Renewing your Mind

About Renewing Our Mind

Renewing the mind need not be mysterious and difficult. We do it all the time but because we call it by another name, we don't recognize it as such. This is part of Satan's strategy to deceive us. When we are born into this world we have a mind fixed or set on the flesh because that is what happened in the garden. We all became spiritually dead and therefore controlled by our flesh. When we are saved, our spirit is quickened or made alive and we are a new creation¹. We are also made the righteousness of God in Christ². However, our mind is not part of that instant change as it is not part of the spirit, but of the soul (mind, will and emotions). Satan's deception is to get us to believe it was changed as a completed work like the spirit. We then come to the only "logical" conclusion we can reach…"There must be something wrong with me….I am somehow defective". This of course is not true but it is so easy for us to buy in to.

1- Changing your mind:
Yes, that’s right change your mind. Have you changed your mind lately? Renewing the mind is nothing more than changing your mind. You see, whatever we believe determines our behavior and life.³

2- The "Habit Trap" is a major source of deception:
Many people try and try and yet fail because they fall into the "habit trap". The habit trap is our self will, self discipline way of "fixing" a problem and it never works long-term. The “habit trap” says I will not or I will never be or do ( ) you fill in the blank.

There are two primary reasons this never works:

1- You can not replace a negative with a negative as in "I will not do whatever. We even get this in Sunday school, church, and popular Christian books. "Just stop sinning etc and you will be ok" The scripture says first "walk in the spirit and then you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh". Notice God's order of occurrence in the scripture noted.⁴ Turning and walking in another direction is also called repentance.

2- The second reason is the subconscious mind does not process negatives. It receives and follows all instructions we give it but it cannot process the negative. If we say "I will not ( )", the subconscious hears "I will ( )". And it learns by repetition. The more we say or pray "I will not" the more it hears "I will" and the deeper the groove becomes.

¹ II Cor. 5:17
² II Cor 5:21
³ Prov. 23:7
⁴ Gal. 5:16, Gen. 1:14,18

All About Me

....... and My Little World

The words of a country song remind me of the mind set of many we encounter daily.

"You know talking about you makes me smile
But I wanna talk about me
Wanna talk about I
Wanna talk about number one
Oh my me my
What I think, what I like, what I know, what I want, what I see
I like talking about you you you you, usually,
but I wanna talk about me me,me,me,me,me,me I wanna talk about me" ………

This may be a little over the edge but we all know someone like this. We may not want to spend much time with them but we all know one. So what is going on? Are they just obnoxious or is there a deeper reason for their behavior?

There is a deeper reason. We often miss the true "root" of an issue because we "over-focus" on the symptom, the "all about Me" behavior. So what could be going on? This is a person who is trying desperately to find
Love, Acceptance, Worth and Security.

The scripture calls this effort by self "flesh". Flesh is described as "my best effort to meet my needs". If you grew up in an environment that included some of the behaviors below, that may be a good to place to begin looking for answers.

Dad	Mom
Cold	Angry
Distant	Bitter
Non expressive	Demanding
Passive	Critical
Unavailable	Moody
Workaholic	Sarcastic

The remedy for the behavior that goes along with this mindset is “brokenness” or coming to the end of self. The route there is not a popular one as it is death. Death to self only comes by the cross.

Galatians 2:20 "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me".

In his Devotional book "My Utmost for His Highest", for January 15th Oswald Chambers calls it your white funeral. "Do you agree with God that you stop being the striving, earnest kind of Christian you have been? We skirt the cemetery and all the time refuse to go to death. It is not striving to go to death, it is dying—“baptized into His death." Have you had your "white funeral." "Do you agree with Him that this is your last day on earth? The moment of agreement depends upon you."

Well, are you ready to exchange your best shot at life which has not and will never work for His Life? The Life He came to give us. John 10:10 "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."

Feelings Buried Alive never Die

Warning! Feelings Buried Alive Never Die


Fifty years ago industrialists thought they could just bury toxic waste and it would lie safely and quietly forever. We have since learned it doesn't just lie there. It causes all sorts of problems. Oh, it may take a while before it shows up but it will. It begins to eat away on whatever “safe” container it may have been placed in. Eventually a “meltdown” will occur contaminating water, crops, and the soil. Left unattended it can cause disease or even death to animals and humans. Feelings Buried Alive react much the same way. They never die! And “Self” is simply not equipped to handle them.

Some of the feelings we attempt to bury alive are guilt, (real or imagined), anger, resentment, inferiority, loss, insecurity and the list goes on. We typically try to bury them in one of two places. I am really not sure which is most popular, the mind or emotions. The truth is neither are a good place for such storage. Any attempt to keep Feelings buried Alive will result in a meltdown. We often see on containers (batteries for example) must be disposed of properly. Burying feelings Alive is NOT proper disposal. Meltdown usually begins in the mind or emotions but will eventually find it’s way into the body. The mind, emotions and will comprise the soul. The soul works like a link between the spirit and the body. When Toxic Waste contaminates the path from spirit to body through the soul, it hinders communication from God. That hindrance of flow from spirit to body can result in emotional disorientation, mental fog, a false perception of life in general, destruction of interpersonal relationships, various types of acting out and a multitude of physical symptoms.

Proper disposal

Proper disposal of Toxic Waste can only be accomplished by following God’s formula for disposal. A thorough search of the soul is prescribed. Just as surely as where there is smoke, there is fire when the above symptoms are present, there are Feelings Buried Alive. Follow the debris back to the source. You may even be surprised what you find. Now, ask yourself: Who hurt me, what was the offense, and finally What did I feel. Not what do you feel now, but what did you feel at the time. As a child or wherever you were chronologically. Forgive as an act of your will and allow Father to bring healing and freedom to your soul.