We are soldiers in God’s army! 2 Timothy 2:3-4 says, “You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him.”

The affairs of this life are aptly described in James 4:4 says, “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

Wow. What a line of demarcation! When we are entangled in the godless systems of this world, we cannot effectively fight in God’s kingdom. Nor, according to Hebrews 12:1, can we run with the kind of endurance we need to resist the magnetic pull of the world’s entrapments.

Here is my personal illustration of entanglements. Several years ago I was walking towards the house from my garden. My arms were loaded with veggies. I took a step off the lawn onto the cement walkway that leads to the stairs. As I stepped down, I felt something around my ankle. I looked down. Remember I don’t DO snakes. There was a snake right where I stepped (it wasn’t in my sight as I approached the house). I was instantly entangled. I worked frantically to get away from it as much as it worked to get away from me.

What has entangled you? What are you trapped in emotionally? What do you turn to when you are stressed? In the wee hours of this morning I had a great experience. I think I was awake, but I might have been dreaming. I rode on waves of His love as I sang His character to Him. It wasn’t me. I was being led by the Holy Spirit. The whole experience caused my body to relax in a deeper way, without me doing anything.

That is the power of being still in His Presence. I want to encourage you (and me) that the next time we feel stressed, we stop and acknowledge He is there. Right now our nation is in danger. We are soldiers, so this is a call to arms. Our greatest weapon is through ambush praying. I invite you to join me and countless others who are praying 2 Chronicles 7:14 at 7:14 PM. That is a strategic ambush.

Joshua 8 is the fall of the city Ai. How did it happen? Joshua, their commanding officer, sent 30,000 mighty men of valor to lie in ambush. They had to be very attentive. They could not afford to be distracted by anything that would entangle them. They had to be ready to move out at Joshua’s silent signal. Can you just imagine their attentiveness? 

Verse 18 the Lord told Joshua to stretch out his spear toward Ai. The second he did that, verse 19 says, “So those in ambush arose quickly out of their place…” They entered Ai, took it, and set it on fire. Note that they were watching their leader for when to act, so that they could carry out the assignment he gave them.

We have a strategic assignment. 2 Timothy 4:2 says, “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season…” We are in a season of unprecedented war. The only hope of this nation is through the gospel. Pray for opportunities to share the truth of the cross. Pray for revival, not only for our nation but worldwide. 

Nahum 2:1 says, “He who scatters has come up before your face. Man the fort! Watch the road! Strengthen your flanks! Fortify your power mightily.” Our fortifying strength comes from our intimate communion with the Lord. It is in our quiet time that He speaks to our heart. He reveals our hidden entanglements so that we can be free to serve our Commanding Officer.

I was thinking about the full circle of Joseph’s life. He was Rachel’s first son but Jacob’s eleventh. Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin his twelfth. Joseph loved Benjamin, but they were separated for years. Though God showed Joseph his future ministry, His word was tested through Joseph’s trials. Every adverse situation Joseph went through was divinely orchestrated. God’s timing is always impeccable. What He speaks to your heart today will be tested. 

I want you to picture a circle. Start at the top, go around the circle to your right, then come back to the top. Now picture the circle of your life through Philippians 1:6. It says, “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Let’s compare this word to us through the eyes of Joseph’s life’s trials.

In Genesis 50:20 we see the full circle of Joseph’s life. It says, “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.” Joseph was united with his family, and closed his father’s eyes when he died. Just before Joseph died he gave the children of Israel a promise. Verse 25 says, “…God will surely visit you, and you shall carry my bones up from here.”

Our nation is in a fiery trial. We must remember that He began a good work when He brought the folks in the Mayflower. He established the foundation of one nation under God. What He has begun He will complete. We must keep our eyes on Him. Hebrews 12:1 says that as we run our race, we must cast off all entanglements and hindrances. We do that through focus. Verse 2 says, “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

The Author (what He has begun), and Finisher (completed) of our faith. Our faith is being tested right now. Will we continue to believe that what God has begun He will complete? What is warring against your faith? Is it what you hear or see? 2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “For we walk by faith, not be sight.” 1 Peter 1:8 says, “Whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.”

Jesus endured the cross because His focus was on the joy set before Him. His joy are those who were redeemed through His shed blood. The moment we first believed unto salvation, we entered into this proving of our faith. Think back to when you were first saved. What was your first trial? It was designed to expose any hidden dross that would undermine your confession. He still purifies His words to us through our trials. He doesn’t change even though our circumstances do. He remains the same. 2 Timothy 2:13 says, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.” We only waver when the hidden dross of doubt, fear, or unbelief rises to cloud our vision of Him.

