MIND OF CHRIST MINISTRIES, INC.
PASTOR THOMAS E. OGLESBY
P.O. BOX 85
NUTLEY, NEW JERSEY 07110
website: mindofchristministries.net
Phone: 973-818-2750
e-mail: mindofchrist@verizon.net
January 2024
“Your Goals & Dreams Can Be Accomplished Through Christ”
Dear Believer(s):
I have started off the year talking about being spiritually strong in order to receive God’s promises, blessings, and miracles. I and others have verbalized that we want this year to be the greatest year of goals and dreams being accomplished in our lives. It cannot be just talk. Faith, action, obedience, and giving are all keys to receiving God’s best. Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
The devil has laid many traps for God’s people. Complacency, lack of faith, following our Soulish Realm, (mind, will and emotions) and being led by our (5) five senses (hear, see, smell, taste, and touch). If you are not putting God first in your life daily, you will not achieve your dreams and goals. As a matter of fact, you will be derailed by the enemy. You open one door, and surely the devil will find a way to come in to discourage you, to sabotage you, and to steal your blessings, your dreams, and goals. Instead of going forward, you will go backwards, and you will lose your spiritual power.
The devil can be relentless, and he will not Easily give up territory that he has held for a long time. He will deceive you. But We can have the Victory and accomplish our Goals and Dreams.
I believe that there is no shortage in God’s economy or in His blessings or miracles or promises that He has for us. God has not fallen off the throne. However, I must tell you this. God doesn’t waste the harvest. He does not randomly send harvest upon the earth, and harvest does not come to fields in which no seeds have been planted.
God responds to the Sower. Just as the farmer, by faith invests in seed and places it in the ground and believes for a harvest, you and I must do the same.
There is a difference between God loving you and God blessing you. His love is unconditional, but His blessings are conditional. In other words, God loves you and me because of who we are, but what we do for Him and for others is what it takes to activate His blessings in our lives.
God’s love for us is not dependent on whether we are obedient or not. The Bible tells us in John 3:16. “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”. Romans 5:8. says, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
So you see, you and I did not initiate His love for us. However, when we accept that love and make Jesus the Lord of our lives, it’s you and I who can choose to initiate the miracles that happen in our lives. Isaiah 1:19 says, “If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land.” And we read in Deuteronomy 28:1-2, “And it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God.”
Miracles don’t just happen. They are not determined by chance or fate, and luck certainly has nothing to do with them. Miracles are not random acts of kindness from a God who is unpredictable. God responds to your faith. You and I are the ones who release His miracle power into our lives and into our decisions by our participation with His blessing plan. Our expectation and our faith in God’s plan can release His miracles into our lives. We are not just puppets on a string. You and I have been given the freedom to participate in our own future. And according to God’s Word there has never been a better time for you to choose His miracle plan for your life than right now. Now is the time of God’s favor; “Now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2)
Jesus has always seen satan as the author of sickness and disease, and the one who comes only to steal, kill and destroy. (John 10:10) He (Jesus) went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed. (Troubled, Broken, Burdened) of the devil, for God was with him. (Acts 10:38) Jesus never turned away from any act of faith, and nothing has changed. And we know from 3 John 2 that He wants us to be in health and prospering, In every area of our life. Spirit, soul, and body. “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health even as thy soul prospereth.”
I believe that God has a time and a place for our miracle. Whether it’s a miracle in your body, in your emotions, in your family life or in your finances. Jesus went to the cross and gave himself as a sacrifice for us. Jesus exchanged His righteousness for our sin, and He stripped the devil of his authority to rule in our lives. Our Salvation, Our Peace of Mind and Our Healing has already been bought and paid for. So now it’s time to act on what we already have, in Christ. So, let’s just pause for a moment and think about these very powerful words from Isaiah 53:5. “But he (Jesus) was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, and the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed.”
In light of all that Jesus has provided for us, let’s believe and expect His bountiful goodness and blessings this year.
There is a secret to making your dreams come true. There is a secret to receiving everything you need and want from the Lord. This word is especially for people that are only dreaming about having good things and are not receiving the good things in their hands.
A dreamer many times has had dreams of owning a new car, a new house, good clothes, and money in his pocket. But all of these things have stayed locked up in his mind. You see, the devil has put a chain on his brain. All he has ever done and ever will do is just dream of the good things he could have. He will never have them, because he will never get them out of his mind, and into his hands.
Now think about this. You don’t have to be an alcoholic or a beggar for the devil to chain your mind and lock up your thinking. The first place that you receive something is in your mind. You start thinking about it. This is the first step. To get healed, if you are sick, you must start thinking about getting healed. You say to yourself, “God can and will heal me.” If you are lost, you start thinking about getting saved. If you are bound by poverty, you start thinking about prosperity. Often, we limit God through our thinking! Little thoughts are like little vessels. Big thoughts are like big vessels.
I have spiritual excitement in my heart today! Now how could I say this with all the things that are happening all around us in the world today. I can say it because God is bigger. God is bigger than inflation. God is bigger than gas prices. God is bigger than anything the devil can throw at us. The Bible says in 1John 4:4, “Because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”
How can this be? “How can we believe this?” I will tell you how. We can believe it because of our faith. Faith is the substance of what you’re hoping for, it’s the assurance, it’s the title deed of what we are believing for. (Hebrews 11:1)
We already have the faith we need. We were born with it. The Bible says. In Romans, the 12th chapter, the third verse, “That God has given us the measure of faith.” It is in us. Now, Let’s use it to bring all our dreams into reality. “For nothing is impossible with God.” (Mark 9:23)
Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Are the words we speak out of our mouths really that important that they determine whether we experience life or death? Yes! They are. The scripture that I’ve just mentioned is from Proverbs 18:21. It is a very powerful statement, and many Christians don’t place a lot of emphasis on it. King Solomon, who is believed to have written most of the Proverbs, also stated in chapter 16, verse 24, “Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.” When the writer speaks of the power of the tongue containing life or death, he’s speaking to the quality of life. The abundance and goodness of life. The self-fulfilling prophecy we are speaking over ourselves every day which produces either life or death.
Let’s look at our faith again. Did you know that everything that happens in your life, happens because of your faith? Let me explain to you just how your Faith works. Paul teaches us, “Faith is the substance of things you are hoping for, but also the evidence of these same things you don’t see.” (Hebrews 11:1) First: The Holy Spirit asks, “What are you hoping for?” A new house? (Debt Free) A new car? A loving Christian companion? Your own business? A healthy body and Peace of Mind? All your debts paid and money in the bank. Well, this is the first step of faith. What you hope for kicks your faith into gear! Then, your faith must paint a clear picture in your mind of what you want. (hope for)
Maybe at first you can’t see it happening, but you have it pictured in your mind! That’s called evidence! Paul says, “Evidence of things not seen by the natural eye!” This is where the second step of your faith kicks in. Your faith Becomes a powerful spiritual magnet and starts drawing those things into your life you’re hoping for! You see, what’s happening is you have given your faith a definite target to shoot at. Miracles don’t accidentally happen!
Remember this; Real happiness and contentment starts in your mind. It’s all in how you look at things. You can complain about where you work or Thank God today you still have a job. You can fuss about mowing your lawn or Thank God you still have a house and yard. You can get angry at the price of gas or Thank God you at least have a car!
Child of God, remember this; Sometimes God’s ways and methods are puzzling, illogical, and just don’t make sense to the human mind. But they seem to have a strange way of working! Isaiah 55:8-9 says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
In pursuing our goals and dreams, please realize this one thing, just because God doesn’t answer our prayers, doesn’t mean that He hasn’t heard them. Sometimes the greatest answer He can give us is an unanswered prayer. God knows and sees things that will help us or hurt us better than we do! Also, His answer is not always yes or no. Sometimes it’s just, keep still, not yet.
As you strive to accomplish your dreams and goals, don’t allow the little flies and daily problems to sidetrack you and lose sight of where you’re going! No, no! As you grow in the Lord and get a little older, you finally reach the place where you realize many things that seemed so important at one time, are just not that important anymore. This doesn’t mean you’ve become hard-hearted and don’t care. It simply means you have grown in the Spirit. You see, as God elevates you to “Higher Spiritual Levels” many times your goals and priorities change.
Our obedience to God’s instructions will increase our faith and allow us to walk down new pathways we have never walked before. Our faith in God can and will enable us to accomplish our goals and dreams.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose birthday we celebrated on January 15, spoke with some frequency during his years of ministry of putting on the “weapon of Love.” Responding to those who resisted the emerging civil rights movement, Dr. King, asserted, “We will counter your force with soul force, we will match your ability to hate with our ability to love.” And Dr. King reminded us that at the heart of Jesus’s life and message is the call to be peacemakers and reconcilers. Violence, said Dr. King again and again, “never brings permanent peace. It solves no social problems; It merely creates new and more complicated ones.”
We live in a world thirsty for this gospel of peace. With Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and with Jesus before him, we need to announce with integrity, the old law of an eye, for an eye, leaves everyone blind. It is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than on love. It destroys the community. Violence ends by defeating itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers.”
Only Jesus can give us peace. We can have peace in every storm that we face. Why? Because we have the Holy Spirit or the Spirit of peace living on the inside of us. Look what Jesus says to us in John 14:27 (AMP), “Peace I leave with you; My [perfect] peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid. [Let My perfect peace calm you in every circumstance and give you courage and strength for every challenge.]”
We have the Holy Spirit leading us, guiding us, empowering us and the peace of Jesus to enable us to accomplish all of our God given goals and dreams. We may have detours, difficulties, and delays but with the power of God’s Spirit in us, we can be successful in obtaining our goals and dreams. Jesus said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10) The Bible tells us in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
Let us pray, “Dear God, thank you for all the ways you have blessed us before. As we walk in obedience to your will this year, we know that your blessings will overtake us. We praise and glorify you. We pray in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen!”
Thank you for your prayers and financial support of this ministry.
With Love & Bountiful Blessing,
Thomas Oglesby
Pastor Thomas E. Oglesby
