PASTOR DARRYL BAKER

2 Corinthians 10:4-5
4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.
5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

We have an enemy whom Christ has defeated and therefore is simply trying to seduce or deceive us to believe and act upon what he wants us to believe. Christians need to learn that every thought, idea, or suggestion, contrary to God’s way of thinking that comes to your mind based on things happening around you in the natural is from the enemy. If he can get you to take these thoughts, he can seduce you or deceive you into obeying your feelings or your flesh and defeat you. If you want to win in life, you must learn how to win the battle of the mind.

The devil through outward circumstances will suggest things for you to do that will get your mind on thoughts that will lead you astray. Many never even realize it is happening, and next thing you know they are depressed, fearful, angry, or frustrated. It all began with a thought, an idea, or a suggestion from a very subtle deceiver who knows how to take advantage of our thought life. That is why the above scripture teaches us there is a battle for our mind, but we have powerful weapons that will work if we use them. Our primary weapons are the Words of God.

To win this battle you must do three things. Identify these wrong thoughts, then quench them by turning your attention to God’s Truth, and then take it captive by speaking God’s Word. In doing this consistently you will change your thoughts to God’s thoughts. When you do your actions will follow in line with who God made you to be, for thoughts precede actions. When you win the battle of the mind, you win in life, walking out what God has for you.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

1 Corinthians 11:1
Become imitators of me, even as I also am an imitator of Christ.

Christianity is not a religion to be learned, but a new life to be lived. Our very purpose of being “born again” was to remove the old fallen man within so we could be made a new creation inside, and then begin to transform our life outwardly to this new nature. We learn about this new nature on the inside by looking at Jesus in the Word of God, for this is a picture of who we have become within.

As we see Jesus through the Word of God and how He lived His life, we then by following His example allow this new life to take over. In doing so we are following in the apostle Paul’s example, as he himself was following after Jesus. This is what it means to be a “Christian.” The word is defined as a follower of Christ. This is what we are told in the following verse.

2 Corinthians 5:17 – Whoever is a believer in Christ is a new creation. The old way of living has disappeared. A new way of living has come into existence.

Why do believers still live in fear, anxiety, worry, stressed, and frustrated about life? Did Jesus live this way? None of these things belong in the life of a believer. The reason many are not free from these things is because they have not renewed their minds to imitate how Jesus lived and dealt with life’s challenges. They continue to do things according to their old nature instead. Our purpose in life as a believer should be to follow in His example, and in doing so we can live the same kind of life Jesus lived. We simply have to choose to imitate Jesus.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

When is faith actually faith? When you are seeing things as already done. Faith is not past tense, nor is faith future tense, faith is now, present tense. When someone says they are believing for God “to do” something they are not actually in faith. This is where many miss it when it comes to faith. Romans 3:27 tells us that faith is a law, like the law of gravity. If you step off a building the law of gravity goes to work, and you will fall. That law is there, always present tense, even though you cannot see it with your natural eyes.

Faith works in the same way. It is a spiritual law. When you do the things that scripture teaches to walk by faith, that law goes into effect, but it was there all along. A key to activate that law is to BELIEVE IN YOUR HEART that what God has said is already so, present tense, not one day going to happen. Want further proof? When God appeared to Moses He revealed His name. What is God’s name? I AM. He is not the I was, nor the I will be God, He is the great I AM, always present tense God.

In Romans 4:17 scripture tells us that God, the great I AM, calls those things that be not as though they were, present tense. God is a God of faith. We are to imitate Him. Until you can believe in your heart what God has said is already so (present tense) and prove your faith by calling those things that be not as though they were, you are not walking by faith, and this is one of the keys that governs how the law of faith works. Faith is always present tense.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

Matthew 6:25
“Therefore I say to you, do not…”

In today’s times where many churches are more interested in tickling itching ears the “do not” messages of the scriptures are not popular, but many don’t realize the power of this statement. Realize that anywhere in the Word of God where the phrase “do not” is used, that means you have a choice. You can choose to not do the things we are told “do not.” You have the power over these decisions. Let’s look at couple examples from the Word of God.

