When you surrendered your life to Christ you did not cease to have a free will. God created you to become His child, not a puppet.

Throughout the Bible you will find God referring to His people as “His children”. Remember the Gospel of John 1:12 …

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

When you have a free will it means you are free to choose:

• What thoughts you entertain in your mind.
• What words you allow to come out of your mouth.
• What attitudes you allow to be cultivated in your life.
• What daily habits you form by your daily actions, words and thoughts.

However, not only are you free to choose, you have the responsibility to choose what you think, say and do!

Over the years, so many times I have heard comments such as:
I am praying for God to control my mind, so I can think pure thoughts.

What do you think about that comment?

This notion is offered “supported” by the verse found in Romans 8:14 which says “Those who are led by the Spirit of God as the sons of God”.

Firstly, remember God did not create you to be a puppet on a string! He created you to become a son or daughter.

Secondly, this verse in Romans 8:14 (and others) says we are to be “led” by the Spirit, not “controlled” by the Spirit.

Let us go back to John 1:12.
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. The word “right” is translated from the greek word “exousia” which in it’s meaning includes: power, right, authority, strength.
(English Standard Version of the Bible).

Remember the time that Moses cried out to God when Pharaoh and his men were coming after them?

How did God respond? With a rebuke! God’s response was:

What is in your hand? (He had a rod in his hand which represented authority). Do you see a comparison there?

What do you have in your hand (at your disposal)? The authority, power and strength delegated to YOU from God, to overcome anything.

So the question is: Can Christians have a negative mindset? If they so choose to yes. But they will obviously miss out on living the abundant life.

The real question though is:

What do YOU choose today?

Cartoon by Yuli @Copyright 2000

Just this morning I was reading a message from Dr Mike Murdock about the Lion. The Lion is BY NATURE the king of the jungle. Yet they are not born with the developed skills to operate as the king of the jungle.

They have to LEARN these skills. They have to WORK at it and it takes them at least 2 years to fully develop as the king of the jungle they were born to be.

When you accepted Christ into your life, you were given the right (authority and power) to become an adult son (or daughter) of God with ALL of the rights. (Look at the verse John 1:12 quoted at the beginning of this article).

Now the question is:

• Are you DEVELOPING those rights and the authority you were given?
• Are you BECOMING an adult son (or daughter) of God?

In order to be able to operate in this position (as an adult son (or daughter) of God, you have to LEARN (develop) the skills. It will take WORK. This work could be called “self development”.

Remember in the last article we began to look at the apostle Paul’s exhortation in Romans 12:2 – where he told the church they needed to be transformed.

Notice how we are to be continually transformed. By the renewing of your mind. How do we do that? By turning the tables on the negative influences around you, beginning with what is in your mind.

There is an interesting parable told by Jesus in Luke 8 – the actual message Jesus was communicating in this parable has to do with finances. However, He made an interesting comment as he concluded this story. I believe we can apply to many areas of our lives without taking away from the original intention of this parable.

“for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light”

The other day I was chatting (by phone) with my young pastor friend in Acapulco. I shared with him some of the things that are developing in my life at the moment, and among these is the vision and passion to teach a Christ Centered Personal Development. I really see a need for this!

He responded - “Wow – many of the young people go to Motivational Seminars in town here and come back more motivated than the youngsters that are in church”. Then I remembered that verse found in Luke 16:8 (which I mentioned above).

I think it is time that the children of light (those who have chosen to follow Christ) learn to rise up and become WISER than the “children of this world”. Don’t you?

I was talking to this same pastor just a few days ago. He has a challenge to face today actually, and in the course of conversation he declared “God has control”. I stopped him and said “No – that control is in YOUR hands, man of God”.

Now

• I am NOT saying that God is not sovereign – I believe 100% in the Sovereignty of God.
• I AM saying that God has placed certain things (power, authority) in our hands He expects us to use.

Moses was backed up against between the army of the Egyptians and the red sea. He cried out for God to help. God’s reply was almost a rebuke – in fact it really was a rebuke.

God said: “Why are you crying out to Me? What do you have in your hand”? (See Exodus 14:15) He had a rod in his hand. What does the rod symbolize? Authority!

So what was I saying to this pastor? God has given YOU the authority and power to dominate this situation (starting in your mind) – and He expects you to use it! YOU have the authority to control this situation (as God’s representative).

Yes it is time for the God’s people (the children of light – Jesus’s disciples) to rise up and train as the warriors we are called to be on this earth. We are to be the HEAD, not the tail.

And this training and developing, starts with a consistent disciplined daily training (renewing) your mind.

Start today – download these mp3s and start listening to them right NOW.

* (Extra words in brackets, I added to show fuller meaning of the word, as found in the original language).

** Note: These recordings are by John Di Lemme – a motivational teacher, who I also KNOW to be a man of God – I have met him in person. These mp3s and mp4s are FREE – and yes, if you do decide to buy anything from John’s business, I do receive a commission. (see comment below **)

Photo Credits

Have you ever been at a time in your life where you just knew you were meant to be in a certain place? After the first several months in Cuernavaca it was time to return to New Zealand to visit my family and friends. I had been away for 2 yrs already.