Our heart is our belief center. What we believe affects our health. I want to take you back to the story of Jacob and his sons. When his sons presented Joseph’s coat of many colors to him, he made a wrong assumption. Here are his words in Genesis 37:35, “…I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning…”

Fast forward to when the sons told Jacob that Joseph was alive. Genesis 45:26 Amplified says, “…And Jacob’s heart began to stop beating and (he almost) fainted, for he did not believe them.”

Verse 27 Amplified says, “…the spirit of Jacob their father revived (and warmth and life returned).” Bad news and good news, both caused  emotional upheaval that affected Jacob’s physical heart.

Now let’s go to the story of Nabal and his wife Abigail. You can read the whole story in 1 Samuel 25:2-42. Verse 3 says that Nabal was harsh and evil in his doings. Verse 36 says that Nabal was holding a feast in his house, and that his heart was merry because he was very drunk. When Abigail told Nabal the next morning what she had done, verse 37 says, “…that his heart died within him, and he became like a stone.” Ten days later the Lord killed him.

Here is a true account, which I have permission to share. It took place in 1991. I lived in community with two married couples and another single. Dave was an angry man. He kept every offense in his heart. He could recount every detail, and he was full of bitterness.

Our pastor had met with Dave and his wife to talk to Dave about his unforgiveness. Dave left that meeting saying that he would think about it. We had a house meeting, and Dave was told that they would have to move because his anger was out of control. 

Ten days after that meeting, this is what happened. It was early in the morning before any of us were up. Dave asked his wife if he woke her up. He said that he was having chest pains. She turned to ask if he wanted her to call an ambulance, and his last breath whooshed out of him.

The ER doctor asked me about Dave’s health. I told him that the week before they had gone on a long hike, and that he was very strong and healthy. I’ll never forget his words. He said, “His veins are like cement.”

I bring you back to Nabal and Abigail. Verse 2 said of Abigail, “…And she was a woman of good understanding and beautiful appearance…” Abigail did not let Nabal’s evil character affect her heart.

This is so key for all of us. We are responsible for our thoughts, and we alone are in control of them. Negative thoughts against yourself, others, or your circumstances affect your physical heart.

This passage does not use the word heart. It described the inner defilement from sinful thoughts. Acts 8:22 says, “Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.” Peter further disclosed this man’s hidden sin. Verse 23 says, “For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.” 

My friend Dave was poisoned by years of bitterness. He was so full of bitterness, there was no room for any more, and his heart turned to stone. The next morning after Dave died, we were clearing out his things. There by his side of the bed was a stack. His shoes were on the bottom, and his clean underwear and socks were on the top. When he went to bed that night, he expected to get up and dress as usual. Let his story be a lesson to all of us to deal with heart-issues as they come up.

Joseph was 17 when the Lord gave him two dreams. Each spoke about something that would happen 13 years later. Psalm 105:17-19 says, “He sent a man before them—Joseph—who was sold as a slave. They hurt his feet with fetters, he was laid in irons. Until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him.”

Joseph was imprisoned because of a false accusation. He paid the penalty of another’s sin against him. Joseph is a type of Jesus, as He who knew no sin, took our place.

Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” An archer who misses the bulls eye ‘falls short’ of the target. Sin is missing the mark.

At salvation, we are set free from sin’s condemnation. We are forgiven  all of our past, present, and future sins. Galatians 5:1 says, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.”

I want to remind you that our thoughts precede our actions. We have the opportunity to turn away sinful thoughts before we actually take that step into sin.

Isaiah 5:13 says, “Therefore My people have gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge…” Hosea 4:6 says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…” 

There are consequences when we resist the law of gravity. There are also consequences when we resist God’s law, by not making personal application. Exodus 15:26 says, “…If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.”

Here are seven sin-areas that affect our health if we engage in them: envy, guilt, lust, anger, bitterness, fear, and greed. God’s word speaks to each of these issues. All seven are spiritual roots to disease.

We are created to fully function from birth to death so that we might glorify the Lord. Isaiah 43:7 says, “Everyone who is called by My name, whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him.”

The burden of health lies within us—our heart’s reservoir. It is not our circumstances, nor our genes, but our choices in our thought processes. Our choices in how we engage or resist each temptation to sin, affects every aspect of our lives.

