|
THIS CHRISTIAN WEB SITE IS ONLY
ONE OF THOUSANDS OF CHRISTIAN WEB SITE PROGRAMS AND CHRISTIAN WEB SITE
STUDIES FROM
THE MOST AWESOME CHRISTIAN WEB SITE
COMMUNITY KNOWN AS ...
CHRISTIANITY OASIS
CHRISTIANITY
OASIS ON
LINE ...
WHERE CHRISTIANITY IS C-O-O-L
|
RENEW YOUR MIND
CHRISTIANITY OASIS
HAS PROVIDED YOU WITH THIS RENEW YOUR MIND STUDY. MOST HAVE
HEARD OF THE PHRASE RENEW YOUR MIND BUT DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY
WE ARE TO RENEW YOUR MIND OR HOW TO RENEW YOUR MIND. LET US SEEK AND FIND THE TRUTH OF HOW TO
RENEW YOUR MIND TOGETHER, SHALL WE?
The Bible makes it clear that we are to renew our minds.
|
Romans 12:2
And be not 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. |
RENEW YOUR MIND
Sound like some kinda new
wave self help concept does it not?
It's nothing new. In
TRUTH ... It is a concept that's quite old and comes from the Bible.
It's not anti-Christian, scientific mumbo jumbo and there are no
psychological mysteries about it. It's not complicated. It's not only
for certain people, but rather is a state of mind that the Apostles
and even Jesus taught us to create within ourselves as to be able to
overcome the world within us.
Let me ask you this
question. Each time God forgives you, isn't your mind renewed? When
you repent for a sin that you've committed, and you FEEL God's
Grace rain down upon you,
aren't you in fact experiencing a renewal of the mind and heart, like
a new beginning, and a fresh start?
In that case, was not our mind
RENEWED?
|
2 Corinthians 4:16
For which cause we faint not;
but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed
day by day. |
We are encouraged to:
Think like Jesus thought. Have a Jesus-like mind.
We have the mind of Christ.
|
1 Corinthians 2:16
For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct
Him? but we have the mind
of Christ. |
If you could have a
mind like Jesus, wouldn't you call that a renewal of your mind?
When you become a
Christian, your old self ... your old 'man' dies, and you are
'Spiritually' reborn. You become one with Jesus, so indeed, your mind
is renewed. You then strive to live no longer in the flesh, but in the
Spirit.
Be transferred by renewing your mind. Put on the
new
man.
|
Ephesians 4:23-24
And that ye put on the
new man,
which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. |
When you're born
again, you begin to look at things differently and Spiritually ...
With a pureness of mind.
Put on the new man, renewed in knowledge after God’s image.
|
Colossians
3:10
And have put on the new
man, which is renewed in
knowledge after the image of Him that created him.
|
Human nature is against God, follow the Spirit.
|
Romans 8:5
For they that are after the flesh
do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the
Spirit the things of the Spirit.
|
God has given you a sound mind.
|
2 Timothy 1:7
For God hath not given us the
spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a
sound mind. |
Of course, you do live in an ungodly world, and evil
will try with all it's might to infiltrate your mind.
Laws of flesh, war with the laws of mind.
|
Romans 7:23-24
But I see another law in my members,
warring against the law of my
mind, and bringing me into
captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched
man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
|
Avoid the mind being corrupted by the serpent.
|
2 Corinthians 11:3
But I fear, lest by any means,
as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds
should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. |
But we know that we must overcome these things with
our renewed mind because:
In order to maintain a renewed mind:
Serve God with your mind.
|
Romans 7:25
I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God;
but with the flesh the law of sin. |
You must have a willing mind.
|
2 Corinthians 8:11
Now therefore perform the
doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will, so there may
be a performance also out of that which ye have. |
In love, be likeminded, be of one mind.
|
Philippians 2:2
Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be
likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one
mind. |
Strengthen your mind.
|
1 Peter 1:13
Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to
the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the
revelation of Jesus Christ. |
Don't let your past habits influence your mind.
You must learn to
control your thoughts.
|
2 Corinthians
10:5
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth
itself against the knowledge of God, and BRINGING INTO CAPTIVITY
EVERY THOUGHT
to the obedience of Christ; |
As you can see we are
to renew our mind.
But ... How do we accomplish this difficult task?
HOW TO
RENEW THE MIND
When you
become a Christian, you are reborn in the spirit. Each
person's rebirth is a unique experience, but one thing is
for certain ... Like anything else that is secure in your
life, it has to become a part of your lifestyle, not just
something you tend to now and again.
A lot of
people expect that when they become a Christian, they will
suddenly be enlightened to many facets of Christianity ...
Effortlessly ... And that has happened before
to some people, like the Apostle Paul for example. But that
doesn't mean that he didn't have to do
something to maintain his fervor about his Faith,
after his spirit was renewed.
