Yes to God Tuesday - Chapter One: Not So Well with My Soul...

Week one of the new Yes to God Tuesday study has started, which is hosted by Lelia at Write from the Heart. The book for this study is “Self Talk, Soul Talk” by Jennifer Rothschild, and I’m one chapter in and I’m impressed by the book already. The truth be known, she had me at the Foreword by Robyn McGraw, who described what an inspiration that Jennifer is! And believe me, after one chapter in, you will agree!

Chapter one is titled “Not So Well with My Soul”, with the opening line being “It is well with my soul.” Jennifer points out after this that while we may think that all “is well with my soul”, in fact it’s most probably not! The worst thing being; we don’t even realise it! The amount of negative self talk that we manage to bombard ourselves with every day without even knowing it is enough to give me a headache just thinking about it. As I already know from my own experience, WE are our own worst enemy. We undertake “personal attacks” on ourselves with it being “me against me”, as Jennifer most simply points out.

Jennifer quotes John Milton, who “wisely observed” that “the mind is its own place, and in itself, can make Heaven of Hell, and a Hell of Heaven.” What truer words can be spoken about the mind? None, I’m sure of it. We must be mindful of what we are saying to ourselves. We must be on guard at all times, as the enemy is laying in wait for us to say that one thing that will then lead into a full blown negative conversation with ourselves, and we can go from feeling blissfully happy to terribly depressed in about a minute flat...if that!

To combat this, Jennifer writes that “knowing what to say to your soul is one of the most reliable ways to make sure it remains well.” Under the heading of “My Thought Closet”, Jennifer lists examples of box labels that she has stored away in her thought closer over the years. One of them hit me like a brick today while reading, and it was “you should have done a better job”. This instantly made me think that “I should have known better”, to which my thoughts replied, “But I didn’t know any better at the time but I do now.” That is an example of how we need to train ourselves to know what to say to our soul when the negative thoughts creep in. I’m not saying that I’ve got the whole thing down pat, but through the help of some friends, and a good dose of “Battlefield of the Mind” by Joyce Meyer, I have managed to get this far!

I have struggled with “I should have known better” for quite some time now. From a failed marriage to being in a relationship with my daughter’s father knowing full well that it was going nowhere at all to now raising a child as a solo mum. Yes, I SHOULD have known better, but punishing myself now for not knowing better then is not going to change a thing. All it will do is cause me to think more negative self talk, which is damaging to my soul.

Next Jennifer moves onto talking about soul talk and she writes how her “faith has led me to the Bible to find what to say to my soul.” This is where we can find the truths we need to hear in our soul. This is where we can learn to re-educate our battered thoughts, and fill our “closet with some more appealing, better-fitting self talk!” Jennifer writes 3 very important words after referring to the Bible, and they are - "SPEAKING...THE...TRUTHS". We need to say them out loud! Not only will these truths manifest into a more positive way of thinking, but at the same time they will serve as an open opposition to the enemy who is working so hard at making us think negative thoughts.

Jennifer gives many examples of short, sharp verses we can use in such situations, and here are a few -

“Awake, my soul!” – Psalm 57:8
“O my soul...forget not all his benefits.” – Psalm 103:2
“March on, O my soul; be strong” – Judges 5:21

Arming ourselves with the powerful Word of God, in addition to re-training our thoughts, which will then lead to more productive self talk, and soul talk as Jennifer refers to it as, is the answer. We have the resources at our fingertips, so now it’s time to use them.

I love how Jennifer writes that “we have the appalling ability to remember all the wrong things at all the wrong times.” That is SO very true of us mere mortals. It’s such a human, and worldly, way of thinking. We have been trained since birth to more or less always think of the negative before the positive, whereas this is not the way God intended it to be. You don’t read about Jesus always thinking the worst of any given situation in the Bible, do you? No, you don’t, and neither should we. He is our example, so let’s take on board his talk and get some good happening in our minds.

“For as he thinks within himself, so he is.” Proverbs 23:7 (NASB)

Jennifer writes that, “because your thoughts strongly influence you, you must learn to govern them with some truthful soul talk.” Therein is the answer to overcoming negative and damaging self and soul talk. We must be on guard, and we must pray for God to always guide us and protect us in this area, but we must take the first step and govern our thoughts. Only we can do that.

“Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” – Roman 12:2

Change Through Knowledge...

I've started the day right with Joyce Meyer this morning (Starting Your Day Right Devotions for Each Morning of the Year) and have continued on my lesson for the week, it seems, on what I can learn from the Bible. This is the main verse for the day -

"Commit your way to the Lord [roll and repose each care of your load on Him]; trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) also in Him and He will bring it to pass," - Psalm 37:5 AMP

Joyce then writes -

"We are all eager for our situations and relationships to change, but nothing will change in our lives without knowledge of God's Word. In Hosea 4:6 God says, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.""

Joyce then goes on to say how change comes through prayer, and how we then must wait patiently on God, and not complain whilst doing so! She tells how God wants us to trust Him, and not put our trust in people who may be involved in the situation. In closing Joyce writes -

"...He is asking us to trust Him. There is a difference. He is faithful to rescue us from all our troubles."

One of the lessons here is that we can choose to live man's way, or we can choose to live God's way. I've done both, and I know for a fact that the latter is the way to go. I've learnt many valuable lessons over the last few years about life, human relationships, myself and God. From a human perspective I could complain and say that life is unfair, humans can be cruel, I am a failure and God has deserted me. But, as a Christian, I know that life is filled with an abundance of blessings, helping other humans is why we exist, I am exactly where I am meant to be right now, and that God is great and loves me more than anyone else ever has! And He never, not once, ever, deserted me!

Another lesson is that God gives us all the tools we need to build a wonderful life, to develop fulfilling human relationships, to gain a real view and appreciation of self, and to build a deep love of Him. These tools come in the form of His Word. My previous post touched on learning the simple, yet valuable lessons we need to live life from the Bible, and I feel that today's scripture reminds me of that message.

My friend Lelia, from Write from the Heart, talks about the Bible in her post on 'Worn Boots'. Please pop over and have a read. You will be glad you did, as you will gain a new found appreciation for the signifigance of the Bible. Lelia, who writes so wonderfully when conveying the message of our Lord, writes, "The Bible is God's way of teaching His children things only a Father can teach." Amen!

So, back to Joyce and her message and how it all ties in. We are humans who have been given the opportunity - the immeasurable blessing - of walking life alongside the best. What we do with that opportunity is up to us. We can blow it and return to being a mere mortal, or we can continue to learn and grow, and change, through knowledge that we gain from His Word - His gift of life - to us. The Bible is right at our fingertips, yet sometimes we forget the importance of it. It's our handbook, our instruction manual, our encyclopedia, our '66 step program'. All the self-help books in the world will never give us what God has in His Word.

If we want to succeed in our walk with God, we must use what He has given us. We must develop a strong bond and knowledgeable understanding of the Bible and what it holds inside for us. If we want change, if we want progress, if we want peace, and if we want to help others, then Joyce's message today is a valuable lesson on how we can gain the tools to build on all these things.

Dear Lord, thank you for the wonderful gift of your Word. I pray that I grow in the knowledge that You have provided within it's covers, and that I continue to change to be the person you intend for me to be. In Jesus' Wonderful Name, Amen.

Becoming Unstuck...

Don’t you just love it when God plants a seed in your mind and then keeps watering it until it finally digs roots and starts to grow! That’s what happened to me over the last week and I’m very thankful for it!

As I wrote last month in my Freedom From The Past post, I struggle with issues from bad choices I made in my past. Just when I think I’ve moved on a little bit more, something will crop up to sabotage my progress and I slip back again; punishing myself for things that I cannot change now. But this last weekend God planted a seed in me, which has actually taken root, and rather quickly too, so He can grow within me the means to deal with my past better.

The first message came via Bishop TD Jakes about being “Stuck in the Wilderness”. He talked about how the Israelites were freed from Egypt but it took them 40 years to get out of the wilderness and move on in their lives. He explained how the wilderness for the New Testament believer is the mind, which is a dry place that tends to resist growth, lacks irrigation and is full of tumbleweeds. He went on to say how our memories are blowing through our minds like tumbleweeds, and that we must go through these past experiences to go from salvation to liberation. We must be transformed by the renewing of our mind. He then asked two pertinent questions; how can a person be saved yet still stuck in the wilderness? And, how can a person be a victim inside their own head?