For example in the above verse of Matthew 6:25, Jesus tells us to not worry about our life. Worry is one of the most detrimental things in life. We can choose to cast all our care upon Him for He cares for us. In Romans 12:2 it says do not be conformed to this world but transformed by the renewing of your mind. It is our choice whether we renew our mind and transform our life or keep living conformed to the world. 1 Corinthians 15:33 says do not be deceived, evil company corrupts good habits.

Again, this is a choice we make as to who we allow to influence our lives. The word company refers to who we choose to have as close friends, which will impact our life. There are many “do not’s” in the Bible, and what is powerful about these truths is you really are in control over these things, because the Word of God would not say “do not” if you could not. When we make the choice to “do not,” we choose to live a much better life that every believer has the ability to live.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

John 14:15
If you love me, you will obey my commandments.

Obedience clearly has benefits as revealed in many places of scripture, but if the motive for that obedience is the wrong motive, we will lose sight of the gospel and what Christ has done for us. If our motive becomes a way we try to prove “how good we are” when in fact Jesus said there is none good but One, God; we must go back to understanding the truth about the good news. When we do, our motive will shift to an appreciation for what the Lord has done for us.

We are tempted James said with our own desires. If there was no desire for sin, then we could not be tempted. But our old fleshly nature has within it the desire for sin. When we try to overcome sin with a focus on us being good, we will eventually fail and fall prey to sin. The way you overcome sin is by loving someone more than your flesh loves sin, and that someone is Jesus. This is where the gospel comes in. Why should we love Him? Because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).

When you truly understand the gospel, you realize Jesus exhibited His love for us by not only going through the death of the cross, but He also took the punishment that our sin deserved. When we fully understand what He went through for us, we get a true picture of the gospel, and that produces a love for Him, which leads to obedience. Our obedience is the result of loving Him more than our flesh loves sin. We are to present our bodies unto God as a living sacrifice, and when our love for Him is the reason we do so, the focus remains where it should always be, on Him not on us.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

Revelation 3:20
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.

If you have ever heard this verse taught it is usually used as a reference to sinners, and Jesus is standing at the door of their heart waiting for them to let Him in. The interesting truth is this statement was written to the church at Laodicea, and they were in Jesus’ words, lukewarm believers. This is significant because we are always to keep scripture in its proper context. You see a lukewarm believer is one who has become indifferent to spiritual things. For them, God and the things of God are no longer a priority in their life.

Jesus warned this church to repent, and then said He was standing at the door waiting for them to open the door to fellowship with Him. Jesus wants us to have an intimate relationship with Him, but a key to doing so is knowing how to open the door. In John 14:6 Jesus said He is the way, the Truth, and the life. John 1:1 and 1:14 tells us Jesus is the Word made manifest. Psalm 119:130 tells us His Word is the doorway that lets light in, and Jesus is that light.

Lukewarm believers do not fellowship with Jesus because they are more interested in other things. Jesus is the Word of God, and He is knocking trying to get us to open the door for the express purpose of getting to know Him (Truth), so that He can come and fellowship with us, and we in doing so will hear His voice. God’s Word is God speaking to us. We open the door by going to His Word each day, and by going to God’s house to hear the Word preached. He is knocking. Open the door.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.

In life’s decisions we can go our own way, or we can walk the path God has provided for us. In verse six above the word “direct” is translated smooth or straight. If we choose God’s way in our choices in life, we won’t go the windy rough way of life, we will go the straight way, knowing we are headed the exact direction He has planned for us. This takes a trust from us that requires all our heart. In other words, don’t just trust God in one area, trust Him in every area of your life.

