Devotion-Renewed Thinking

Okay really interesting how I get these articles at just the right time. The Lord really does provide in our time of need-eh?

RENEWED THINKING AND SOFT HEARTS


by Suzanne Benner

"You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off
your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be
made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self,
created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians 4:22
-- 24).

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind..." (Romans 12:2).

God's Word tells us that we will be transformed if we renew our minds,
but how exactly do we change our thinking or "be made new in the
attitude of our minds"?

The process begins by asking ourselves what lies we have believed.
Think about worry for example -- we all know that we shouldn't worry, but
just telling ourselves to stop worrying doesn't seem to work.

Instead ask yourself "What lie do I believe that causes me to worry?"

? Do I believe that God will not provide?

? Do I believe that God won't give me good gifts?

? Do I believe that God won't give me what I want?

These questions guided me to a startling discovery: I don't have a
problem with worry at all -- I have a problem with surrender! The
realization dawned on me that I didn't trust God to provide for me because it
might not be what I would choose. That also meant that I didn't believe
that God knows better than me what I need.

After discovering the lies, replace them with the truth from the Bible:

? God will provide. (Philippians 4:19)

? God is the giver of good gifts. (James 1:17)

? I need to trust God, not myself. (Proverbs 3:5)

? I need to submit to God. (James 4:7)

In this way, renewing our minds will change our behavior.

Yet, as we saw last week, the problem is not in our minds alone, but
also in our hearts. Therefore, as renewed minds must replace futile
thinking, so soft hearts need to replace hardened ones.

Three times the writer of Hebrews repeats, "Today, if you hear his
voice, do not harden your hearts" (3:7; 3:15; 4:7).

Why do we harden our hearts?

Daniel, in talking about King Nebuchadnezzar, tells us, "...his heart
became arrogant and hardened with pride..." (Daniel 5:20).

Thus when God shows us something, we cannot push it aside thinking it's
not important or it's too painful to deal with or He's asking too
much. We must respond to God's nudging, humble ourselves and repent in
order to keep our hearts soft.

Therefore a behavior problem is a mind problem and a mind problem is a
heart problem.