The 3 Essentials: All You Need for Success in Life (24 page)

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Authors: Casey Treat

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Renewal
T
he ability to change and renew is an amazing, miraculous power residing in every Christian. However, while change is fun and very rewarding, it certainly is not easy. If it were easy, then every person would constantly be bettering themselves and overcoming every bad habit they ever picked up. The fact is renewal is a daily process that takes desire, discipline, and determination—but
you can do it!
And the blessings you will experience because you choose to engage in the process of change will far outweigh any kind of difficulty. Unlike most people who are stuck in the mud of mediocrity, you will move toward God’s
perfect
will for your life.
This devotional will help you to deepen your faith, clarify your vision, and confidently embrace renewal for your life and your mind. Over a thirty-day process, we will walk together, and each day, will take one step further into destiny. Renewing your mind and changing your life is a daily walk, made up of many parts, and to help you develop the skills necessary to change, this manual is divided into three ten-day sections. The first section will focus on faith, the second on vision, and the third on renewal. Each section offers meditative questions, topical scriptures, and daily action steps.
While this is structured as a thirty-day program, feel free to use this resource in the way that best suits your needs. You may want to use it as a thirty-week program and to allow God to deeply penetrate your spirit and soul with these biblical principles. Or you may want to spend longer times in one section and shorter times in the others. Either way, if you will simply
use
this manual, and not just skim through it, you will begin to experience incredible results. You’ll be infused with stronger faith; you’ll uncover newer and broader ways to affect others in your life; and you’ll finally find the ability to leave behind those negative habits and circumstances that have been holding you back for far too long!
SECTION
ONE
FAITH
After over thirty years in ministry, I am convinced more than ever that faith is the master key for success in every area of life. It is
the
cornerstone and
the
foundation of the Christian experience, and without faith we are unable to receive anything from God.
By
faith we begin our relationship with God,
with
faith we walk every step of our lives, and
through
faith we can see God’s promises in action. Faith gives us God’s vision to see the impossible as possible. Faith provides us strength to walk through the greatest storms of life, faith orders our lives and propels us forward in our destinies, and faith can change any area, from the smallest to the biggest, with which we are dissatisfied. Without faith, we will never see the full blessings of God, but with faith, we will experience wonders and miracles the world only wishes it could receive. To win in life, you must have faith.
Day 1: Your Faith
Mark 11:23—“For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.”
• Throughout reading this book, have you been able to identify the doubts and fears holding you back?
• Do you consider yourself to be a person of great faith?
• Are you confident God hears
and
answers your prayers?
The first step on the journey to trusting and abiding in faith is to believe
you
are a person of faith. Many Christians hear about faith and read about faith, but if someone were to ask for a show of hands from the ones who believed they actually possessed strong faith, a majority would keep their hands down. The fact is every single Christian can be a person with mountain-moving faith, he or she just needs to begin to operate in it.
Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Some people stop reading after the first part of this verse and start wondering if they have the kind of faith that is pleasing to God. But the next part gives the answer! If you believe in God—the God you have never seen with your own eyes—then right then and there, you are a person of faith. Just settle this within you right now: Do you believe God exists? Fantastic! You are a person of faith, and you are very pleasing to God.
Then, and maybe even more exciting, now that you have established you are a person of faith, you can also be fully confident that God hears and answers your prayers. “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him,” says 1 John 5:14-15.
Today, spend time meditating on these scriptures. Confess them over yourself, and take a huge step in your destiny by believing you possess the kind of faith that can change your world.
Day 2: God’s Love
1 John 4:16—“And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love and he who abides in love abides in God and God in him.”
• Do you believe in God’s love for you?
• Are you able to daily receive and operate in God’s love?
• Does an inability to forgive others—even yourself—keep you from receiving God’s love?
Many Christians have a difficult time embracing the depths of the love God has for them. Either because of guilt or feelings of inadequacy or because they think they never can measure up to the person they think God is expecting them to be, they walk through life believing God is angry or disappointed with them. This could not be any further from the truth!
There are a multitude of scriptures throughout the Bible that express the great love God has for each and every one of us; we only need to believe them by faith. In Psalm 139, David writes how intricately and beautifully God fashioned every person, and in verses 17-18, he says: “How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You.” David truly understood God’s love for him, as even in the midst of great failure, the king chose to receive God’s amazing grace and forgiveness.