The second message, once again about the Israelites, came from Joyce Meyer in her book “Battlefield of the Mind” where she discusses wilderness mentalities. She talks about how “The Lord our God said to us in Horeb, You have dwelt long enough on this mountain.” – Deuteronomy 1:6. She goes onto say how we shouldn’t look on the Israelites with astonishment for this behaviour (it took them 40 years to travel an 11 day journey) as we do exactly the same thing. Basically, the lesson is that “You have dwelt long enough on the same mountain; it is time to move on.” I have to say that I am tired of being on this mountain called my past and I so want to move on, and now, it seems thanks to God’s grace, it’s time to deal with it and do it!

The third message came on Monday morning when I sat down at my desk at work and turned the page over on my perpetual calendar – “365 Days of Wisdom for Busy Women” – and discovered this quote: “A new life begins for us with every second. Let us go forward joyously to meet it. We must press on, whether we will or no, and we shall walk better with our eyes before us than with them ever cast behind.” – Unknown. I like the last sentence where it says that “we shall walk better with our eyes before us than with them ever cast behind.” How true is that! God’s message; not just once, but three times over!

So, being that the time was obviously right for me to deal with this issue, the question I asked myself was why do I keep myself up on the mountain called my past and remain stuck in the wilderness? Why, after being saved and baptised, having knowledge of His Word, fellowship with my church family and other Christians, do I still dwell on 'lost Paula'? Is it because I don’t have enough faith in God? Is it because I feel the opinion of man is greater than what God thinks of me? Is it because I am not loved enough? I know the answers to all these questions, and particularly the most important question; why is it that I cannot love myself enough to get out of my wilderness?

Since pondering all these things and my questions, I have done some more reading of “Battlefield of the Mind”, which has led me to this - I must forget what is behind me and press on toward what is ahead (Philippians 3:13). I need to move on from my past and that means the good and the bad from it. They both happened for a reason and all I can do is learn from them and leave them where they should be; behind me. Isaiah 43:18 tells us to “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.” How much more simply do I need to be told before I must get it! Joyce Meyer goes on to tell us that we must stop looking back and start looking at Jesus. We must see through an eye of faith. There, in a nutshell, is the answer!

God is at the helm in my life, and my life story was written out long before I even arrived here on earth, so I need to pray to Him to help me to move on from my past, and move on now! I need to see life with an eye of faith and focus my attention on Jesus. Faith in Him is the only means to getting down off my mountain and being lead out of the wilderness so that I can love me for me and move on and undertake all that God intends for me to do.

Thank you, dear Lord, for planting the seed in me that has helped me to learn this valuable lesson. Thank you for sending these messages to me, and not just once, but numerous times, to equip me with the means to an end; the means to forgive myself and move on from my past. Thank you for giving me your Word, and sending Jesus to cleanse me of all the bad things I did in my past. In Jesus’ wonderful name, Amen.

Be a Confident Woman...

I'm a big fan of Joyce Meyer and enjoyed reading her book, "The Confident Woman". Proverbs 31 is a special chapter of the Bible for me, as it reminds me of my dear grandmother who passed away over 20 years ago, and who left a legacy here on earth on how to be a godly woman. The following is Joyce's interpretation of that chapter, and a fitting one.

Be capable, intelligent and virtuous.
Trust.
Comfort your husband.
Seek, crave and pursue.
Feed your family well.
Be fed with spiritual food.
Show consideration.
Stay spiritually, mentally and physically fit.
Never give up.
Don’t waste time.
Give.
Do not fear.
Refresh yourself.
Be a “fine” woman.
Use skills purposefully.
Be strong, secure and prepared.
Speak skilfully, wisely and with kindness.
Be responsible and positive.
Have strength of character and goodness.
Reverently and worshipfully fear the Lord.

(Taken from “The Confident Woman” by Joyce Meyer © 2006)