Hebrews 12:12-13 in the Message Bible says:

“So don't sit around on your hands! No more dragging your feet! Clear the path for long-distance runners so no one will trip and fall, so no one will step in a hole and sprain an ankle. Help each other out. And run for it!”

I started wondering why people sit on their hands and drag their feet….and realized it happens when people make excuses.

Believe me, I’ve heard all of the excuses … and some that would make you laugh if you didn’t know the person speaking the words was serious.

I believe if I set my mind to it…I could come up with some of the greatest excuses in the world.

But the real question is what does the greatest book ever written have to say about excuses.

Proverbs 24:11in the Message Bible says:

“Rescue the perishing; don't hesitate to step in and help. If you say, "Hey, that's none of my business," will that get you off the hook? Someone is watching you closely, you know— Someone not impressed with weak excuses.”

2 Thessalonians 3:10-13 says:

There are some Christian children’s songs that I really love.

In fact, these songs contain powerful scriptural truths which we want to get ingrained in our children.

Here’s one of my favorites.

I may never march in the infantry

Ride in the cavalry

Shoot the artillery

I may never fly o'er the enemy

But I'm in the Lord's army!

Yes Sir!

Great song. . .with a scriptural truth for all our lives.

And by the way, you’re not just a foot soldier. . .you are a commander in the Lord’s Army.

According to dictionary.com a commander is:

My goal is to learn something from everything I read.

As I take notes on what I’ve read...I ask God how to take the thoughts I've written down and make them applicable to my life.

Your mindset is simply a collection of the dominant thoughts in your life.

Proverbs 4:23 in the New Century Version says:

"Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life."

If you want to be a winner . . .spiritual or otherwise. . .you need to learn how to collect, assimilate, activate and utilize the dominant thoughts in your life.

Here are seven ways to develop a winning mindset.  They’re not the only ways but they are the seven God directed for this teaching.

1.         Divine Direction

You can listen to all the financial gurus . . . infomercial kings or spiritual swamis . . .but if you want your success to be lasting. . .you’d best seek divine direction about your ideas, your plan and the ultimate journey to the winner’s circle.

Proverbs 3:5-6 in the Message Bible says:

If you're drawing breath on planet earth...there will come moments & times during adversity when you wonder what to do next.

In these moments...your solace will not be found at the local watering hole commiserating with someone as lost as a goose in a blizzard.

Your answer will not be found in extended conversations with friends about why it's unfair you have to deal with these situations.

Here are seven things to do when trouble strikes.

1.         When you’re disappointed

Here’s the great news. . .regardless of the intensity of the enemy’s attack. . .you will never be put to shame or disappointed.

I realize that’s a bold statement. . . but there are eight verses in the Classic Amplified Bible translation which say exactly that.  Here are three of them.

Psalm 25:3 in the Classic Amplified Bible says:

“Yes, let none who trust and wait hopefully and look for You be put to shame or be disappointed; let them be ashamed who forsake the right or deal treacherously without cause.”

Psalm 25:20 in the Classic Amplified Bible says:

If you watch television or keep up with entertainment news then you’re not doubt familiar with the website Netflix.

I saw an article about there being 19 different shows on Netflix about zombies or as they’re often called “the walking dead.”

Unfortunately, there are commercials for many of the TV series which I’m sometimes helpless to avoid watching.

These ads and programs do not create alarm in me but rather a deep concern for the walking dead.

I’m not talking about zombies.  Well, at least the kind you see on television or in the movies.

Our dear friend, the late Bob Harrington, Chaplain of Bourbon Street used to say he had two fears.

One is to be buried but not dead and the other is to be dead but not buried.

My concern about zombies. . .or the walking dead. . . is not those physical beings but those who are mentally and spiritually comatose when it comes to the Word of God.

This morning I was grieving for our precious partners who need deliverance from sin, fear, debt, sickness, lack, greed, addictions, anger, hurt, depression, sexual sin and hopelessness.

These twelve sins are the ones that immediately came to my mind.  As I wrote them down. . .I labeled them the Dirty Dozen.  Obviously, the list could be expanded to include others but these are the first twelve that came to my mind.

Create your own prayer and/or confession to be delivered from the Dirty Dozen. . .but it should be something like this.

“Heavenly Father, I’m calling out, exposing and cursing these twelve sin tactics of the enemy.  In the strong name of Jesus, I bind sin, fear, debt, sickness, lack, greed, addictions, anger, hurt, depression, sexual sin and hopelessness.  By the authority of the Word and through the blood of Jesus I’m binding these Dirty Dozen sins out of my life and the environment in which I live and operate.

Lord, I rejoice because I know your desire is to set me free.  I rejoice because you are with me.  I rejoice that you will never leave nor forsake me.  I rejoice that I will not fear anyone or anything. . .because you are on my side.  I call this done and done in the mighty name of Jesus.  Amen.”

Next the Lord led me to seven things EVERY believer should know about how to be delivered from the enemy attacks by the Dirty Dozen.

1.       Deliverance comes to those who aren’t afraid.