Sometimes I wonder how everything will be okay in the midst of life. Layers upon layers of living happen and often I float through them just fine, but occasionally the threads in these layers tangle and cause me to tumble into anxiety and unhealthy thoughts. Wouldn’t it be great if we had a little gauge in our brains that triggers a warning message and plops down a wall preventing us from crossing over into the danger worry zone? Well, actually, this does happen – the gauge in my life is called the Holy Spirit. Through his promptings and gentle whispers I’m often reminded to STOP, turn around, and refocus on what I know to be true; refusing to be led by my emotions. Do I do this all the time? Yes! Absolutely not. I wish I did though! This past Sunday was a great reminder for me. We’ve been going through the Daniel Plan Series at church and the message was “Becoming Who God Meant You to Be: Winning the Hand You’re Dealt.”
Having had a battle with myself about many things in the past several weeks, the point in the message dealing with our consciousness and how it plays into our identity struck a chord or two with me. A few tidbits:
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My Consciousness is how I think about myself. The person we talk to most in our life is ourselves. Usually we are either telling ourselves that we are awesome or that we are awful! If we convince ourselves that we are awesome, then we erroneously believe that we don’t need anyone, including Jesus.If we convince ourselves that we are awful… we wind up at self-pity and believe that no one can love us, including Jesus.
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The world says, go with your heart. The prophet Jeremiah said that’s a horrible idea. The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? (Jeremiah 17:9 NLT) If we are honest we know this is true. We rarely desire what is best for us. You tell yourself things that just aren’t true, but you believe them. And a thought doesn’t have to be true to hurt you! You just have to believe it.
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Your consciousness influences your identity. Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life. (Proverbs 24:3 NCV) Our self-talk can produce paralyzing fears and deceptive feelings. “I’m afraid to do this,” or “I can’t do this,” then you can’t do that. You say “There’s nothing I can do to change!” Are you sure? You have to challenge your thoughts. You have to challenge your misperceptions constantly or they’re going to dominate your life and send you in the wrong direction.
The message inspired me to reflect on the layers of life that I’d been allowing myself to get entangled in. I realized I needed to change my thoughts about certain situations and to instill some check points to make sure I redirected those thoughts when they began to take a twisted turn that led down a path to nowhere productive. I LOVE the verse from Proverbs…it’s so right on – your thoughts do run your life. You can be a good faker on the outside, but truly, what is on the inside can be rotting away and doing so much damage. My goal this week is to be more aware of where I let my thoughts go and to do my best to corral them before they are in full gallop; racing away to who knows where.
Wanna join me? Oh, and by the way, I can’t do this all on my own. It requires supernatural intervention to live in a healthy thought world. And that requires the discipline on my part to build in moments to plug in to God’s strength, power and guidance; supernatural adrenaline – to kick-start a healthy thought revolution. Kind of like it talks about in this passage:
Hebrews 12:1-3 (The Msg)
1-3 Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!
*Interested in tuning in to the sermons I’m learning from? You can – here: http://northernhills.cc/sermons
Enjoying the journey! 