Your Unlimited Life (2 page)

The Bible says that when we stand before God - either after death or after the rapture of the Church - we will give an account of our lives. We cannot give an account for something that we were not in charge of or that we did not have control over. We will give an account of our lives, which is a summation of the choices we made. To say that we were a victim, or that what we did was not our fault, is to deny the reality of the Word of God. God sets before us life and death and He says,
“Choose life.”

As a young man who had already messed things up, created all kinds of problems, who was flooded in misery and depressed about life in general, when someone told me I could change, I sought after that change. I earnestly desired a life that gave me the power to grow and the means to do it.

“You mean I can do something about my life?” Yes! “You mean my life doesn’t have to be like this?” No! “You mean I’m not just set on a course deemed by fate?” No! There is no such thing as fate. You don’t have to accept anything you don’t want to accept; God gave you the power to choose! You can break that bad habit and start living the life God designed for you.

I got motivated. Within a few short years I turned things around in my life because of learning this truth. God created me in His image and likeness, and He gave me the power of choice. My prayer for you is that you grasp this concept and apply it to your life today.

RENEWAL TRUTH

Because I am created in the image and likeness of God,

I have the power to choose life. I choose life!

(Genesis 1:26; Deuteronomy 30:19)

Now, more than thirty years later, I’m still looking for areas in my life where I can make changes. I’m looking for a mountain to which I will say, “I’ll climb you.” I’m looking at aspects of my life where I can say, “I’ll take charge of you. I’ll discipline you. I’ll overcome that limitation. I’ll turn that negative habit around. I will deal with that circumstance.” Where you set your mind will control how you live your life. I am continually looking for areas where the choices I make will set the course of my life and put me on the path God has set for me. Seeing the continual increase in my life has allowed me to remain faithful to this process. Every year I am amazed at how my choices to change my thoughts inadvertently change my surroundings and bring increase to my life.

The heart is made up of the spirit and the soul, which is the birthing place of new things and the launching pad for your life. Out of it, you create all the good and bad things that happen in your life.

Sometimes we like to
mystify
or
spiritualize
biblical ideals to the point where we don’t feel responsible to practice them because we don’t really understand them. How often have you been asked over Sunday lunch how amazing the sermon was, to which you quickly offer your praises? However, you may have already forgotten the teaching and subconsciously decided it will never become a practical part of your daily life.

Since it was so cool, so deep and you feel blessed, why didn’t you change anything? That’s why we like to talk about the Antichrist, the rapture, and the tribulation. Those topics are really cool and spiritual, but you don’t have to do anything. However, when you study the Word,
it’s not that mystical, nor does it have to be endlessly deep
. It is very practical with realistic usages.

M
AN
I
S
K
NOWN
B
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H
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F
RUIT

In Matthew 12:33 Jesus says,
“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.”
You can’t change the fruit on a tree. An apple tree will not produce pears and pear trees can’t produce peaches, but you
can
change the fruit in
your
life by starting to work on the tree itself. This book will help you uproot and replant so that you can have the fruit you desire.

RENEWAL TRUTH

I choose to bear good fruit for God’s Kingdom.

(John 15:8)

Jesus used the tree to describe human life.
Unlike people, plants and animals can’t change.
They can’t renew their minds or choose the way they will produce. They are planted with one purpose and that purpose cannot be altered. People continue trying to keep lions in their houses like domestic kitties. When the lion lashes out, the owner is shocked and confused. The lion is simply doing what comes naturally to him. The human mind is not like that of any other living thing because it has the power to change.

It is all too common for people to try and change the behavior of animals. Like a farmer who tries to make a pig his indoor pet. As soon as the pig has a chance, he will go to the mud. No matter how clean and shiny the pig is, he is still a pig, and he is drawn to his natural habitat - the pigsty.

And so it is that you can’t change what has been bred into the natural world. You can’t change the fruit of the tree. However, you can change the tree of your life. Jesus says to make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad. You make the choice. It’s up to you. It is your decision. Set your mind where you want it, and it will decide the kind of life you lead, but the tree (your life) will be known by its fruit. Think of each renewed thought as a new root in your life that is changing the fruit on the tree, soon to harvest the life you desire.

In our secular perspective of things, we don’t read, “Make the tree good and its fruit good.” We read, “Make the
fruit
good.” We want to skip the monotonous discipline of changing the root of the “tree” part and get to the increase! Let’s get right to the “fruit.” We don’t want to work on ourselves but rather just want the benefits and want them now. So when we advertise how to be successful, how to achieve in life, or how to get out of debt, we simply advertise the benefits. No one advertises the discipline, the renewing of the mind, or the working out of this process.

Jesus didn’t say to go after the fruit. He said to change the tree, and then the good fruit would come automatically. Make the tree good by working on the roots. Get your mind right. Get your soul right. Get your spirit right. Get your heart right. Then the fruit will be right. Your unlimited life lies right past this uprooting and replanting process.

In Matthew 12:34, Jesus says,
“Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”

Notice, the condition of the fruit of your life is dependent on what’s going on in your heart, and what is going on in your heart is coming out of your mouth. If your heart is good, then good will come out of your mouth. The Lord is trying to get us to understand - the right heart produces the right fruit.

Then He sums it up in verse 35:
“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.”
So whatever is coming out of your mouth - good or bad, rich or poor, happy or sad, big or small - is coming forth from your heart.

We have been programmed to wait for circumstances to change so we can be happy. That’s the “victim mentality.” The victim believes that everyone else must change in order for me to find my own happiness. Everybody and everything could change yet the victim still wouldn’t be happy. The victim never changes because they think the problem lies elsewhere beyond themselves, when, in fact, it’s their heart that is the issue. Jesus says when you change in your heart, you will change the fruit of your life.

RENEWAL TRUTH

Create in me a clean heart, O God.

(Psalm 51:10)