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It’s All In Your Mind

Thoughts running rampant,

Thoughts running free,

Headed for disaster,

Can’t catch me.

 

Thought

 

This is what my ego scream when it tosses toxic thoughts in the air of my mind. The thoughts catch wind and drift, sail, free fall and course freely through my stream of consciousness.

 

But God.

 

He calms the wind. He calms the seas. When our minds are staid on Him, He keeps us in perfect peace.

 

He teaches me to ARREST the thoughts on the spot. He reminds me that those imaginations must bow down to the Truth. He reminds me I have the power to take every thought captive and make it obey Him.

 

Minute by minute I must renew my mind. As the ego seeks to feed and preserve its selfish longings, I must continue to flex my spiritual muscle, strengthening the inner man. This is metanoia.

 

Metanoia μετάνοια, ας, ἡ

To change one’s heart and life by the renewing of the mind.   When used most frequently in the bible, it is translated as the word repentance. But its connotation runs much deeper. Not only does it mean to have sorrow and turn away from, even more so it means a conversion, a changing of the inner man.

 

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Romans 12:1-2

 

Because I am a Believer, the mind that is in me is the mind of Christ (Phil 2:5).

 

Like the leaves that are now changing color here in the Northeast, the pigments of yellow, red, and orange have been there the whole time. But it takes changes in the environment to ignite changes in the leaves. The same can be said for the transformation of the mind. As a Believer who has the mind of Christ, His thoughts, His pure, true, lovely, praiseworthy thoughts are in my mind. But I must call them forward. And I do that by continuing to strengthen my inner man. I do that by reading and hearing the Word. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

 

So when my mind screams:

~You coach countless parents but your own children are acting up

~You’re doing all this working out. And for what? You’ve still got that roll on your back.

~Everyone around you is prospering and growing. What’s wrong with you?

~You can’t speak on that topic with authority because you don’t have the credentials.

~You’ve tried before in business and failed. This time won’t be any different.

~God why are you doing this to me right now? I can’t take another thing!

 

I must effect change like the leaves turning their vibrant hues and reply with:

~My children honor their parents for it is the first commandment with a promise.

~My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and I will glorify God in my body which is His.

~I rejoice with those that rejoice. I do not covet. His promises are Yes and Amen for what He has already reserve with my name on it.

~The Holy Spirit has come upon me and I have received power. Now I can go and be your witness in the sphere of influence You’ve given me.

~When I obey You shall make my way prosperous and I shall be a good success.

~Lord I thank you for equipping me for every good work.  Through it all you’ve never left nor forsaken me.

 

[bctt tweet=”Like Jesus responding to temptation in the wilderness, I must stand on the Word.”]

 

I see myself having been raised with Christ. I set my mind on things above and am not consumed by temporal things that soon fade away. I see the beauty of the kingdom of heaven here at hand. I put to death my selfish ambitions and seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

 

So join me in the sacred space of metanoia where the inner man is transformed by the renewing of the mind. It’s All In Your Mind. There is definitely a war being waged friends, and you know where that battle is taking place: The Battlefield of the Mind. But we are fully equipped in our armor and will stand steadfast on the Solid Rock.

 

I am victorious!

 

You are victorious!

 

As always, it is my prayer that you’ve been Inspired To Live Fully!

 

Photo Credit
Happy to connect with these friends sharing the Good News Grace&Truth, #DanceWithJesus

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Get Your Mind Right

In preparation for moving forward in your destiny, you’ve got to GET YOUR MIND RIGHT. Not just you, me too. I’m on my way to my destiny, my victory; I’m on my way. I will not allow anything to hinder my forward progress, including my own stinking thinking. In order for me to run, not walk the race that’s been set before me, I have to cultivate a thought life that is consistently in alignment with the truth.

 

So before we go setting resolutions, making plans, and strategizing our 2015, let’s purpose in our hearts to weed then cultivate the landscape of our minds because what you think is what will become of your life.

 

For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.

Psalm 23:7

 

In order for us to fulfill the call of God on our lives, we must have right thinking. Getting our minds right and focusing on truth brings us into alignment with His perfect will for our lives. Getting our minds right means that we cast down untruths that attempt to usurp the truth of God’s word concerning us.

 

Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:5

 

We will put on the mind of Christ, weed out the lies and speak truth over our families, our communities, and ourselves.

 

How do you get your mind right?

 

You put on the mind of Christ and get your mind right by declaring what God says. The mind is prone to thinking toxic, unhealthy thoughts. We may spend much of our thought life rehashing what happened in the past, who did us wrong, what mistakes we made, who we may or may not have offended and on and on. Or we may spend much of our thought life projecting into the future speculating about what could possibly happen if…We can curb some of that thinking by focusing instead on embracing what we do have which is this present moment. For more on embracing the now moment, click here.

 

We renew the mind by taking our focus off what has happened, could happen or our own beliefs on the matter and instead focus on what God says about the matter.

 

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Romans 12:2

 

We renew the mind by meditating on truth.

 

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. Philippians 4:8

 

There have been times where my thinking has not been in alignment with the truth of God’s word. I’ve had instances when I’ve been driving that I’ve visualized myself getting into a car accident. I can play the whole story out in my head, replete with screams, broken glass, injuries and more. But putting on the mind of Christ, I am training myself to meditate on the truth. So I picture myself reeling in that toxic thought and I then commence to replace it with the truth that says, “He has given His angels charge over me to keep me in all my ways.” With time and practice I’ve been able to completely eradicate some of my old toxic thoughts.

 

Like a garden, the mind is fertile ground. How thoughts are fed and what they are fed directly contributes to their growth or demise.

 

On my daily drives up and down my street, I admire one of my neighbor’s landscaping. His grass is meticulously cut, hedges precisely trimmed and plants and other greenery strategically appointed with not a weed in sight. I watch him as he hauls out several mowers, a wheel barrel, trimmers and more to artfully and carefully sculpt and maintain his well tended landscaping. He is out there often, seems like several days a week seeing to his well-crafted handiwork.

landscaping 1

 

“A man’s mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will, bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed seeds will fall therein, and will continue to produce their kind. James Allen, As a Man Thinketh

 

Bonsai tree 1

photo credit

Bonsai tree 2

photo credit

And the same level of care and attention needs to be paid to the thoughts running free in our heads. Get your mind right. Like my neighbor, we need to tend our minds, carefully weeding out, cutting toxic negative thoughts and strategically planting the truth of God’s word so that our minds are precisely arranged with truth. When we do not sow truth, the toxic environment (the weeds) will grow and can eventually try to choke out the truth, robbing truth of essential nutrients. That can then lead to other physical, mental and behavioral issues.   Neuroscientist Dr. Caroline Leaf suggests 75-98% of physical, mental and behavioral illness comes from one’s thought life.

 

So my friend, GET YOUR MIND RIGHT by putting on the helmet of salvation, girding ourselves with truth, lacing up our feet with the gospel of peace and running the race that’s been set before us.

 

As always, it is my prayer that you’ve been Inspired To Live Fully!

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