Some people
want to become perfect and complete all at once when they
begin their Christian walk, and if that doesn't happen, they
get discouraged ... But my friend, if you don't put anything
into it ... You're not going to get much out. Patience is
one thing that is very important. You know from experience
that when you take your time and do a good thorough job when
you are trying to achieve or create something, it turns out
much better than if you try and rush it.
|
James 1:4
But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be
perfect and entire, wanting nothing. |
I have an exciting new project for
you that will help you renew your mind, which is a vital
part of your Christian walk. Renewing your mind isn't
something that you will ever complete ... Just like you
can't sit down and eat one big meal to nourish
you for your entire life ... You must feed your physical
body every day, and you must nourish your spirit daily as
well.
MIRACLE GROW
This new program is a way of showing God your dedication to
renewing your mind and it also shows Him your continual
hunger for His Spirit to be within you. It’s also a way of
goal setting. You’ve probably heard many times that it’s a
proven fact that when you write down your goals on paper,
your chances of attaining those goals are tremendously
higher than if you don’t.
As you can learn in the
TRINITY study ... You are made up into three
individual parts yet are one entity. There is the Soul, the
Spirit and the Body. Your MIRACLE GROW project will help you
to strengthen your mind, body, and spirit. In doing so, it’s
like a preventive maintenance program to avoid and resist
bad seeds from taking root and allowing problems to surface
in your life.
STRENGTHEN YOUR MIND
Your mind (the soul) controls your body
(flesh) and your emotions (spirit), so strengthening your
mind is a very important exercise. Your mind (Soul) tells
your body (flesh) and your emotions (your spirit) to act and
react to thoughts that your mind (Soul) has. Sounds strange
huh? Well lemme show you just how NORMAL it is. You are
having an absolutely SON-derful day and suddenly you get a
call from a friend who tells you that your friend of 20
years died. Your Mind (Soul) hears this news through the
"ears" and it enters the Mind (Soul) ... You then THINK sad
thoughts and immediately your emotions (spirit) are affected
and you FEEL different than you did 30 seconds earlier. Your
body (flesh) changes in that you can feel weak and tears are
created from your eyes. ALL this from one THOUGHT that
entered your mind. It is a natural procedure within humans.
This procedure within us works the same for all thoughts.
Whether the thought be that of anger, jealousy, lust, fear,
doubt or pride ... Or good thoughts such as love,
understanding, forgiveness, faith and compassion ... What
you believe is what you receive.
THINK about this TRUTH.
BUT ... What if we controlled those thoughts that enter our
Mind (Soul) ...
Would we not then be able to control our emotions (spirit)
and our body (flesh)?
How do you strengthen your mind (Soul)?
With knowledge of the TRUTH. After removing the seeds within
as we have been performing and filling your mind with TRUTH,
it will help you discern good from bad seeds (thoughts).
NOW JUST HOLD ON HERE A MINUTE ... IS THIS
ONE OF THOSE NEW WAVE OR SCIENTIFIC THEORIES? WHERE DID WE
GET THIS IDEOLOGY FROM? THE ANSWER IS ...
THE BIBLE
|
P hilippians
4:6-9
Be careful for
nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication
with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto
God. And the peace of God, which passeth all
understanding, shall keep your
hearts
and minds
through Christ Jesus.
Finally, brethren, whatsoever
things are true, whatsoever things are honest,
whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are
pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things
are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if
there be any praise,
think on these things.
Those things, which ye have both
learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do:
and the God of peace shall be with you. |
Paul is telling us that we should control
our thoughts and THINK good thoughts.
The Bible CLEARLY reveals that we are to gain control and
strengthen our minds.
Forget the past, think forward,
be thus minded.
|
PHILIPPIANS 3:13-15
Brethren, I
count not myself to have apprehended: but this one
thing I do,
forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching
forth unto those things which are before,
I press toward
the mark for the prize
of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us
therefore, as many as be perfect,
be thus minded:
and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall
reveal even this unto you. |
The Bible is clear. We ARE to renew our
minds. In the MIRACLE GROW project, you won’t be
strengthening your body physically, but instead, you’ll be
strengthening the control your Mind (Soul) has over the body
(flesh). Remember that the mind (Soul) controls the body
(Flesh), so you’ll be using your mind (Soul) to strengthen
your body (flesh) also.
Check these out ...
|
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
What? know ye not that your body is the Temple
of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of
God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a
price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your
spirit, which are God's. |
|
1 Timothy 4:7-8
Exercise thyself unto godliness. For
bodily exercise
profiteth little: but godliness is profitable
unto all things, having promise of the life that now
is, and of that which is to come. |
STRENGTHEN YOUR SPIRIT
Again ... It is IMPORTANT for you to
understand that your spirit is the part of you that listens
and obeys the things that your mind (Soul) tells it to feel.
