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Clint Byars 11/13/23 Clint Byars 11/13/23

Gratitude Is Proactive

Gratitude is proactive. A thankful person doesn't wait for something good to happen to be grateful toward God. A thankful mindset is aware of all that God has already done in Christ. True thankfulness gives thanks in all things because it knows that no matter what happens, we have a hopeful future in eternity with our Father in Heaven.

“Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and bless His name.”

— Psalm 100:4

Gratitude doesn't deny the pain and sorrow of this life, it just doesn't focus on it and allow those things to be bigger than God. The thankful heart praises the name of God because he knows that God is his creator and gave him life.

Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Psalm 100:3

How Can You Be Proactively Thankful?

The Apostle instructs us on thankfulness in Philippians 4:6 "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Every time we address God, we should do so in an attitude of thankfulness. What's your typical emotional attitude toward God when you speak to Him? Many of us come before him and into his gates not with praise but with worry, fear, disappointment, anger, uncertainty, etc. If you are honest with yourself, what is your general attitude toward God when you pray?

I'm not suggesting you fake it before God; sometimes you're going to be upset and afraid when you pray, but you can change your mind and focus your heart on His nature and character to pull out of the sorrow and confusion. God wants us to cast our cares upon him because he cares for us. But once we cast them, we are to put on the mindset that God is good and faithful and will keep His promises. The ungrateful heart leads to doubt, which leads to not being able to enter into the promises that God has already made to us in Christ. Ingratitude is a faith killer, and it takes faith to experience the fruit of God's promises in your life.

When you cultivate gratitude as your state of heart and mind and prayer, it will yield peace, and that peace will guard your heart. Your heart, or inner man, affects everything you do. If it's guarded by peace, you will be clearer on what His Word says and yield to His influence more—choosing to be grateful yields peace in your heart, which produces unlimited benefits.

What Steps Will You Take To Cultivate Thankfulness?

Paul gives practical steps to turn your heart toward gratitude.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think on these things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me, put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:8-9

Put it into practice, and you will experience God's peace. And when you experience His peace, you become a fertile breeding ground for all the kingdom's benefits and blessings to grow into your life. Praise Him and give Him thanks proactively and watch your life change!

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Clint Byars 11/7/23 Clint Byars 11/7/23

Ending the Cycle of Complaining and Hardness of Heart

Unthankfulness will lead you to the hardness of heart and unbelief, which will limit what God can do through you and for you. This is the hard lesson learned by most of the nation of Israel that wandered in the desert for 40 years.

“For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.”

— Hebrews 4:2 NKJV

For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. - Hebrews 4:2

Unthankfulness will lead you to the hardness of heart and unbelief, which will limit what God can do through you and for you. This is the hard lesson learned by most of the nation of Israel that wandered in the desert for 40 years.

When we feel like we're wandering, barely having our needs met, it may be due to unbelief. You have enough faith, but maybe you have too much complaining and unthankfulness clouding your heart from seeing God's path of provision.

Oftentimes, a lack of gratitude is the effect of holding on to our baggage from the past. The holidays are upon us. If you grew up in a home where the fighting and stress increased, you might still have difficulty enjoying the holidays today.

The way out is to cultivate thankfulness to the degree that new memories and experiences overwrite the triggers from the past. It's hard at the moment to choose a new state of mind when the present triggers pain from the past, but if you can choose gratitude ahead of time, your heart and mind will be prepared to not only respond well but have new automatic responses of joy.

In this week's message, I try to lighten the mood with some jokes about my past but also take a serious look at the effects of unthankfulness. I pray this message strengthens and prepares you for a joyful holiday season.

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Clint Byars 10/30/23 Clint Byars 10/30/23

How to Remove Doubt from Your Heart

You think with your mind and your heart. But your heart is a deeper aspect of your being. Your heart is where you believe what you believe. Jesus said all things are possible when we doubt not in our hearts. Today we’ll discuss how to eliminate doubt so our beliefs and our thoughts are persuaded of God’s truth.

“For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.”

— Mark 11:23 NKJV

The Kingdom of Heaven resides within each of us, taking on a spiritual form. Just like a seed, the spirit within must be nurtured for it to flourish and yield fruits in our reality. The Kingdom cannot be confined to a mere seed; rather, Jesus elucidates that His Kingdom develops in our world, much like a small seed transforms into a majestic tree.

In the book of Mark, chapter 4, Jesus imparts wisdom about how the openness of your heart to the Word of God influences the productivity of the Kingdom. To experience the Kingdom of God in this world is akin to the succulent fruit that grows on the vine of the Word, which has been sown and nourished in your heart.

If you allow the seed to be uprooted, it will not thrive. Placing the seed in shallow, rocky soil makes growth more challenging. Planting the seed amidst thorns and weeds provides a better chance, but the roots of these thorns and weeds can stifle the seed's growth. However, when you plant the seed in fertile ground and diligently keep the weeds at bay, the seed will flourish.

