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Devotional: Life Matters, Series 7 Part 7

 LIFE MATTERS DISCUSS, SERIES 7 PART 7


TOPIC: WINNING THE WAR IN YOUR MIND 7

BIBLE REF:  Romans 12:2, Hebrews 12:1-2, 13:5-6, Ephesians 2:10, Romans 8:31-39


Because, like you, every day I feel like I have more than I can handle, I rely on God to renew my mind. His truth is my battle plan. I continue to create new trenches of truth to replace my old ruts so they will give me thought pathways leading to life and peace.


*Where do you need Jesus today, right now?*

Where are your thoughts falling short of His life-giving truth? Are you stuck in a negative, hurtful, and poisonous rut? What will you do?


You will use the four tools God has given us to fix our thoughts and win the war in our minds: 

(1) the Replacement Principle, 

(2) the Rewire Principle, 

(3) the Reframe Principle, and 

(4) the Rejoice Principle.*


1. *You will remove the lie and replace it with truth.* We know we have an enemy who is seeking to destroy us. His weapon is the lie. Our weakness is believing lies, and if we believe a lie, it will affect our lives as if it were true. The problem is that we don’t realize that the lies we believe are lies. Hopefully, the lies you need to defeat are now clear to you. 


2. *You will create new trenches of truth.* Our brains have neural pathways—mental ruts we created through repeatedly thinking the same thoughts—which trigger our automatic response to external stimuli. To stop a behavior, we need to remove the lie behind it and replace the neural pathway. We dig truth trenches. How? You renew your mind with God’s truth. 


3. *You will reframe.* We cannot control what happens to us, but we can control how we perceive it. We all have cognitive biases that cause us to see things in ways that do not reflect reality. But we have the power to do cognitive reframing, changing how we view the past and the future.


4. *You will change your perspective through prayer and praise*. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by everything that is happening, but when we’ve had enough, God is enough. Not only is God enough, God is near. We stay mindful of His presence. When we do, it leads us to pray. *Praying changes our brain, as does praising God.* We praise Him for the who of who He is, even if the what is not what we want. As we praise God, He shows up and gives us peace of mind.


Decide today that you will not think like the rest of the world. You will let God renew your mind. 


Instead of becoming fixated on what you see, fix your thoughts on Jesus. He made you. He will sustain you. He can carry you, strengthen you, and empower you to do what He’s called you to do.


You are more than a conqueror through Christ. God is more than enough. And nothing can separate you from God’s love. Let God change your thinking. He will change your life.


Thank you for following up to the end of this teaching, NEXT SERIES COMING UP SOON!

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