And this scripture of course, took them all the way back to Deuteronomy 6. And this was God speaking in Deuteronomy chapter 6 to Moses. He said, you shall speak them in thine heart and teach them to your children.

And of course, we will find the Ten Commandments, which all of this is a spinoff from, in Deuteronomy chapter 5, where, starting at verse 6, God told the children of Israel, I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of Egypt. And then began to give them the Ten Commandments.

So we thank the Lord for His Word. We are to observe His Word, and we are to do it. And we need to be reminded, because Pastor Rod said yesterday, sometimes we suffer from spiritual amnesia. How many times in God’s Word, He said over and over, Remember, remember, remember.

Pastor Rod said that our love and our dedication to the Lord should be an ongoing conversation that is woven into the fabric of our lives. You know, we talk about this old garment. It’s not just the clothes we wear. It’s the inner man. And we talk about putting off the garment of heaviness for the spirit of praise, putting on the spirit of praise, and we have a garment.

It’s not that outer garment, but it’s that inner garment, and loving the Lord with this kind of love needs to be woven into the very fabric of our lives. So, you know, we start at salvation and it’s being woven. This is an ongoing process throughout all our lives. It’s not just something we think about, but it’s something that we live.

So he said that love is an action word. In other words, if I say to you that I love you, there should be some outworking. There should be some evidence. There should be some kind of demonstration that I truly love you, not just with my lips.

We should love God with all, with the everything, everything. We love Him with all our hearts, and with all our souls, and with all our minds.

And then, as yesterday’s message was about a life shift, which is this shift, which is the theme for Pastor Rod’s messages in this year of 2026. So we want not just the shift on a Sunday morning going to the altar where we feel like we could never sin again. When we go to the altar we have those holy moments, but this is about a life—everyday life, everyday life.

And let me tell you, this morning, before some of us faced the rising sun, some of you will need to exercise this life shift, because sometimes you may live with family members—that may be contrary. Sometimes we have where there may be an unequal yoke and it’s hard to agree, because we are not always on the same page, or our children that may be contrary. But nevertheless, we have to exercise love and restraint and long suffering and all those kinds of things, right?

And let me tell you something. The father of the prodigal son, in Luke chapter 15 the father knew what it was to exercise love and restraint. This was a young man, and no doubt his will was contrary to his father’s will, and he wanted to get his inheritance and hit the highway.

And we see that even with some of our children. They would love to have their inheritance now, and many of them, whether or not they get it, they have their credit card and go on out into that far country. But there’s something about life that lets you know very quickly the people that you thought were your friends, after they’ve helped you spend all your money and helped you dig into your resources, are nowhere to be found when you find yourself in a very hard place.

So, you know, our Pastor reminded us of Joshua, where Joshua spoke to the children of Israel, and said to them, if it seems evil for you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom you shall serve. Thank God, we’ve made that decision to serve the Lord. And that’s maybe something we say to our children. You have to make a choice. You have to make a choice, because one day we will all stand before God. The time for making the choice will be over.

Therefore, 2 Corinthians 10:5, says, we destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and we have to bring into captivity our minds. Many times, our minds are fighting against the spirit and the flesh. There’s warfare going on right in our minds.

You have to make a mental decision to cast some things out of your mind. Don’t let them lodge in your mind. David said, I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. And further on in that Psalm, it says, O taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.

Bishop Caesar Senior would often say, You cannot prevent the birds from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from making a nest. So that means that when the thought comes—as they will come—we cast them aside. You know, shoo them away in the name of Jesus.

So no matter what happens in our lives, as Pastor mentioned yesterday, Colossians 3:1-2 if you have been raised with Christ—if, at the beginning of that verse, if—so he said, that is for those who have been born again, those who have been sanctified—we are to seek.

So that means it’s a decision. There’s work for us to do. We have to seek the things that are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God, and we are to set our minds on things above, not on things on the earth.

Therefore, there are some things we must put to death. It says, put to death your members which are on the earth—fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, covetousness, which is idolatry—because of these things, the wrath of God cometh on the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked.

But now you yourselves, there are some things we must put off—anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Those are things of our past. And we have to put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge.

And Pastor Rod said, our life, it’s not about what’s down here. We put so much emphasis on the house we live in, the remodeling, the polishing of the floors, the new windows, and all that kind of stuff. And we fuss when it’s not the way we want it to be. But guess what? It’s not all about that. What is important is how we live down here. So what are you setting your mind on, my dear brothers and sisters, including speaking about myself?

And he spoke about the book of Judges, where sometimes we act like we don’t have a king, but we have a King. The Israelites, their King was God, but the Word of God says there was no earthly king in Israel, and everybody did what was right in their own eyes. Don’t we see that today?

And every once in a while, when God has had enough, He allowed oppressors to oppress them to the point that they cried out to God, and God sent deliverers.

And many times we see hardships come into our own lives, and we have to ask ourselves, why is this circumstance in my life? Is it because I’ve strayed away from God? So let’s examine ourselves. And don’t stay where you are if you find yourself in a hard place—cry out to God. He’s a God of mercy. He’s a God of deliverance. And if we truly repent, God is there. He’s really there for us. Amen.

Pastor Rod said, we need to take care of our mental state. Take care of what you think about yourself. Remember, my dear brothers and sisters, we are called, we are chosen, we are loved, and we are valued. God values us so much so that He sent His only begotten Son. So don’t allow the enemy to tell you any differently.

Scripture — Philippians 4:8 (KJV)

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

These are the things that we are to think about. Amen. The things that are true, the things that are noble, the things that are just, the things that are pure, the things that are lovely, and of good report. Let’s all, by the grace of God, think on these things. Amen.

And I encourage all of you to go back to yesterday’s message and listen, because this is something that we all need to do and redo and redo. It is an ongoing process that we have a shift in our mindset. Amen.

Father, help us and purify our thoughts even now. Wash us and cleanse us in Your precious blood. Purify our thoughts, Lord—those that may have strongholds and habits. We confess Jesus Christ as Savior, but yet there may be strongholds. Father, we ask that they be broken in the name of Jesus, by the blood of Jesus Christ, and by the power of Your Holy Spirit.

Father, we thank You. You’re God that we can come to again and again and again. But we ask, Lord, that we come to the place of true repentance. Father, we thank You and praise You in Jesus’ name, with thanksgiving. Amen, amen.