Reprogram Your Thinking – the Power of an Attitude!

To reprogram your thinking in simple terms basically means to rewire your mind to think for you instead of against you, that is think more positively. But one thing we need to understand first is that thinking is normal, even though at times we might find ourselves in unpleasant thoughts that make us guilty and feel like the worst people in the world. What we need to understand is that it is important to take steps towards changing our thought patterns that are destructive and contradictory to the word of God. 

Maybe you’re saying to yourself why is it important that I reprogram my thinking, there is nothing wrong with how I think. Well one important question you need to ask yourself is what is negative thinking? What are the effects of negative thinking in my life and most importantly in my relationship with Jesus? We need to first understand that when one reprograms his/her thinking that means there is a pattern in his/her thinking that is faulty, a pattern that is a stumbling block in his/her way of the necessary growth and success that God wishes for us all as His children.

So all in all this means that there are great benefits in reprogramming our thinking patterns, reprogramming your thinking has a powerful effect as it basically transforms your whole life. According to Susan Reynolds “if you want to be happy for the rest of your life, make sure you keep your brain happy.” This basically means that positive thoughts in our life have such a great impact. She further stated that happy people (positive people) are more creative, solve problems faster, and tend to be more mentally alert. When you think positive you become a positive person and become more relaxed, at peace and happy and being such a person allows other people to feel comfortable around you as your way of life (thinking) is just positive and probably encouraging too. 

If we try and observe the life of Jesus Christ on earth, we will notice that He was a man who was at peace, happy and very positive. People who were around Him, in His presence couldn’t help it but feel encouraged to change for the better and be at peace. His way of life made His stay on earth amazing and very inspirational to many people around the world, not only to believers but also to unbelievers even still today. The reason was because of the truth that His thinking was in line with God’s word; His thinking was not contradictory to what His father expected of Him or His word. One of the most neglected disciplines by the born-again Christians these days is meditating on the word of God, which is taking special time every day to study and explore the word of God so it becomes part of you. Well meditating is a form of thinking that God requires us to do, this form of thinking helps the rest of our thinking life to become more structured and positive, it helps your think to stay in line with God’s word.

We don’t pay special attention to what we think about and one of the main problems we end up having by such disruptive thinking is that we continue feeding ourselves with negative and unhealthy things (that is information that is contradictory to the word of God) after we have left our ways of the past. While we are still in the Lord, we continue in the way we thought before, our old patterns of life. Probably you have heard of the expression, you are what you think, well that’s true because what we think in our minds we speak and also act. It is God’s wish for us to always think in a manner or pattern that is positive; He requires that we reprogram our thinking in a way that allows Him to use us. Because honestly speaking working with a negative person in mind is almost impossible as they are full of doubt and impossibilities of which we all know that is not in line with our Lord and Saviour. 

We serve a God of possibilities. God that can do anything, the word impossible does not exist in His vocabulary. We also are well aware of the truth that we can only please God if we have faith; hence doubt has no room in God’s presence. The scripture below clearly illustrates to us what God wants our thinking pattern to be like. You might be saying to yourself right now, how am I supposed to change the way I think, I can’t control how I think. Well I have news for you, you do have control over what you allow your mind to continue thinking, yes you might not entirely decide on the thoughts that drop in your mind but you have a choice, a choice not to entertain the thoughts that are disruptive. And you even in great luck to have the Holy Spirit by your side, as He will remind you that you not supposed to be thinking what you thinking currently, He will always keep you in line but one thing you need to understand is that, you need to work with Him. 

The Holy Spirit won’t force you and having the Holy Spirit does not mean it will be easy, but what it means is that you will have the strength to want to decide on what is right and in line with God. Philippians 4:8: “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.” Our God is not impressed with what we appear to be or act like when we are around people. At times we become so devious that we play church and think we can fool God too. 

Well God values what we think about a lot, He weighs the motives of our hearts. Hence it is of great importance that we think positively and ensure that we portray a mind like Christ. The word of God clearly explains to us how God feels and values positive (pure/right) thoughts. Proverbs 16: 26: “The Lord detests the thoughts of the wicked, but those of the pure are pleasing to Him.” What we fail to forget and sometimes fool ourselves into thinking we don’t know, is the truth that God cannot be fooled or schemed by us, everything to Him is clear, He sees and knows about everything that takes places in our lives, around us and in the entire world. 