The Kingdom is analogous to a seed, and the seeds are the Word of God. The state of the soil is determined by you, with your heart serving as the soil. Doubt represents the kind of weeds that can constrict and hinder, or even render unproductive, the Word of God, preventing you from experiencing the Kingdom's fruitful outcomes.

If you desire to harvest the fruits of the Kingdom, you must sow and nurture the Word in a receptive heart. The only aspect of this process that you have control over is your heart. Your heart is new, akin to God's own heart. However, if you allow weeds, worry, fear, doubt, the concerns of this world, and the allure of wealth to take root in your heart, they will impede or completely thwart the growth of the Kingdom seeds that seek to flourish.

I pray this message enlightens you regarding the doubt you may be nurturing, and I pray you are equipped to rid the doubt from your heart so you will experience the fullness of the kingdom within you.

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Clint Byars 10/23/23 Clint Byars 10/23/23

Writing on the Tablet of Your Heart

What you think in your mind is important, but what you believe in your heart is more important. The deep beliefs of your heart will override your more shallow thoughts. In this article, we’ll discuss how to align your heart with the Word of God and bring your thoughts and beliefs into harmony, so there are no more contradictions in your life and you can experience the transformative fruit of God’s Word from the heart.

“My son, keep my words, And treasure my commands within you. Keep my commands and live, And my law as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; Write them on the tablet of your heart.”

— Proverbs 7:1-3

Proverbs 23:7a states, "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he."

Since you ultimately live according to the beliefs of your heart, it is crucial to become proficient in writing and affirming truth on the tablet of your heart. What you believe about yourself (write on your heart) significantly influences your emotions, feelings, choices, and habits more than anything else.

If you can align your self-beliefs with how God sees you in Christ, you will always experience peace, regardless of your external circumstances.

This way of life will also continually open opportunities for you to step into what God has planned for you because you will be receptive. The question isn't, "God, will you help me?" The question is, "Am I receptive to the Holy Spirit in this moment, considering my current thoughts and beliefs?"

God is trying to help you, but your thoughts might be drowning out His voice. The beliefs of your heart may actually be in direct opposition to God's wisdom and logic that He's trying to impart to you.

Often, we find ourselves in desperate situations and cry out to God for help. But due to our state of mind and the prevailing beliefs we have affirmed in that area, we may be unable to align with His will and take the action He's suggesting. We end up rejecting the way in which He is trying to supply grace and mercy to assist us.

Have you ever been in a situation where someone asked you a question, but when you answered, they missed the point you were trying to make? They either misunderstood or refused to consider your perspective.

That's what we do to God. We ask for help, but His answer doesn't make sense because we've allowed fear, lack, trauma, irresponsibility, and sin to write on the tablet of our hearts. So when He speaks to our heart or attempts to provide grace, we can't receive it because we've spent too much time affirming things that contradict His ways and logic.

There is no substitute for time in the saddle, meaning time thinking about and pondering upon his word. I pray you find a way to incorporate a steady diet of his ways and logic into your life.

I pray that you take the time to listen to this message and extract nuggets that you can put into practice in your life. Please let me know what stands out to you.

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Clint Byars 10/16/23 Clint Byars 10/16/23

Store Up Treasure in Heaven Through Secret Acts of Love

God is more interested in private integrity than public piety. He’s more interested in who you are in the secret place than in the public square. Every moment of your life counts. God will reward you for every seemingly insignificant act of kindness, mercy, and compassion, and he will burn away from you everything done with a wrong motive. The judgment seat of Christ will be a profound moment in our future, but it should not be feared. God cares about every second of your life and will make that known to you in eternity as he rewards you for all the little things that no one sees.

“that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.”

— Matthew 6:4

Do you want rewards from God when you get to Heaven? Yeah, yeah, I know, just being with Jesus is reward enough. But seriously, in the Resurrection at the judgment seat of Christ, all of your works will be judged. That which is of the right sort will be rewarded, and that which is of the wrong sort will be burned away.

1 Corinthians 3:12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

How do you know if your works will receive rewards? Jesus teaches in Matthew 6 to do your charitable deeds in private, not letting the right hand know what the left hand is doing. He says if you boast about your good deeds, and people acknowledge you in this life, then you have received your reward. But if you do good works in private, you will be rewarded openly in Heaven.

We obviously don’t do good deeds for rewards only, we do good deeds as a result of walking in love, but God is interested in our lives so much that he wants to say a big thank you in front of other people for being a loving person.

I want to highlight part of verse 15 above, “he himself will be saved.” At the judgment seat of Christ, you will not be judged for righteousness, your salvation is secure, but the motivation behind your words and actions goes through a final judgment. It’s almost as if the final remaining aspects of your dead identity will be burned away, and all that will remain is the saved you and rewards for the love you showed,

This is a complex and nuanced doctrine. There is much more than I am addressing here, but I simply want to make the point to be mindful of how you conduct yourself. Not as a threat. And I don’t suggest that you live in fear of this judgment. I see it more as a celebration than a negative thing. I just want to highlight that everything you do matters.

