The mind is a powerful part of who we are. It is full of the events and

memories that we have experienced and learned in the past that have

shaped our lives. One thought can switch the mind from being joyful to

being sad in only a matter of seconds. The mind is the one place that

Satan uses to control and manipulate our lives downward instead of

upward. We must learn the tactics of the “enemy” in order to win on the

battlefield of our minds.

2 Corinthians 2:11 (NKJV)

…lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his

devices.

Every person in the bible was tempted by Satan in some form or fashion

to try and stop the plan of God. He uses people and situations and

thoughts to “plant a seed” of doubt, fear, anger, disappointment, and

so much more. All it takes is a simple “seed” of a word planted in our

minds to cause us to go in the opposite direction. We must be trained

and built up in the Word of God to give us a firm foundation of what

God has said and the building of our faith totally in Him.

The biggest and constant “update” that we must make as Christians, is

the renewing of our minds! Stay fresh with the Word of God. Renewing

your mind every day to what God says about you and to you.

Romans 12:2 The Message

12 1-2 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your

everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and

walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing

what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t

become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without

even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed

from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and

quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging

you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you,

develops well-formed maturity in you.

I enjoyed this translation of Romans 12:1-2. The changes that happen

to us are from the inside out! God begins to change our way of thinking

by the “renewing of our mind”. Taking the bad habits, thoughts, and

memories and replacing them with what God says about us. If we don’t

change what we think of ourselves and God, we will continue to have

exactly what we have had or worse. God wants to bring the best out of

us and develop us into well-formed mature disciples in Christ to bring

forth His glory into this world.

1 Peter 2:9 (NKJV)

9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,

His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who

called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

When we begin to see ourselves as “chosen” by God for such a time as

this, we will change the way we think of ourselves. God sees us as a

royal priesthood. We are already called into the ministry of His Kingdom

from the time God breathed into our lungs. God saw us holy even in

our mess and dysfunction. We are His own “special” people. Whoever it

is that told you that you were no good and worthless, told you a lie

from Satan. Satan works hard to cause us not to see what God has

placed inside of us. A chosen people, a priest called by God and

holy through the blood of Jesus!

It’s time to renew our minds from the old ways of thinking, to what God

has called us to be. It’s time to say it like God has said it! I am

someone special in the eyes of God and that is what truly matters.

When Satan has fired his best shot and everything is all said and done,

it will be me and God standing!

Jeremiah 1:5

“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you;

Before you were born, I sanctified you;

I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”

What I realized since the beginning of my studies of the Word of God, is

that this Word is for me. These are letters designed to speak directly to

me and bring me through the hardest times of my life and take

me to many more joys I have yet to experience. It is there to bring me

joy, comfort, and strength. What He has said to one, He has said it to

all.

So, take what belongs to you and begin to renew your mind to what

God has spoken over your life and not what the world says about you.

It is the beginning of new beginnings!

Join me next week with:

The Building Blocks of Faith – “Who Am I?”