So what makes us think that we can watch whatever we want and talk about whatever we wish to talk about and somehow still get away with it. Everything we spend our time in is mastered and pondered in mind, spoken about intentionally and/or accidentally and eventually reflected in the way we act, in our lives. Hence it is important that we take note of what we invest in our lives if we aim to have a mind like Christ. I just want you to clearly go through the scripture below and understand for yourself that indeed God cannot be mocked, and that what you sow into your life you will reap its fruits and nothing else or more. You cannot expect to reap bananas whereas you know that you sowed apple seeds, you will get apples as that’s what you sowed into the ground. Galatians 6:7-9: “Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 

The one who sows to please the sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the spirit will reap eternal life.” What we need to understand is that what we feed ourselves with, which is what we listen to, what we watch and even talk about affects the way we think, it has a great impact on our thinking patterns as born-again Christians or any person for that matter. 

Hence it is of importance that you surround yourself with positive, godly and right things so as to maintain your new thinking pattern that has been transformed. God is more interested on the unseen that is what is on the inside, God’s desire and wish is that we are clean from the inside so as that to be reflected on the outside. 

                                     SELAH!

"The War Within"

What a world and a people we surrounded by, always attempting to cope, understand, and persevere in the face of injustice? 

Gripping thoughts and a loud cry from within, yet I am unable to completely express myself; am I simply concerned about whether I will be heard or given a platform to do so? Thoughts reverberate all around me, with a bang that never seems to fade, and a concern, grief, and aggravation that no one can really comprehend, or perhaps is uninterested in understanding. 

You know, no one ever openly discusses the poisonous or toxic work environment—that terrible supervisor, boss or coworker who has it in for you. No one ever discusses with real concern the violent or toxic relationship that has steadily drained your life away. And no one talks about the time you became your worst enemy of growth, peace, and sanity, when you began to lose sight of anything good about yourself, those accomplishments, no matter how small or large they were or how far you had come. 

Nobody ever discusses the daily demands placed on women about everything from the ticking clock to having a child, getting married, being suitable, being slender, and being some type of attractive. No one ever discusses South Africa's youth unemployment rates: the graduate who is sitting at home, not by choice or lack of effort; the graduate who has become a nanny, cleaner, gardener, prostitute, and so on, not by choice but by necessity and circumstance.

Don't get me wrong; this is not an attempt to denigrate those who do such jobs; rather, it is an illustration of the reality of our people's lives, a reality whose influence is often underestimated and overlooked.

 No one ever talks about your friends, you went to school, or Varsity excelling while you could barely afford a pair of shoes or the next meal for you or your family. No one ever discusses how it affects you, not out of envy, but because of the ideas that run through your head, such as what is wrong with me or what I am not doing well. Nobody discusses the everyday questions and comparisons made by your friends, family, and community now that all of your classmates have graduated and started progressing with their lives.

 

Nobody ever discusses the depths and demands of the black tax or even takes the time to ask the genuine questions, instead jumping to conclusions or assuming you are ungrateful for how your family supported you prior to your success or what looks like success in their eyes.

No one ever talks about the devastation that occurs when you just divorced or separated from your partner, discovered your partner is cheating, or abandoned by your baby daddy with no evident means to support you or the child. Nobody ever talks about the man who is emotionally assaulted on a daily basis by his partner. No one ever discusses the sexual abuse that males face or the consequences of being unable to open up about it—the lingering thoughts that crimple them until there is nothing left of who they used to be. 

 

No one ever discusses the mistreatment of the daughter-in-law by her mother-in-law or their in-laws in general. No one ever talks about the rape that resulted in me having a child. The battle to love and hate at the same time, remembering how she or he came to be, torn between love and pain that attempted to replace itself with hatred. No one ever mentions the physical scar he left on my body, the STI, STD, or HIV/AIDS he/she infected me with. And yet, by all means and indications, I am expected to live, be grateful and happy that I am still alive.

