Life Changing Lesson

"And Do Not Be Conformed To This World: But Be Ye Transformed By The Renewing Of Your Mind, That Ye May Prove What Is That Good, And Acceptable, And Perfect , Will Of God."
Romans 12:2

I will admit I have had a hard time co-operating with Him and the transformation process He has started within me.

Because I didn't know exactly what it was He was trying to change within me, I fought it each step of the way.

Now that the renewal of my mind and soul is becoming clearer, I have a better picture of what He is wanting from me.

That doesn't make it any easier to accept.

In order for the transformation to take place and ultimately "stick", I needed to know what He was wanting from me.

I already knew He was removing anything in my path that kept me from Him, no matter how painful it was to me.

I am 100% guilty of not putting Him first in my life, for an awful long time, and I have already sought His forgiveness for that transgression.

I am human, I sin, daily and no I am not proud of that, however I can't be perfect either.

For the renewal and transformation to take place, there are some things that need to happen from you.

Study the Bible.

Put away negative qualities.

The most important part after these two is done by Him...

By the power of the Holy Spirit, the transformation can become complete.

Let's look at the first one, study the Bible...

Should be easy right?

It isn't, I admit I could stand to read my Bible a lot more than I do...

I read a few verses here and there, however I don't sit down and spend time in the word like I should.

We will read anything we can get our hands on, from romance novels to cereal boxes, yet when it is time to read the one Book we should be living by, we balk at it.

It is boring, it is too long, I don't understand it, I don't have time etc...

I have used these as well, it is crap.

Nothing but excuses...

If you want to feel Him by your side, more so than you do now, read His Book.

Let's look at number two, put away negative qualities.

What does this mean exactly?

Let's look at my personality...

Again I am human and I have many flaws and since this is my blog, I will use myself...

I am not a patient person, I have a bad temper, I curse more than I should, I can be judgemental, I can be critical etc...

Now, in order for me to become more like Him, I have to put away those qualities and put on the qualities He wants in me.

Love, compassion, patience, harmony, kind, generous, gentle etc...

This is how He wants me to be.

Each and every flawed aspect of your personality has a verse about it somewhere in His Word.

See where I am going with this?

Make a list...

On the paper, draw down the center a straight line, now on one side list each "bad" personality trait you have...

Then go and get your Bible and do a search in the concordance...

On the other side of the paper, write down the specific verse that pertains to whatever your trait may be for that search.

It is all there in black and white.

Now tear the page out of your notebook and study those verses, keep the page with you and when you feel the "bad" start to crop up, get your page out and read it.

It will take some time, however eventually, you will be able to "stop" those traits in their tracks, to be replaced with what He wants from you.

I still struggle with this each and every day.

It is, of course, easier to slip back into the "old me".

To lash out in anger, to show my impatience with what is at hand, to judge where I have no place to judge.

Yet now I know I can stop it...

It is a matter of thinking before acting.

The struggle runs very wide and very deep within me.

We live in the age of wanting everything right this minute...

No matter what it is, none of us wants to wait...

Instant gratification is surrounding us in almost every aspect of our life.

With Him, there is no instant gratification.

In order to get to number three, you have to do the other things on your own...

This renewal will be on His time, however you have to do the work as well...

He isn't going to sweep in and make you whole again...

You have to want it more than anything else and you have to be willing to fight for it...

I never realized how bad I wanted it until He started His work within me.

JOSH WILSON
Savior, Please Help Me Stand
I Fall So Hard, I Fade So fast
Will You Begin Right Where I End
And Be The God Of All I Am Because You're All I Have

Strive For Balance

"For God Is Not The Author Of Confusion, But Of Peace, As In All Churches Of The Saints."

1 Corinthians 14:33

Inner balance & inner peace, something many people strive for, yet few can truly say they possess.

Unfortunately I am one of the many who seek them, yet fall short daily.

Inner balance means to "stand still".

Inner peace means a state of being mentally and spiritually at peace, with enough knowledge and understanding to keep oneself strong in the face of discord and stress.

In order to combine the two, you have to have self-discipline, self-control and the ability to not allow outside forces influence your emotions, your actions, your reactions and your judgements.

The presence of inner balance and inner peace means you have the common sense and good judgement to not allow the outside world to shake your inner world.

Think back over just the past month...

How many times did you get angry or lose your temper with your spouse, your kids, your co-workers, your parents etc?...

How many of those times were caused by outside influences? (ie: the weather, work, a headline you saw, other people etc...)

How many times have you allowed guilt to creep in when you regretted your actions?

I can most likely assume, now that you have taken the time to reflect back, that this doesn't make any of you happy.

This is allowing outside forces to distract you, which in turn throws off your inner balance and inner peace.

Loss of inner balance and inner peace causes your emotions to fluctuate, you than begin to lack direction...

You find yourself spending unnecessary time on useless thoughts, emotions and actions.

I know, because I do this day in and day out.

I can't count how many times I have started a post, got mid-way through and lost all train of thought due to unforeseen influences.

Each and every thing in my life affects my emotions, that is just the kind of person I am.

I allow unpleasant circumstances to steal my joy.

Joy He has blessed me with.

I can start the day well enough, however by mid-day, sometimes mid-morning, the joy has been stolen to be replaced with doubt, anxiety, worry, fear, anger, sadness etc...

It has taken me many months to recognize this and will probably take me many months to remedy it as well.

However as G says, "The journey begins with a single step", he also says "Change your perspective" which is what I was aiming to do today.

So starting this morning I got up, and mentally changed my way of thinking...

Instead of worrying about the fact that I had to go see my lawyer, I instead focused on the fact that He allowed me one more day of life.

Instead of thinking about what could happen on this day, I instead focused on the pleasant things in front of me.

Instead of focusing on the difficulties that have passed or have yet to come, I instead focused on what I have gained in this past year and a half.

Instead of fretting about what the lawyer said during our 3 hour meeting, I put it all in my mind to process a little at a time.

Your thoughts determine your state of mind...

Controlling your thoughts, takes a lot of practice...

If you tend to always have negative thoughts, yes like me, than you will gravitate towards negative no matter what...

You will always see the bad in any circumstance, no matter what.

If, instead you change your perspective, change your way of thinking, you will be able to see the positive no matter the circumstance.

Remember this, you are always able to decide which thoughts to follow and which thoughts to reject.

You should never feel like you are helpless to your own thoughts.

Now besides controlling your thoughts, how else might one achieve inner balance and inner peace?

Meditation.

We spend 8-12 hours a day working, playing, eating, drinking etc...

Can you find 15 minutes a day to just "be"?

No amount of money, fame, notches on your bedpost, clothes in your closest, food in your pantry etc...Can bring about inner balance nor inner peace.

During meditation, I seek Him...

He is the core of my inner balance & inner peace...

I know that in order to reach that place deep within, I have to be able to transcend my thoughts.

Yes, I am still working on that.

From the moment you get up in the morning to the moment you go to sleep at night, you need to be able to maintain some form of detachment from the world around you.

I am not saying to become uncaring and callous...

I am saying you need to be able to decide which, if any of the things going on around you, will control your balance & peace.

Don't react immediately to any situation, emotion or thought...

It won't be easy, however step back, take a breath, count to one hundred if you have to and ask yourself, "Will I allow my balance to be tipped the other way by this circumstance?" "Will I allow this to steal my inner peace"?

In order to develop inner balance and inner peace, it takes practice, concentration & meditation...

In the long run, 15 minutes a day is worth it.

What I have been finding out recently, is that no matter how many valleys I descend into, I have to remember to always keep walking forward.

Eventually I am going to come to a place where I will be able to climb out.

No matter what has happened in my life, there has always been a way out.

No matter the difficulties nor the obstacles placed in my path, no matter how many times I fall down, I always rise up.

The knowledge that He is with me each and every step allows me the courage to keep walking, keep rising and keep soaring.

That alone is helping me with keeping my inner balance and inner peace.

MERCYME
Hold Fast
Help Is On The Way
Hold Fast
He's Come To Save The Day
What I've Learned In My Life
One Thing Greater Than My Strife
Is His Grasp
So Hold Fast

How Do You See?

"For It Is Better, If The Will Of God Be So, That Ye Suffer For Well Doing, Than For Evil Doing." 1 Peter 3:17

In the past week, it has been brought to my attention that I may have taken my eyes off of Him.

Of course I denied it, however once I sat back and took stock, this statement is correct.

It was also pointed out to me that whenever I look away, everything seems to go wrong.

When I say everything, I mean each and every thing.

Little every day things become huge in the face of adversity.

A spilled soda, hitting every red light on the way to work after you already overslept, no milk for your morning coffee, a run in your pantyhose etc...

There are millions of things that can go wrong each day...

If your focus is on Him, these things won't bother you, if your focus is on the world around you, than you are walking dangerous territory.

I missed Church last week, not only did I miss Church, I missed Communion...

It saddens me when I don't get to Church, however sometimes I just can't get there no matter how hard I try.

It seems when this happens, I am set up for a week of stress, disappointments, emotions running high etc...

There is of course good within the week, however I am to focused on the bad to notice the good.

Until it becomes to much for me to bear, only than do I notice it...

Or when it is pointed out to me.

In times like these you need to take your eyes off of your circumstances...

If your eyes are on your circumstances than that means they are not on Him...

If your eyes are not on Him, you are missing the new life He is putting in front of you...

New days, new gifts, new friends, new blessings....

You can't see this new life if you are still looking at that old life.

BRANDON HEATH
Give Me Yours Eyes For Just One Second
Give Me Your Eyes So I Can See
Everything That I Keep Missing
That I Keep Missing

Trapped

"And He Said To Me, My Grace Is Sufficient For You, For My Strength Is Made Perfect In Weakness. Therefore Most Gladly I Will Rather Boast In My Infirmities, That The Power Of Christ May Rest Upon Me."

2 Corinthians 12:9

I told my sister this morning I feel like I am trapped in a funhouse from which there is no escape.

Trapped in a room of mirrors, never quite sure what my reflection is going to reveal.

I can say all the right things, I can do all the right things, however what matters is how I feel inside...

Inside I feel dead.

Trapped, agitated, not quite sure what the day may hold, guarded to the people that come around and rattle my cage.

I liken it to an animal that has been beaten over and over again until they are afraid of anyone who comes around them...

They shake and cower in a corner, terrified of being struck again.

It could take you years to get that animal to trust you and it may never happen.

I see Him, reaching out His hand, I want to grab onto it and never let go of it...

For whatever reason, something is holding me back from grasping it completely.

I know what He wants me to do, I know how He wants me to feel...

He knows I am struggling badly lately, I wish He could tell me why.

I find myself locked in my own private world lately...

I function, I speak, I do what I need to to, yet I still feel trapped.

A tug of war going on within me...

A spiritual battle, torn between what I want to do and what I need to do...

I need His strength to come through this battle, yet I can't quite bring myself to ask for it.

CASTING CROWNS
I'm Trying So Hard
To Stop Trying So Hard
Just Let You Be Who You Are
Lord, Who You Are In Me

Introduce Your Deliverer, To Your Destroyer

"But I Say To You, Love Your Enemies, Bless Those Who Curse You, Do Good To Those Who Hate You, And Pray For Those Who Spitefully Use You And Persecute You."

Matthew 5:44

One of the hardest things to do, "love your enemy."

Forgiveness, bitterness, revenge, hatred, anger all pretty much go hand in hand...

To live as He wants you to live, His word states you have to love your enemy.

By disobeying Him and not doing as He states, you fall from Grace.

When you fall out of Grace, you find yourself in territory you know nothing about.

You are now open and ripe for the enemy to attack.

When you disobey God, nothing in your life is calm...

There may be times when you are obeying Him and things still aren't calm, however that will change in His time, when it pleases Him and no sooner.

The battle raging in your life isn't yours...

It is His, He will change everything once you introduce Him to the things that are destroying you.

He is the deliverer and you will have to suffer for His namesake.

He will bring you so far down and make you so weak that you have no other option but to call upon Him.

That is how He wants you...

Broken, crushed, aching, in pain, scarred, shameful etc...

He wants you as you are.

Not perfect, not only when you are happy, not only when things are going wonderfully in your life...

As. You. Are.

Anything in your life that seems to be "against" you should be taken to Him.

Show your destroyers what He can do with your heart, even as they are stepping on your back.

The battles that are raging within you, can't be won by you.

Until you give complete control over to Him, they will continue to rage on.

Recently I have had some unsettling things happen within my life, yes on top of everything else that is going on around me.

People talk, they don't always have nice things to say.

Word has gotten back to me about some things being said in my Church about me.

Hurtful lies.

Not only am I being lied about, there are other people who have been dragged into the mess...

Why?

The only reason I got was, "You are too nice to everyone."

Wow, I didn't know that was a sin.

So once again, I went and asked Him, why I have been planted in that Church?

It is apparent to me, I am not very welcome by some of the other members.

I only feel that the Church He guided me to, is where I need to be at this time in my life.

I don't know why, I don't know for how long, all I know is this is where He wants me.

I took those destroyers to Him, as He is my deliverer...

He knows what has been said, He knows the truth, He knows it has hurt me.

I have realized that what my Pastor told me so long ago is now coming true...

The closer you draw to Him, the more the enemy is going to attack you.

AMY GRANT
Beautiful The Mess We Are
The Honest Cries Of Breaking Hearts
Are Better Than A Hallelujah