As believers, it is important that we know the truth about our salvation: we were saved because of our faith in Jesus Christ. we did nothing to earn it; it was given as a gift from God. This directly contradicts religious thinking, which tells us that we must work hard for our redemption. Because of what Jesus has done and our belief in it, we have already been made the righteousness of God. This is our stance in Christ, and nothing we do can change that. However, the ongoing transformation of our earthly lives into perfection will continue until we get to heaven; this is our state, which no one but God can change. Trusting in His promise to make the necessary changes in us enables Him to bring our state into balance with our stance. To support the ministry financially, text "CDMPodcast" to 74483 or visit www.worldchangers.org.
Believers are under constant attack from the enemy. There is a battle going on in our minds as to what we do—or do not—believe; the danger of not believing God’s Word is that it opens the door for the devil to condemn us. To feel condemned is to feel inferior, as if we are not good enough and do not measure up. Condemnation leads to fear; however, fear tolerated is faith contaminated. Feeling like we are inadequate causes us to focus solely on ourselves instead of on God, and brings us into self-effort to try to improve ourselves. We are delivered from this emotion through our belief in Jesus Christ and our dependence on Him. The world has plenty of “solutions” for the negative emotions associated with condemnation, but trusting in and relying on Jesus is the only permanent one. To support the ministry financially, text "CDMPodcast" to 74483 or visit www.worldchangers.org.
As Christians, we must understand the nature of the spiritual warfare we are in. The devil has already lost and we are fighting a defeated foe; our fight is now all about how to receive what Jesus died on the cross for us to have. However, most people are not even aware that a battle is even going on; some do not believe that Satan even exists. If we do not know he is real, he takes advantage of our ignorance to attack our minds with contradictions to God’s Word. The war actually takes place in our thought lives; we win by knowing precisely what God has said, believing it, and declaring it when we feel the enemy attacking. This involves paying close attention to what we think, and immediately casting down negative thoughts the devil fires at us. We are victorious when we resist false teachings and actively focus our thoughts on the truth of Christ and the gospel. To support the ministry financially, text "CDMPodcast" to 74483 or visit www.worldchangers.org.
Believers are engaged in spiritual warfare. We have a real enemy straight from hell who is determined to kill us; however, although we need to know how to do battle, we do not need to fear. The devil’s ultimate objective is to get us to walk away from God, but he cannot do so when we stay vigilant and watchful for his strategies and sneak attacks. It is critical to understand that although we are saved, we still must fight. Standing solid in the Word of God gives us a tremendous advantage; we are fighting a defeated enemy who is well aware that he has been beaten. Satan wants deceit and falsehood in our lives; we combat that by cloaking ourselves with the various truths found in God’s Word. Darkness cannot stand against light; the light of the gospel will always be able to break up and disperse the devil’s dark deception. To support the ministry financially, text "CDMPodcast" to 74483 or visit www.worldchangers.org.
Life is not the sum total of just the physical things we can see. Christians are in a spiritual battle with Satan, who is determined to make our lives miserable and kill us. With this in mind, we must not blame God for the bad things that happen. The enemy is constantly lurking in the background, waiting for an opportunity to work evil in our lives; he is willing to lie to us with his suggestions if it means he can lead us away from God. We combat his tactics with a thorough knowledge of God’s Word, so that when we hear someone speaking to us, we will know whose voice it is. As believers, the choice of who to listen to and what to believe is ours. The ability to use God’s Word as armor to defeat Satan gives us the advantage in the fight for our minds. To support the ministry financially, text "CDMPodcast" to 74483 or visit www.worldchangers.org.