 

Questions go through my mind, wondering if Am I still living or surviving or has tragedy, the trauma and pain killed me? Am I just a shadow of who I used to be? Just maybe no one ever discusses it because no one really cares or understands the weight of what I am going through. And yet, boldly, and naively, you (we) claim that mental health issues are only for the wealthy, attention seekers, and the weak.

 

Reality Check: Life can be harsh and brutal at times, and no matter how strong you are, you can find yourself in its ruthless clutches, pulling you apart piece by piece.

                                 SELAH!

AN ILLUSTRATION OF OUR LOVE FOR GOD!

The essence of a real relationship with Him is obedience. Obedience is about realising that it’s not about you but about God. Obedience is constant realisation that the God you serve knows what’s best for you and all you can do is only obey. You don’t have to like something or agree with it or for it to be easy for you in order to obey, it means even when you don’t like it or think you know best or it’s hard you still obey. That’s the life of a child of God, an obedient Christian. It is putting God first and you last. Pastor Hagee once shared the most amazing statement in one of his sermons, a statement that I believe is very important for every individual as it guides us towards what is and what should matter more about us being called Christians. He stated that “one is not a Christian (disciple) by believing only, but rather a Christian (disciple) by what you obey.” So let us be doers of the word of God, not just hearers of the word. To some this might not be their understanding of obedience or ideal explanation, but whether we like it or not we need to face this truth. For many Christians obedience is the hardest thing, mainly because it takes them out of their comfort zone, it forces them to listen and do.

Though no one likes to go through difficult times, the truth of the matter is that it is that pain and hardship that we go through that teaches us obedience, because honestly speaking when we disobey, in a way we are prolonging the difficult times. We need to be able to listen and pay attention to what God requires of us, we cannot expect to grow if we do not face hardships along the way. We have certain lesson to learn and some of the greatest lessons are through one of the hardest times in our lives, times where the easiest solution is just to give up instead of holding on. Obedience to the human mind most of the time is not ideal at all, as it sometimes requires us to make some huge sacrifices in order to do as God instructs us and for us as people that is very hard. Probably you have worked at this firm for years and now you just require quitting and packing your bags to a new destination. Thoughts go through your mind, thoughts like can I really succeed in this new adventure, do I have the abilities or talents to do this or maybe this is not for me. While you at it, the most dangerous thoughts come through your mind, maybe this is not God speaking, you question the order/command, and you are at the verge of wanting to find a greater and real reason why you should disobey.

These feelings are mainly brought on by the fear of change, fear of failure and security. The strange thing about this is,   that after such a long journey with our Saviour we forget one important thing, and that is He will never give you what is beyond your power and that when He asks you to do something He will also give you the ability and strength to do it. He is not on a mission of making sure you fail but the opposite, He is on a mission to grow you and make sure you succeed in life and become the best you can be.

When I speak of importance of obedience I refer also to the act of having an obedient mind, making sure that you avoid having a wondering mind, because we cannot run away from the truth that if your mind is disobedient then chances of an obedient life are very slim. Obedient mind is equal to an obedient life and vice versa. It is not a lie that God wants us to have a mind like Christ, a positive mind filled with God thoughts. Just as the famous saying goes “where the mind goes the man follows”, it is no secret that the devil attacks the mind and aims to paralyse it first. His second aim is to make sure that our minds (thoughts) control us and not God. Hence it is important to be filled with the Holy Spirit as He prompts you when you think wrong thoughts and reminds you of the word, so in a way the Spirit of God guides you in ensuring that you are obedient. We need to be committed to the agenda of our Father and nothing else should matter as much.

Obedience to God and His word is a true sign that you love Him and that you trust all that He instructs or demands of you. Obedience reveals your complete trust In God and that you fear God enough to do as He commands. This scripture clearly demonstrates that obedience is an act of love towards God and it clearly explains that obedience is not a once off thing but rather a continuous act towards God.