John 8:36 says, “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” That is our positional standing in Christ. However, our state is a work in progress through our sanctification which is a process!

We alone are responsible for our thoughts. No one, nor any circumstance has control over our thoughts. That is why WE are to bring every thought captive. No one can do it for us. That said, we need to remember that our thoughts come from our heart. Matthew 12:34 says that we speak from the overflow. It is like having a full glass of water. When you pour more water into it, it overflows.

David understood this. Psalm 19:12-13 says, “Who can understand his error? Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me, then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent  of great transgression.” This is a verse that I pray every day. Let it become part of your arsenal.

 
About face! is a military word. It means to turn so as to face the opposite direction. We need to incorporate this when a rogue thought pops up. We do this by taking that thought in the opposite direction. Let me illustrate. Ephesians 4:26 says, “Be angry, and do not sin: do not let the sun go down on your wrath.”

The moment we feel anger, we have two choices. We can carry out that thought in our minds, or we can about face! before it becomes sin. I love this verse in the Amplified. Proverbs 29:11 says, “A (self-confident) fool utters all his anger, but a wise man holds it back and stills it.” 

Proverbs 25:15 Amplified says, “By long forbearance and calmness of spirit a judge or ruler is persuaded, and soft speech breaks down the most bonelike resistance.” This is how, when we start to spew angry words, we can about face! We hold back our angry thoughts before they become angry words. We take off the anger and put on, as Colossians 3:12 says, “…tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another…”

James 1:20 says, “For the wrath of man does not promote the righteousness of God.” Our countenance reveals what is in our heart. Our heart thoughts affect our health. A heart filled with anger is a set up for cardiovascular disease: stroke, heart attack are malfunctions with spiritual roots.

Here are a few verses about facial expressions; telltale signs of a heart. Joseph was the keeper at the prison. He knew his fellow prisoners well. One morning he noticed that they were sad (Genesis 40:6). Nehemiah served the king his wine. Nehemiah 2:2 says, “…Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart…” Watch this expression. Daniel 3:19 says, “Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the expression on his face changed…” 

Let’s go to Psalm 34:5 which says, “They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces were not ashamed.” This is another about face! When we begin to think negative, we can instantly turn to the Lord through our thoughts. This is a most amazing piece of armor that we have in our arsenal. Focus! We are in control of who or what we focus on.

Let me leave you with the priestly prayer. Numbers 6:24-26 says, “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.”

David wrote many Psalms that give us glimpses of his emotions. Psalm 31 is so picturesque. Verse 9 says, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble; my eye wastes away with grief, yes, my soul and my body!” Did you notice how his physical being was attached to his spiritual being? Verse 10 says it was because of his iniquity. His words are graphic. Do you ever sigh? What does sighing indicate?

Verse 10 says, “For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my iniquity, and my bones waste away.” Do your bones ever ache? David wrote Psalm 51 after he sinned with Bathsheba. Verse 8 says, “Make me hear joy and gladness, that the bones You have broken may rejoice.”

Years ago the Holy Spirit gave me a new song that really instructed my heart. It helped me understand the mind and body connection. Here it is in its entirety. It is called Rejoicing Bones.

When I thought about my circumstances I became gloomy inside. My heart was getting heavy and my peace destroyed.Then in Your Word You revealed the secret of health. My bones are affected when my heart is in despair.

You said renew your mind. Rejoice in Me. I change not. There’s no shadow in Me. No matter what happens I remain the same.

So I turned my gaze from what was dragging me down. I looked to You my victorious One. My heart began to rise like yeast in dough and my mouth opened in song.

In You I can rejoice. For You are my strength. I look away from sin to the spotless Lamb. All my sins are cleansed in Your precious blood. My heart sings through a rush of love. Yes my heart is filled with joy in You that nothing can destroy. I rejoice in You my eternal strength. My joy is full when I look to You.

When our emotions drag us down it affects  our health. Psalm 100 is a Psalm of thanksgiving. Verse 3 brings everything in our lives back into right perspective. It says, “Know that the Lord, He is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.” What does our Good Shepherd do? Psalm 23:2-3 says that He makes us lie down in green pastures, He takes us to still waters, and He restores our soul.

Our soul is our mind, will, and emotions. Think of it as a braid: our mind leads off, and our will and emotions follow. When your emotions plummet, what do you do first? Who or what you turn to in an indication of your heart’s belief about yourself. The Lord taught me years ago to ask myself this question when I am overwrought. ‘What do you believe about yourself right now?’ Our emotions are signals of what is inside. Emotions are like a thermometer. They take our ‘internal’ temperature. They fluctuate or ebb and flow. They help us recognize that there can be spiritual roots to disease.

