance. Fate does not determine the days of our lives or what occurs in those days. God has a specific purpose and plan, to give you the future you hope for and the events of our lives are in accordance with that plan.

Invite a friend or family member as we share principles and precepts about "The Value of Our Time."

Dr. Gregory L. Cruell

Proverbs 23: 7 states that "as a man or woman thinks, that is who we really are." Our thought life, the way that we think, is an inseparable component of our existence. Neuroscientists and neuropsychologists tell us that we have anywhere from 60 to 80,000 thoughts a day and half of those thoughts are negative!

You don't have to be a negative person to have negative thoughts. Negative experiences with people, negative experiences on the job, even negative experiences with family members will produce negative thoughts.

As powerful as our thoughts are, changing our lives includes changing our thinking, which can be extremely difficult. Our lives move in the direction of our thoughts, like a current in a river; moving us either closer or farther away from becoming the best version of us that God has desired us to be.

If you want to change your life, "To Think More Like God Thinks," you and I must begin by changing our thoughts. To do so, the process begins in Philippians 2:5, the New Century Version, “In your lives, you must think and act like Christ Jesus.”

Henry Ford once stated, "if you think you can or you think you can't--you're right." All things are possible if you only believe (Mark 9:23).

Jesus said in John 6:35 in the Message Bible, “I am the Bread of Life. The person who aligns with me hungers no more and thirsts no more, ever.

Just as your car runs more smoothly and requires less energy to go faster and farther when the wheels are in perfect alignment, you and I live better when our thoughts, feelings, emotions, and values are in balance or in alignment. An out-of-balance life is a life that invites stress, struggle and strain.

So Jesus tells us in John 6:35, in the MSG Bible, "The person who aligns with me hungers no more and thirst no more ever." The hunger and the thirst within us all is a balanced life or alignment for our God-given assignment.

Alignment for our assignment means that God wants to change the pattern of our thinking by realigning our thought life. If our thinking is straight, our life and ministry will be straightened out.

Invite and share with a friend or family member today's podcast, "Alignment For Our Assignment", as we continue to learn to "Think Like God Thinks."

We are living in unprecedented times. We are adjusting to the impact of various challenges and problems in our society. A global pandemic, affordable health care, immigration, gun violence and the reality of racism, to name a few.

1 Chronicles 12:32, says to us, "And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had an understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do..."Knowing what to do always give a person confidence. Not knowing what to do can leave a person anxious and uncertain.

The word understanding that we read in our text means "to have insight or to act with prudence, providing practical, wise, responses." The Sons of Issachar had analyzed their times and had perceived correctly what those times were all about. They knew what to do because they understood what was happening.

As God Thinkers, analyzing a matter through the lenses of God's Word, we are granted insight and the ability to act with prudence by virtue of God's character and ability as "sons and daughters of Issachar."  Operating, living, and leading in the principles and precepts of this teaching, God gives us the insight to understand the times, knowing what to do.