Mixing Faith with God's Spoken Promise
What you focus on shapes what you see, and when you continually complain about what’s wrong, you can become blind to God’s provision and even begin to loathe the manna at your feet. Instead of letting the snakes of life consume your attention, mix God’s promises with faith, keep your eyes on Jesus, sow gratitude, and let love—not spiritual elitism—be the true measure of your maturity.
The children of Israel wandered through the wilderness surrounded by the supernatural provision of God. He had delivered them from slavery in Egypt, led them by cloud and fire, provided water in the desert, and fed them every single morning.
Then in Numbers 21:5 they said:
“Our soul loatheth this light bread.”
They were talking about manna.
Every morning they woke up, walked outside their tents, and the food was already there. God was daily providing for them in the wilderness, and somehow they had become bored with the miracle.
That is the danger of familiarity.
The manna was pointing to Jesus, the Bread of Life. Israel received bread that sustained their bodies daily, but Christ sustains us eternally. And just as they began to take the manna for granted, we can begin to take Jesus for granted.
Think about what God has done for us. The most powerful Being who exists loves you. He moved heaven and earth to save you. Christ became flesh, died for you, became your sin and the curse, rose again, delivered you from the power of darkness, cleansed you, gave you a new heart, joined His Spirit to you, and gave you eternal life.
And somehow we can still say, in effect, I’m bored.
I need a revival. I need another word. I need another revelation. I need somebody more anointed. I need something to make me feel spiritually alive again.
Meanwhile, Jesus is still the Bread of Life, daily providing for us.
Mixing Faith with the Word
Sometimes we do not need something new. We need to become amazed again by what we already have.
Hebrews 3 looks back at Israel’s wilderness experience and says that they hardened their hearts and could not enter in because of unbelief. Hebrews 4:2 explains why:
“The word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.”
God had spoken to them. He told them He would bring them into the land, drive out their enemies, establish them there, and make them a blessing.
They had the word.
They simply did not mix it with faith.
Instead, they mixed their circumstances with complaining.
The longer they rehearsed what was wrong, the more what was wrong became all they could see. Complaint does not merely describe your experience. Over time, it trains your attention.
What you repeatedly focus on trains what you notice.
If you continually rehearse lack, frustration, disappointment, offense, and everything other people are doing wrong, you can eventually be surrounded by God’s provision while believing He is not providing.
Israel was eating supernatural bread while saying, “There is no bread.” That is how distorted complaint can make our perspective.
We have to stop interpreting God’s will through the lack in our lives. God’s character must interpret our circumstances. Our circumstances do not get to redefine God’s character. He is good. He is a good Father. His heart toward us has been revealed in Christ, and the cross has already settled that question.
When fiery serpents came among Israel, God told Moses to lift up a bronze serpent. Anyone who looked at it lived.
Jesus later said in John 3:14–15:
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
The serpent was a shadow. Jesus is the fulfillment. They looked and lived.
We look to Christ and receive life.
And in John 12:31–33, Jesus again spoke of being lifted up in the context of judgment and His coming death. The cross is where sin, judgment, the curse, and death came upon Christ.
So when circumstances get loud, look at Jesus. When disappointment starts hardening your heart, look at Jesus. When you feel like God has forgotten you, look again.
Stay with the finished work of Christ long enough for it to stir you again.
Hebrews 4 says that “we which have believed do enter into rest,” and that “there remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.”
This changes the posture of the Christian life.
Many of us came from versions of Christianity that kept us feeling like something was always missing. We needed the next revival, the next conference, the next anointed teacher, the next revelation, the next breakthrough, or another level of holiness.
Our pursuit of God was often driven by lack.
But Christ satisfies.
That does not mean we stop pursuing Him. It means we pursue Him from a different place. We are not pursuing Him to become complete. We pursue Him because we are complete in Him. We are not worshiping to get Him to come near. We worship because He has already joined Himself to us.
We are not looking for the missing ingredient that will finally make Christianity work. We are learning to live from what Christ has already finished.
There can still be hunger, but it is not the hunger of emptiness. It is the hunger of gratitude.
You can be satisfied and still want to know Him more. You can be full and still have an appetite.
And sometimes what we call spiritual hunger may not mean we need God to put something else into us. Sometimes it means it is time to pour out what He has already placed within us.
Love somebody. Encourage somebody. Pray for somebody. Serve. Give. Teach. Share Christ. Use your gifts.
Maybe you are not empty. Maybe you are full.
Jesus is not merely the beginning of Christianity before we move on to something deeper.
He is the depth.
He is the Bread of Life, daily sustaining us. He is our righteousness, our peace, our life, and our union with God.
So keep pursuing Him. Keep growing. Keep believing. Keep mixing faith with what He has spoken.
But do it from rest.
Do it from fullness.
Do it from gratitude rather than complaint.
Don’t get bored with the Bread of Life. Look again at Jesus, remember how good He is, and let Christ satisfy your soul.
What area of life do you find yourself complaining about where Jesus has already provided a promise for you to stand on? And how will you renew your mind to not become bored with his daily life?
Are You Ready?
What if the biggest thing standing between you and God's purpose isn't a lack of faith, but a life filled with distractions? Discover how renewing your mind with God's wisdom prepares you to recognize the divine opportunities He places in front of you every day—and to respond with confidence instead of hesitation.
What if the biggest thing standing between you and God's purpose isn't a lack of faith, but a life filled with distractions?
God has divine appointments for you.
There are people you will meet, conversations you will have, and moments when something rises in your heart and you realize, I need to say something. I need to encourage this person. I need to pray for them. I need to help.
The question is: Will you be ready when the moment comes?
Being ready isn't necessarily about becoming better at hearing God speak in perfectly formed sentences. I don't spend my life trying to get God to give me a detailed set of instructions for every decision I make. I would rather live in a place of inward peace—full of faith, hope, expectation, and love—and trust that as I walk with Him, He is leading me.
When you're inwardly free from distraction, you can become sensitive to what God is doing around you.
You might feel prompted to go somewhere, call someone, encourage your spouse, speak to a server, pray for someone, give something away, or simply say the thing that's already in your heart.
Those moments may seem small, but you don't know what God can do through one moment of obedience.
What's Distracting You?
Hebrews 12 tells us:
“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith...”
—Hebrews 12:1–2 KJV
Notice that Scripture distinguishes between weights and sin.
Not everything distracting you is necessarily sinful. Some things are simply weighing you down.
It might be your finances. Your health. Something happening at home. A relationship. An unresolved emotional issue. Fear. Shame. Exhaustion. Or it may be a sin that continues to entangle you.
Whatever it is, ask yourself:
What is taking me out of the game?
What is consuming so much of my emotional energy that I'm not present anymore? What keeps me so preoccupied with myself that I don't notice the person God has put right in front of me?
Identify it.
Then ask the harder question:
What am I going to do about it?
Don't Just Hear the Truth—Make a Plan
I don't want us to simply hear good sermons. I don't want us to know a lot of truth and never actually change.
If something continually keeps you stuck, develop a plan.
If you need counseling, get counseling. If your finances are constantly creating chaos, learn how to manage your finances. If you're trapped in destructive patterns of thinking, renew your mind. If you're struggling with a particular sin, get Scripture specifically related to that area and begin seeing yourself through the finished work of Christ.
Talk to somebody you trust. Pray with somebody. Read something. Get help.
Do something. Take a step.
You may have tried 97 times already. Try again—but this time don't approach the problem from condemnation. Approach it from your identity in Christ.
You aren't trying to change so God will accept you.
You are changing because He already has.
You Are God's Workmanship
Ephesians 2:8–10 says:
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
—Ephesians 2:8–10 KJV
You are God's workmanship.
Your righteousness isn't the product of your perfect behavior. God did something in you through Christ. You have been recreated in Him.
But notice what follows salvation by grace: good works.
We aren't saved by good works. We are recreated for good works.
Grace shouldn't make us passive. Knowing that we are completely free from condemnation should make us some of the most productive, courageous, loving people on the planet.
God has made doing good our way of life.
You Don't Have to Be Paralyzed by Every Decision
Sometimes Christians become so concerned about finding God's exact will that they become afraid to do anything.
Is this God's will?
Am I hearing Him correctly?
What if I make the wrong decision?
There are certainly moments when God leads us toward something very specific. But you don't have to live terrified that one wrong turn will take you outside His ability to lead you.
God is incredibly creative.
You may do something differently than I would do it. Someone else may approach the same opportunity another way. Yet God can work through all of us.
You get to be you.
The bigger question is: What condition is your heart in while you're making the decision?
Are you walking in peace?
Are you full of hope?
Are you expecting God's goodness?
Are you motivated by love?
Do you have a clear conscience before Him?
If so, make a decision and move forward.
A Clear Conscience Is Invaluable
Peter writes:
“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
Having a good conscience...”
—1 Peter 3:15–16 KJV
There it is again:
Be ready.
A clear conscience before God is invaluable because shame makes us pull away from Him.
Sin does not undo what Christ accomplished or suddenly detach a believer from Christ, but sin can affect our confidence. Shame can make us withdraw emotionally. We hide internally just like Adam hid among the trees.
That's one reason we don't want sin dominating our lives.
Not because we're desperately trying to keep God happy with us.
Christ already dealt with condemnation at the cross.
We want freedom because we have a God to represent.
We want enough inward peace that when God gives us an opportunity to love somebody, encourage somebody, forgive somebody, pray for somebody, or share the gospel, we're available.
Look at Jesus
So how do we change?
Hebrews gives us the answer:
“Looking unto Jesus.”
And then:
“Consider him...”
Again and again, transformation comes back to seeing Him.
The areas where we're still struggling are often the areas where we don't yet see God clearly. As we see Him rightly, we are transformed into His image.
That's why the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus are so central.
Look at the cross and see what God thinks about you.
Look at Jesus and see God's character.
See His mercy.
See His righteousness.
See His forgiveness.
See His love.
See what He has made you through His finished work.
Then begin seeing yourself accordingly.
You don't overcome sin by obsessing over sin. You overcome by renewing your mind, putting on the new man, and learning to see yourself through what Christ has accomplished.
Grace teaches us to live godly lives.
The World Needs to See What God Is Like
There is a world around us that does not know how good God is.
Many people have been taught that every tragedy, disease, injustice, and loss somehow represents God's mysterious plan for their lives.
Then Jesus comes along and shows us what God is actually like.
He goes about doing good.
He forgives.
He heals.
He shows mercy.
He restores.
He delivers people from bondage.
He sets people free from condemnation.
And ultimately, He gives Himself for us.
Now we're His representatives.
Sometimes one of the most powerful things you can possibly do is simply become an agent of forgiveness. Someone hurts you, and instead of returning their offense, you become part of their healing.
That's Jesus.
Imagine a world filled with believers who were inwardly free enough to live that way.
Not perfect people.
Not people pretending they don't have problems.
People who know where to take their problems.
People who know who they are in Christ.
People with clear consciences, peaceful hearts, renewed minds, and enough confidence in God's love that they aren't constantly consumed with themselves.
Those people are ready.
So, Are You Ready?
What distraction do you need to minimize?
What sin continues to entangle you?
What unresolved issue keeps consuming your attention?
Identify it.
And then make a plan.
Get some Scriptures. Put them in the first person. Renew your mind. Talk to somebody. Get counseling if you need it. Ask for prayer. Make changes. Take responsibility for the things you actually can change.
But don't do any of it believing God is standing over you waiting to reject you.
He's with you.
He's for you.
He's going to encourage you, strengthen you, correct you, teach you, and walk with you.
You have the rest of your life in front of you.
Don't let it be consumed entirely by your job, your problems, your bills, your mistakes, or your distractions.
You have a God to represent.
There are people who need to know what He is actually like. There are divine appointments waiting in ordinary moments. There are people who need the hope, forgiveness, peace, and love that Christ has placed within you.
Eliminate the distractions.
Renew your mind.
Fix your eyes on Jesus.
And when the opportunity comes—
be ready.
I can also make a shorter, sharper web version of this—around 800–1,000 words—with an article highlights section at the top, similar to the format we've used for your other sermon blogs.
the snakes of life come for you when you complain
When you live focused on what’s wrong—complaining, rehearsing what you lack, and overlooking the grace already in your life—the snakes of life will eventually come for you as you begin to reap the fruit of that perspective. But just as Israel looked at the bronze serpent and lived (Numbers 21:8–9), Jesus tells us to look to Him and believe (John 3:14–17), allowing the cross to turn our eyes from what’s wrong to the One who has already provided our salvation, healing, and transformation.
There is a strange story in Numbers 21 that Jesus chose as one of the clearest pictures of salvation when he gave one of His most profound statements. When Jesus revealed to Nicodemus that we must be born again in John 3, He used the story of the brass serpent to create the image of Himself being lifted up to become the curse of the Law and experience judgment for all of humanity.
Israel had lived for nearly forty years under supernatural provision. God fed them with manna every day. He gave them water in the wilderness. Their clothes did not wear out. A cloud led them by day and a pillar of fire by night. God had delivered them from slavery and sustained them through an environment where they should not have been able to survive.
And eventually, they got bored with it.
Numbers 21:4 says, “the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.” Then something important happened:
“And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.”
—Numbers 21:5
Notice how distorted their perspective had become.
They said there was no food while they were eating food God miraculously provided every day. They complained about having no water after God had repeatedly sustained them with water in the wilderness. They looked at supernatural provision and called it worthless.
They stopped seeing what God had done and became consumed with what they thought was missing.
Then the snakes came.
“And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.”
—Numbers 21:6
We are not under that covenant today. God is not sending sickness, financial trouble, marriage problems, flat tires, difficult children, or other forms of suffering to punish Christians for complaining. Jesus already bore our judgment at the cross. It would be illegal if God judged you for your sin, since Jesus was already judged and punished for them.
But there is still a principle here we shouldn't miss:
When complaining becomes your perspective, the snakes of life will eventually come for you.
Galatians tells us that God is not mocked: whatever a person sows, that is what he will reap. We still live in a world of seed and harvest.
A consistently negative perspective produces something.
Complaining changes how you see your spouse. It changes how you interpret your circumstances. It changes what you notice about your job, your church, your children, your future, and eventually even God.
Fear does the same thing.
Some people excuse negativity because they're afraid. But whether it comes from fear, disappointment, bitterness, or frustration, if you continually train yourself to look for what's wrong, you will become incredibly good at finding it.
Eventually, what is happening inside of you begins producing something outside of you.
The snakes of life come in different forms.
Maybe the snake is bitterness. Maybe it's a marriage slowly deteriorating because every disagreement becomes an opportunity to blame the other person. Maybe it's insecurity that causes you to manipulate people. Maybe it's fear that keeps producing bad decisions.
Maybe it's resentment, lust, anger, isolation, cynicism, or a constant dissatisfaction that makes it impossible to enjoy what God has already put in your life. Sometimes we're asking God to remove a snake that our own attitudes and decisions keep feeding.
That's why gratitude is so powerful.
Gratitude trains your eyes to recognize grace. Complaining trains your eyes to recognize lack.
Israel had manna on the ground, water available, freedom from Egypt, and the presence of God in their midst—and still concluded that they had nothing.
That's what complaining can do to the soul.
Look and Live
When Israel finally recognized what was happening, they came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee.” They asked Moses to pray that the serpents would be taken away (Numbers 21:7).
God's answer is fascinating.
“And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.”
—Numbers 21:8
Moses made the bronze serpent, lifted it up, and Numbers 21:9 says that when someone who had been bitten “beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.”
They looked and lived.
God did not tell the bitten person to prove that he had changed. He didn't require him to keep the Law perfectly for seven days before healing him. He didn't tell him to make up for every complaint he had made.
He gave him something to look at.
Thousands of years later, Jesus is having a conversation with Nicodemus, a teacher of Israel who understood Torah, Law, sacrifice, priesthood, and righteousness.
And Jesus takes Nicodemus directly back to this story:
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
—John 3:14–15
Then Jesus makes the statement that has become the most famous verse in Scripture:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
—John 3:16
And He continues:
“For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”
—John 3:17
Jesus preached faith righteousness.