In these last days, Satan is battling for our hearts and our faith. He has been working hard to undermine God and build a foundation of deception to make us spiritually blind; the last thing he wants is for us to live under the direction of the Holy Spirit. The enemy works through the spirit of mammon attached to money; he lies to us and tells us he can give us things that only God can give us. His plan is to get us to rely on money more than on God. Mammon hates generosity and giving, especially with our finances; we defeat this evil spirit by giving to show that we trust in God enough to give without fear of lack. Despite what mammon tells us, we can depend on God, who will take care of us and never leave us. Genuine success and prosperity on every level come only from making God our source. To support the ministry financially, text "CDMPodcast" to 74483 or visit www.worldchangers.org.
A proper understanding of salvation requires that we differentiate between our standing and our state as believers. When we got born again, our redemption was fully accomplished because of the finished works of Jesus Christ. This is our stance, which allows us to stand before God holy and righteous as if we had never sinned. However, although we have already been saved by grace, the outward manifestation of our righteousness is a constant and ongoing process of completion. This is our state, also called our earthly lives. Until we get to heaven, our state will not have caught up with our stance. Believing what God says about our righteousness and holiness, and letting Him work in us, will bring us to the point where our state eventually catches up to our stance. To support the ministry financially, text "CDMPodcast" to 74483 or visit www.worldchangers.org.
On our Christian walk, we are gradually becoming more and more like Jesus Christ. Despite our progress, however, there is still a gap between who God says we are and what we see in our everyday lives; although He says we are the righteousness of God, sometimes we still do unrighteous things. Our faith in Christ is a critical component in this; we must believe what God says we are, even when our lives are not reflecting that yet. Our belief in our redemption contradicts what religion tells us, which is that our salvation hinges on what we do; the truth is that we are saved because of what Jesus did, and our trust in that. God never contradicts Himself; although our stance in perfection was forever determined when we believed in Jesus, our state of perfection, which refers to our earthly lives, is still unfinished. This is an important point that confuses many in the church. Understanding this gives us peace and lets God work in us to make us as righteous as He is. To support the ministry financially, text "CDMPodcast" to 74483 or visit www.worldchangers.org.
The devil has always been a thief. As believers, we must be on the alert for his attacks; one of the first things he tries to steal that God gave us is who we are in Christ. He did this with Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, and unsuccessfully tried again with Jesus in the wilderness; he tries it with us through guilt, shame, and condemnation. Because of what Adam did, we are born into this world already spiritually dead; being born again gives us new life and makes us new creations just like Christ in our spirits. Regardless of what the enemy says to us, we have been united with Jesus Christ and are now one with Him. We have been redeemed and made righteous and holy, not because of anything we do, but because of what Jesus already did. Confidence in our true identity keeps it from being stolen from us. To support the ministry financially, text "CDMPodcast" to 74483 or visit www.worldchangers.org.
One of the major differences between the old and new covenants is the shift away from doing and toward believing. In the Old Testament, the focus was on performing; in the New Testament, the focus is on faith. However, we need precision in this area; what is necessary is not faith in our own performance, but in Jesus’ perfect performance and what He has already done. This is what positions us to receive the blessings promised in the Bible. The Gospel of Grace emphasizes the link between belief and obedience; as Christians, we must not stumble and fall back into thinking that our works are more important than our faith in Christ. With this in mind, we must abandon our self-efforts that religion demands from us and simply trust in Jesus. When we believe we are righteous because of Him, our behavior will eventually reflect that. To support the ministry financially, text "CDMPodcast" to 74483 or visit www.worldchangers.org.
We are at war with Satan, and the stakes are high. He and his army of demons are after our souls, our minds, and our emotions. His plan involves trapping us in the world’s way of thinking; however, we render him powerless by renewing our minds to conform to God’s way of thinking instead. In this fight we can use precision as a weapon; specifically, we are to renew our minds according to the teachings of grace, not according to the Law of Moses. What was true under the law is not necessarily true anymore under grace; we need a solid understanding of this if we are to escape the devil’s lies. Therefore, it is essential to focus on the proper covenant if we want successful lives. We win by giving our attention to the finished works of Jesus instead of our own performance. To support the ministry financially, text "CDMPodcast" to 74483 or visit www.worldchangers.org.