Paul says in the AMP version of Ephesians 4:1, “So I, the prisoner for the Lord, appeal to you to live a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called [that is, to live a life that exhibits godly character, moral courage, personal integrity, and mature behavior—a life that expresses gratitude to God for your salvation].”

To live a life that exhibits godly character, moral courage, personal integrity, and mature behavior is a roadmap, a compass for living a carefree life in obedience to the call of God that further answers and defines Paul's why.  Why am I here? Why did God call me to ministry?

The answer from Ephesians 4:1 is to live a life that exhibits godly character, moral courage, personal integrity, and mature behavior as a prisoner of the Lord. The word prisoner means a captive, one who has been arrested and held in custody.

When you become focused on your call as Paul expressed in Ephesians 4:1, you will have no question about why you are getting up each day and what needs to be accomplished today because you are a captive and held in the custody of your purpose...further answering your why.

Dr. Myles Monroe, in his book on Becoming Leader, states that “sleep becomes almost an interruption of your purpose.”  Without knowing your purpose, without knowing your why, a person will be unclear about what they want out of life and become prone to wasting time on futile endeavors.

This can leave a person confused and cause a lack of confidence in their decisions and choices in life and in ministry, wasting time, energy, and effort, because they have not clearly defined their why that prohibits that person from living a carefree life.

Invite a friend to join us in today's podcast entitled, "Living A Carefree Life Part 3--Defining Your Why."

The pathway to taking your life back, living a carefree life, includes Paul’s admonition to the church at Corinth. He states in the NLT, of 2 Cor. 13:5, “Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith."

Where there is separation and disconnection, you will find confusion and deception. This includes examining the warehouse of our minds that is cluttered with toxic, negative thoughts and experiences that have been stored for decades dripping and leaking into your day-to-day life. We must examine ourselves.

Many of those toxic negative thoughts and experiences are designed to pull us down in life like quicksand. Living authentically, deciding to take your life back includes identifying those things, those people, those thoughts with the help of the Holy Spirit to eliminate that which holds you back and holds you down.

Therefore, God says in the Message Bible of Romans 12:1-2, “Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”

Invite a friend or co-worker as we continue to learn to "Think More Like God Thinks," by casting all of our cares upon Him, because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7).

The Apostle Peter says to us in 1 Peter 5:7 in the NIV, "Cast all your cares on him because he cares for you."

The NIV version of 1 Peter 5:5 teaches us, “you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”

Humility as a virtue is rarely discussed in our society or even many churches as being valuable to life and ministry. Virtues are qualities of moral goodness and excellence, qualities that we aspire to.

Virtues are further regarded as qualities of the mind, the will, and the heart that instill strength of character and stability of personality, assisting us to Think More Like God Thinks.

This 4 part series began with Psalm 91:1, which declares, “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." A secret is that which is concealed, unrevealed, known only to a few.

In this podcast, we discuss principles and precepts that reveal a path to living a "Carefree Life by Dwelling in The Secret Place of Psalm 91."  Invite a friend or family member to follow God's desire for us to live a carefree life because He cares for us.

The world seen through the eyes of faith is a world in which each one of us — along with everything that happens to us — has meaning. The Message Bible version of Jeremiah 29:11 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.”

The dictionary defines expectancy as the state of thinking or hoping, a strong belief that something will happen in the future.  Jesus said in Matthew 9:29, “According to your faith, so be it unto you.” Jesus was saying that you and I shall receive from God in direct proportion to the level of our expectancy.

Synergy is two or more things working together in order to create something that is bigger or greater than the sum of their individual efforts. The synergy of expectancy and faith, dwelling in the secret place of Psalm 91 enables us to "Think Like God Thinks." Positioning us to overcome the challenges of people, pain, pressure and problems of the present year as we go into the New Year (Isaiah 55:8-9).

Invite a friend, family member or co-worker to join us for "The Synergy of Expectancy and Faith--Dwelling In the Secret Place Part 3."

Our primary passage for today's podcast is Psalm 91: 1, “He that abides in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty."

In the 13th verse, of Jeremiah 29, God says, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." The "a" portion of verse 14 declares," I will be found by you, declares the LORD.”

To dwell in the secret place means that we have discovered what David declares in Psalm 32:7 in the Common English Bible, speaking of his relationship with God, David says, “You are my secret hideout! You protect me from trouble. You surround me with songs of rescue! Selah”

A secret is something not revealed, or understood. That which is concealed or known by only a few. The Amplified Version of Psalm 27:5 declares, “For in the day of trouble He will hide me in His shelter; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock.”

Dwelling in the secret place of the Most High abiding under the shadow of the Almighty, is where the blueprints of living a successful human life are discovered.

And one path that we have to discover and dwell in the Secret Place of the Most High is through the truth of Proverbs 21:21 in the NIV, which declares, “He who pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor.”

Invite a friend, a family member, or coworker to join us for Part 2 of Dwelling In The Secret Place.

God extends an invitation to us in  Psalm 91:1. "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." Notice that God does not invite us to visit. The promise is to those who “dwell” there. To “dwell” means we live there. The secret place is to become our permanent address.