Look and live.
Believe and receive.
What Are You Looking At?
Later Jesus returned to the imagery of being lifted up:
“Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.”
—John 12:31–32
The cross becomes the place where we look.
Christ became the curse for us. He bore our sin. He entered into death. He took upon Himself what separated humanity from God and defeated it through His death and resurrection.
So when the snakes of life come for you, the answer isn't to spend the rest of your life staring at the snakes.
Look at Christ.
This is where Christianity has to become more than information.
Hebrews says:
“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword… and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
—Hebrews 4:12
Don't just read the Word. Let the Word read you.
Ask yourself what your reactions are revealing.
Why am I so angry?
Why am I constantly offended?
Why am I afraid?
Why do I need everyone to approve of me?
Why do I keep manipulating situations?
Why do I keep sabotaging relationships?
Why can I walk into a room with a hundred things going right and immediately notice the one thing that's wrong?
Those are snakes worth identifying.
But once you identify them, don't make the snake your meditation.
Look to Jesus.
The areas where you're still struggling are often the areas where you need to see Him more clearly.
If you're insecure, look at the cross until you see your value.
If you're bitter, look at Jesus until you understand how completely you've been forgiven.
If you're afraid, look at Him until His faithfulness becomes more real than what you're afraid of.
If you're hurting people because you're hurting, look at how Christ has loved you until His love begins healing the place inside you that keeps producing destruction.
This isn't merely behavior modification.
It's transformation through beholding.
Don't Call the Manna Worthless
One of the saddest parts of Numbers 21 is that the Israelites were surrounded by miracles and couldn't see them anymore.
The manna had become ordinary.
The provision had become expected.
The presence of God had become familiar.
And familiarity turned into ingratitude.
We can do the same thing with the gospel.
We can become so accustomed to hearing that we're forgiven, righteous in Christ, reconciled to God, filled with His Spirit, and destined for eternal life that we start looking for something more exciting.
Don't call the manna worthless.
Don't let the gospel become boring.
Daily grace is miraculous. Daily communion with God is miraculous. Having the Spirit of God dwelling within you is miraculous. Knowing that your name is written in heaven is miraculous.
Learn to enjoy today's bread.
Learn to recognize God's goodness again.
Learn to be grateful for what is already in your life instead of continually rehearsing what isn't.
Because complaining has a cost.
If you spend your life looking for what's wrong, eventually the snakes of life will come for you.
But when they do, don't stare at the snakes.
Don't stare at your failure.
Don't stare at your circumstances.
Don't stare at everything that's wrong.
Lift your eyes.
Look at the One who became the curse for you.
Look at the One who bore your sin.
Look at the One who loved you enough to enter into death and bring you out of it.
See your value in Him. See your righteousness in Him. See His kindness, patience, purity, faithfulness, strength, and love.
And let what you see in Him change what is happening in you.
Gratitude keeps your eyes on grace. Complaining keeps your eyes on lack.
So when the snakes of life come for you, remember the simplicity of the gospel:
Look to Jesus and live.
Discussion Questions
Where have you seen complaining or consistently focusing on what’s wrong become a “snake of life” that produces consequences in your attitude, decisions, or relationships?
What does it practically look like to “look to Jesus” in an area where you’re currently struggling rather than continually looking at the problem?
Israel became so familiar with God’s daily provision that they called the manna worthless. What has God already provided in your life that you may need to recognize again with fresh gratitude?
Granddaddy's favorite
Attending Pete's funeral reminded me that the Church is at its best when it feels like family, where people are deeply known and genuinely loved. When we love one another the way Christ has loved us, we give the world a reason to say, "I want to be part of that family."
I attended a funeral recently that reminded me what the Church is supposed to look like.
It was the celebration of life for Pete Cavendar. What made the service so memorable wasn't a polished eulogy. Instead, one by one, his grandchildren stood up and shared stories. Some had prepared a few thoughts, others spoke off the cuff, but as I listened something became obvious. Every one of them thought they were Granddaddy's favorite.
As I listened to his family members lovingly remember him, I caught myself thinking. I wish he were my grandaddy too so I could be part of that family. That this is exactly what Jesus intended His Church to be, a family that loves well and compels others to want Jesus because of how we love one another.
Showing the World God’s Love
"Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God... Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us." (1 John 4:7, 11-12)
Think about that. No one has seen God, but people can see His character through His children.
That's what I witnessed at Pete's funeral.
Those grandchildren weren't talking about theology. They weren't explaining doctrine. They were simply describing a man who consistently loved them, and through that love they caught a glimpse of the Father's heart.
Jesus prayed something remarkable in John 17. He asked the Father that His followers would become one, "that the world may believe that You sent Me." We often think miracles are what convince people Jesus is real, and certainly God still heals and works powerfully today. But Jesus Himself pointed to something even greater.
Our love for one another.
The world should be able to look at the Church and say, I want to be part of that family.
Honestly, that's exactly what I found myself thinking during that service. Watching those grandchildren laugh, cry, tell stories, and honor their Granddaddy made me think, This is what people are looking for.
People are hungry for family.
They're looking for a place where they're known, valued, and loved. They want someone who notices them, believes in them, and makes them feel like they matter.
The Church should be that place.
Not because we've built better programs, but because we've learned to love each other the way Christ has loved us.
John continues,
"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear... We love him, because he first loved us." (1 John 4:18-19)
Everything begins there. We don't manufacture love. We receive it. We allow ourselves to be convinced that God truly loves us, and then that love begins to overflow into the lives of others.
Forgiveness
Sometimes the greatest act of love is simply forgiving those who have wounded us. The cross made that possible. Jesus bore our sin so we could release the sins committed against us. As His love matures in our hearts, we're no longer defined by our wounds. We're free to love people—even imperfect people—the way we've been loved.
When that happens, the Church becomes something the world can't ignore.
Imagine a church where every person who walks through the doors leaves feeling like Pete's grandchildren did—that somehow they were seen, known, and deeply loved.
Imagine neighborhoods where believers consistently serve one another without needing recognition.
Imagine businesses run with integrity, families marked by forgiveness, and friendships defined by faithfulness.
That's the witness Jesus envisioned.
My prayer after attending that funeral is simple: may the people around us experience the love of God so clearly through our lives that they don't just believe the gospel is true—they want to become part of the family that lives it.
Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life
The cross is the lens everything else should be filtered through, and your real fight is usually with a destructive thought loop, not an outside force — so when a hard thought hits, name it and replace it with truth (rejection with acceptance, guilt with forgiveness, shame with grace). Isaiah 53 spells out that trade in detail, showing how his suffering directly answers your specific struggles. And don't keep asking "what's wrong with me" — your mind finds whatever evidence you keep hunting for, so choose to see your same circumstances through a hope-filled lens instead.
You Don't Have to Believe Every Thought You Think
Ever notice how a bad thought can snowball? One small "what's wrong with me" turns into a full-blown spiral before lunch. Here's the good news: you're not stuck with those thoughts, and you're not fighting them alone.
That's the heart of a simple but powerful idea: everything you believe about God, and about yourself, has to be filtered through what Jesus did on the cross. Not as a slogan you nod along to, but as the actual lens you run your thoughts through when life gets loud.
The One Thing Everything Else Builds On
Scripture, church history, doctrine — all of it matters. But there's one center of gravity holding it together: the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Every question you're wrestling with, every fear, every "why is this happening" — it's all meant to be understood in light of what happened at the cross. That's not the whole Bible reduced to one idea; it's the foundation everything else is built on.
Your Real Fight Isn't With Demons — It's With a Thought Loop
Here's a shift in perspective worth sitting with: the "spiritual warfare" described in 2 Corinthians 10 isn't primarily about casting out evil spirits. It's about tearing down strongholds — and a stronghold is just a repeating, destructive way of thinking. Things like:
"I always attract this kind of situation."
"I don't deserve this."
"Something's wrong with me."
That loop, left unchecked, is what the passage calls carnal thinking — thinking that leads to death, not because you're a bad person, but because it's disconnected from the truth. The fix isn't gritting your teeth harder. It's taking the thought captive — noticing it, naming it, and refusing to let it run the show.
So what do you replace it with? This is the key move: you bring the thought into line with what Christ was obedient to — his death on the cross. Practically, that looks like:
Condemnation gets answered by righteousness.
Fear gets answered by perfect love.
Shame gets answered by forgiveness.
Rejection gets answered by reconciliation.
Hopelessness gets answered by the hope of eternal life.
You're not pretending the hard feeling isn't there. You're just refusing to let it have the final word.
Isaiah 53: A Snapshot of the Trade
Isaiah wrote this roughly 700 years before Jesus was born, and it maps the cross with eerie precision. Strip away the specific verses and you're left with one simple exchange, repeated over and over:
He was rejected — so you could be accepted.
He carried grief — so your grief could be met, not ignored.
He was wounded — so guilt and condemnation lose their grip on you.
He was silent under false accusation — so you don't have to defend or perform your worth.
He was cut off — so no place you've ever been, emotionally or otherwise, is a place he hasn't already gone to break its power.
None of this erases real pain — grief is still grief, loss is still loss. But it means you're never carrying it solo, and it's never the deepest truth about you.
Don't Talk to Yourself Like Someone Who Isn't Loved Like This
If you wouldn't let a friend talk to you the way you talk to yourself, that's worth noticing. Beating yourself up isn't humility — it's actually a mismatch with what all of this claims is true about you. You're not disqualified. You're not too far gone. You're not the exception. That's a hard thing to actually believe in the middle of a bad week, but it's the whole point.
Watch What Question You're Asking Yourself
There's a subtler trap worth naming: asking "what's wrong?" on repeat. It sounds harmless, even self-aware. But your mind will always find an answer to the question you keep asking it. Ask "what's wrong with me" enough times, and you'll start seeing evidence for it everywhere — in your relationships, your job, your body, your past decisions. It becomes a self-fulfilling filter.
The alternative isn't denial. It's asking a better question: what does the truth say here, not just my circumstances? That's the difference between carnal thinking (only what you can see and figure out on your own) and spiritual thinking (holding onto a promise even when you don't yet see how it works out).
Send Me Everything You've Got
There's an old story about two salesmen sent to an island where nobody wears shoes. One calls home defeated: "Waste of time, nobody needs shoes here." The other calls back thrilled: "Nobody has shoes — send me everything you've got, this is the opportunity of a lifetime."
Same island. Same facts. Completely different outlook — because they were looking at the same thing through a different lens. That's the invitation here: you already carry everything you need on the inside. The question is just which lens you're looking through today.
Takeaways
Everything you believe about God and yourself should be filtered through the cross — it's the foundation, not just one topic among many.
Your real battle is usually with a thought pattern, not an outside force. Name the loop instead of just feeling stuck in it.
"Taking a thought captive" means noticing the destructive thought and deliberately replacing it with truth — condemnation with righteousness, fear with love, shame with forgiveness, rejection with reconciliation, hopelessness with hope.
The exchange at the cross applies personally: rejection, grief, guilt, and isolation were all addressed there.
Don't talk to yourself in a way you wouldn't accept from someone else.
Be careful what question you keep asking yourself — "what's wrong with me" tends to manufacture its own evidence.
Same circumstances, different lens, completely different life. You get to choose which one you're using.
Try This
Next time a hard or self-critical thought shows up, don't just push through it — interrupt it on purpose:
Name it. Say what the thought actually is: "I'm thinking I'm not enough," or "I'm thinking this is my fault."
Ask the real question. Not "what's wrong with me," but "what's actually true here?"
Replace it, out loud if you can. Pick the matching truth — "I'm forgiven," "I'm not carrying this alone," "This isn't the final word" — and say it like you mean it, even before it fully feels true.
That's it. Small, repeatable, and it works exactly because it's simple.
Mystical Placebo vs Mature Faith
A mystical placebo is any ritual, special anointing, or spiritual condition inserted between you and what Christ has already provided — and like a sugar pill in a clinical trial, it can appear to work because your faith and expectation finally had somewhere to land, not because the ritual itself had any power. The trap is that you walk away dependent on the mechanism instead of the source, endlessly chasing the next evangelist, the next formula, or the next loophole to unlock what Jesus already paid for in full. Mature faith cuts through all of it — rooted in the finished work of Christ, it simply recognizes that healing, freedom, and abundant life aren't rewards you earn through the right spiritual steps, but a reality you receive by becoming fully persuaded that he who promised is faithful.
What Is a Placebo and What Makes One "Mystical"?
A placebo is something that has no actual medicinal power, but because you believe it does, it works anyway.
Here's the classic example: In a clinical drug trial, researchers give half the participants the actual medication and the other half a simple sugar pill, a fake. The sugar pill has zero pharmacological effect. And yet, time and again, some of the people who took the sugar pill experience the same results as those who took the real drug. Not because the pill did anything. Because they believed it would.
This is medically verified. It's documented. It's real.
Now, God wired us this way. Your beliefs have genuine power over your physical and emotional reality. What you keep saying shapes what you keep expecting. What you keep expecting shapes what you experience. That's not mysticism. That's how we're made.
But here's where it gets dangerous in the church.
A mystical placebo is when a spiritual condition, ritual, or authority figure gets inserted between you and what Christ has already provided, and people get results not because the ritual worked, but because their faith and expectation finally had somewhere to land.
The "miracle" was real. But the mechanism was misidentified.
The Lineup of Mystical Placebos
They show up in more forms than you might think.
Special anointings. The idea that certain teachers or evangelists carry a supernatural power that you don't have, and if you can just get under their ministry, receive their impartation, or align yourself under the right covering, then you'll get what God has for you. This is textbook Gnosticism — the ancient heresy that plagued the early church and that Paul and John wrote letters to combat. The word "Gnosticism" comes from the Greek gnosis, meaning knowledge. The pursuit of the missing piece. The special information that will finally make you complete.
Healing pools and blessed objects. Think of the Pool of Siloam, where the legend held that an angel would stir the waters and the first person in would be healed. People were healed there. But were they healed because of the water, or because the water gave their faith somewhere to focus? There's a difference. And confusing the two is how people end up writing $770 checks on the seventh day of the seventh month at 7 PM because someone told them God attached a tenfold blessing to that specific combination.
"You can't be healed until you forgive." This one is especially pervasive in inner healing circles. The idea is that an unresolved soul tie, a generational curse, or unforgiveness gives the enemy a "legal right" to block your healing. On and on the list goes: your grandfather was a mason, you said a bad word after stubbing your toe, you've slept with too many people. There's no end to the mystical legal loophole. You can spend your whole life trying to diagnose the spiritual technicality that's standing between you and your breakthrough.
And exhausting doesn't begin to cover it.
Why It "Works"
Here's what makes mystical placebos so hard to call out: people actually get healed through them.
The evangelist prays, the crowd erupts, someone's pain disappears. The baptism pool fills up, someone goes under, they come out changed. The oil-soaked Bible gets pressed to a forehead, and something happens.
So how do you argue with results?
Very carefully, because the results are real, but the explanation may be wrong.
When someone creates an environment of expectation — if I can just get to that service, if I can just get in that water, if I can just get that man of God to pray for me — they have, whether they know it or not, done something powerful. They have persuaded their own heart. They have built up hope to the point of confident expectation. And when a heart is fully open, the healing that Christ already paid for can finally find a place to land.
The miracle came from Christ. But the person was told it came from the ritual. And now they're dependent on the ritual, and on the person or process that provides it.
That's the trap.
The Woman with the Issue of Blood
Mark 5 gives us the clearest picture of how this actually works.
A woman had been bleeding for twelve years. She'd spent everything she had on doctors. She was ceremonially unclean, which meant she wasn't legally allowed in public, let alone touching a man. Approaching Jesus in that crowd could have gotten her arrested. Could have gotten her stoned.
And yet she came.
"When she heard about Jesus, she came up through the crowd behind him and touched his cloak. For she kept saying, 'If only I touch his garments, I will be healed.'"
Notice what she kept saying. She was programming her heart. She was building expectation, layer by layer, through repetition of a belief she was still in the process of owning.
And then: "Immediately her bleeding stopped, and she sensed in her body that she was healed of her affliction."
She took it. Jesus didn't see her coming and decide to heal her. He didn't even know who touched him. "At once Jesus was aware that power had gone out from him. Turning to the crowd, he asked, 'Who touched my garments?'"
Power went out from him because she drew from him. He is the source, not his garment — not a placebo, not a symbol, but the actual thing. And she accessed it through faith before he ever made a conscious decision in her direction.
His response when he finally found her?
"Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be free from your affliction."
Not: "Good thing you touched me." Not: "Your ritual worked." Not: "You finally found the right loophole."
Your faith has healed you.
Now, she did put a stipulation on it. If only I touch him. What if she had believed from her sick bed, without ever reaching the crowd? Would healing have been just as available? Almost certainly. She may have received through a slightly more elaborate path than necessary, but she got there. The mechanism that actually mattered was the persuasion of her heart.
Faith Is Not What You Do to Get God to Move
This is the hinge point that changes everything.
Faith is not an action you perform to trigger a divine response. It's not the lever you pull. It's not the checklist you complete. It's not even the feeling you have to manufacture.
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." — Hebrews 11:1
Faith is the foundation. It's the bedrock that opens your heart to receive what is already present and available. Think of it like a building: faith pours the foundation — Christ, the solid rock. Then hope — confident expectation, not wishful thinking — begins to build on that foundation.
Hope is not "I really wish this would happen." Hope is: He died for this. He overcame sin. He destroyed death. He took my diseases on that cross. I don't care what my body is saying right now. He is a healer. That is settled.
Nobody can argue you out of that. No bad test result shakes it. No symptom distracts it. It is resolute.
Why do you have the right to that kind of confidence? Because he is the source. The question is never whether he's able or willing. The question is always how clearly you see him.
Sarah and the Tipping Point
Consider Abraham and Sarah. God spoke the promise: through you will come a blessing that blesses all nations, you will have a child, and then nothing happened for twenty-five years.
The promise was real. The promise was present. It was, in a sense, hanging in the air, charged and available, trying to find a place to land in her heart. But until Sarah judged him faithful — until she fully believed that the one who promised was actually capable of delivering — she couldn't receive it.
"He who promised is faithful." — Hebrews 10:23
That was the tipping point. Not a ritual. Not a confession formula. Not a special impartation. She finally saw him clearly. And the moment she did, what he had spoken from the beginning simply became her reality.
God didn't withhold the promise until she believed. She couldn't receive it until she did.
So What Do We Actually Do?
Keep saying the truth, not to make it happen, but until you actually believe it.
Confession isn't a magic formula to trigger God's action. It's the discipline of repeatedly presenting truth to your own heart until your heart finally accepts it. By his stripes, you were healed. He is your provider. He is faithful. Not "will be" — is. You're not trying to move him. You're trying to get yourself to believe that he's already moved.
Repentance, in its deepest sense, isn't just apologizing — it's seeing him clearly. And when you see him clearly, something happens that you can't fully explain or manufacture: you become like what you behold. When you see him as merciful, you become merciful. When you know you're forgiven, you can forgive. When you see him as a healer who wants you well, your heart opens and lets the healing through that was always there.
You are not a project God is stalling on. You are not a loophole he's waiting to close. You are not incomplete, unchurched enough, or under the wrong covering.
You are complete in him. The anointing abides. His Spirit is in you. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in your physical body right now.
Stop chasing. Start receiving.
"Let us hold resolutely to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful." — Hebrews 10:23
What Does it Mean to Bring Your Thoughts Captive to Christ’s Obedience?
Through the death, burial, resurrection, and Pentecost, God made it possible not only to forgive us but to remove our old sinful nature, give us a new heart, place His Spirit within us, and make us new creations in Christ. Because God's Spirit now lives in us, we are no longer victims of our thoughts but have the ability to bring every thought captive and evaluate it in light of what Jesus accomplished through His obedience on the cross. Lasting transformation happens when we consistently replace thoughts that contradict the Gospel with the truth of who God is, what Christ has done, and who we now are in Him.
Capturing Thoughts and Living in Freedom
Pentecost was more than a dramatic moment in the book of Acts. It marked a permanent change in how God relates to humanity. Before Christ's death and resurrection, the Spirit of God would come upon prophets, priests, and kings for specific purposes. Under the New Covenant, God fulfilled His promise to put His Spirit within His people (Ezekiel 36:25-27; Jeremiah 31:33; Acts 2:1-4).
Jesus instructed His disciples to wait for "the Promise of the Father" (Acts 1:4-5). That promise was not merely power—it was presence. The Spirit of God would no longer simply rest upon His people. He would dwell within them.
"Pentecost marked the day when God changed locations and moved into His believers."
This truth changes everything about how we view ourselves. We are not trying to get God to come near. Through Christ, He has already made His home within us. Paul asks the question in 1 Corinthians 6:19, "Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you?" The presence that once filled the tabernacle and the temple now lives within every believer.
The Christian life begins with understanding that God is not distant. He is present. He is near. He is in you.
What God Did in You
When you believed the Gospel, God did more than forgive your sins. He performed a supernatural work in your spirit. Colossians 2:11-13 describes this as a spiritual circumcision, a removal of the old sinful nature. Ezekiel prophesied that God would remove the heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26).
The old nature that was dead in sin was removed. Through the blood of Christ, you were washed, cleansed, sanctified, and made alive in Him (Hebrews 10:10, 14; Titus 3:5; Ephesians 2:4-6).
"You are not a sinner trying to become righteous. Through faith in Christ, you have been made righteous and are learning to live from that reality."
God did not merely improve the old you. He created something entirely new.
2 Corinthians 5:17 declares:
"If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."
The Gospel is not behavior modification. It is spiritual transformation.
The Battle Is Not Your Thoughts—It's Your Agreement
Every person experiences unwanted thoughts. Fearful thoughts. Tempting thoughts. Condemning thoughts. The presence of a thought does not define you. What defines you is whether you choose to agree with it.
Scripture teaches that believers have the ability to bring thoughts into captivity (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). This means we are not helpless victims of our thinking. Through the Spirit of God, we can evaluate every thought and determine whether it belongs in our lives.
"You cannot stop every thought from arriving, but you can stop it from taking root."
A stronghold is not merely a demonic attack. A stronghold is a belief that has become established in the heart and exalts itself against the knowledge of God. The enemy may reinforce that lie, but the lie itself is what must be torn down.
This is why mind renewal is so important. Transformation begins when truth becomes more believable than the lie.
Bringing Every Thought to the Cross
Paul tells us to bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). Many believers read that verse and assume it means making their thoughts obey Jesus. While that is partly true, there is something deeper taking place.
Romans 5:19 says:
"By one Man's obedience many will be made righteous."
The obedience of Christ refers to His obedience unto death, even the death of the cross (Philippians 2:8).
Every thought should be evaluated in light of what Jesus accomplished through His obedience.
When fear says, "God has abandoned me," we bring that thought to the cross. Jesus suffered to reconcile us to the Father (Romans 5:10). Therefore, that thought is a lie.
When shame says, "I am unworthy," we bring that thought to the cross. Jesus became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). Therefore, that thought is a lie.
When temptation says, "This is who I am," we bring that thought to the cross. Christ crucified the old man and raised us into newness of life (Romans 6:4-6). Therefore, that thought is a lie.
"Take every thought through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus until it agrees with what He accomplished."
That is how strongholds lose their power.
Your Heart Determines Your Reality
Scripture consistently teaches that the heart is the center of belief.
"As a man thinks in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7).
"Guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life" (Proverbs 4:23).
The beliefs that take root in your heart shape how you see yourself, how you interpret circumstances, and how you respond to temptation, fear, and adversity.
If your heart is convinced that God loves you, you will respond differently to life's challenges.
If your heart is convinced that you are accepted in Christ, condemnation loses its influence.
If your heart is convinced that you are a new creation, sin loses much of its appeal.
"The battle is not merely about behavior. The battle is about what feels true in your heart."
This is why meditation on God's Word is so powerful. It moves truth from information into conviction.
Think on These Things
Paul gives believers a practical filter for every thought:
"Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report... meditate on these things" (Philippians 4:8).
Every thought that enters your mind can be examined through these questions:
Is this true?
Does this agree with what Jesus accomplished?
Does this align with who God says I am?
Does this produce faith, hope, and love?
Does this magnify Christ or diminish Him?
"If a thought does not agree with the finished work of Jesus, it does not deserve permanent residence in your mind."
The goal is not positive thinking. The goal is agreement with truth.
As God's truth becomes established in your heart, peace begins to replace anxiety, confidence begins to replace fear, and freedom begins to replace bondage.
This is the pathway of transformation.
This is what it means to bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.
Alien Disclosure, UFO Files, and the Church
A deep dive into declassified FBI “Flying Disc” files reveals a strange mix of military reports, civilian sightings, alleged crash recoveries, and growing public fear during the late 1940s. The documents show that while many reports were likely explainable, the FBI and military still took the phenomenon seriously enough to investigate, catalog, and quietly coordinate responses across the country.
Why Christians Need Clarity in a World Full of Confusion
For most of modern history, UFOs were treated like a joke.
The subject lived somewhere between conspiracy theories, science fiction, tabloid magazines, and late-night radio. People who talked openly about aliens or unidentified flying objects were usually dismissed as paranoid, unstable, or gullible.
But something has changed.
Over the last several years, the United States government has openly admitted that unidentified aerial phenomena are real. Military pilots have testified publicly. Radar footage has been released. Congressional hearings have been conducted. Intelligence officials have acknowledged that there are objects operating in our skies that appear to move beyond known human technology and conventional physics.
And now entire government archives dedicated to UFO investigations are publicly accessible through official websites like War.gov.
That alone is historic.
But once you begin reading the actual files, you realize this story did not begin recently.
The government has been quietly documenting these encounters for generations.
The FBI Files Are Stranger Than Most People Realize
The newly available FBI records reveal that by 1947, federal agencies were already overwhelmed with reports of “flying discs.”
In one memo from Portland, Oregon dated October 9, 1947, witnesses described silver circular objects moving silently at tremendous speed across the sky. One observer estimated the craft traveled nearly 500 miles per hour and reflected sunlight with an unusual glow. Police officers and civilians alike submitted statements saying the objects maneuvered unlike conventional aircraft.
Another report from Anchorage, Alaska described a metallic object seen hovering in broad daylight over Bethel. Witnesses claimed it had no visible wings, made no sound, and accelerated rapidly before vanishing. The observer specifically stated it did not resemble any conventional aircraft.
In another declassified letter, a citizen directly asked the FBI whether “people living underground” could be connected to the flying saucer phenomenon.
That sounds bizarre now, but what’s fascinating is how quickly people associated the phenomenon with spiritual, underground, or non-human intelligence.
The files are filled with this tension:
government skepticism
unexplained observations
public fear
military concern
and ongoing uncertainty
Some sightings were dismissed.
Others clearly were not.
Even the FBI Didn’t Know What They Were Looking At
One of the most revealing patterns in the files is that the FBI repeatedly tried to distance itself publicly from UFO investigations while privately continuing to document them.
J. Edgar Hoover’s office often responded to citizens by saying UFO investigations were outside FBI jurisdiction and belonged to military intelligence.
Yet at the same time, FBI agents continued collecting witness statements, filing reports, forwarding intelligence to the Air Force, and documenting unusual incidents across the country.
In February 1948, the Air Defense Command issued a confidential directive ordering military personnel to immediately report all “flying disc” incidents because the phenomena were considered important enough to potentially affect national security.
That’s important.
This wasn’t merely treated as entertainment or public hysteria.
Military intelligence considered the phenomenon serious enough to formally track.
And when you read the actual witness descriptions, many sound remarkably similar to modern UAP reports:
metallic craft
silent movement
sudden acceleration
glowing objects
no visible propulsion
impossible maneuverability
Even more fascinating, a modern FBI interview from 2023 describes contractors witnessing a metallic gray object emitting intense white light while moving silently across the sky before suddenly disappearing. Witnesses stated it had no visible wings or exhaust and behaved unlike any drone or aircraft they had previously seen.
The language changed from “flying discs” to “UFOs” to “UAPs.”
But the descriptions themselves barely changed at all.
The Church Cannot Respond With Fear or Speculation
Now here’s where this becomes spiritually important.
As Christians, we cannot afford to respond to all of this with panic, obsession, or endless speculation.
Because honestly, a lot of believers are already drifting into unhealthy extremes.
Some people become consumed with conspiracy theories. Others attach every current event to end-times predictions. Others become fascinated with “hidden knowledge,” secret government meetings, underground bases, or prophetic timelines.
And while some of those conversations can be interesting, they can also become major distractions.
Jesus never called the church to become professional mystery hunters.
He called us to reveal Him.
That’s what matters most right now.
Because the world is becoming spiritually confused.
And if disclosure continues — which I personally think it will — people are going to start searching for answers beyond science. They’re going to ask spiritual questions:
Who are we?
What is consciousness?
Are there other beings?
Is humanity alone?
Is religion wrong?
Was Jesus just an advanced being?
That last one is where this gets very serious.
The Real Battle Is About the Identity of Jesus
One of the most dangerous narratives already spreading online is the idea that Jesus was not the eternal Son of God, but some kind of extraterrestrial teacher or advanced cosmic being.
And this is not fringe anymore.
Entire New Age systems are already teaching:
Jesus was an alien
Christ consciousness came from advanced civilizations
humanity is evolving spiritually through alien contact
salvation is enlightenment rather than redemption
Some narratives even claim ancient secret societies like the Knights Templar or Freemasons protected the “bloodline” of Jesus because He was supposedly connected to non-human intelligence.
That storyline is already forming.
And if governments eventually reveal physical evidence of non-human intelligence, millions of people will reinterpret Christianity through that lens.
The attack will ultimately target the divinity of Christ.
Because if Jesus can be reduced to merely:
an advanced being
a star seed
an enlightened alien
or a cosmic teacher
then He is no longer the eternal Word made flesh.
But Scripture is crystal clear.
John 1 says Jesus is the eternal Logos of God.
Colossians says all things were created by Him and for Him.
He is not part of creation.
He is Lord over creation.
Genesis 6, the Nephilim, and the Spiritual Layer
This is why many Christians eventually end up studying Genesis 6 and the Nephilim when discussing UFO phenomena.
Genesis 6 describes the “sons of God” taking human women and producing offspring known as the Nephilim.
Ancient Jewish writings like the Book of Enoch expand on this narrative and describe fallen spiritual beings corrupting humanity, teaching forbidden knowledge, and producing giant hybrid offspring.
The Bible itself repeatedly references giants:
Goliath
Og king of Bashan
the Anakim
the giant clans in Canaan
And nearly every ancient civilization preserves myths about heavenly beings producing demigods or giant rulers:
Greek mythology
Egyptian mythology
Babylonian legends
the Epic of Gilgamesh
Many Christians believe the disembodied spirits of these Nephilim became what we now call demons.
Whether every detail of that theory is correct or not, Scripture absolutely teaches:
there was a supernatural rebellion
there are fallen spiritual beings
and there is real spiritual deception operating in the earth
Which means the church needs discernment, not fear.
The Goal Is Not Hidden Knowledge — It’s Christ
Personally, I do think the government knows far more than it has publicly admitted.
I think the declassified files prove that.
I think there are genuine unexplained phenomena happening.
I think some people inside intelligence communities are deeply concerned about what all of this means.
But none of that changes the central mission of the church.
Our assignment is not to endlessly decode mysteries.
Our assignment is to proclaim Jesus clearly.
Because ultimately, people are not saved by knowing conspiracy theories.
They are saved by hearing the gospel.
The Holy Spirit convicts hearts. The Holy Spirit reveals truth. We preach Christ. We plant seeds. And the Spirit works through that message to draw people into salvation.
The Kingdom of God Is Still Advancing
No matter what comes next — disclosure, deception, technological breakthroughs, spiritual confusion, or even genuine supernatural manifestations — one thing remains unchanged:
Jesus Christ reigns.
Isaiah says the government rests upon His shoulders.
1 Corinthians 15 says He is reigning until every enemy is placed beneath His feet, the final enemy being death itself.
That is the narrative believers must stay anchored in.
Not fear.
Not sensationalism.
Not endless speculation.
The kingdom of God is advancing.
And honestly, if the world begins asking deeper spiritual questions because of UFO disclosure, this may become one of the greatest opportunities the church has ever had to clearly reveal who Jesus truly is.
Because when people realize the universe is stranger than they thought, many become far more open to hearing about the One who created it all.
Related Series
Take Care of Yourself Mom
A healthy mother creates a healthy atmosphere. In this heartfelt Mother’s Day message, Pastor Clint Byars shares personal stories, biblical encouragement, and practical wisdom on emotional health, identity in Christ, parenting from peace instead of fear, and why your children need you grounded, stable, and thriving in your relationship with God.
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“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”
Why Your Children Need You Healthy, Grounded, and Anchored in Christ
Mother’s Day messages can be difficult for me because I never want to simply give people sentimental encouragement and move on. My heart as a pastor is always to help people grow, heal, and become more grounded in Christ. I want believers thriving in their relationship with the Lord and displaying the fruit and character of God in ways that impact their homes, their children, and the people around them.
This year, the phrase that stayed in my heart was simple: “Take care of yourself, mom.”
At first glance, that almost sounds selfish. Mothers spend so much of their lives sacrificing for their children that even saying something like that out loud can feel uncomfortable. But one of the greatest things you can do for your children is become the healthiest version of yourself spiritually, emotionally, and physically.
As parents, we constantly put our kids first. We want them happy. We want them healthy. We want them protected from pain and suffering. Every parent understands that feeling. But what many mothers forget is that their children want those same things for them too. They may not communicate it well, especially as teenagers, but they care deeply about their parents.
I joked during the message that having a teenager can feel “like having a relationship with somebody that you’re not that into.” You knock on their door and say, “Hey, some of us are having dinner down here if you want to come,” and they just kind of snarl at you. But underneath all of that awkwardness and emotional immaturity, children care about their parents more than they often know how to express.
Your children want you healthy. They want you happy. They need you stable.
One of the greatest mistakes parents make is slowly losing themselves in the process of raising children. Somewhere along the way, identity becomes entirely wrapped up in motherhood or fatherhood, and eventually there is no longer any investment in personal emotional health, spiritual growth, healing, purpose, or calling. But your purpose is not your children. Your purpose is Christ. Your children fit into that purpose, but they were never meant to become the source of your peace, identity, or emotional stability.
That’s why I challenged the mothers in the room to say, “I’ll put myself first.” Honestly, it was hard for many people to even say it out loud because mothers are often taught that the Christian life means total neglect of self. But taking care of yourself is not selfish when it allows you to show up healthier for the people you love.
If you are emotionally exhausted, fearful, anxious, unstable, or overwhelmed, you will inevitably bring that atmosphere into your relationship with your children. I talked about how parents often magnify situations because of their own internal struggles. If you are already insecure or afraid and then your child goes through some kind of difficulty, you “10X that thing” in your mind. Their struggle suddenly becomes catastrophic because of what is already happening inside of you. Instead of becoming a steady anchor, fear makes us unstable.
2 Timothy 1:7 says “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
Many translations connect the phrase “sound mind” with self-discipline. The original Greek carries the idea that a sound mind is produced through spiritual discipline. Not harsh striving, but intentionally turning your thoughts and focus toward Christ. A peaceful mind does not happen accidentally. You have to continually bring your attention back to the Lord. You have to remind yourself who He is and who you are in Him. You have to resist the temptation to let fear define the atmosphere of your heart.
So many mothers live with an internal shaking because their emotional world rises and falls with what their children are doing. If the child is struggling, the mother becomes inwardly unstable. If the child makes bad decisions, the mother’s identity collapses into shame or panic. But your children’s safety is not where your peace comes from. Your peace comes from the Lord.
Isaiah 26:3-4 “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever for in Yah, the Lord is everlasting strength.”
When your child is struggling, when they make bad choices, when they seem distant, or when you do not know what to do, turn your mind toward the Lord. That sounds simple, but it is deeply practical. Sometimes you have to step back internally and say, “I’m going to get my mind right. I’m going to get my mind stable. I’m not going to let their choices define me inwardly. I’m going to approach them from a place of peace.”
Children need parents who are emotionally anchored. They do not need parents who emotionally collapse every time something goes wrong.
I say that with compassion because I understand where a lot of this comes from. One of the most vulnerable parts of the message was talking about my own mother. I loved my mom deeply. We had a good relationship. She was sweet, trusting, loving, funny, and would do anything for anybody. But she also carried deep insecurity and fear, especially after my father left when I was young.
There were seasons where fear emotionally paralyzed her. I remember times as a child when she would stay in bed for days at a time because she was overwhelmed emotionally. Eventually, my brother and I just learned to function around it. We got ourselves up, went to school, came home, and learned how to survive.
As a child, you don’t fully understand what’s happening in moments like that. But later in life, I realized something uncomfortable about myself: I had developed resentment toward her weakness. I realized as an adult that I sometimes became irritated with her because of the insecurity she displayed. Even simple things would trigger impatience in me. I hated recognizing that in myself, but it was there.
I know many people experience this same dynamic in families. Children are deeply affected by the emotional atmosphere of the home. That does not mean parents must be perfect, and it does not mean mothers never struggle. But emotional health matters more than many people realize.
One of the greatest things you can do for your kids is be the healthiest version of yourself — spirit, soul, and body.
Your children are learning emotional patterns from you constantly. When they watch you respond to stress, conflict, disappointment, fear, or insecurity, they are absorbing those patterns. If every emotional moment becomes panic, anger, anxiety, or emotional withdrawal, children begin walking on eggshells around their parents. But when parents are grounded in Christ, emotionally aware, and secure in God’s love, children experience something completely different. That kind of stability becomes safety.
This is why mothers must continue investing in themselves spiritually and emotionally. I asked the question directly during the message: “What are you doing to regularly invest in yourself?” That could mean prayer, Bible study, counseling, honest conversations, healing old wounds, building healthy relationships, or learning emotional maturity. Whatever you cultivate internally is eventually going to bear fruit externally.
I used the picture of a fruit tree during the sermon: “You’re a fruit tree and your kids need to be able to pick some fruit off and eat it.” If fear, anxiety, insecurity, bitterness, or exhaustion are constantly growing internally, eventually that fruit shows up in the atmosphere of the home. But when the love of God transforms you personally, the environment around your children changes.
That’s why I emphasized this passage:
3 John 1:2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health even as thy soul prospers.
God cares about the health of your soul. Not just your behavior. Not just appearances. Not just survival. He wants you internally whole.
One of the biggest breakthroughs mothers can have is realizing that they are allowed to continue growing as individuals even while raising children. Don’t put your life and your purpose completely on hold for your kids. That doesn’t mean neglecting them. It means refusing to lose yourself entirely inside of parenting.
I said during the message, “Don’t put your life and your purpose on hold to raise your children.” Many mothers become so consumed with their children that when those children become adults, the mother no longer knows who she is apart from them. Children were never meant to carry the emotional weight of being your purpose. Your identity is who you are in Christ, and that identity remains steady whether your children are thriving or struggling.
Honestly, that truth creates healthier relationships for everyone involved. Children should not feel responsible for maintaining a parent’s emotional stability. When parents become emotionally grounded in Christ, they stop reacting from panic and start responding from love.
That’s where I ended the message: love never fails.
When you are personally aware of God’s love for you, it changes the atmosphere of your heart. You stop parenting from fear, shame, anger, insecurity, or self-condemnation. You become more patient, more present, more stable, and more peaceful. That doesn’t mean you become passive. It means your responses are no longer rooted in fear.
The truth is every parent feels the pressure of wondering if they are messing up their kids. I joked about bringing our first child home from the hospital and sitting there thinking, “Oh man… I hope I don’t kill it.” Every parent understands that feeling. You suddenly realize how deeply you love this tiny human being and how vulnerable that love makes you feel.
But love grows healthiest when it is rooted in Christ rather than fear. If your child’s struggles instantly create inward panic and anxiety, it may be revealing that your identity has become too entangled with their outcomes. Your identity cannot rest on their choices. Your identity rests in Christ. When you live from that place, you become a steadier source of love and wisdom for your children.
I closed the message by praying for healing in families, restoration in broken relationships, wisdom for difficult situations, and peace for those who have had to establish healthy boundaries with unhealthy family members. Family relationships are complicated. Some people listening had beautiful childhoods while others experienced deep pain. Some need reconciliation. Others need boundaries. But wherever you find yourself today, God’s grace is available to help heal, restore, strengthen, and guide you.
Family was God’s design, and one of the greatest gifts we can give our families is becoming emotionally healthy, spiritually grounded people who know how deeply loved we are by God.
Take care of yourself, mom. Not because you matter more than everyone else, but because the healthier you become in Christ, the more peace, stability, wisdom, and love overflow into the lives of the people you love most.
Chosen & Loved
Healing for the Hurting, Rejected, and Overlooked
Rethinking Trials - God’s Role in What You’re Facing
Trials are a real part of life, but James makes it clear that they are not from God—using the same Greek word in James 1:2 and 1:13 to show that while we face them, we must never attribute them to Him. God works in us inwardly, testing and strengthening our hearts, but external trials come from living in a fallen world, not from His hand. Because of that, you can rest in His goodness, stop blaming Him for hardship, and confidently trust that in every trial, He is faithful to provide a way out.
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“No one undergoing a trial should say, “I am being tempted by God,” since God is not tempted by evil, and he himself doesn’t tempt anyone.”
How you see God directly affects how you pray. If you think God is controlling everything happening in your life—every hardship, every difficulty, every trial—then your prayer life is going to be filled with confusion. You’ll hesitate. You’ll question. You’ll wonder what He’s doing instead of knowing who He is.
In this message, I want to bring you to a place where you trust God, where you’re not confused by life’s circumstances, where you know His will in general, and you can pray according to that will with confidence.
Because here’s the key point we have to settle in our hearts:
Trials will come—but they are not from God.
James tells us this directly.
James 1:2 says, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials.”
And then just a few verses later, James 1:13 says, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.”
Now this is where original language study becomes incredibly valuable.
The word translated “trials” in verse 2 and “tempted” in verse 13 is the same Greek word—peirasmos.
So James is saying: You’re going to face trials. Count it all joy when they come. Endure. Grow. Let your faith be strengthened.
But don’t you dare say those trials came from God.
That changes everything.
The Problem: We’ve Blamed God for What He Never Sent
A lot of us have been raised with a subtle mindset that says, “God is in control of everything.” And what that often turns into is this: if something is happening, God must have either caused it or allowed it for some reason.
So when hardship comes, we start asking questions like:
“Why is God doing this to me?”
“What is He trying to teach me?”
“Why would He allow this?”
And underneath all of that is something deeper:
“Can I really trust Him?”
That’s the same question the serpent asked in the garden.
“Did God really say?”
From the very beginning, the enemy has tried to distort God’s character—to make you question whether He’s actually good, whether He’s actually trustworthy.
And that same thinking shows up today when we look at the brokenness of life and quietly wonder if God is behind it.
But let me be very clear:
God is not orchestrating hardship in your life to teach you a lesson.
Things happen. We live in a world where people make real choices, and those choices have real consequences. Sometimes the hardship we face is the result of living in a fallen world. Sometimes it’s the result of decisions—our own or others’.
But it is not God sitting behind the scenes, pulling strings, designing pain for your growth.
If that were true, you’d never fully trust Him.
Tests vs. Trials: A Critical Distinction
We tend to lump them together, but they’re not the same.
God tests the heart inwardly.
Trials happen externally.
1 Thessalonians 2:4 says, “God… tests our hearts.”
That word “tests” in the Greek is dokimazo. It means to examine, to prove, to approve—to see if something is genuine.
This is not God putting you through difficulty to see if you’ll survive it.
This is God working in your heart—relationally.
He’s leading you. He’s convicting you. He’s strengthening you. He’s drawing out faith. He’s bringing you into alignment with who you already are in Christ.
Think about Abraham.
God asked him to sacrifice Isaac—but did Abraham actually kill his son? No. God provided. This was an internal gut check to see if Abraham was in faith enough to cut a covenant with him.
That was not about external suffering. That was about internal trust.
God tests inwardly. He works in your heart.
But trials? That’s something different.
What Trials Actually Are
1 Peter 1:6 says, “You have been grieved by various trials.”
That word “trials” is peirasmos—the same word James uses.
Trials are external pressures.
They show up in your life as:
Difficulty
Opposition
Suffering
Temptation
Confusion
And here’s what they do:
They test your faith—but they are not sent by God.
That’s why James can say:
Count it all joy when they come
Let patience have its work
Endure
But also say clearly—don’t say they’re from God.
You have to hold both of those truths at the same time.
“God Won’t Put More on You Than You Can Bear”… Or Will He?
There’s a phrase people quote all the time:
“God won’t put more on you than you can bear.”
That’s not actually what the Bible says.
1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”
That word “temptation”? Same word again—peirasmos.
Here’s what the verse is actually saying:
Trials will come
They are common to humanity
God is not the source of them
But He will always provide a way out
This is not a statement about God putting pressure on you.
This is a promise about God helping you through pressure you’re already facing.
And that should bring relief to your heart.
You don’t have to sit in hardship wondering what God is doing.
You can stand in the middle of it knowing He’s helping you out of it.
God Is Only the Source of Good
James doesn’t leave any room for confusion.
After telling us not to say trials come from God, he says this:
James 1:16–17
“Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above…”
Don’t be deceived.
That means it’s possible to be deceived about this.
It’s possible to look at something destructive—something painful—and somehow attribute it to God.
But James draws a clear line:
If it’s good, it’s from God.
If it’s not good, it’s not from Him.
So when people say things like:
“This sickness is from God”
“This hardship is God teaching me something”
You have to bring that back to the cross.
What did Jesus do about sickness?
What did Jesus do about sin?
What did Jesus do about brokenness?
He bore it. He paid for it. He defeated it.
Jesus didn’t go around putting sickness on people.
He went around healing people.
That tells you everything you need to know about the heart of God.
Stop Embracing the Suffering That Jesus Already Paid For
One of the biggest practical shifts this brings is how you respond to hardship.
A lot of Christians have been taught to just accept things:
Accept the fear
Accept the confusion
Accept the sickness
Accept the struggle
And call it “carrying your cross.”
But if you’re going to bring the cross into it, then you need to look at what Jesus actually did there.
He bore your sin.
He bore your sickness.
He overcame death.
So instead of embracing everything that comes your way, you need to learn to push back against the things that don’t align with what He accomplished.
That doesn’t mean you deny reality. It means you interpret reality through the finished work of Jesus—not the other way around.
You’re Not a Confused Servant—You’re a Son
Part of the confusion comes from how we see ourselves in relation to God.
Jesus said in John 15:15 that we’re not servants—we’re friends.
A servant doesn’t know what his master is doing.
But a friend does.
You’ve been given the Spirit of God.
You have the mind of Christ.
You’ve been brought into relationship.
So instead of standing back and saying, “God, what are you doing?”
You can step forward and say, “I know who You are. I trust You. Help me walk this out.”
You’re not meant to live confused.
You’re meant to live confident.
The Bottom Line
Trials will come. That’s reality.
But they are not from God.
And once you settle that in your heart, everything changes:
You stop blaming Him
You stop questioning His goodness
You stop wondering if He’s behind your pain
You start trusting Him
You start praying with clarity
You start expecting help
Because now you know:
God is not sending trials into your life.
He’s making a way out of them.
And that’s who He has always been.
So the next time you face something difficult, don’t ask, “Why is God doing this?”
Instead, anchor yourself in truth:
God is good
God is for me
God is with me
And God will help me through this
And from that place, you can pray with confidence, stand in faith, and walk forward in the freedom Jesus paid for.