Obeying God is the core value of being a Christian, it’s an ingredient that brings you closer to your God and allows more intimacy. Through obedience God can speak to you as you are faithful enough to obey what He instructs of you, when He speaks you hear, listen and do as He commands. Obedience informs God that He can trust you, that He can share His secrets with you, just like friends do. This formation of friendship is God’s promise to all that obey Him and do as He commands. 

 

 “This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out His commands. 3 This is love for God: to obey His commands. And His commands are not burdensome,” John 5:2-3

When you obey someone, it’s more than just a mere act of respect, it’s about the love you possess for the individual. Our love for God should be evident and clearly shown through the way we honour His word. For God to know that we love Him, we need to obey His commandments, to allow His will to prevail in our lives. Saying you love God and supporting that statement with some good acts is not enough; it does not even begin to convince God that you love Him. All our God needs from us as proof that we care and love Him is if we obey His commands, because when we obey His commands we portray the complete trust we have in Him and as His word states nothing pleases God as a child that has absolute faith in Him. We need to realise that our God has feelings too, that what we do matters, He has these guidelines, laws or commands depending on how you define them in place for a specific reason. So, we need to stop thinking we know better and questioning His every move, every command, because of this very attitude towards the word of God, so many Christians now view His law as burdensome.
When you see something as a burden no matter how good it is for you, how much it can change your life, you will never experience the blessing of it. Why? Simply because you thought you knew better or didn’t give it a chance. We allow the devil to place thoughts in our mind, thoughts such as this is too hard, is it really necessary for God to say, no sex before marriage – I mean we are engaged, we basically married – it’s not like I’m sleeping around like other people-he loves me and we’re getting married next month or is it really necessary for Him to want us to love everyone, why should I waste my time loving someone who could care less about who I am or what I need – I give to the poor, love my family and friends.
When we go against His word, decide to sleep with that fiancé you get pregnant or that man decides he’s made a mistake; he leaves you and marries someone else. Now when things are all sour, all has gone completely the opposite in how you planned your life-no marriage in a month’s time, you are ashamed, humiliated, scared, and angry at the whole world. You are mostly likely to get trapped in a trap in which you blame the very same God you questioned before; you ask Him why He didn’t show you that the fiancé was fake, that he was not the man or a woman for you. You forget that you had your ears shut all the time and that your main focus was questioning God, so how could you have expected to hear anything when you were preoccupied with something else.
 
We basically allow ourselves to get in the trap of questioning the most excellent, perfect, genius, awesome, magnificent, holy God, a God who’s all knowing. All that God does is for our best, it is never in His plan to harm us or hurt us. He has the word, His word in place for our own benefit, our own safety, we are His first priority, and He loves us more than anything. Obeying His word should not be a battle for us, a battle where we prove that this His word contradicts with the other or it’s not fair. If we find it hard, as we will at times, He’s always there to assist us, to guide us and give us the strength to do His will. Our relationship should never be about debating His word and go on some ridiculous journey of proving some facts/truth but should rather be centred on loving Him and that’s through obedience.

SELAH!

 

Be Courageous and Confident!

Fear has a way of controlling our thoughts, motives and even our very movement in life. It basically becomes a threat to our dreams and plans for life. When that fear strikes us, what do we do, how do we find the courage to paddle through that tormenting feeling called fear. One important thing that I have learned in my journey with Christ is that He is the source of everything, the source of even the courage I need to paddle through life, strong and confident.

It is only when you go through a scary situation and you paddle through it despite fear that strikes your heart like a burning knife that you truly realise that God has blessed you with a gift of courage. We can’t wait for courage to pitch up until we act, we need to act now despite the feeling of fear, just like Joyce Meyer usually says, “courage is not an absence of fear but its acting despite that feeling, not allowing it to stand in the way of what you need to do.” When you worry it’s dangerous as it pushes you towards disbelief, making you doubt what you know as the truth and in a way fills your head with lies and negativity.

You don’t need to be a talkative person, a person who is not shy in order for you to be used by God or to do what God has appointed you to do at church, school, university, work or even in your community, but all we should remember at all times is that our Lord Jesus Christ is with us all the way. So do not allow your weakness to define you, be confident and courageous in the Lord.

