Renew your mind
Steve and Judi Hertzog
Many of us have read Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount about the Beatitudes; eight blessings which Jesus tells us will lead us closer to seeing the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. Each verse ‘Blessed are…’ tells us how we can access his joy, peace and righteousness.
And so we started our second week in the Beatitudes with Steve and Judy Hertzog - our first official visitors to MLSSM - who came to the school to give us a fresh perspective on how the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand for all of us.
Despite appearances, both Judy and Steve’s journey to faith has been extraordinary. They met at an addicts’ meeting and each of their testimonies miraculously demonstrate how God has pursued them both and how he has renewed their minds. The Holy Spirit freed Judy from an addiction to drugs and alcohol, and Steve from alcohol; and they shared their journey of how their minds were miraculously set free from anxiety and strife.
Talking openly about how God had renewed their minds gave us an opportunity to consider how we are able to access this same joy, peace and righteousness that Jesus talks about in the Beatitudes among our own challenges.
When we find ourselves stuck in a place where we feel unable to sense the familiar peace of the Holy Spirit, we need to get stuck into God’s word, which states his promises of life for us, and proclaims our identity in him. Absorbing ourselves in worship, as praise and thanksgiving will renew our minds. And the ones committed to finding their identity in him will be blessed; ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.’
Rather than define themselves through their past experiences, Steve and Judy have continued to focus on what God speaks about them and over them. He led them to start a Supernatural School of Ministry in Costa Rica, and they have many stories of his provision and breakthrough - a testimony to the way that if God leads you into something new, he will always provide.