Be  Transformed  By  The  Renewing of  Your  Mind

“… and be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.” Rm.12:2

    We are transformed when we renew our mind. But how exactly do we renew our mind. We have to start with our thoughts. Thought is energy, thought is power, thought is creative. Thoughts attract what we are thinking about –negative or positive. Have you noticed that sometimes when you are thinking about somebody they ring you at that moment? Or sometimes in a room you turn around to look exactly at somebody who is looking at you, because their subconscious thought attracted your subconscious thought and caused you to turn around to look at the person, even though the room is full of other people? One preacher said that the second part of our salvation is to be renewed in the spirit of our mind, our subconscious mind.

      You might say that our mind has three parts. The conscious, open part by which we relate to others; the conscious hidden part from others, and the subconscious part. For example, you might say to somebody –you look nice in that, but at the same time we are thinking-that’s horrible. And in our subconscious mind we may have all kinds of negative, sinful  thoughts, beliefs and attitude; unforgiveness, resentment and bitterness ect. And if we have negative thoughts such as-I’ll never

succeed in anything- in the deepest part of our mind, then any positive confession consciously, or efforts practically will be contradicted and made powerless by the subconscious thoughts and beliefs. The conscious mind and the subsciousness must be in agreement in positive confession. Meditation in the word roots out old , negative and sinful beliefs and thoughts and replace them with God’s truth. Our belief system is made up of our thoughts.  (to be continued)

        The first step in the process of sanctification is to be renewed in our mind. And so we begin to “work out your own salvation…”, (which is not to do something to gain salvation; Jesus has given us the free gift  of salvation), but to work it out , to walk it out, because our mind and body were not regenerated, only our spirit was regenerated. So we have to be renewed in our mind. After all, “we have the mind of Christ.” 1Cor.2:16. So we should work it out, walk it out. This starts with our thoughts, then our beliefs, words, imagination, actions , reactions, attitudes, feelings, motives.  We should endeavour to be renewed in all these areas.

     When we are renewed in our mind by the word of God and by positive confession based on the word of God, we can take back the power we lost in Adam, and then we can exercise our dominion over situations in our lives and in others’ lives through prayer. Gen.1:26, 28. “ Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion…replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion…”

               Thoughts, words and imagination are like seeds we plant in our subconscious mind. Our mind is made up of the conscious mind- about 10%, and the subconscious mind-90%. So the conscious mind is only a tip of the iceberg. It is good news to know that our subconscious mind is our spirit. Pastor Yongi Cho says that psychologists call the spirit the subconscious, but the bible calls the subconscious the spirit-man, the inner-man of the heart. So the subconscious mind, the spirit, the inner-man of the heart are all one and the same thing. And this subconscious mind (SCM) this spirit- man is like the soil in which we plant our thoughts, words and imagination which bare fruit after its kind – good or bad.  The SCM mind is like the basement in our house, or just another room  in the house, that is filled with junk and rubbish and rotting things that need to be cleared out. (to be continued –t.b.c.)

                                                                                      SINS  OF  THE  HEART

 

 

               These can be deep seated envy and jealousy from the past, judging and criticising parents subconsciously, thereby dishonouring them, making negative vows, e. g. “I’ll never marry a man like my father”, having subconscious anger, bitterness and resentment, unforgiveness, hurts and negative reaction to these, self-rejection, guilt, shame and self-condemnation, low-self esteem, self pity, soul ties- emotional and sexual, pride, haughtiness, prejudice, negative beliefs, attitudes and mindset including a death wish. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Jer.17:9.   “…both the inward thought of every one of them, and the heart, is deep.” Ps.64:6                                                

                                                                               

                   Being renewed in our mind is the second part of our salvation, and if we are not committed to this process in an ongoing way then we are not sanctified in our hearts, therefore we have a spiritual problem. We need healing and all other healings and spiritual prosperity depend on this first healing. Louise Hay, in her book You Can Heal Your Life, says, - What we think about ourselves becomes the truth for us. I believe that everyone, myself included, is responsible for everything in our lives, the best and the worst. Every thought  we think is creating our future. Each one of us creates our experiences by our thoughts  and our feelings. The thoughts we think and the words we speak create our experiences -.  For example, if your thought is “I’m not good enough. I’ll never be able to get a promotion or a better job”, then your negative thoughts and the  negative feelings that go with them, which is all negative energy, creates exactly what you are thinking about.   “As  a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Pro.23:7,   “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” Pro.18:21.

