For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. Matthew 16:25 (NKJV) Sometimes we can get caught up in wanting to follow a “do-nothing gospel”—just enough of Jesus to give us fire insurance against going to hell. It’s true that you can give your life to Christ and keep doing whatever you were doing before, but it’s not the best way to live. The Bible teaches us that if we want the incredible life Jesus has for us, we have to follow Him in death. I know, that sounds pretty morbid and extreme. But you have to lose your old way of living. As a new creation, you need to let go of …

Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together. Psalm 34:3 (NKJV) If you look at an ant through a magnifying glass, it looks bigger. The magnifying glass doesn’t actually cause the ant to grow, but it looks like it did. The ant fills your view and you can see every detail. If you magnify God, it’s the same. You don’t make Him bigger by magnifying Him. But He can begin to fill your view. You can make Him a bigger part of your life. So how do you magnify God? Through your focus. What you give attention to will grow in your mind. David wanted to magnify God. He also shared how: I will bless the Lord at all times; …

For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. Colossians 3:3 (NLT) Elvis Presley died in 1977, yet some say they’ve seen him since. How can we explain this? Maybe they saw a look-alike or impersonator. Who knows? One thing is for sure though, every single sighting was an illusion. Elvis is gone. In the same way, your old nature is gone. If you’ve given your life to Christ, you’ve become a new creation. So why continue to live like the old you? Many Christians still think of themselves as that old self who has the same inability to overcome bad habits. They think they need to try to become good, but the more they try, the more …

The LORD appeared to me (Israel) from ages past, saying: I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with loving-kindness I have drawn you and continued my faithfulness to you. Jeremiah 31:3 (AMP) You need to know that God approves of you. Even if you had great parents who gave you tons of encouragement, you’ll sense something is missing if you don’t realize that God loves and believes in you. So, how do you know God approves of you? Let me give you an analogy. My dad passed away suddenly, several years ago. One of the last things he said to me was that he was proud of me. He was always cheering me on and telling me he believed in me. Now that …

Put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind…put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:22–24 (NKJV) In the past few days we’ve looked at how to fulfill your God-given potential. Today, I’d like to sum it all up: Get connected to God for an incredible life. The key to walking out your potential lies with staying connected to God. Now first let me clear something up. The key to change isn’t to analyze your past until you have everything figured out. Let’s think this through. Second Corinthians 5:17 teaches that you are a new creation. You weren’t …