The phrase “acknowledge Him” means to have an intimate relationship with God. The reason many do not trust God is because they don’t know Him. It is difficult to trust someone you do not know. When you take time to acknowledge God, developing and maintaining a close walk with Him, it will not be difficult to go the way He is directing you to go, which in the natural may not make sense to you, but God knows what He is doing.

As you draw close to Him though His Word and prayer, you begin to learn of His ways as revealed in His Word. His Word is His will for us. In getting to know Him and His will as revealed through His Word, we can also follow the leading of His Spirit within us in the decisions we make, listening to our conscience, the voice of our spirit man, which will always lead us in line with the Word. As we do, we can know we are on the path He has for us, headed straight to where He wants to take us in this life.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

Luke 14:33
In the same way, if you want to be My disciple, it will cost you everything. Don’t underestimate that cost!

Before Jesus left, He gave a clear mandate to His disciples to go and make disciples of all people. To be a disciple of Jesus takes more than just a born-again experience. To not become a disciple of Jesus Christ is to come short of what He desires for you to be. Why would we not want to become a true disciple, one who lives like Jesus, after all He has done for us.

As Jesus stated in the above verse it will cost you everything to become what He has planned for your life. The early disciples of Jesus knew this. Think about all they gave up in exchange for following Him. They willing chose to give up things in their life, choosing to walk into an uncertain future with a certain Savior. They did not know what all lay ahead of them, but they knew who they were headed down that road with.

To be a disciple of Jesus takes a complete abandoning of the old self nature to the person and the presence of Jesus Christ that lives in you now once born again. This is accomplished by yielding to the new nature within, no longer being ruled by our old carnal flesh. You now take your focus off of the flesh and focus on the things of the new spirit man. Anything less is not fulfilling what He has planned for our life, which is the greatest life you could live, following in His example.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

Hebrews 6:12
…imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

I remember when I started to ride bulls, I wanted to get connected with the guys who had proven themselves successful in the arena. It took some time for me to find someone who had done so that would help me, but when I did, I began to succeed, eventually earning my professional card. When I got born again, I took the same approach. I knew that if I could learn from those who had proven their faith, doing the works of Jesus, I could follow in their footsteps.

It saddens me today to see believers who do not understand this simple but powerful principle. I hear people say things against these great fathers of the faith who have proven God’s Word through their life and ministry. As a young bull rider, I never thought I knew more then those who had proven themselves. I was just grateful to have someone to learn from and to follow their example.

If you want to inherit the promises that God has given to us in this New Covenant, including doing the works Jesus did, it takes a willingness and humility to learn from those who through faith and patience have proven that they walk with God. If we are willing to learn from those who have done so, we too can experience the same results as those who have shown us the way.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

Habakkuk 2:2
Then the Lord answered me and said:
“Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it.”

The Word “vision” here means revelation, or what has been revealed. God has always emphasized writing things down. The reason we are to do so is shown in the later part of this verse of scripture, so that you may run with it, or simply put, become a doer of what God has revealed to you. How can you be a doer of what you have not retained knowledge of? This verse if followed can make a huge impact on changing your life.

Statistics say that the average person only retains around 5% of what they hear. What is one of the primary purposes of hearing God’s Word proclaimed? It is so that you will become a doer and not a forgetful hearer of the Word as James 1:22 tells us. The doer of the Word James said will be blessed. Why are many believers not doers of the Word? One reason is because they do not take notes on what they hear. When you take notes on key points of what you hear, your retention rate goes up to around 50%. If you review those notes within 24 hours, your retention rate goes up to 70%.

Think of how many hours are wasted by people who hear God’s Word preached or even read the Bible, but because they do not make a note of key things revealed to them, they only retain about 5%. To live a transformed life, you must have your mind renewed to God’s Word so that you can become a doer. Many assume what they hear they are doing. But to retain what you have heard as God has said, you need to write down what He is revealing to you when you hear or read God’s Word. Doing so will help transform your life.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas