Page 5 - Grace Connections Magazine April

You can take control of your
thoughts by taking authority over them,
affecting the choices we make. Your
choices as a parent, a friend, a spouse, as
well as to money- saving and spending,
time at work, time with your kids, and
how you function as a member of the
body of Christ by serving- functioning in
your gifts all have great consequences and
reward, in the life to come and also right
here! We need a healthy mind to make
great decisions!
The road to change, if you continue
to desire it, will not be easy. In fact, it will
have much hurt and suffering along the
way. Why? Because like going to the
dentist to have a root canal is painful, it is
often hurtful to remove the decay in our
minds! Remember this: Jer. 17.9 msg-
“The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful,
a puzzle that no one can figure out. but
I, God, search the heart and examine the
mind. I get to the heart of the human. I get
to the root of things. I treat them as they
really are, not as they pretend to be.”
God sees into the real you, the
person that you might be afraid of
showing others for fear of rejection. God
can figure out the puzzle of your heart
and helps us to identify them and uproot
them! Our responsibility is to be open to
allowing the Holy spirit access to our
memories and beliefs.
Ps. 139.23-24 - “Investigate my life,
O God, find out everything about me;
cross-examine and test me, get a clear
picture of what I’m about; see for yourself
whether I’ve done anything wrong, then
guide me on the road to eternal life.”
God challenges us to have courage
to open our heart to God and realize that
suffering comes before liberation! But the
suffering is worth the blessings! Facing
our fear and our doubt is part of the
growing process.
1 Pe. 5.10 Passion - “And then, after
your brief suffering, the God of all loving
grace, who has called you to share in his
eternal glory in Christ, will personally and
powerfully restore you and make you
stronger than ever. Yes, he will set you
firmly in place and build you up.”
Changing our thinking to have
God’s abundant life is difficult but is very
much worth it! Many of these influences
of the devil were planted into our minds
at an early age, especially if any big
trauma occurred at that time in your
young life.
The enemy has planted many lies in
your mind, that the Bible calls
“strongholds”. We all have been “sinned
against’: hurt, wronged, ill-treated, or
abused. We retain this soul-pain and the
enemy is there to reinforce it. He lays
destructive guilt and condemnation in the
mind that becomes a stronghold or a
rebellious castle.
The pain and the memory of it fuel
our rebellious nature which pushes us
away from the answer. If left within our
minds it will lead us to repetitive
problems, possibly into addictions, self-
destructive relationships, great anger and
deep sorrow.
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