Let me further elaborate on this topic ... You have many
different emotions. Happiness, sorrow, anxiety, fear,
excitement, love, anger, etc., etc. Your spirit holds these
emotions. You don’t walk around happy all the time, or angry
all the time, or fearful all the time. But your spirit
stores these feelings and when your mind (soul) tells your
spirit that something is sad as in the example given before,
your spirit says “gotcha” and you become grieved in your
spirit. Many people think that the spirit and the soul are
the same thing, but, the Bible provided us the TRUTH. Your
mind is the soul, and it controls your spirit. Your spirit
is like your control center for your feelings and emotions.
Make sure you have read this study to fully understand this
TRUTH.
Your mind (Soul) and your spirit can cause
physical reactions too. Crying, goose bumps, shaking,
laughter as well as sexual changes. All this just from a
thought planted in your Mind (Soul) ... These all happen
because your mind (Soul) told your spirit something and it
caused the physical reaction.
You can control your spirit by changing
your thoughts. All you have to do, is send your spirit the
signal for a different emotion by thinking differently. BUT
... Your Mind (Soul) has to believe it to be TRUTH.
Have you ever gone out in freezing weather
and didn’t notice how cold it was outside? That’s because
your spirit was busy with another emotion that your mind had
sent the order for, and it was strong enough to keep you
from noticing the cold.
Have you ever been thinking of a problem
and then got busy with your daily agenda and all day long
you felt this bad feeling of doom though the day was going
pretty good? It is that your Mind (Soul) did not resolve the
earlier problem and your spirit is crying out because it is
reacting to the problem you were thinking of earlier. Even
though you are not consciously aware of the thought.
You may think that it’s a difficult thing
to do, to control your emotions, by controlling your
thoughts because they’re very strong, but with the MIRACLE
GROW project, you’ll be strengthening your mind with TRUTH,
and you’ll find that TRUTH has a way of changing a lot of
things.
The
HOLY SPIRIT will be your guide in helping you
with controlling your thoughts and your spirit.
RESPONSIBILITY
Before we move ahead into the explanation
of the Miracle Grow Project, let's have a little talk about
... Responsibility.
As you very well know, in any undertaking,
there is some measure of responsibility involved. If you're
a student in school, and you don't do the schoolwork or the
homework, you begin to have problems. You have to write
things down, and read things and repeatedly study things
until they become engrained in you, and then after that, you
no longer need your notes or your books to look them up.
The same is true of music. If you were
learning to play the guitar, for example ... You will have
to look at your sheet music until you learn the notes, and
you'll have to look at your fingers until you become so
familiar with each chord that you can play them without
looking. Then, once you memorize a song, you can play it
without looking at your sheet music OR your fingers.
What about practical life endeavors? If
you have a checking account, you have to fill out a deposit
slip or a withdrawal slip each time you make a transaction.
If you want to keep your records straight, and not run into
problems, you have to keep your check register current, and
you have to balance your checkbook each month. You have to
keep records.
If you think about it, just about
everything in your life that you want to keep organized,
requires documentation of one kind or another in order to
avoid problems. This documentation isn't mandatory, but
without it, things get quite chaotic.
Why am I going through all this rigmarole?
(The word rigmarole is documented in the dictionary.)
Because you're here for a reason. One of those reasons is
because the Holy Spirit led you here, and another reason is
that other methods you've tried using to rid your life of
problems that may lead you away from the
Christian path,
have not worked. Now, you can read through your "Learn to
Play the Guitar" book one time, and play each chord once or
twice, and say that you've done the work, but if you don't
practice regularly ... You'll forget how to play the guitar.
You may also want to consider the Ten
Commandments and all the statutes and ordinances that God
gave to Moses. God Himself wrote the Ten Commandments on the
first two tables of stone that Moses brought down the
mountain, and told Moses to write down the laws of God for
the people to follow. There are also other Prophets who God
told to document things for our remembrance. Why? Because
organization brings peace to our lives.
|
1 Corinthians 14:33
For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace,
as in all churches of the Saints. |
Let me give you another example. You can
have a recipe for the best Angel Food Cake in the world, but
if you leave out any of the ingredients ... Oh Boy ... That
thing you thought you could scrimp on, will probably cause
your cake to come out of the oven looking like a bagel!
Why do you keep documentation? Why do you
refer to your cookbook when you cook? Why do you use text
books or references to learn or study something? Why do you
keep your receipts for your income taxes? Because you
believe that these things are necessary for organization
... They minimize the problems that you could have if you
didn't follow these methods. As I said before, once
something becomes second nature to you ... Then you may be
able to change your methods of documenting ... And
frequently, the time that you used to spend on them, is
replaced with another activity that needs it's own
documentation of one kind or another.
Another reason why I'm going through this
rigmarole is because your human nature is going to balk at
the new responsibility of this program. Most people get very
defensive if they think that anything looks like an
endangerment to their free time. My friend, what is it that
causes most peoples' problems in the first place? I'll tell
you ... Spending time with the world, instead of spending
time with God. Some people call it free time .. when it is
really spending time with the world. If you find the
suggestion of spending more time with God offensive, or that
this program is just too invasive of your life, I encourage
you to ask the Lord if He has any objections to your
implementing it into yo ur life to help keep
you on your Christian path. Now remember ... This Miracle
Grow program isn't mandatory, but if you're serious about
getting rid of your problem ... What have you got to lose?
There's one last thing I'd like to mention
before we look into what's involved in the Miracle Grow
Program. King David was a psalm writer ... He wrote poems,
psalms and letters to God. It wasn't mandatory that he write
them down, but because of David's documentation, we are
spiritually uplifted when we read his heartfelt, God
inspired words. Now I ask you, if your worldly, menial,
every day life tasks involve documentation that you don't
question performing, wouldn't you want to do the same ...
With even greater enthusiasm for your spiritual well being
... And wouldn't God appreciate that?
As a friend, I encourage you, if you
hesitate at the feeling of obligation, remember, that this
is not mandatory, but take a little inventory of your daily
routines or rituals and decide for yourself if you spend
more of your time serving God, or the requirements of the
world.
THE PROJECT
You will need to perform this daily,
taking one day off per week for rest, as we are taught to
do. (Honor the Sabbath Day.) This day can be either Saturday
(Jewish Sabbath) or Sunday (Lord's day) ... You will need to
create 3 charts. Each chart will fit on a single sheet of
lined paper. One Chart will be called
Mind
the next Body
and the third
Spirit. For each
page, MIND, BODY, and SPIRIT, there are 10 activities per
page which means you make 10 columns for each activity. (We
will talk about the activities in a lil bit.) Be sure to add
a column at far left of page for the date and another column
at the far right for the daily score. This means your page
will have 12 columns total.
The grading
system is simple ... For each activity that you accomplish,
you will give yourself 10 points. There are a possible 100
points per day. At the end of each week, add up the six days
and divide it by six and that is your week average. Set
goals ... Set a specific reward for yourself if you achieve
said goals. Make your reward something you really want to
do, and something that will encourage you to
continue on your journey to freedom from your problem.
|
100 = A+
90-99 = A
80-89 = B
70-79 = C
60-69 = D
Below 60 = F |
Below is a sample MIRACLE GROW chart. Make
your own charts like this with pencil and paper. Following
the chart, I’ll show you how it works.
SAMPLE MIRACLE GROW CHART
|
JANUARY
MIRACLE GROW
MIND
|
|
Date |
Pray
3 x |
Read
Steps |
Read Bible |
Listen
Music |
Forgive All |
Pull Weeds |
Plant Seeds |
Control Thoughts |
Love
All |
Read Spiritual |
Points |
|
1-1-08 |
YES |
YES |
NO |
YES |
NO |
YES |
NO |
YES |
YES |
YES |
70 |
|
1-2-08 |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
NO |
YES |
90 |
|
1-3-08 |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
100 |
|
1-4-08 |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
NO |
YES |
YES |
NO |
YES |
80 |
|
1-5-08 |
YES |
YES |
YES |
NO |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
NO |
YES |
80 |
|
1-6-08 |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
NO |
YES |
90 |
|
1-7-08 |
S |
A |
B |
B |
A |
T |
H |
D |
A |
Y |
FREE |
|
Average |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
85 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1-08-08 |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
NO |
YES |
90 |
|
1-09-08 |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
NO |
YES |
YES |
NO |
YES |
80 |
|
1-10-08 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1-11-08 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1-12-08 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1-13-08 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1-14-08 |
S |
A |
B |
B |
A |
T |
H |
D |
A |
Y |
FREE |
|
Average |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1-15-08 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1-16-08 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1-17-08 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
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|
|
|
1-18-08 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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|
|
|
|
1-19-08 |
|
|
|
|
|
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|
|
|
1-20-08 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1-21-08 |
S |
A |
B |
B |
A |
T |
H |
D |
A |
Y |
FREE |
|
Average |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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|
1-22-08 |
|
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|
1-23-08 |
|
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|
1-24-08 |
|
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|
1-25-08 |
|
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1-26-08 |
|
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|
1-27-08 |
|
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|
|
|
1-28-08 |
S |
A |
B |
B |
A |
T |
H |
D |
A |
Y |
FREE |
|
Average |
|
|
|
|
|
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|
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1-29-08 |
|
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1-30-08 |
|
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| | |
|