Together, you and the Holy Spirit can do it

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “The Great Adventure”

Our Bible verse for today: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” Matthew 5:8 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Together, you and the Holy Spirit can do it”

“Blessed are the pure in heart.” Isn’t that what we all really desire, to have a heart that is pure and which sees God? Jesus says that such a person is truly blessed and I would agree. I want that and I’ll bet you do too.

Let’s return to our discussion from yesterday regarding exposing the lies Satan has been telling us about ourselves. We need to replace those lies with truth from God, thereby creating new neural pathways that guide our thinking to better outcomes. Yesterday we learned a strategy for doing that. Identify the lie, replace it with God’s truth, repeat that truth to yourself over-and-over again, and eventually the truth becomes your new default thinking. And over time, your heart becomes more and more pure. That then will have a positive impact every other area of life.

Replacing lies with truth and creating new neural pathways was exactly what Paul was describing in Philippians 4:8-9 when he wrote, “Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable – if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy – dwell on these things. Do what you have learned and received and heard from me, and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.”

When Craig Groeschel offered his personal strategy for developing those new neural pathways (as we learned yesterday), he was simply building on the lesson Paul taught in Philippians 4:8-9. Craig’s method is just another way of doing what Paul was teaching.

It’s the Holy Spirit who produces the actual change in our mind and heart. He is the one who reveals the lies of Satan to us and who replaces those lies with God’s truth. It’s the work of the Holy Spirit that creates those new neural pathways that guide our thinking to good outcomes. But he doesn’t do it magically and He doesn’t do it without any involvement on our part. There is work that we need to do too. It’s up to us to first think this through, pray this through, and ask God to help us identify the lies that have hindered us and held us back for so long. Then it’s up to us to seek the corresponding truths of God that show those lies to be the lies that they are. And then it is up to us to memorize, dwell on, and repeat the truth to ourselves multiple times each day until that truth becomes our new default thinking.

That’s the goal and together, you and the Holy Spirit can do it.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

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