The story in the book of Mark chapter 10 verses 46-52 is a very significant and powerful story that we as born-again Christians can learn from about faith and the power of being courageous and not allowing fear to stand in the way of what you want or need in life. As you read through this, I want you to notice mainly the character of the blind man, observe it and learn from it.

Mark 10: 46-52: “46 Then they come to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the son of Timaeus), was sitting by the road side begging. 47 when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, Jesus Son of David, have mercy on me! 48 many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, Son of David, have mercy on me! 49 Jesus stopped and said, call him. So they called to the blind man, ‘Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.’50 Throwing His cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. 51 what do you want me to do for you? The blind man said, ‘Rabbi, I want to see.’ 52 ‘Go,’ said Jesus, ‘your faith has healed you.’ Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.”

Do not allow people to threaten you, be like the blind man who kept on pushing despite fear and whatever people said, he knew exactly what he wanted and went after it. He realised and knew at heart that it was not about the disciples, but about Jesus.

Christianity is an individual matter so stop leaning and depending on anyone else but God – stand on your own and seek God for yourself, fulfil your life purpose despite fear or challenges on your way, do whatever it takes to get the attention of our Lord Jesus Christ. So stop making unfaithful pastors or churches be your excuse in not doing what you know in your heart is right and you are destined to do. It is time we stop using that lame excuse, you came on planet earth alone, you were created by God with His own unique purpose for your life, so why the need of wanting a crowd’s confirmation before you can act or start being serious and committed in the things of God. You need to believe that God can change any situation; to Him nothing is impossible so trust Him with your life. You need to allow God to be the master of everything in your life.

So stop cursing yourself, because today you are what you are because of what you spoke into your life years ago and still speak into your life even today. It is important that you speak words that will build, encourage and drive you towards greatness and not words that will break you and cause destruction in your life. Being courageous also has to do with what we believe about ourselves and what words we speak into our life. If we speak victoriously and courageously, we will also be victorious and courageous. God knows all your mistakes, sins and weaknesses but even that has not made Him change His great thoughts about you. He still has the best plans for you.

We need to be faithful to the word of God and Him as our Lord and Saviour and one way we can do that is do as it tells us, believe in it and let it guide us. This can start by not allowing fear to control us and believing the word of God when it tells us we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us and that in us He has not deposited a spirit of fear but rather power, love and self-discipline.

Many young people have allowed fear to stand in the way of being used by God, mainly because they are too scared to stand before a crowd. They fear that they will be laughed at and that people will judge and criticise them. I know exactly how it feels to want to do something so bad, for God to give you chance after chance to do His work but because of the stronghold of fear over your life you chicken out. In other words, you bow down to the spirit of fear and allow it to control and rule over your life, over what you can do or even what you should say.

The spirit of fear cripples you. It causes so much confusion in your life, you are never at peace, because you are guilty, guilty of not having done what you know very well you were supposed to do. This is a way in which the devil can steal your joy and peace and basically stand in the way of your growth and your relationship with God being deepened.

The devil knows very well that living with fear means you don’t have absolute trust in God and what He can do for you. He was once with God and he knows very well that faith is what pleases God, so he is trying to take that from you in order to deny you the opportunity of pleasing God.

You know the devil can put so many forms of things in your way to erupt fear in you, he can convince you that your English is not good enough and even use people to be a confirmation to those thoughts he has triggered in your mind. But you know what? It does not matter, good or bad English, it does not matter. As I said before God knows everything about you, even your weakness in a particular language, if that’s the case, but guess what, that does not stop God from wanting to use you and using you.

So go ahead and do what God has laid in your heart, stop allowing the standard of the world to question and stand in the way of God’s purpose for your life. Your lack of education, your stuttering, etc. should never be an excuse that you can’t do this or that, just know and believe me He has a reason for choosing you and not the person that you think deserves the role. God does not choose or judge as the world does or weigh things as man does but He looks at the unseen in you.

Don’t allow anyone or anything to discourage you, continue to encourage yourself. Don’t even allow anyone or the devil to use your past/background to undermine you. It does not matter what you are competing with, if God is on your side nothing can stand in your way, You and Him, there is no limitation to what you can achieve.

                                                              SELAH!