The dictionary defines the word self as one’s own person, a distinct individual. We were all created as triune beings; we have a spirit, and a soul, and we live in a body. The duel, the battle, the fight we have while here on earth is a spiritual one. The accuser attempts to make us feel like we have a split or dual personality because we say one thing and then do another. Who are we serving when we elect to be unloving, selfish, or self-fault finding? Who are we listening to when we begin to compare ourselves to others? If we feel like we are in competition, such rivalary is rooted in pride. In the parable of the talents, we may feel that someone else is doing more for God. This may be true, but that does not make us less in our Father’s eyes. Competition or comparison sets us up for a spirit of envy and bitterness. The truth is, our Father gave us talents according to His plan for us. He expects us to use what little we may think we have to serve Him and others. We may be given only one talent that looks like a lonely dandelion, while others received a dozen red roses. We are not to compare our talent, it is a unique and beautiful gift. Choose to boldly stand as a dandelion, and be the light. We DO NOT bury our talent by thinking that we are not capable of making a difference. Our God given talents have nothing to do with our appearance, economic or social status. It is not about our increase, it is about increasing our treasures in heaven, not on earth. (God woke me up to stand tall as a daring dandelion!) Wellspring International

God gives us all we need as He equips us to handle our new life in Him, doing what we can, with what we have, for His glory. Our talents come from God, not the university, and definetly not from this world. If we feel compelled to compete, that is a clue that there maybe an unloving spirit attacking us. The spiritual battle is inbetween our ears. Our Father says “listen” 412 times in the Bible. Our job is to be diligent to discern who we are listening to. The Accuser seeks to make us feel rejected, unworthy, or insignificant. Learning to be free from an unloving spirit requires looking beyond ourselves, and really hearing others. With discernment, we listen to those who have rejected us, and to those who boast of their great works. With a higher perspective, all those who may have preceeded before us, exceeded us, or ridculed, belittled and rejected us—we choose to genuinely admire or show great compassion. With mature spiritual discernment we have the ability to separate good from evil and the sin from the sinner. As we eagerly choose to encourage those who are excelling in service, we also choose to be careful who we listen to. Matthew 35:15 –Page 82 “Biblical Foundations for Freedom” by Art Mathais

The sin of Adam and Eve allowed Satan into this world. That day, Adam and Eve died spiritually to God. To be spiritually alive again, we ALL must be born again by His Spirit. With our new natures, we gain the power and the authourity to destroy the schemes of the devil as we crucify our flesh. What that means is that we rightly choose to say “NO” to our self-pleasing impulses. As reborn children of God, we become new creations “in Him”. As the apple of His eye, created in His image, we were fearfully and wonderfully made for His purpose– NOT– for our passions. He chose Paul to write us a letter that describes two different parts of self. Not only does sin spiritually blind us to our own faults, but we participate in the deception when we lack self-control or deny that we have sinned. It is easy to swindle ourselves into thinking that we are better than we are. The spiritual truth is that we will ALL humbly stand naked before God one day and be judged. Our Father knows all “I know your works: you are neither cold or hot.” Revelation 3:14 We are one way or the other. Tuned in, or not.

The law of sin at work in us, entices us to follow the desires of our flesh. However, God created us in His image. The miracle is, that the day we were BORN AGAIN, in His nature, we died to ourselves, that He may live through us. The inward man (our spirit), or our nature was freed or released from the prison of sin, guilt and shame. The OT was written on stone and God’s New Covenant is written on our mind and heart. Making the right choices today sets us apart in both this life and for eternity. Hold onto the faith you have been gifted, and rest in His unchanging words. “Perfect love casts out fear.” 1 John 4:18

The battle of good and evil is in our mind. God gave us the ability to choose good over evil. Romans 7:15-25 “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the (evil nature in me) law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is (my evil nature) sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.” Our hope rests on His promise of relief. None of us can earn or deserve being rescued. Out of His lavish love He called us by name and said “you are Mine.” We can be confident of our calling which is based entirely on His goodness, mercy, grace, love, purity and His holiness. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23

“For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do NOT do the good I want to do, (ie; eat protein, not sugar) but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I DO WHAT I do not want to do, (consume sugar) it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind (soul) and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.” Our Lord gave us the authority to cast out demons and rid ourselves of accusing spirits. “Behold the FORMER things (bitterness, pride, stubborness, selfishness, self-pity, defensiveness, unbelief, doubt, anger, unforgiveness, competition, envy, shame) have come to PASS (cruicified) >>> and NEW things >>> I NOW declare; before they spring forth — I tell you of them.” Isaiah 42:6-9 The Bible is full of promises already fulfilled!

If you have forgiven someone, yet memories resurface and resentment builds up into bitterness again, it is time to forgive 70 x 70. Satan fights us with all stealth to keep us from being set free. If we simply bury the root of bitterness, it will grow as Satan’s demons will water and fertilize it. “Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; test any root of bitterness.” Hebrews 12:14-17. Bitterness is one of Satan’s principalities which we are to FIGHT until DEATH. Unforgiveness; resentment; retaliation; anger; hatred; and violence emerge unless we pull out the ROOT of BITTERNESS and burn it. If we let bitterness fester it gets progressively worse. Bitterness is infectious, it is contagious to all. Spend time with someone who is angry and recounting all their offenses and you will be contaminated lest you guard your mind and heart. If we harbor bitterness, we will be tormented! We must forgive our debtors 70 X 70. The principle is that forgiveness needs to be the adopted attitude we enforce. “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” Matthew 18:35 The gut punch of this parable by Jesus is that unless we forgive, our own debt will be reinstated and we will be put in prison to be tormented. “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me (continuously) through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Put on ALL your armor and PRAY earnestly:

Dear heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus I repent for all the ways that I have accused others in my life and in my generations. I repent for all the times I have accused You God, and myself. I forgive myself and release myself from any anger towards You Father. I forgive and release myself from the root of bitterness, envy, jealousy, and resentment towards others. In the name of Jesus I cancel all of Satan’s authority over me. By the power You have given me, I command Satan and his accusing spirits to go! Holy Spirit, come and heal my mind and heart and speak truth to my inmost being. AMEN

Think of the names of those who have harmed you, hurt you, rejected you. Write those names down and ask the Holy Spirit to speak to your heart and release you from the pain. PRAY: In the name of Jesus, and as an act of my free will, I purpose and choose to forgive >>>>from my heart for what they did or said to me. In the name of the Lord Jesus, I cancel all debts and obligations to me from>>>>and I break and cancel Satan’s power over me in this memory, and the resulting pain. I hate the devil. I command that all the tormentors that have been assigned to me because of my unforgiveness to leave me now. In the name of Jesus, I command all bittnerness to go! Holy Spirit I welcome you into my heart to heal me of this pain and this hurt. Flood my mind and heart with the peace of God as words of truth replace all condemnation and bitterness. AMEN “Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels.” 2 Timothy 2:20-23 Speak Life

On our own, we can do nothing to keep our hearts pure. It is easy for the unloving spirit of bitterness to swell up and cause an intense desire for our talk to go beyond conversation into details of our past offenses. Our interaction with others reveals our motives as we seek to gain some advantage; pity, or envy for how we bear such burdens. Being full of envy, resentment, suspicion, or jealousy shows up in our conversations. We may covet someones joy, fine wardrobe, position, health or home when we innocently joke about how they are unaware of the poverty of our soul. “Let your conversations be without coveteousness.” Hebrews 13:5 In other words pay attention to what stirs within you when you are surrounded by people you may secretly envy. “Do your deed in secret and your Father >>>who sees in secret >>>your sacrifice of praise, will Himself reward you openly.” Mark 6:18 A GOOD DEED is when we are “quick to listen and slow to speak.” what is actually on our minds. Our Father gave us everything we need, we just need to receive all that He has for us and praise Him for He will finish the good work He intends for us.❤️ His Resource is sufficient and we choose self-discipline to bear His fruit. In this life we are tested by the decisions we make. If we choose to honor God with our trust and obedience, we think before we speak and act —- then we receive His blessings.

Wellspring in Mexico is a 7 day seminar that teaches church leaders to better counsel their flocks. The attendants come clean as the bride of Christ. With prayer partners, we recognize and confess any bitterness, self-hate, or compettion within the church. We are reminded that Jesus intercedes for our continued sanctification, however, we must do our part to confess in order to be set free from bitterness. The Holy Spirit — guides, teaches, heals and renews us. Biblical law is the high standard by which we desire to live. Praise God we are saved and renewed by His ongoing grace and mercies.

We are commanded to loose, or let go of all resentment, anger, hatred, unforgiveness by our Father who knows best. “Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 18:18 AMEN “In a large house (God’s Temple of the Holy Spirit) there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. Those who cleanse themselves from the latter (wood, hay, stubble) will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.” We are to attend to the Word of God; we walk in obedience as we incline our ear to His sayings. We choose to not allow the Word of God to depart from our eyes; we keep them in the midst of our hearts. For they are LIFE unto those who find them, and HEALTH to all their flesh. Proverbs 4:20-22

As we choose to serve God out of our best self, we live in the surrendered state which allows the Holy Spirit to manifest Himself through us and in ALL our relations. It is a choice to exhibit, to show off the Christ in us as we display the fruits of the Spirit to the watching world. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit all rolled into ONE are constantly at work in us. Oh Lord, help us to experience and reveal the nature of God to others: Love, Joy, peace, Longsuffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Virtue, Purity, Wisdom, Justice, Honesty, Fairness, Knowledge, Understanding, Grace, mercy, Excellence, Forgiveness, Compassion, Devotion and Truth. God issued mankind free will to choose to place great value in our intimate relationship with the Father. “Hallowed, be the name of God in my heart, mind and body. Change me O’ God, and forgive me. I choose to surrender my dreams, so that Thy will be done in me and through me to glorify You.”

July 30, 2023 is the 35th wedding anniversary of Pastor Gary and Lori Neighbor, and the 18th anniversary of serving God in Mexico at Abundant Life Church. God has a plan for us, and He fulfills our dreams in ways that are beyond our imagination! An excellent sermon about “Modified Dreams”. Matthew 20:20-28 Talk about Zebedee, his wife and two sons — and our boldest dream to store up treasures in heaven.