Tuesday 6 January 2015

January 6 Devotion- Renewing My Mind- Step 1



Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].
ولا تشاكلوا هذا الدهر. بل تغيّروا عن شكلكم بتجديد اذهانكم لتختبروا ما هي ارادة الله الصالحة المرضية الكاملة.
Romans 12:2 Amplified Bible (AMP)

I have read this Bible verse many times and wanted to renew my mind. Let us learn together how we can do that. Feedback and additions are welcomed.

In order to renew my mind I first need to unlearn things that are totally based on worldly wisdom. Then I need to replace them with God’s teachings and accepting Jesus as my Lord (over my life) and as my Saviour. Salvation is only through Christ.

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 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 a book by Dr. Caroline Leaf, a Christian author and other teachings I learned.

Step 1: Consciously Control Your Thoughts
It is essential that you learn about your mental processes and get actively involved in changing them.
Demanding unrealistic performance from yourself and others puts your mind and body in stress mode and this has a negative effect on your health. We need to depend on The Holy Spirit living within us in order to be able to live the Christian life.

When you receive a thought, filter it. If it is helpful accept it, if it is not helpful reject it. You should: ask, answer and discuss your thoughts out loud with yourself.
Never let thoughts wander through your mind unchecked. If they are toxic they will eventually make you sick. Thoughts are real things with substance and need to be controlled.

Until you have your thoughts and attitudes under control, no amount of knowledge, skill, or medication can help you truly detox. You will need courage and perseverance to confront and control your thoughts and to build healthy boundaries for yourself and in your relationships.

One of the real dangers of toxic thoughts is that they build toxic memories. The first step to stop building toxic memories is to filter the thoughts in the early stages. Toxic memories can be replaced by reprogramming and replacing them with pleasant memories. This will require many recordings of the pleasant memory until the negative memory is erased.

Research shows that intelligence is not static but can be enhanced (or reduced) by your neurochemistry. You control your neurochemistry by your thought life; therefore you can make yourself healthier and smarter and more able to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           I i
I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself and meditate on it:
Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and inseparable love. Lord, help me to stop leaning on my own abilities and to depend totally on Your wisdom and power through The Holy Spirit working in me. Heavenly Father, please continue to teach me to renew my mind so that I can be transformed to be Christ-like, to feel Your joy, to live Your good and pleasing will for my life. 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

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