             Thoughts are creative, and what you focus on, what you constantly think about, that is exactly what you create in your life. That is what you attract, experience, that is what grows, that is what expands or increases for you.  The American  philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “A man is what he thinks

     about all day long.”  E.g. a success or failure, a winner or loser, rich or poor, healthy or sick, significant or useless, strong or weak etc.  We have to renew our mind by the word of God and positive confessions. And we must be “casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” 2Cor. 10:5   ( t.b.c.) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                             Renewing The Mind

 

   Father, I thank you that I shall prosper and be in health, even as my soul prospers. I have the mind of Christ, the Messiah, and do hold the thoughts (feelings and purposes) of His heart. I trust in You , Lord, with all my heart; I lean not unto my own understanding, but in all my ways I acknowledge You, and You shall direct my paths.

         Today I submit myself to Your Word which exposes and sifts and analyzes and judges the very thoughts and purposes of my heart. (For the weapons of my warfare are not carnal, but mighty through You to the pulling down of strongholds – intimidation, fear, doubts, unbelief and failure.) I refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the (true) knowledge of God, and I lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One.        

         Today I shall be transformed by the renewing of my mind, that I may prove what is that good, and acceptable and perfect will of God. Your word Lord, shall not depart out of my mouth; but I shall meditate on it day and night, that I may observe to do according to all that is written therein, for then shall I make my way prosperous, then I shall have good success.

         My thoughts are the thoughts of the diligent which tend only to plenteousness. Therefore I will not fret or have anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition (definite requests) with thanksgiving continue to make my wants known unto You, Lord. And Your peace which transcends all understanding, shall garrison and mount guard over my heart and mind in Christ Jesus.

         Today I fix my mind on whatever is true, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honourable and seemly, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious. If there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, I will think on and weigh and take account of these things.

         Today I roll my works upon You, Lord – I commit and trust them wholly to You; ( You will cause my thoughts to become agreeable with Your will, and ) so shall my plans be established and succeed.

             Scripture References:        3Jn. 2,  I Cor.2:16b,  Pro.3:5-6,  Pro.16:3,  Rm.12:2,  Joshua 1:8,  Pro.21:5a,  2Cor.10:5,  Heb.4:12b,  Phil.4:6-8,  2 Cor.10:4.

                                                  This prayer was taken from “Prayers That Avail Much” by Word Ministries, Inc. (to be continued- t.b.c.)

 

                            “Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Rm.12:2  We have to avoid something, and do something for a particular outcome. We have to avoid conforming to, or adapting to, moulding ourselves into the world’s standards of moral conduct, their behaviour, beliefs, their way of thinking and  feeling in negative situations, their worries, anxieties, fears and cares, and renew our thinking, change the negative way we are accustomed to thinking. Why? So that we will be transformed, changed more and more into the likeness of Christ. “We have the mind of Christ.” 1 Cor. 2:16, not the carnal mind of the old, fallen nature. When bad things happen, when we are tempted to take offence and tempted to take revenge we should ask –what would Jesus do? WWJD are letters on pins some Christians wear. As we do this and see the blessings that follow, the blessings will be the poof that renewing our mind is God’s good and acceptable and perfect will for us, and that His blessings are His perfect will for us.

                        We know the mind of Christ from His teachings, example and lifestyle. So we know how He thinks, His actions , reactions and attitudes. Jesus never chose pride but humility. He never chose quarrel and strife but peace. He never chose to justify Himself but left all in God’s hands. He never chose bitterness and revenge but forgiveness, mercy and grace. And we are to do the same if we are to be followers of Christ. As we commit ourselves to change our minds we will be following the whole gospel teaching at the same time, and we will see more of the blessings of God in our lives.

                       The way we renew our mind is by choosing our thoughts, words, imaginations, the way we feel, our actions and reactions to line up with the word of God. Anything else is not God’s truth but sin, unrighteousness, lies of the world, the flesh  and the devil. e.g. feeling jealous. We have trained ourselves, or rather grown naturally to plunge into and express whatever we feel, or think or want to say without any self-discipline.    (t.b.c.)

                       

                I believed the lies and deception of the world, the flesh and the devil and as a result I was very negative and did not know it. And my negative beliefs, attitudes and mindset was the cause of all my problems, rooted in the past, in childhood. My perception of people and life was totally negative, and I expected perfection in people and in life.

                      When I did realise that I was very negative I did not know how to change. I did try to cast out the spirit of negativity and darkness and death, because they all go together, but nothing happened.  God is more interested in making us whole than in healing just one thing about us. He wants to heal the roots of the tree of our lives and not just a bad branch. I kept trusting God; I believed He would change me because of the prophecies I had received – “ God is doing a work in you. He’s making you whole” etc. Then He led me to a book and one word changed everything. Thought. I read how thought is power, it is creative, it is energy, and according to our positive or negative thoughts, we become positive or negative, and we attract positive or negative things in our lives and circumstances, and this is according to the spiritual law of sowing and reaping. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Gal.6:7

                      Good, positive things started to happen like money finally reaching me after people were trying to find me for seven years, saying they did not know my address, although it had never changed. When negative things happened like keys getting lost, things not working and even people being wrong and unreasonable, I always saw the salvation of God in the situation, because I kept the peace instead of strife, I forgave the people and blessed them and  prayed for them, especially  for their salvation.

    I  kept the peace, I remained positive, I prayed, I prayed the word, and praised God ahead of time for showing me His salvation in the situation. And He always did.

    No panic, no fear, no worry, no bad feelings, but overcoming these by praying the word, e.g. Phil.4:6-8,  Ps. 91:15-16 . It is something I have learnt since beginning to be renewed in my mind, and it works every time. Praise God.  This is God’s way, and when we apply it in faith, it works.   (t.b.c.)

                  I used to hate the scripture verse “This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” Ps.118:24 . One radio presenter used to say,

    just after midnight, “ millions of people did not make it to see this day, but you did. You are blessed.”  And I used to think , what if you don’t want to be alive to see another day. I really had a death wish from the past, from what I believed, wrongly, my perception of  people, myself, the world, life on the whole. And as soon as I repented of all this and changed my thinking, I had an overnight deliverance from the bondage of laziness and procrastination that I was struggling with and praying about for a few years. My turning point came when I read how our thoughts work for or against us, especially the thoughts in our hearts, in other words, thoughts in our subconscious mind, not just in our conscious mind, and repented of  the negative mind-set.

                       Now I feel better in myself, stronger and better about myself. My self-perception, outlook of the world and other people has changed to positive thoughts. I had felt tired and burnt out for years, but now I feel refired and inspired, motivated with a new lease of life. I am free from the bondage of negativity, and yet it is a life-long process to maintain a positive mind-set based on the word of God. I began to see blessing spiritually, personally and financially although I was praying for breakthrough for years.       (t.b.c.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

              Pt. 8   Another major blessing is that I don’t feel hurt when people do or say things that would have hurt me before. The initial reaction might be hurt, but I

        am  conscious to make the decision not to harbour those feelings, but to forgive and to bless them. Certainly not to take revenge in thought or attitude or action,   because God said, do not take revenge; “Vengeance is mine , I will repay, saith the Lord.” Rm.12:19    “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”

      Rm.12:21.  We all have to deal with hurts of some kind from time to time, but if we have deliverance through the renewing of our mind, it is a major blessing. Again, it all boils down to how we choose to think and feel. 

                       What people say about us or against us directly or indirectly, in our presence or as backbiters, is not what hurts us. After all, words are not bullets or poisoned darts or arrows. Words and actions cannot hurt you unless someone hits you  physically. It is our negative reaction to what people say or do that hurts us. So really, we hurt ourselves by thinking and feeling negatively about what was said or done. If someone said you are stupid, you will take offence. But if they said you are a flower, or music you will not take offence. It may sound peculiar, but you will not take offence because of the thoughts you associate with the word by which they called you. Another way to look at this is, if someone gave you a loaded gun, would you fire it and hurt yourself, to say the least, or would you get rid of the gun?  So if someone calls you names or says unkind things to you or about you, it’s as if they gave you a loaded gun; don’t fire the gun! Don’t marinate in the negative associations of the word or of what they said thereby hurting yourself. In fact, don’t focus on yourself, but on others and on God. Don’t focus on others and think how horrible they are, but rather think that they need a lot of growing up to do, they themselves are hurting people who hurt people, they are acting out of their own dark pit, and problems and insecurities. They really need you to forgive them, bless them and pray for them.   

                       We have to change the bad habit of our mind. We are so pickled in the habit of negative thinking and feeling that we think this is normal, just because we see everybody doing this and doing it all their lives. We grew up doing the same; “ for lack of knowledge, my people perish.”  We now know that we should be renewed in our minds according to the word of God. “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.” Phil.4:8  The word of God fits this list, and we can speak the word, meditate on the word and apply the word in different aspects and situations in our lives.     (t.b.c)

 

 

 

                 Pt.9     “Put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” Eph.4:22-24.  “Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him. “Col.3: 9-10.

               When we change our thinking towards others we can heal relationships. I read of a musician and of his negative feelings  and thoughts towards his boss who treated him badly. When he started to change his feelings and attitude with thoughts of peace, love and goodwill towards  his boss, he changed completely towards him, treating him much better and even giving him bonuses at times. By changing our minds and being committed to this as a way of life, we can make our dreams come true. I’ve known for years that teaching the word is part of my calling, but I only started doing this within three months of renewing my mind.

                    Another benefit is that we remove the blockages to blessings in our lives. Within four months I received personal, spiritual and financial blessings. Prayer did not work but renewing my mind worked, or rather, this caused my prayers to work.

                    We are to renew our minds in order to be transformed, changed into the likeness of Christ. Our personal and spiritual change will be towards Christlikeness. And Christlikeness is holiness. Holiness is pleasing God in all things at all times. We renew our mind by checking our thoughts, words, feelings, attitudes, reactions, motives, imagination and actions, asking ourselves, is this carnal or Christlike; does this line up with the word of God or with the old carnal nature. Another important point is that we have to renew our mind on two levels – on the conscious level, or in our heads, and on the subconscious level, in our hearts. (includes SINS OF THE HEART above)

                        We can be stress –free, worry-free, and free from fear. These things may crop up, but we can make the choice to immediately nip it in the bud, instead of stewing in negative thoughts, words and feelings. Because it is not what happens to us that matters, but how we respond to it. Instead of responding with the word of God, we respond with words, thoughts and feelings of fear, worry and anxiety. e.g. if I find a lump on my body I might immediately react in fear and think it is cancer, and that I am going to die of cancer. In that way I have pronounced a death sentence on myself. Or I could choose to apply the word of God in the situation. ”No weapon formed against me shall prosper.” Isa.54:17,  “By His stripes I am healed.” Etc.

                        Another benefit of being renewed in our mind is sanctification or holy transformation. I had been praying for this for the past few years because I was such an angry person, full of rage, impatience, swearing, and what made it worse is that the more I prayed the worse I got. It was frightening. Here again, God wanted to change the rotten roots, not just the rotten branches on the tree. It was only when I learnt about the power of my thoughts and renewing my mind, and repented of a lot of things that the anger, rage and swearing, taking offence and the urge to criticize all faded away. I have peace inside and not just self control on the outside.          (to be continued .t.b.c.)  

                                   

When we change our thinking towards others we can heal relationships. I read of a musician and of his negative feelings and thoughts towards his boss. When he started to change his feelings and attitude with thoughts of peace, love and goodwill, his boss changed completely towards him, treating him much better and even giving him bonuses at times. By changing our minds and being committed to this as a way of life, we can make our dreams come true. I’ve known for years that teaching the word is part of my calling, but I only started doing this within three months of renewing my mind.

Another benefit is that we remove the blockages to blessings in our lives. Within four months I received personal, spiritual and financial blessings. Prayer did not work but renewing my mind worked, or rather, this caused my prayers to work.

 

By positive thoughts, words and imagination we can create what we desire in our lives, provided it is within the will of God; and all God’s blessings are His will for us. “…let them have dominion…” Gen.1:26. “And He brought him forth abroad, and said to him, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and He said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord…” Gen. 15:5-6. Abraham used his imagination to help him to believe the promise of God. He meditated on the vision God had given him of his descendants being as countless as the stars. And it came to pass!

When we renew our mind we are seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, therefore all these “other things” shall be added unto us. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” Mtt.6:33.

 

               

                       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another benefit is that we live more and more in the cycle of a miracle catch. It is only by renewing our minds that we become more Christlike; and living more like Christ we live more supernaturally than naturally.

Living naturally is toiling all night and catching nothing. We are fishing on the left side of the boat. To cast the net on the right side of the boat is to live supernaturally by walking in obedience. To live supernaturally we have to change our carnal thinking to Christlike thinking. (to be continued)

 

Pt. 11 Another benefit of renewing our mind is that we enter the rest of God. “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into His rest , he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from His. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest…” Heb.4:9-11. Our labour is the consistent perseverance and pursuit of Christlikeness. WWJD – What Would Jesus Do- what would Jesus say, how would Jesus act or react, how would Jesus feel, what would Jesus think; and we know how He thinks by what He taught, what He said, and how He acted and reacted, e.g. forgiving his accusers, persecutors and executioners when He was dying on the cross.

When we enter into His rest we cease from self-effort, struggling, striving, worry, toiling all night and catching nothing. When we make the consistent effort to be more Christlike, then blessings come effortlessly, but that does not mean we rule out faith and prayer.

We begin to hear from the holy Spirit more because our mind is a place of peace, rest and light, and we are trusting in God and not leaning on our own understanding. Once I locked myself out when I was going away for a weekend. My bag with money and keys was inside, and I was outside with my suitcase! I had access to spare keys, but those did not include the key for the lock for the security chain on the door. The first, natural reaction was to think negative things about the situation, not least, having to spend money on changing the lock. I don’t remember if this came first or after, but I remember calling on the name of Jesus and praying in tongues. Instead of panicking and having negative thoughts, I started to feel calm and asked the holy Spirit to help me. Then I got an idea. Put my hand through the partially open door, reach for the coat hanger at the back of the door, get down on my knees, then stretch and hook up to the strap of my handbag with the wire hook on the hanger, pull the bag through, and I’ve got it! If I had left the bag in any other place I would not have been able to get it. Providentially I had left it on the chair around the corner so I was able to reach it with a long stretch and a prayer! If I was panicking and angry I would not have been able to hear the still small “voice” of the holy Spirit directing me. A good lesson for life. (t.b.c.)

DISADVANTAGES OF NOT RENEWING OUR MIND

If we do not work out our own salvation by the renewing of our mind (which is the second part of our salvation, the first being the new birth), then we cannot receive the full benefit of our salvation, the full blessing and transformation. 2. We will see repeated negative patterns in our lives e.g. repeated accidents, failure, divorce, to name a few. 3. We are thinking carnally instead of biblically, which means Satan has our mind instead of God. There is a battle for our mind between Satan and the holy Spirit, between Truth and lies. Whose side are you on? Do we have Kingdom thinking by making Kingdom choices in our thought life and actions? 4. We will block the holy Spirit’s work of sanctification in our lives. 5. An unrenewed mind consciously and subconsciously blocks the blessings of God from coming to us.

EXAMPLES OF NEGATIVE THINKING AND ATTITUDES

 

I suppose we could fill up books with examples but these are more common, day to day negative thoughts and words. I’m always sick / I’m always broke / I don’t like my job / I don’t like my boss, or that person I’m working with / negative attitudes of pride, jealousy, grumbling and complaining, gossiping, criticism, comparing ourselves with others, focusing on our problems, finances, fears, future, worries and anxieties, thoughts of bitterness and unforgiveness, resentment, revenge. Our fears attract what we are afraid might happen. “For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.” He was afraid he would lose all and that his sons might be punished because they probably cursed God in their hearts, so he offered up sacrifices for each of his sons continually. Also, afraid of dying of cancer like other family members.

One person who was killed in the 9/11 bombing was an Israeli. She left Israel to live in London because she was afraid she would be killed by a bomb; then she was killed by a bomb in London! (t.b.c.)

 

Pt.12. All negativity is against the word of God, and all this is darkness, so God cannot dwell with us because God is light and cannot be equally yoked with darkness. Then we have negative thoughts in our subconscious, the inner conversation going on unconsciously e.g. I’m not good enough, I’ll always be broke, I always get the cold every winter. I’ll never succeed. In our conscious mind we might think and say – “my God will supply all my needs…”, Phil.4:19, while in our subconscious mind we are thinking – I’ll always be broke. The belief in the conscious mind and in the subconscious mind must be in agreement. We have to go back in the past and see where this belief started. When we deal with the rotten roots, we will stop producing rotten fruits. We should pray that the holy Spirit will bring up to our conscious mind the root of the negative thought and belief; repent of it and start making positive confession according to the truth in God’s Word.

So if we are renewed in our mind how should we be thinking? What thought should occupy our mind? What new, positive habit of the mind should we have? For example, if you are tempted to be jealous because somebody got a promotion, and you felt you should have got it, instead of tormenting yourself with anger, jealousy and feeling sorry for yourself, you should praise God that they were blessed with a promotion, and pray that they will be blessed even more. Pray that they will be blessed even as you pray for yourself to be blessed. This is the only antidote for envy and jealousy, and you will have peace on the inside instead of torment.

If someone said something to hurt us, we should choose Kingdom thinking; Kingdom thinking for Kingdom living, instead of choosing carnal thinking, or stinking thinking as some preachers call it. Basically we should react out of forgiveness, love and peace, which is Christ’s way, the gospel way. Jesus said, “I am the Way…”. Jn. 14:6.

We have to understand also that hurting people hurt people (as I might have said before). They are coming from a place of hurts within themselves, insecurity and low self-esteem. Yet, no matter what people say or do to hurt us, it is our own negative reaction in words , thoughts and feelings that hurt us. So, as I mentioned before, we hurt ourselves. Instead of marinating on negative things, we should meditate on the Word. Don’t marinate! Meditate! (t.b.c.)

Pt. 13. “Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, …lovely, of good report, think on these things.” Phil.4:8. So if tempted to say something ugly about someone, even though it may be true, it is not lovely or pure so we should not say it. To deny ourselves the sinful pleasure of saying what we want to say is to die to self, to crucify the flesh – the sinful nature. We have to deny ourselves in such a situation and follow the Spirit instead. Don’t gratify the flesh! Crucify the flesh! “ If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Luke9:23

Where you need to forgive somebody, instead of being tormented in your mind, whenever you think of that person you can say or think something like this: I release you…(name), I forgive you, all the blessings of life are yours. If there was any sting in the first place, you say these positive things whenever you remember the person until the sting is gone. You may remember the incident but it does not hurt anymore. Basically we are choosing to walk in love, mercy, forgiveness, grace, kindness, peace.

We grew up with a bad mental habit of thinking sinfully, and as Christians we continue in the same way.

“For lack of knowledge My people perish.” Now we know better. We have the word of God with which to renew our minds, to reprogramme our minds to be like the mind of Christ. “We have the mind of Christ.”

 

 

 

Thanksgiving and Gratitude

 

We should occupy our minds with thoughts of thanksgiving and gratitude to God. I remember walking home one day and I was thanking God all along the way back home. And although my mind was on gratitude and thanksgiving, suddenly I got the answer to a question I had asked God for years. After His resurrection Jesus found the disciples with empty nets one morning, although they had been fishing all night. “And He said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find.” Jn.21:6. I always thought there was a spiritual meaning to casting the net on the right side of the ship, and wondered what it was. And suddenly the answer hit me. I had recently learnt about renewing my mind and having a positive mindset, positive thoughts, and through this I discovered that all the scattered pieces of the jigsaw puzzle of living the Christian life fell into place, so that I saw the whole picture. The whole picture is this entire teaching which I did teach in church as an eight part series. (so there’s a lot to follow still). “They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.” Jn. 21:6b. Living according to this teaching brings us into a purposeful and fruitful life, like the fruitful, miracle catch. Most important of all, it is a life of Christlikeness, being a follower of Jesus in true discipleship.On the other hand , living any other way is toil and trouble if even there is fruitfulness with it. (t.b.c.)

 

Thank God for the little things we take for granted- hot water, heating, the much needed rain. When it’s raining instead of complaining we should thank God that we are not having floods. What would I say if I was going through floods like others? I hope I would have the presence of mind to say, God is in control. All things work together for good…. This too will pass. And look to Him and trust Him.

Thank Him for the sunshine, the electricity, the running water at the turn of the tap. Some people have to walk miles for a bucket of water. Thank Him for the food we can buy, have the health to cook and eat, and not be vomiting afterwards, or being tube-fed as others in their illness. Thank God for freedom and safety to go out. Thank Him for freedom of worship. Thank God we can move and walk, hear and see.

If we occupy our minds with thoughts like these we wouldn’t have time to think negative things and fret and worry. We will have more peace of mind. In today’s world, and with today’s news this is a life skill by itself. (t.b.c.)