In today's podcast, we suggest that a roadmap for dwelling in the secret place is Proverbs 21:21 in the New International Version. “He who pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor.” Pursuing and living the truths of Proverbs 21:21, is further seen as the will and ways of God for us means to run after; to seek eagerly and earnestly. In Jeremiah 29:13-14a in the New International Version, God says, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart and I will be found by you," declares the LORD.”

To pursue also carries the idea of aiming at and never giving up until the goal has been reached or obtained.  In the Common English Bible translation of Philippians 3:12, the Apostle Paul says, “It’s not that I have already reached this goal or have already been perfected, but I pursue it, so that I may grab hold of it because Christ grabbed hold of me for just this purpose.”

Psalm 32:7 in the Common English Bible declares, “You are my secret hideout! You protect me from trouble. You surround me with songs of rescue! Selah” MSG Bible version of Psalm 32:7 says, “God’s my island hideaway, keeps danger far from the shore, throws garlands of hosannas around my neck!

The Amplified Version of Psalm 27:5 declares, “For in the day of trouble He will hide me in His shelter; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock.”

In other words, God invites each of us to join Him in, to dwell in the secret place for the rest of our lives.

Our primary passage of Scripture for today’s podcast of Harnessing Hope is centered upon Hebrews 10:23-25 (AMP) “So let us seize and hold fast and retain, without wavering, the hope we cherish and confess and our acknowledgment of it, for He Who promised is reliable (sure) and faithful to His word. And let us consider and give attentive, continuous care to watching over one another, studying how we may stir up (stimulate and incite) to love and helpful deeds and noble activities….”

In today’s podcast, we want to focus on seizing and holding fast and retaining without wavering the hope we cherish and confess. To seize is to grasp suddenly and forcibly, to take possession of. To hold fast carries the meaning of being diligent, to cling to. Holding fast is a non-compromising conscientiousness in grasping a thing. To retain is to keep and maintain possession of something, and for us today it is hope.

Our hope in God is the anchor for our soul. The word "anchor” refers to the anchor used by ships to hold the ship in a certain place. The anchor keeps it from floating aimlessly about and being damaged or sunk by floating upon the rocks.

What an anchor provides for a ship, hope provides for the soul. Hope believes in a future that is greater, or better, than what is currently seen. It is the possibility of “that which is to come” that harnessed hope holds on to.

Harnessed hope, the ability to use the power of hope (strength/ability) given to us by God, cannot slip and hope cannot be broken when we hold onto the promise of God’s word.

Dr. Gregory L. Cruell

God Thinkers (Isaiah 55:8-9)

As we speak of Harnessing Hope, what this means for us as God’s people, is that we have the ability to gain control, to use the power of hope (strength/ability) given to us by the promises of God’s Word.

Our primary passage of scripture for today’s podcast of Harnessing Hope is centered in the AMP version of Hebrews 6:19 where the Bible declares, “This hope [this confident assurance] we have as an anchor of the soul [it cannot slip and it cannot break down under whatever pressure bears upon it]—a safe and steadfast hope that enters within the veil [of the heavenly temple, that most Holy Place in which the very presence of God dwells].”

Hope is absolutely essential for human beings to have a meaningful life, enjoying life and not simply enduring life. This hope [this confident assurance] we have as an anchor of the soul that cannot slip and it cannot break down under whatever pressures of life arise.

As you and I harness this hope, there is nothing that we cannot do. Nothing that we cannot overcome, because like love, hope never fails.

Dr. Gregory L. Cruell

God Thinkers (Isaiah 55:8-9)

In 1 Timothy 4: 6-8, in the Living Bible, The Apostle Paul says, “Don’t waste time arguing over foolish ideas and silly myths and legends. Spend your time and energy in the exercise of keeping spiritually fit. 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.”

Exercising ourselves to be spiritually fit means that we train to respond, and not react to problems or circumstances that we are confronted with. Many act out of our emotions without the benefit of the mind of Christ.

In so doing, due to our emotions, we potentially react negatively, rather than respond spiritually by exercising the mind of Christ. The word exercise in the original Greek is 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, but what he is teaching here is that we need to learn how to exercise ourselves in spiritual matters. Paul further says Philippians 3:12, “I’m trying to apprehend that which has apprehended me.”

In the Living Bible translation of Philippians 3:12, Paul says, “I don’t mean to say I am perfect. I haven’t learned all I should even yet, but I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ saved me for and wants me to be.”

Exercising ourselves in godliness prepares us to respond and not react to people, pain, pressure, or problems that confront us. We can live a healthy, spiritually fit life in this world, becoming all that the Lord wants us to be. This is what assures us of living our best life now because we are spiritually fit!

In Matthew chapter 11, the Message Bible, the 28th through the 30th verse, Jesus asks the crowd 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.” Within the invitation of Matthew 11 that Jesus gave to the crowd that day to learn the unforced rhythms of grace, there was then, as it is now, a cadence to life and ministry, a pattern for life in Him.

A cadence is a rhythmic sequence or flow of sounds in language or communication. Rhythm may also be defined as a regular, repeated pattern of events or activities. Unforced can be defined as free-flowing, deliberately designed, unconstrained, free.  Life is best lived in the right "rhythm"  of God's grace.

Invite a friend or family member to join in for today's podcast as we continue to learn how to "THINK LIKE GOD THINKS" by learning the "Unforced Rhythms of Grace."

Dr.Gregory L. Cruell