As God has just ushered us into yet another year, its worthwhile to stop and think! Have you learnt something which will change the way you are going to conduct yourself in 2019 in order grow spiritually? Change of behaviour demonstrates that one has learnt something. Christians across the globe find this being a challenge; to change behaviours. Many people attend mountain prayers, others pray every day, others pray at different times in the night and others fast so many days but what remains unchanged is the way of thinking, and behaviours.

A very good example is in the word of God where we see the children of Israel witnessing the miracles of God who took them away from affliction of the Egyptians with His mighty hand. While they witnessed the miracles of God with their very own eyes, and actually, God taking them away from the oppression under the hand of Pharaoh and the task masters. This whole experience, although very extraordinary and miraculous, it did not change their way of thinking. This is evident when God called Moses to the mountain where he went and stayed for some time. The bible teaches that the children of Israel asked Aaron to make a god because they didn’t know what had happened to Moses, he had not returned.

Although they were out of Egypt and God had wanted them to have a new way of thinking and to know that they now needed to worship God and to believe and trust in Him, their minds were still the same and their way of thinking was still the same (which I may call traditional way of thinking). This is evident because it was very common for people in Egypt those days to worship an image, such as a calf.

This follows that although the Israelites where out of Egypt physically, but their mindset and thought process was still based on Egyptian life style and experience. This is the greatest challenge which Christians face whereby they cannot be transformed into a new way of thinking, despite experiencing the power of God or evening testifying the hand of God.

So in the above illustration, the Israelites where more satisfied in the god they could see (the calf) more than the God they could not see (The almighty God). I repeat, this remains the challenge for many Christians. 2 Cor 5:7 (KJV), For we walk by faith, not by sight. I am sure you hear many people declaring this statement!  But the reality in most cases is contrary. The God we don’t see is much more powerful than the challenges we face or things which we rely on.

Has this passage challenged your thinking? Yes it should!, because this year!, it is a year of breaking the bondage, yes , the year of breaking the bondage of traditional ways of thinking. We should not be thinking in traditional ways because this will keep us in bondage. Gal 2:20 (GNT), so that it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. This life that I live now, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave his life for me.

Welcome to our theme of the year; breaking the bondage of traditional ways of thinking, based on above scripture. If you were bought by the blood of Jesus Christ, your thinking should be different; your conduct should be different because it’s not you who live anymore but rather, it’s Christ who now lives in you. Challenge your ways of thinking and open abundance of opportunities.

I wish you a very happy new year!

Be blessed.

Bishop Farai