God is more interested in private integrity than public piety. He’s more interested in who you are in the secret place than in the public square. He looks at every moment of your life as significant. No second is a throwaway in God’s eyes. He cares about everything you do so much that he will bless you and reward you for all the seemingly insignificant acts of kindness, mercy, and compassion. Let’s live as if every moment counts.

1 John 4:17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.

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Clint Byars 9/19/23 Clint Byars 9/19/23

All of the Goodness of Jesus is in you, acknowledge it to activate your faith

As as we think in our hearts, so are we. Do you know how to think with your heart? Do you still think your heart is wicked, evil, and deceitful? We have good news for you today. God put a new heart in you that knows how to hear and obey God. You must renew your mind so your heart awakens unto righteousness and lives from the power of God’s spirit within. Today’s message may challenge you but it will equip you to live in the power of righteousness if you will believe with your heart that God has truly made you righteous and holy.

“that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.”

— Philemon 6

Your faith becomes effective as you acknowledge all the good things that are in you through Christ. This powerful truth echoes Proverbs 23:7, as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.

Whatever you believe about yourself, whether it’s true or not, you will become outwardly. The powerful truth about our new creation identity in Christ is that we are already forgiven, sanctified, holy, and righteous in Christ. From that spiritual truth, we are to renew our minds and put on the new man.

and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:24

The stumbling block for many Christians is that you already are righteous and holy, you just need to renew your mind so the other aspects of your being reflect the righteous state of your spirit.

To take it a step further, God not only made you new in spirit, He put a new heart in you.

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. Ezekiel 36:26-27

If you want to live worthy of your calling. If you want to live in obedience to God, where your inner spiritual, righteous state is reflected in the rest of your being, you must renew your mind.

To be more specific, you must acknowledge that you actually already are righteous in Christ and put on that new man, You are as you should be with God. You are in right standing with God. You are fully accepted by God. You are welcome in God’s presence because you have been made worthy through the work of Christ in you.

And because “as you think in your heart, so are you,” you must persuade your heart of those good things in you, to glorify God and allow Him to establish His will through you.

Philemon 6 says, that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.

If you believe you’re still a sinner by nature, guess how you’ll live? But if you believe and acknowledge that you have been created in the likeness and image of God, truly righteous and holy, guess how you’ll live? As you think in your heart, so you will live.

Acknowledge the good that Christ put in you because it’s already true, not to make it true, and watch the power of God’s Spirit in you strengthen you in the face of sin, fear, guilt, depression, anxiety, sexual perversion, lack, and anything else that is contrary to the good things Jesus put in you.

Use this resource to renew your mind. It will equip you to acknowledge every good thing that is in you in Christ.

Click here -> List of in Him scriptures

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Clint Byars 9/5/23 Clint Byars 9/5/23

How to Capture and Control Negative Thoughts

Your brain might betray you, but the Word of God never will. Wouldn’t it be nice if your thoughts were always in alignment with the Word of God? You’d always know God’s perspective on any matter. You can experience this, but it takes some effort. In this message, we discuss how to bring your thoughts captive and align them with what Christ accomplished through His obedience and how to allay that to your life.

“casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ”

— 2 Corinthians 10:5

As we think in our hearts, so are we. The abiding thoughts of our inner self are shaping our lives more than anything else. The thoughts you dwell on and allow to become the driving agents of your choices and decisions determine whether or not you are following God or not.

If your thoughts are negative or not aligned with God's ways, they will lead you away from what He wants to establish in your life. When your thought patterns are more influenced by the logic in this world than what God says is true and possible, you experience a form of death. But when your thoughts align with what God thinks about a matter, you are open to allowing Him to establish His will in your life, and it will be life and peace for you.

You must agree with God in your heart and mind, regardless of your feelings. No matter how much it contradicts your current circumstances. No matter how impossible it may seem. If your habitual thought patterns are not based on God's truth and what he says should be, you must change that way of thinking at all costs. If you don't, you will eat the fruit of death in one way or another.

There are many ways to reign in your thoughts and bring them under your control. You can begin by paying attention to what you are thinking at the top of each hour and walk through the Philippians 4:8 process. "Is how I'm thinking about this true, honorable, and just? Am I looking for the good? Am I in faith or doubt? Am I currently believing that Jesus can help me with this right now? And what do I need to think instead of what I have been thinking so I align with God's ways of truth and possibility?"

If you can make it a practice of capturing and controlling your thoughts so they're in faith toward God, in alignment with your identity in Christ, and based on what Jesus accomplished in obedience, you are on the path of life, and God's Word WILL come to pass in your life.

Be careful that you don't choose confusion as you attempt to bring your thoughts under control. It will be easy to tell yourself you don't know how to do it or you don't know what to do but don't allow yourself to be deceived. The Holy Spirit is with you. You have a Bible. You know what Jesus did. Put your thoughts there and hold them there until it changes what you feel and believe is possible.

Or, keep thinking the way you're thinking now and never change. It's your choice.

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