Have you ever gotten stuck with negative thoughts in your mind? Have you ever rehearsed something from your past over and over?  Have you ever created scenes in your mind of what a conversation might look like? According to what I have heard about brain health, that would explain mind-ruts.

The neuro connections that we repeat over and over, fire together and wire together in a solid neuro connection. Ugh. I remember back in 1975. I would put my hands on both sides of my head and yell ‘stop’ because my mind kept circling the wagons. It was a horrible time for me. In those days I knew nothing about stress and health. I was boiling in a cauldron of stress at work. It took its toll.

Futile thoughts are like the hamster in the wheel. All the frenzied activity is for nought. Rehearsing a negative dialogue is a destructive form of meditation. It is satan’s counterfeit of the secret dialogue of biblical meditation. It would definitely affect our brain’s function in a negative way, and certainly in our brain’s communication to our body.

Ephesians 4:23 Amplified says, “And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind (having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude).” This is God’s RX to gain freedom from anxiety produced depression. Depression reduces neuroplasticity. We can change this downward trajectory by rewiring new pathways through mind renewal, and community. Our brain needs stimulation through music, reading, games, nutrition, and social interaction.

Watch how Asaph reversed his depression. Psalm 77:2 said that his soul refused to be comforted. Verse 3 said that his soul complained and his spirit was overwhelmed. Verse 6 says, “I call to remembrance my song in the night; I meditate within my heart, and my spirit makes diligent search.” Verse 10 says, “And I said, This is my anguish; but I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.” Verse 12 I will also meditate on all Your work, and talk of Your deeds.”

We exercise our brain by retraining it. We build our brain’s capacity by challenging it. Memorizing a verse takes repetition. Each time we say it, we are creating and strengthening new pathways. Our brain recognizes the change and saves it. I have verses wired in from my childhood. 

Proverbs 17:22 says, “A merry heart does good like medicine…” Proverbs 15:13 says, “A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance…” We upgrade from depressed to cheerful when we ‘wire’ in His word, and then meditate on it in our heart. Our heart is our belief center. We disconnect the old, as we wire in the new. Since meditation lowers cortisol, it radically improves our health. 

Psalm 119 has eight verses about meditating on God’s word. Psalm 4:4 says, “Be angry, and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still.” Meditating exercises our heart and our brain. Joshua 1:8 says that meditating brings success and prosperity. Psalm 1:3 says that it will cause us to be like a tree, drinking in the life-flow of pure water. We will bear abundant fruit for His glory, and whatever we do will prosper.

Inflammatory disease is on the rise worldwide. Why? We are what we think and eat. I have been gathering strategic scientific information that I want to share with you from a biblical perspective. Psalm 103:5 says, “Who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagles.” We can take this two ways. God gives us His word to put into our mouths. He also gives us good, natural foods to enhance our health.

Here is a verse that I have known and have used in counseling for many years. However, this morning the Holy Spirit opened my understanding through my gathering. Proverbs 12:25 says, “Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression…” The second part of the verse is God’s RX. It says, “…but a good word makes it glad.” 

Our brain does not distinguish between real or perceived fear. Therefore any fear causes our brain to send out fight or flight signals to our body. Our body instantly responds with an increase of adrenaline. Our heart rate goes up, our breathing increases, and our digestive system slows or stops. Continual fear causes chronic stress. Stress increases cortisol which produces inflammation. Inflammation causes our brain to degenerate. Here is what neuroscientists have recently discovered about the gut connection and the brain. A healthy gut, which is also part of our immune system, produces feel good neurotransmitters like serotonin. 

This is my paraphrase of the above verse. Anxiety, fear, and worry are stressors. They increase cortisol. which causes inflammation, which decreases the feel good neurotransmitters. Depression is the fruit. As an aside, COVID produces inflammatory bacteria in the gut at an exponential rate. Regular exercise offsets inflammation, and keeps our immune system robust.

Here is God’s RX for inflammation. Meditating in God’s word offsets stress. Meditating is part of renewing our mind. The word, neurogenesis, is what neuroscientists have coined for the creation of new brain cells. I have this verse on my refrigerator. I often stop and read it. Psalm 139:14 TPT says, “I thank You, God, for making me so mysteriously complex! Everything You do is marvelously breathtaking. It simply amazes me to think about it! How thoroughly You know me, Lord!”