The apostle Paul was another Christian who had a revelation of God’s love. In Ephesians 2:4-5, he writes, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).” And again in Romans 8:31,32, 38-39: “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Today, spend some time meditating on the incredible love God has just for you; let these words penetrate your heart and increase your faith in your relationship with Him.
Day 3: Healing
Matthew 8:16, 17—“When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:
“ ‘He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.’ ”
• What is your first response when you encounter sickness?
• Do you wrestle with haunting fears about getting a life-threatening illness?
• When you pray, if you do not receive healing immediately, does your mind focus on fear and doubt?
In our society today, we cannot seem to get away from a constant awareness of sickness and disease. Whether through television commercials, magazine ads, or billboard signs, we are bombarded every day with advertisements for the newest drug designed to tackle the newest sickness, along with its long list of side effects. In addition, many of our most popular television series are based upon the medical field, and with every episode the viewer gets a chance to come face to face with a vivid picture of many different life-threatening illnesses. Is it any wonder our faith for healing can so often become overshadowed by the input from the world?
If you are dealing with sickness, or even if you fight lingering fears of contracting serious sicknesses, ask yourself which occupies more of your time: faith scriptures about the promise of God’s healing or negative input from the world? It’s time to turn off the television and open up your Bible! In the Faith Manual, I have given you many scriptures of God’s promise of supernatural healing for you to speak over yourself. Grab a concordance and look up every scripture you can find about how Jesus healed
all
those who asked. He will do the same for you! Meditate on God’s life-giving power that resides on the inside of you. Romans 8:11 promises: “And if the Spirit of Him Who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, [then] He Who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also restore to life your mortal (short-lived, perishable) bodies through His Spirit Who dwells in you” (AMP).
God’s plan for your life is to live without the sickness and disease of this world. Sure, sometimes we must walk through a valley of weakness in our bodies, but if we will stand firm in our faith, we can be assured we will make it through that valley and into a place of healing and wholeness.
Day 4: Fear
2 Timothy 1:7—“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind.”
• In what areas of your life do you find you worry the most?
• Is it difficult for you to cast your cares on the Lord?
• After you pray in faith, do you still allow yourself to worry and be anxious?
Fear and anxiety have become the norm in our world. People have become accustomed to living with a general foreboding feeling that when they actually experience a sense of inner peace, they start to freak out—and there they are in worry and anxiety again! As Christians, we have a promise from God that we can live our lives completely free of fear. Yes, that means having a deep sense of peace every moment of every day.
Fear and worry is actually a habit—and it can be overcome. What if you were able to capture every thought of fear you had and turn it into a thought of faith? Like any discipline, this will be hard work, but the reward of joy, a sense of well-being, and the ability to always have sweet sleep would be worth the effort. And just like I wrote in the Faith section, once you have worked out these mental muscles, this exchange from fear to faith will become easier and easier.
Instead of worrying, we learn from 1 Peter 5:7, we should spend our energies “casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully” (AMP).
Whenever you find you have given yourself to fear and worry, make a choice to cast your care on Jesus. Stop and pray, and as Philippians 4 tells us, offer thanksgiving to God as confidence He has heard your prayer, and then
make the choice
to allow God’s peace that passes all understanding guard your heart and mind from fear, anxiety, and worry.
Day 5: God’s Protection
Luke 10:19—“Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”
• As a child of God, do you understand the blessings of safety and protection you are now able to receive?
• Do you speak God’s protection over your children? Are you then able to be at peace about their lives? Even when you hand them the keys to the car?
We live in a world that is under a curse; therefore, there may be times we must weather the storms of that curse. However, whether it is actual storms like hurricanes and tornadoes, or lack of storms like intense drought, other natural catastrophes like earthquakes, or accidental tragedies like fires and car wrecks, we can trust in God’s protection over our families and loved ones.
There is undeniable evil in the world, and sometimes there will be wars and rumors of wars, terrorism, and crime. But you and I have a choice to make: we can either live nervously, hoping we will never encounter anything of the sort, or we can live courageously, having faith in the promises of God’s Word. God never brings the destruction, and He will extend His hand of protection if we will have the faith for it. Psalm 91 is packed with promises of God’s protection. Use some of this psalm’s verses today to help grow your faith!
He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
A thousand may fall at your side,
And ten thousand at your right hand;
But it shall not come near you.
No evil shall befall you,
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways.
In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.

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