January 12 Devotion - Renewing My Mind- Step 5-Dream On

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

ولا تشاكلوا هذا الدهر. بل تغيّروا عن شكلكم بتجديد اذهانكم لتختبروا ما هي ارادة الله الصالحة المرضية الكاملة.

Romans 12:2 (NIV)

I covered the following on the first devotion in this series:

I believe that I can experience God’s good and pleasing will for my life when I:

·      Surrender to God

·      Let The Holy Spirit work in me and direct me  

·      Clean up (detoxify) my mind

·      Constantly read the Bible and meditate on God’s word

·      Pray without ceasing

·      Get my thoughts, behaviour, and attitude and boundaries aligned with God’s word

In the last devotions I wrote:

In the next 10 devotions I will share with you 10 steps to clean up or detoxify the brain. Let’s learn to apply them.

These steps are adapted from The Bible, a book by Dr. Caroline Leaf (a Christian author) and other teachings I learned.

Step 1: Consciously Control Your Thoughts

Step 2: Frame Your World with Your Words

Step 3: Express Those Emotions

Step 4: Take Responsibility and Take Control

Step 5: Dream On!

For God may speak in one way, or in another, Yet man does not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, When deep sleep falls upon men, While slumbering on their beds, Then He opens the ears of men, And seals their instruction.

إِنَّ اللهَ يَتَكَلَّمُ بِطَرِيقَةٍ أَوْ بِأُخْرَى وَإِنْ كَانَ الإِنْسَانُ لاَ يُدْرِكُهَا.

 ¹⁵ يَتَكَلَّمُ فِي حُلْمٍ، فِي رُؤْيَا اللَّيْلِ عِنْدَمَا يَغْشَى النَّاسَ سَبَاتٌ عَمِيقٌ.

 ¹⁶ عِنْدَئِذٍ يَفْتَحُ آذَانَ النَّاسِ وَيُرْعِبُهُمْ بِتَحْذِيرَاتِهِ،

Job 33:14-16

Detoxing your brain doesn’t only take place when you are awake. When you are dreaming, different parts of your body/mind are exchanging information.

We all dream, it’s a physiological process. The reality is that many of us suppress our dreams because of the emotions they evoke. Yet our dreams challenge us to sort our emotional lives. Be advised: the more turbulent and disturbing your dreams, the more work you have to do on your thought life. Dreams not only have content but feelings as well. Any badly built memories are cleaned up at this stage as well.

The critical first step to using your dreams to detox your thoughts is simply to remember them. Capturing the dream in some form such as writing it down as soon as you wake up can be enlightening and help you to control your thoughts.

On a physiological level, your dream state allows the psychosomatic network to retune itself and get ready for the demands of your waking life.

And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams.

يَقُولُ اللهُ : فِي الأَيَّامِ الأَخِيرَةِ سَأَسْكُبُ رُوحِي عَلَى جَمِيعِ الْبَشَرِ، فَيَتَنَبَّأُ بَنُوكُمْ وَبَنَاتُكُمْ، وَيَرَى شَبَابُكُمْ رُؤى، وَيَحْلُمُ شُيُوخُكُمْ أَحْلاَماً.

Acts 2:17

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself and to meditate on it:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and inseparable love. Lord, let my dreams be an opportunity to hear Your voice and to renew my thoughts and be transformed to the image You hold of me. My heavenly Father, while I sleep tonight open my ears and seal Your instructions. Help me to see, feel, and believe the transformation that You are planning for my entire life. God help detox my brain and bring all my thoughts into captivity to the obedience of Christ. I declare Jesus as my Lord and Saviour and I pray in His Holy Name. To Him be the power, the glory, the majesty, the blessings, and the dominion forever and ever, Amen.

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein