January 16 Devotion- Renewing My Mind- Step 3: Express Those Emotions

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)

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

The Apostle Paul was dealing with difficult emotions. They were so powerful that we can imagine that they were tearing him apart. He chose to express his emotions, not out loud to himself, not to a group of friends, no; he put them in writing for the whole world to see for thousands of years. We can deduct that there is a big value of expressing our emotions and not bottling them up inside as some of us do. He needed God’s help. He needed to renew his mind. Let’s read his feelings:

But I discern in my bodily members [in the sensitive appetites and wills of the flesh] a different law (rule of action) at war against the law of my mind (my reason) and making me a prisoner to the law of sin that dwells in my bodily organs [in the sensitive appetites and wills of the flesh]. ²⁴ O unhappy and pitiable and wretched man that I am! Who will release and deliver me from [the shackles of] this body of death?

²⁵ O thank God! [He will!] through Jesus Christ (the Anointed One) our Lord! So then indeed I, of myself with the mind and heart, serve the Law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.

وَلكِنَّنِي أَرَى فِي أَعْضَائِي نَامُوساً آخَرَ يُحَارِبُ الشَّرِيعَةَ الَّتِي يُرِيدُهَا عَقْلِي، وَيَجْعَلُنِي أَسِيراً لِنَامُوسِ الْخَطِيئَةِ الْكَائِنِ فِي أَعْضَائِي.

²⁴ فَيَا لِي مِنْ إِنْسَانٍ تَعِيسٍ ! مَنْ يُحَرِّرُنِي مِنْ جَسَدِ الْمَوْتِ هَذَا؟

²⁵ أَشْكُرُ اللهَ بِيَسُوعَ الْمَسِيحِ رَبِّنَا! إِذَنْ، أَنَا نَفْسِي مِنْ حَيْثُ الْعَقْلِ، أَخْدِمُ شَرِيعَةَ اللهِ عَبْداً لَهَا؛ وَلَكِنَّنِي مِنْ حَيْثُ الْجَسَدِ، أَخْدِمُ نَامُوسَ الْخَطِيئَةِ عَبْداً لَهُ.

Romans 7:23-25Amplified Bible (AMP)

Step 3: Express Those Emotions

If you repress and hide toxic emotions, the time will come when those buried emotions will suddenly come pouring out, and of course, it will happen at the most inopportune time, because buried emotions are not controlled, thoughtful emotions.

Signs of suppressed emotions (beside illness in your body), include:

Irritability, short temper, over-reactivity, anxiety, frustration, fear, impulse, a desire for control, perfectionism, self doubt.

Realize that The Bible tells us “In your anger do not sin” Ephesians 4:26 and ‘an angry person stirs up conflict, and a hot-tempered person commits many sins.’ Proverbs 29:22. We need to be able to express our emotions in a controlled and effective manner.

Don’t deny your feelings. Acknowledge them, face them and deal with them in a positive way as soon as you can. Expressing emotions in a healthy way is an important step in detoxing the brain.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:                                                                                                                                             

Abba Father, please help me to acknowledge my feelings and express them to You in prayer, may the Holy Spirit indwelling in me give me healing and support to do the right thing according to your will.  Help me Lord to be able to express my emotions to my brethren in an effective constructive way that is according to a win-win approach. 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 Jesus be the power, the glory, the majesty, the blessings, and the dominion forever and ever, Amen.

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

January 15 Devotion - Renewing My Mind - Step 2: Frame Your World with Your Words

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

وَخِتَاماً، أَيُّهَا الإِخْوَةُ: كُلُّ مَا كَانَ حَقّاً، وَكُلُّ مَا كَانَ شَرِيفاً، وَكُلُّ مَا كَانَ عَادِلاً، وَكُلُّ مَا كَانَ طَاهِراً وَكُلُّ مَا كَانَ مُسْتَحَبّاً، وَكُلُّ مَا كَانَ حَسَنَ السُّمْعَةِ، وَكُلُّ مَا كَانَ فِيهِ فَضِيلَةٌ وَخَصْلَةٌ حَمِيدَةٌ، فَاشْغِلُوا أَفْكَارَكُمْ بِهِ.

Philippians 4:8

In the last devotion 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 (See devotion dated January14, 2020)

Step 2: Frame Your World with Your Words

The words that you speak are electromagnetic life forces that come from a thought inside your brain and have a big impact on your thoughts and your health and attitude. The words are influenced by your 5 senses. The 5 senses form the connection between the external world and your mind’s internal world. When you make negative statements, you release negative chemicals, which lead to negative memories that grow stronger and become negative strongholds that control your attitude and life.

Your positive words have to be backed up with honesty and integrity, what in psychological words is called congruence. What you say and do on the outside must reflect what you think on the inside.

When you start speaking positive words out of positive thinking, you grow a beautiful new memory over the painful old one. The old memory will not go away but will be dominated by the new one.

You can be “transformed by the renewing of your mind”. Romans 12:2

If you do not do this process with integrity and congruence, then the positive statements will fade in time and the negative stronghold will gain supremacy again. It is congruent thinking that creates necessary changes in the brain.

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

Abba Father, please continue to teach me to renew my mind and have new positive memories dominate over the old memories. Teach me to be congruent O’ Lord, help me to think true, positive, noble, admirable, lovely and praiseworthy thoughts and strengthen me through the Holy Spirit to be congruent and to ‘walk my talk’; so that I can be transformed to be Christlike, 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

January 14 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 your brain. 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 invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself and meditate on it:

Abba Father, please 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. Help me God to filter my thoughts and never allow toxic thoughts to find a home in my mind. Help me Lord to control my neurochemistry by my thought life; and make me more able to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit. 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. Abba Father, thank You for loving me with a deep and everlasting love, thank You for Your abundant blessings and for the riches of Your grace upon my life. I declare Jesus as my Lord and Saviour and I pray in His Holy Name. To Jesus be the power, the glory, the majesty, the blessings, and the dominion forever and ever, Amen.

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

January 7 Devotion - Jesus is our Friend

No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.

John 15:15

  لا اعود اسميكم عبيدا لان العبد لا يعلم ما يعمل سيده .لكني قد سميتكم احباء لاني أعلمتكم بكل ما سمعته من ابي .

A slave does not know the plans of his/her master or owner. He receives the commands of his master without knowing the reasons why they are ordered. Friendship on the other hand allows one to be made acquainted with the plans, wishes, and wants of the friend. This instance of friendship Jesus had shared with His disciples the reasons why he was about to leave them, and with His secret wishes in regard to them. As He had given them this proof of friendship, it was proper that He should not withhold from them the title of friends.

The reason why He calls us friends is that He treats us as friends. He has opened to us His mind; made known to us His plans; acquainted us with the design of His coming, His death, His resurrection, ascension, and second coming; and, having thus given us the clearest proof of friendship, it is therefore proper that He gives us this name.

We should always look at Jesus as our friend, even though He is also our Lord and master.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and deep everlasting love. Jesus You laid Your life for me and said: “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” John 15:13 Thank You Jesus  for loving me and treating me like Your friend. LORD, I pray that out of Your glorious riches You strengthen me with power through Your Spirit in my inner being, so that I can continue to declare to the world that Christ is my Lord and Saviour and Friend. In the Holy Name of Jesus I pray. To Jesus be the glory and the power and the dominion forever and ever and unto ages of all ages. Amen.

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein