Renewing the Mind

Renewing the mind is a little like refinishing furniture. It is a two-stage process. It involves taking off the old and replacing it with the new. The old is the lies you have learned to tell or were taught by those around you; it is the attitudes and ideas that have become a part of your thinking but do not reflect reality. The new is the truth. To renew your mind is to involve yourself in the process of allowing God to bring to the surface the lies you have mistakenly accepted and replace them with truth. To the degree that you do this, your behavior will be transformed.

-Charles Stanley

Romans 12:1-2 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Thanks for the Bad

Thanksgiving is a word of action.  We must not just utter the words, but live by them. We must remember 1 Thes. 5:18, In everything give thanks.  Sometimes this is hard to do, but we must stop, take a look, and know that all things work together for our good.  Regardless of how it appears at the time, God is for us and not against us, and He is working things together for our good.  He wants our lives to be formed into the very image of His Son, Jesus.  This will take a process, a work, and definitely some chiseling of what isn't like Him, if we're brave enough and honest enough to look at ourselves.

As I look back through life, I see how far He has brought me.  Through some painful experiences and circumstances and through it all, He was working it out for me to see my frailties, my shortcomings, my selfishness, and the areas of my life that are not like Him.  To bring me to a place that I can see not just how far I've come but how much farther I need to go.  He is faithful, He is love, and He is very honest with us. His desire is for us is to give us a life, one that we could we couldn't even hope or ask for.  That's not necessarily the materialistic part but the one that is full and blessed and thankful. 

It's very easy to be thankful for the good things, but not so much the bad.  But is it not the bad that teaches us so much?  So today, think of the painful times in your life & think of where they have brought you and where they can take you & be thankful for them.  You are the wonderful person you are because of your experiences; the good, the bad, and the ugly.  So thank God for them......and remember He is worthy of all of our thanks!

Be Blessed!