My apologies for not getting this posted when I said, I was called out of town again. I also want to apologize for the length of this post. I have edited this down from its original length {about twice as long} but still ended up with a longer then desired script. I have tried to make this as concise as possible and in doing so I may have left open areas of question; if that is the case feel free to PM me.
As I mentioned in my previous post the following principles will work in any category of your life. Primarily we are dealing with the renewed mind so I will focus mainly on that but seeing as we are dealing with human behavior it will be necessary to expound on these principles within that realm
Slim Shady JB made the statement earlier about this stuff being really hard and I guess you could look at it that way, but to me there is always two options, do nothing and get the results we always have, do something and get the results we desire. I have been in the do nothing category and that to me is hard, depressing, frustrating, and exhausting The do something category is
.well its exciting to see the changes that you never thought could happen
.but they do.
Throughout the Bible and from believers lips there is one word that is consistent with change, with receiving things from God, with miracles, signs and wonders. All over the word in any language this word produces results when people understand how to make it work. It works irregardless of who or what you are it works for saint and sinner alike, it works because like gravity, God set it {believing}up to work. I love the comparison that God gives us in the book of James. James 2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also
That says it so succinctly
.. in a nutshell God spells it out plain and simple. The word faith is the Greek word pistis and is translated either faith or believing in this case it is believing. {There are other times that pistis is translated faith referring to the faith of Jesus Christ {Galatians 3:32} but I am not dealing with that now} So faith or believing without works or action is dead. Any believing short of action is just wishful thinking
..its dead.
So how do we connect the two how do we operate the law of believing so we can see those radical changes in our lives, so we can accomplish those things of God, so we can walk in that renewed mind resurrection perfection. Maybe your thinking
Ive tried that, Ive tried to believe but things didnt change
I know the feeling and the struggles with trying to force believing
..but it doesnt work that way.
I made a statement in the previous post dealing with the abilities to memorize; I said our disadvantage comes from what we believe in and about ourselves and our abilities to memorize recall and processYou see
we were believing but we just didnt know how to change the mental image that we carry about ourselves. What believing is not: its not using the past or the as a criteria for what we want to see happen, its not trying to force things, its not wishing or wanting
I think believing is best stated in Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Literally translated this verse says: Now believing is the title deed of things prayed for the evidence they are yours before you have them. It has taken years to build that mental image you see of yourself and believe of yourself, thanks to the input of the world and the people around us. Believing is knowing
.its knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt its yours, you have, it you can do it. When you physically walk you dont need to think about it, you stand and walk, you believe you can, and you do
Do you do it with crutches in hand in case you fall? Of coarse not, you do it because you know you can do it,
. and so it is with believing.
The only obstacle we need to overcome is that mental image of what we think, the pattern we have lived for so long. Why do the rich get richer and the poor stay poor? It has almost nothing to do with the government or economic times; it has almost everything to do with what they believe and the mental image of their surroundings. That is why so many people who have won the lottery within 5 years are back in the same economic status they were prior to winning; money cannot change the mental image of yourself, it comes from between the ears.
So how do we change?
..this is what I hope to convey to you in this post. It can be exciting when you begin to actuate the changes in your life. I am going to start with confession but it will be intertwined with mental imaging. I am not talking about confessing your sins
I am speaking about the words that come out of your lips
and the words that you think in your mind. Matthew 12:34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. 35: A good man out of the good treasure (thoughts) of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure (thoughts) bringeth forth evil things.
The heart {kardia} in these verses is the inner most part of a persons mind, its where believing emanates from. What we have in our heart will dictate our lives, our lives being a reflection of what we believe in our heart. The goal is to get the Word of truth embedded in our heart so when we speak/confess the Word and act, it absolutely comes to pass
The confesion I am speaking of is going to be in two parts The first will be confession as in a positive affirmation the second will be the confession from the mouth synchronized with confession from the heart where he word is imbedded.
We need to get the Word of God into the heart kardia so the first step will be to confess or make positive affirmations. This is step one in renewing the mind, reading the word and confessing out loud or in your mind, you are what the word of God says you are, you have what the word of God says you have, you can do what the word of God says you can do, you will be what the Word of God says you will be. This is the act of putting on the Word in your mind; confessing it even though you may not believe it at the time, we confess it because it is true. For so long we have accepted what the world says about us, what others say about us, and what we say about ourselves as truth, forming a picture in our minds/hearts that dictate our lives. It takes a concentrated effort, a deliberate action to get the real truth in our hearts; and the real truth is what the Bible states. Why do we find it easier to believe that we are failures, defeated, and powerless when the Word declares that we are more then conquers through him that loves us, and that we have been given power from on high to walk as lights in this world as Jesus Christ walked; performing signs miracles and wonders. It has everything to do with the mental image that has been painted of us by the world, the one we carry of ourselves, what we believe of ourselves
.Well its time to make the transformation, to break the mold that the world has shaped for you, to change that mental image in every category of our lives: spiritual physical mental and material. In a moment we will get into the additional ways of completely changing your mental image but first I want to touch on the second step of confession; that is when you know in your heart what The Word declares and you confess/speak it with your mouth (out loud or to yourself) and act upon that, you synchronize the two, and you reap the results of the written Word. That in short is step two.
Changing the mental image: In order to change we need to see ourselves differently, a different mental image a different picture of ourselves. In order to institute that change we need to reprogram; this is done through pictures. You may have noticed I have not spoken about goal setting, the reason for this is, goals in and of themselves may inspire change but they do nothing to cauterize the change in the mind. The process of setting goals basically comes from the logic side of our brains, the left side. Our mind thinks in and achieves in pictures, the creative side, the right side. Many people who set goals never achieve them, but those who have achieved have had two elements working together, their goal and a mental or visual picture of the desired change; and for the believer let us not forget prayer.
I am going to use a common word that people haphazardly use all the time albeit most time incorrectly, and I will be no exception. The word is create, which accurately according to biblical usage is to make something out of nothing in existence I use the word for descriptive purposes only. As humans we cannot create, only God can, but for literary purposes I choose this word, with this included disclaimer. To be more precise when I use the word create I am speaking of tapping into the law of believing which God set up, which we can utilize through visualization. In a moment I will get into specific steps you can take to cause or create changes in your life.
Our brains are according to the scientific world somewhat divided into two hemispheres, the right and the left. I say somewhat because they are connected by whats called the corpus callosum a thick bundle of nerves which joins the two hemispheres together, like a network cable. The right side which is referred to as the creative side, is wired to the left side of our body, and vise verse. It is big picture oriented, uses feeling, imagination, fantasy based, impetuous, presents possibilities, the seat of passion and dreams, holistic in thinking, processes information more diffusely and simultaneously, integrates many inputs at once, etc
. it is creative. The left which is referred to as the logic side is: detail oriented, facts rule, reality based, practical, safe, does logical and analytical thinking, specializes in recognizing words and numbers, deals with inputs one at a time, processes information in a linear and sequential manner, etc
it is logical.
So why the brief synopsis on the brain; its to give you an understanding on whats taking place in the process of information so we can coordinate both sides to create the desired life that God has made available.
The person {body and soul} you are comes from your sub-consciousness; your brain has interpreted the world according to built-in biases and assumes how the world should look, modified by experience. This is information/pictures your mind has processed over the years to formulate the beliefs of who you are and what you are. Is this picture reality? It is our perception of reality, so in a sense perception for each person is a reality. It is what we have processed as reality and it is what determines how we live. {Keep in mind I am speaking of the physical attributes, what makes you, you.} The good news is, for those who want to change; we can by inputting new information, new data, and new pictures. Our brain will gladly accept anything that we give it, and create the world for us. When you think about it our brain has accepted the self-limiting negative information that the world has fed us for years, and we have created our perceived beliefs from that information. By inputting positive, uplifting, un-limiting godly desired information, our brain goes to work creating that new us. Think of yourself as the star, writer, camera operator, producer, and director and ultimately the theater of your own movie
..your life. As you put the picture together your brain will create the picture you produce
.How? I do not know the exact how, except to say that the mind works on the pictures we form of ourselves, and that what we believe will absolutely come to pass in our lives
..its a law set up by God.
Application:
The right side {the creative side} of the brain works on pictures. The mind will always create based on the pictures that are in there; so we need to change the picture, its your movie I am just going to tell you some ways to set it set it up. What you will be doing is creating for yourself a new you the quickest way I know available today, through goals, confession, vision, and pictures. You need only have a desire to change, a mind,
hopefully one that wasnt as polluted as mine was, a note book {3 ring is good}, glue {not for sniffing} or tape, scissors, magazines, useable picture books or whatever you deem useable.
First make a list of things/goals you want to have or change in your life, it can be as long as you like. Do not limit your goals
.ask yourself: what are your desires? what things do you want to do? attain? or achieve?. Next, pick 5 of the most desired goals from your list I want you to break these goals into specifics
. not for things like I want to be rich, famous, powerful or I want to be like the apostle Paul. Be specific, and break down the goals to pictorial images. Images that can be cut form a magazine, maybe a childrens bible that has pictures you can cut out. (its not sacrilegious) You can do some amazing graphic with the computer a scanner, includingusing your face on the pictures. .
(i.e.) For your spiritual: copy/write a verse on a page find a picture of someone being healed or whatever correlates with the verse you wrote. Then underneath write your confession whatever you wish to see happen in your life. Maybe you want to see yourself walking with Christ find a picture of Christ a picture of you maybe holding hands with Him coordinated with a verse and a desired confession. {{BTW this is not a substitute for reading the Word just so we understand, it is a means to changing the script, the pictures you have believed about yourself. There is no substitute for reading the Word; the words in the Word are spirit and are life and they are healing.}} Another example relationship wise: Find pictures of whatever desired relationship you wish to have, getting married, or improving your communication or relationship with your spouse put that on a page along with the written desired outcome. You can do this with anything jobs, job position, family relations, automobiles, housing, physical health or physical goals. The mind thinks in pictures and coordinated with your confession will create almost exactly that picture you put in it. Your mind cannot tell the difference between reality and the picture. (I dont need to tell any guy who has looked a Penthouse that.) This is your movie, your putting it together, writing the script for your life use your imagination on putting it together
whatever helps you to visualize the pictures.
Back to the book I suggest starting with 5 of the most desired specific goals; you can do more or less its up to you. I suggest a 3 ring so you can add at will and remove the ones you have attained. Keep your list of goals in the back so you can add to your goals or change them. Cut out pictures from magazines, make {draw} pictures or enhance ones with drawings you cut out to fit your goal, and or use the computer to download or design pictures
one page per goal, but any page can have more then one picture that fits with that single goal.
Have your confession/goal written at the bottom. You should go through your book at least twice a day. Pray first as with anything in your life, get peaceful which means finding a place to get peaceful meditate {which is to clearly focus on the task at hand} upon each goal see the picture and visualize (in the minds eye) it happening in your life. Dont get discouraged, stay excited remember Hebrews 11:1. Getting to the point where you can visualize can take some time
.but it will happen.
How long will it take to see results depends on you your desire
. a month two months six months I dont know I am not you, everybody is different. Things start to happen right away because you are setting in motion the changing of your lifes script; when you will begin to see those changes is again an individual thing. I will say, this if you do nothing
. you will get the same results you always have; time will march on whether you do a visual book or not, you may as well determine the direction of your life, rather then your life determine your circumstances, because thats what will happen; our circumstances are a result or our believing right now.
We are today where we are because of our believing we will be tomorrow where our believing takes us
One more thing The first page of your book should be a picture of Christ returning for his church
..of coarse you will not change Gods timetable, but that should always be first and foremost on our list everyday
..its our Hope
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
God Bless
sandman