Renew Your Mind

Faith takes place between your ears and gets walked out by your feet. Even though you’re a sinner, Jesus died for you, He loves you, He changed you.

When you present yourself to God, you get transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Freedom is found in God’s presence, freedom from past mistakes, from current problems, from an uncertain future. However, this freedom takes submission. You have to give up your will and seek the Lord’s will for you. Instead of believing whatever thought comes into your head, take the Word of God, the Bible as your source of truth and live and walk out that.

Pastor LoCascio says, “You are NOT what the devil says you are. You are NOT what you say you are. You are NOT what other people say you are. You are what God says you are!

“Stop listening to foolish lies. God doesn’t want to destroy you. He cares for you. Sometimes, you think He’s asleep on the boat and you say, ‘wake up, don’t you care?’”

The truth is, of course He cares. Things may not work out the way you think they should, but that’s okay, because if you let Him, He’ll work things out even better than you could imagine.

Heb 11:1,6 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

Don’t walk by what you see, but walk by what you know! It’s a fight! You may be losing the battle, but the war is not over!

This is tough for most people. We want to believe in what we can see. Faith is hard to develop. Trust is not easily given. Yet, God promises He will reward your faith. He will bless your choice to trust in Him. Of course, God is God and you can’t force Him to do things your way, but you can trust Him to do things better than what you could come up with!

1 Peter 5:7 “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”

Pastor LoCascio explains further, “Jesus talked about seeds that fell on thorny ground. Thorns are the cares of this life, stuff that gets in your mind. No fruit ever grows.

Peter said to take your worries, your thoughts, the cares and struggles of life, the stuff that you’ve done, the issues that choke the Word of God and deal with it, don’t dwell on it. That is not what faith is about. God is greater than your worries, your thoughts, your cares and struggles, even your past. If you allow your mind to dwell on your these things, you become prey to the devil.”

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be prey for the devil! To be honest, I’ve allowed it far too often in my life. When your feelings rear up, it’s so easy to believe them and to make really poor decisions based on false assumptions. The solution is faith, trusting God’s way more than my own. How many times have I fallen before I finally let go? Too many, but He never gives up!

1 Peter 5:8-9 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.”

This is our work, your work and mine. God won’t think for us. He wants us to learn to be responsible, to grow, to mature. There is a peace that passes all understanding, but that only comes through consistent walking by faith.

Pastor LoCascio says, “The key to resisting the devil is faith! God is more than enough. He will provide all of your needs. He is a healer.

It takes faith to hear God.”

1 John 5:4 “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.”

“It’s not a one-time thing, it’s continual overcoming by faith.

Keep fighting! Keep fighting! Keep fighting!

We have victory over serpents and scorpions. Serpents strike with their heads, scorpions with their tales. Heads or tails, we have the victory!”

That is easier to read than to put into practice, but just as consistently practicing any instrument, you will see progress, so it is with walking by faith.

Pastor continues, “You MUST have the mind of Christ! You must put on the Helmet of Salvation. You can’t prevent birds from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from building a nest. You can’t prevent crazy thoughts from coming into your head, but you can KICK them out!”

Phil 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

Teach yourself, train yourself to fight the good fight of faith and lay hold onto eternal life!

Heb 10:38-39 “Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. 39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.”

“Don’t shrink back like a coward. The fearful will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. You who are cowardly and worrisome, because you’ve allowed the battle to overwhelm you, you can’t please God.”

Your situation may seem hopeless, but God can handle anything. Nothing is too hard for Him and it gives Him glory to work on your behalf. He enjoys doing great things for you!

Heb 13:5-6 “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. 6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”

“Your doubt and worry anger the Lord.”

Be bold! God will never leave you. Believe it!

“Every time the king of Syria planned an attack on Israel, his plans were always revealed by the prophet Elisha. That made the king really angry. So, he sent an army to get Elisha to kill him. Elisha had a servant (not Gehazi). He saw the army coming and got really scared. He shook Elisha and woke him, ‘Look at the enemy approaching! What should we do?’ Elisha said, ‘Fear not. There is more with us than there are against us.’ The servant saw the many and counted only him and the prophet. Elisha asked God to open the eyes of his servant, to walk not by sight, but by faith.”

2 Corinthians 4:18 “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

2 Cor 5:7 “(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)”

God will honor faith!

Excerpted from a sermon preached by Pastor Anthony LoCascio.

For the full YouTube audio/video, click here.

If you are looking for an Apostolic Pentecostal church and are in the Chicagoland area, come check out The Life Church located at 3030 Central Road in Glenview, IL. Services are Sundays at 1pm and Wednesdays at 7pm. We would love to see you there!

www.thelifechurchofglenview.org