When we renew our mind through Scripture, we make new neuro connections. What fires together wires together. I copied this for you: neurons in the brain adapt during the learning process, a mechanism which is called neuronal plasticity. Our brain is a marvelous creation. Even if you have numerous toxic connections in your brain, you can change them! As we rehearse a verse over and over and meditate about it, we are building new neuro connections. What we think affects our health either negatively or positively.

Here is a great verse to meditate on if you are given to anxiety, fear, or worry. Isaiah 26:3 says, “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” You can meditate on perfect, then peace. By connecting your two meditations, you have caused your brain to fire together so it can wire together. The next time you feel anxious, the Holy Spirit will instantly bring up this verse and calm your brain before it can send out fight or flight signals. We truly are fearfully and wonderfully made!

In Luke 14:28-33 Jesus explained what He meant by counting the cost. Verse 27 says, “And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” Then He gave two illustrations for counting the cost. One intending to build a tower, and a king going to make war. Then He challenged them with His words in verse 33. “So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.” As I thought about what He means by forsaking all, this acrostic popped into my mind.

Simply

Engaging

Lustful

Flesh

That brought me to question myself. What am I clinging to that I need to forsake? Here is another question. What clings to me that I have not shaken off? What am I sowing without counting the cost?

Twice in the Luke passage He addressed being His disciple. My immediate verse about being His disciple goes to John 15. Verse 8 says, “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” Now let’s couple that with John 8:31-32. It says, “…If you abide in My word, you are my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

Let me highlight my recap of one piece of disciple-evidence. As we abide in God’s word it becomes our experiential truth. It is the abiding that bears much fruit which glorifies the Father. Intimate communion (abiding) is enveloped in love that nourishes our whole being. He communicates to our heart which affects our belief system.

Have you counted the cost lately? I listened to some leading neuroscientists talk about the brain. Neuro connections are key to mental health. Bitterness drips acid on connections that erode them. Negative dialogue creates toxicity. Our brains are so masterfully created! We need to be good stewards of what the Lord has given us.

James 4:17 says, “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” 2 Corinthians 10:5 says to take every thought captive. When we disobey, we are in sin. Sin blocks heart to Heart communication. The Lord is pure and holy. We purify our heart when we hide His word in it. Psalm 12:6 says, “The words of the Lord are pure words…” 

Matthew 5:8 Amplified says, “Blessed (happy, enviably fortunate, and spiritually prosperous–possessing the happiness produced by the experience of God’s favor and especially conditioned by the revelation of His grace, regardless of their outward circumstances) are the pure in heart, for they shall see God!

Let me take my paga in another direction. Are you a self seeder when you are overwhelmed? David was. 1 Samuel 30 is a great chapter to glean personal application from. This is how I picture it in my mind. David and his men were exhausted. As they began to climb the last hill towards Ziklag, they knew that they were almost home. They crested the hill and saw their town was burned and there was no one around. Verse 4 says that they, “…lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep.” Can you relate?

What would you have done? Since David was the leader, his men turned against him. They were going to stone him! In the light of that understanding verse 6 says, “…But David strengthened himself in the Lord.” David was a self seeder. His relationship with the Lord sustained him through this cataclysmic event.

When you are overwhelmed, what do you do? Are you a self seeder? Do you have His propagating seed in your heart? If Psalm 61:1-2 was hidden in your heart it would give you inner strength. The Holy Spirit would bring it to your mind and sustain you with it. It says, “Hear my cry, O God; attend to my prayer. From the end of the earth I will cry to You, when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”

Psalm 18:1-3 gives us a glimpse into David’s self seeder relationship with the Lord. It says, “I will love You, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies.”

Isaiah 55:10-11 says, “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” He is our Seed-Provider through His word.

When we hide God’s word in our heart it becomes a reservoir for the Holy Spirit to draw from. Jeremiah 1:11 says that God watches over His word to perform it. The Hebrew word for watches means: anticipating the return of fruit, alert, diligent. He loves His word that is hidden in our heart. He often uses it when He intercepts us with a paga.

 
Evil thoughts (Matthew 15:19) self seed. They are like weed seeds that propagate in the garden of our heart. They choke out His word. We have to be diligent to overcome evil with good. I encourage you to watch what you are self seeding. You will reap what kind of seed you sow. Back to my ‘paga’ flower. The old made ready for the new. Renewing our mind with truth that will set us free and keep us free, causes the old to fall off and the new to self sow.