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Listening to People Develops Trust and Open Communication in Our Relationships

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Listening to People Develops Trust and Open Communication in Our Relationships

Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.

— Dr. Stephen Covey

Most people just want to get their point across. We often ignore the other person but pretend we're listening. We selectively hear what we want to respond to but often miss their meaning. Most people listen with the intent to reply, not to understand. We prepare in our mind what we're going to say while they’re still speaking. WE FILTER EVERYTHING THROUGH OURSELVES. Consequently, we decide prematurely what the other person means before he/she finishes communicating. This is called judgement, more on that next week.

God Listens to Us

Let’s look at a few passages and get some insight from God on how to listen. These are wonderful promises about the character and faithfulness of God but we can also learn some universal principles about communication from these passages.

I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live. Psalm 116:1-2

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You Hear God Better When You're Aware of Your Sonship

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You Hear God Better When You're Aware of Your Sonship

This message brings my Becoming Limitless series to a close, This series is about eliminating those internal limitations that keep us from following God. This series is not about getting rich and living your dreams, this series is about living FROM purpose and fulfilling those God given assignments in your life.

You are complete in Christ, doing things for him do not define you, but God does have things he wants you to do for him and his kingdom, and the fulfillment of those assignments increases his kingdom and brings great joy and fulfillment.

So what does he want you to do?

I personally think you can discern those assignments in an environment of love for others. In this series I suggest that you define who you love for your own understanding, and then take practical steps to act out that love for that people group, bringing the Gospel, meeting practical needs and prayerfully affecting them in such a way they turn to Jesus.

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There’s a Difference Between Dreams and Assignments from God

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There’s a Difference Between Dreams and Assignments from God

Assignments from God are completed FROM identity, not FOR identity. Once you know that you are already a child in his kingdom (by grace through faith), he equips you as an ambassador to complete assignments.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

An assignment from God has to do with those good works you were created unto. An assignment has to do with those works God has prepared for you to do. An assignment is something God wants you to do as an ambassador of his kingdom. God may have multiple assignments for you throughout your life, some are fulfilled in a day, some are walked out over a lifetime.

God has things he wants you to do, don’t you want to do them?

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Confess The Word of God to Renew Your Mind and Be Transformed

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Confess The Word of God to Renew Your Mind and Be Transformed

You are transformed as you renew your mind (Romans 12:2). There is no better source for mind-renewal than the word of God.

There are several methods and applications to root the word in your heart. You can read, pray, meditate, confess, incorporate into art, listen to, and sing songs about the word of God, but in all of those you must hold the word in your heart to give it time to root and bear fruit.

I want to focus on the power of confession in this article. For a little more context, I am discussing confession in light of renewing your mind and developing confidence in the area of your assignment from God.

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Watch This Powerful Video of A Seed Growing to Understand How God’s Word Works in Your Heart

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Watch This Powerful Video of A Seed Growing to Understand How God’s Word Works in Your Heart

When you remember that you’re forgiven and God has cleansed you from your sins, you are free to live untethered. The strength of sin of the law but the strength of righteousness is freedom. (See last week’s article for more on this idea).

From there on you have to guard your heart against the deceitfulness of riches and the cares of this world, as well as not yield your body to sin. You do so to keep your heart and conscience clear to hear and follow God’s instructions.

There is a responsibility to freedom. True freedom does not seek permissiveness, it seeks righteousness.

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How To Overcome Limiting Beliefs That Keep You From Growing and Succeeding

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How To Overcome Limiting Beliefs That Keep You From Growing and Succeeding

When you try to grow and move beyond your current place in life, you may experience limiting beliefs that try to keep you stuck. The good news is, if you know it’s coming, you can be prepared to face and overcome those internal limitations.

Insecurities, past failures, things said to you by parents, fear about money - all kinds of things may rise up in your thinking and attempt to derail you from growing and moving forward. The key is to know who you are in Christ, remember that you’re forgiven, and be honest with yourself. What do you do when you try to move forward and face internal opposition?

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How to Always be Effective and Fruitful

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How to Always be Effective and Fruitful

Do you want to always be fruitful and effective? Do this:

Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:5-8

Peter says if you do these things it will keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful.

I think we’d all agree these are good qualities that every Jesus follower should have in their lives. So what does it mean if you do not have these qualities, what should you do? Does it mean you need to work harder to be a better Christian? Let’s see…

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You don't need answers, you need RESOLVE.

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You don't need answers, you need RESOLVE.

Life happens. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s not. Sometimes it’s an unexpected blessing, sometimes it’s an unfortunate loss. Sometimes it’s welcoming a new child into your home, sometimes it’s losing a loved one. No matter what, we have reason to stay confident toward God knowing that he only has good plans for us.

When the bad things happen we tend to seek answers. How we see God will color what kind of answers we seek and which kinds of questions we’ll ask in the first place.

It’s fine to have questions but you really don’t need answers, you need resolve. Resolve over the character of God. Before you arrive at your conclusions about God and the circumstance you find yourself in, make sure you are standing firmly on the true character of God.

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Identity + Promise + Faith = Mind Renewal unto Transformation

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Identity + Promise + Faith = Mind Renewal unto Transformation

Jesus said he was going to prepare a place for us so we can be with him. I think it’s safe to call that place Heaven, would you agree? What is that place like? What is Heaven like? Take a minute and think about that for a minute before you finish reading this article.

For real, think about Heaven, where Jesus is walking around right now…

I’m a pastor, so teaching doctrine properly is important, but I want to suspend doctrine for a minute and just think about some things.

When I think about Jesus preparing a place for us, it makes me think of his prayer “your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” It’s something he wants for us. I think about what the garden of Eden must have been like, in all its perfection. I think of what it would have been like to see Jesus transform and openly talk with Moses and Elijah. It makes me think of all the times supernatural encounters with angels and the presence of God happened to ordinary men and women in the Bible.

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God Performed Spiritual Surgery On You So You Can Have A New Life

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God Performed Spiritual Surgery On You So You Can Have A New Life

The Gospel is Powerful in 2 Ways

THE INFORMATION OF THE GOSPEL: It’s incredibly wonderful information to know that God is no longer holding your sins against you and offers the free gift of righteousness and eternal life by grace through faith in Christ. But it doesn’t stop there, there are results of believing this truth.

THE RESULTS OF BELIEVING THE GOSPEL: The results of believing the Gospel are even better. He removes your old heart and gives you a new one that knows how to hear and follow him. God places his spirit in you. You become a new creature in Christ. After those things, you are actually righteous and holy because of the work of the spirit in you. You are empowered with graces to bless others. You are qualified for all the blessings of Abraham. God will never leave you or forsake you. He’ll lead and guide you into truth and blessing. The list just goes on and on.

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