Winning the War Within

(Read Matthew 10:34-39)

This morning we continue our series, “Grace that is Simply Amazing” by continuing our mini-series entitled, “Grace Based Success (Prosperity)”.  We have been studying the life of the Apostle Peter.  Our study has brought us to Matthew 10.  Yesterday we started to look at verses 34-39 and I told you that your purpose must take priority over everything and everyone else.  Today’s message flows in that same vein.  Let’s go back to the same passage.

Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace. I came to bring trouble.  I have come to make this happen:

‘A son will turn against his father.  A daughter will turn against her mother.  A daughter-in-law will turn against her mother-in-law.  Even members of your own family will be your enemies.’

Those who love their father or mother more than they love me are not worthy of me.  And those who love their son or daughter more than they love me are not worthy of me.  Those who will not accept the cross that is given to them when they follow me are not worthy of me.  Those who try to keep the life they have will lose it. But those who give up their life for me will find true life.”

So what does this mean to you today?  Yesterday I talked about the conflict that is created when you are Born-Again and God begins to reveal His purpose to you.  I told you the conflict the is both internal (from your own soul), and external (from your friends and family).  I will ‘pull the string’ on that thought by focusing on the internal conflict today and the external conflict tomorrow.

1.  The revelation of your divine purpose causes internal conflict (from your own soul).

2.  The moment you are Born-Again and the Father begins to reveal His purpose for your life to you, through the Holy Spirit, a myriad of things happen:

a)  You realize your are not a mistake.

b)  You finally know, without a shadow of a doubt, that you were born for a divine purpose.

c)  The enormity of the assignment begins to sink in and you feel unworthy.

d)  You think of all the mistakes you made in the past and you wonder why God did not give up on you.

e)  You then think about the life you wanted (the one you made plans for), before being Born-Again, and you realize you have to sacrifice it for the life God planned for you.

f)  You wonder if you can make the sacrifice.

3.  After the initial euphoria associated with the revelation of God’s purpose for your life wears off, you are left with tough decisions.

a)  You consider the investment you made in your own desires and pursuits and you wonder if this new life is worth giving it all up for.

b)  The Holy Spirit is leading you to a new life and new ventures, ventures planned from the foundations of the world for you to enjoy; but your old mindset is pushing back and it wants to keep you on your old path.

c)  Your old path will lead to nothing but your old self.  The problem is, that person is dead.  You are a new creation in Christ Jesus (2 Cor 5:17), but you don’t know how to live like who you are.

d)  You quickly realize that you are a new man in an old body and you need a new mind.  Your mind must be renewed to accept, embrace, and walk in the life God destined you to have.

e)  If you don’t renew your mind through the Word of God you will never walk in the life God planned for you – you will miss out on God’s best.

4.  At some point you must choose between the life you came up with (on your own) and the life God planned for your to have (before the world began).  Invariably, you will make your choice over and over again.  You will choose God, His plans, His purposes, and His destiny, but if you don’t renew your mind, your own soul will draw you back into your old life.  This is why believers struggle to become the person they were born to be.  The only way to truly maximize your purpose and potential — which God placed IN you by God’s unearned grace — is to die to the old man, to renew your mind through the Word of God, and to allow the Holy Spirit to lead you into the life the Father intended for you to live.

5.  There is a war between the person you were and the person God called you to be.  This war is fought WITHIN you.  You cannot win the war within by trying, it can only be won by dying.

Closing Confession:   Father, I thank You for teaching me about Your grace and my requirement to live by faith.  You made plans for me before the world began.  I am not a mistake.  I was born for a reason and that reason is my divine purpose.  Along with my purpose, You already prepared my success.  Everything I need to succeed in life is already mine.  So I am then posed with a decision.  I must choose between the life You planned for me and the life I came up with.  I must die to self and release my old life in order to embrace and enjoy the life You birthed me to live.  Many struggle with this decision.  I have even struggled with it in the past.  But those day are over.  I die to self.  I release the old man.  I renew my mind through Your Word.  I see myself the way You see me.  I yield, I submit, I die, I decrease, and You live, increase, and flow IN, WITH and THROUGH me.  I win the war within by dying.  As I do, You live through me and I get to enjoy the life You planned for me to live.  I declare this by faith.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.
This is Today’s Word!  Apply it and Prosper.