During my stay in New Zealand, Anna Lee’s husband died (Anna Lee Carlton is the founder of the magazine, Bread For Children, that I was working with) and this created a need for help at the head office in Florida. I was asked to return to Florida for a time, rather than to Cuernavaca. However I had received a very strong impression during my time at home, that was to go to McAllen Texas.

Florida
I returned to Florida where Anna Lee assured me that as soon as it was possible, she would release me to go to McAllen where I could also be supportive to the work of the magazine since McAllen is a city on the border of Mexico.

The year spent in head office was a great time of further training for what was ahead of me. I learned a lot about preparing copy for the print shop and also had the opportunity to deal directly with the staff at the print shop.

My American Parents

It was in Florida that I met a couple who became my “American parents”. Their children still keep in close touch with me to this day. (This couple are now both waiting for us in heaven). I was blessed with 2 couples in the States who both became my American parents, and one couple in Mexico.

After just over 1 year in Florida, I was released to go down to McAllen, Texas. My american parents saw me off on the bus trip early that morning and we set off for the 2 day, 2 night trip to South Texas.

McAllen, Texas
Early in the morning 2 days later the bus finally pulled into the station in McAllen Texas where I was met by a new friend. At the boy’s orphanage I had met a couple who studied Spanish at the missionary language school. They made arrangements for me to be able to stay in one of the dormitories there since it was summer time. This would give me an opportunity to look for an apartment. The school was practically deserted.

Ideas Came Flooding into My Mind
During the first day ideas suddenly started flooding my mind, and I sat down with pen and pencil and started writing and drawing. For the next several months I worked with the preparation of what turned out to be the first of the series of booklets, Templos Vivientes (Living Temples). It was an incredible time as ideas seemed to come from “nowhere”. The time was right.

I had found an apartment within walking distance of shops and a cafeteria as well as some other stores including a copy shop. Inquiries at the coffee shop revealed that my budget would allow me to print 200 copies of the first booklet (I was planning to do this using photo copies to begin with).

The booklets are full of illustrations that would help parents who’s reading skills were not tops be able to read them to their children. My plan was to take the 200 copies back to one of the villages near the boys orphanage and give them to the mothers asking them to read the books to their children.

Templos Vivientes – The Vision Grew.
Before Templos Vivientes fully ready for the copy shop a friend introduced me to a Canadian missionary couple. They were looking for someone to rent an apartment adjacent to their home to have someone there when they were away. It seemed to be a good arrangement and so I accepted. Then they said “oh by the way, we also have a print shop in the back which you are welcome to use”.

My 200 copy budget ended up printing 2000 booklets for the first run, and in two colors! This booklet was reprinted many times to a total of 50-60,000 copies.

May your vision grow as you follow it! I would love to hear about the growth of your vision. There is plenty of room below in the comments to share. I look forward to hearing from you.

Chapter 2: The Beginning

As I mentioned in the first chapter, one of the things I noticed during my first months in Mexico was the lack of Christian literature available for children (this was in 1977). At the time I was helping oversee a dormitory in a boy’s orphanage near Monterrey.

At Christmas we went into the city to look for some books to give the boys for Christmas and were horrified to find there was so little to choose from.

Christian Literature Was Always A Part of My Vision

I always had the publishing side of missionary work on my heart. We were constantly receiving visiting speakers at Youth For Christ, and several were from Christian Literature Crusade. Their stories always fascinated and challenged me.

One of the first materials I published was a little magazine for the local Sunday School I was teaching at the time. As well as the magazine, I set to work doing children’s puzzles for my class. A teacher from one of the largest churches in Christchurch, NZ saw them and asked permission to publish these puzzles in their weekly church bulletin.

Confirmation and Direction from the Home Church

So when we saw the need in Mexico, I wrote to the church in NZ that was supporting me at the time sharing what I saw. The secretary who was familiar with what I was working on before I left New Zealand, immediately replied with an article she had seen in the Women’s Aglow magazine. It was about a children’s magazine that was being published in Florida. Bread for Children was the magazine, and the author (Anna Lee Carlton) shared her vision to start publishing in Mexico.

At the time I was working with a lady who had been in Argentina for many years and so of course her spanish was very good, while mine was still in the beginning stages. We contacted Anna Lee, director of Bread For Children, and were flown over to Florida to meet the team there. The few days with Anna Lee, her husband and the staff sealed the next step in my adventures on this side of the world.

We returned to South Texas (the base for going in and out of Mexico), packed and returned to Florida. We were to prepare the first issue of Bread for Children in spanish which was to be translated as “Pan Para Los Hijos”.

One of the first things we noticed was the absence of illustrations in the magazine. We commented on this and mentioned that Mexican children need visuals. (All children do actually, but we were preparing Pan Para Los Hijos).

Who Was To Do the Needed Illustrations?

Anna Lee was fine with that, but who was to do the drawings? So far my drawing skills had been limited to copying or at least adapting a sketch from an existing one. But there was no point of reference for any sketches that were needed now.

However I volunteered and sat down with a pencil to see what I could do.

Immediately my mind was filled with images of the scenes at the boy’s orphanage near Monterrey. I had something to copy and adapt!

A very big surprise was awaiting me in Cuernavaca where we were to be sent to print the first volume of Pan Para Los Hijos (Look for this surprise in next article, to be published on Thursday, Jan 8th, 2009).

]]> http://kiwichamp.com/the-beginning/feed/ 2