"the mind is a terrible thing to waste"

I should definitely be catching up on some much needed sleep right now, but due to the fact that I do not have to go to school tomorrow (YAY for Labor Day!) means that I have some extra time to catch up on here while I wait on some new songs to download and laundry to finish drying.

I want to share with you something God has been stirring in my life since I moved to Virginia and it is truly a revelation that has yet again, changed my life. Life with God just keeps getting BETTER and BETTER for me. I spent way too many years of my life without this intimate relationship with Him, unfortunately, so I am definitely making up for lost time these days!! Let me just say first and foremost that being a Christian is SO much more than a religion. I am amazed everyday when I talk to (and about) God at the DEPTH of the relationship that there is to be had with Him, and how much of that I completely MISSED- even growing up in church and with amazing spiritual influences all around me my entire life. It wasn't until I had an indescribable ENCOUNTER with God a year ago in California (visiting Jack at Bethel) that I truly begin to realize the depth of God's LOVE and purpose for my life and what He wanted to be to me...which was everything. After that realization, I have never been the same. My desires have changed, my relationships have changed, my plans for my life even changed...and what amazing plans those are turning out to be!!! All that being said...I will move on to the point of what I want all of my wonderful friends/readers to realize, something that is transforming me lately.

WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT IS EVERYTHING.

I have realized that 90% of my problems lie not in situations themselves, but what I am THINKING about those situations. Our thoughts have the power of life or death, and Solomon says it best when he sums up thinking: "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he..." (proverbs 27:3) I have found that when I am thinking positive thoughts about myself, situations, other people, etc...my attitude improves drastically. Thinking positively, to me, means focusing on things that God says about me. It is important to remember...The voice of God ALWAYS encourages. (and the voice of the devil ALWAYS discourages) I have been reading Joyce Meyer's book, Battlefield of the Mind, and she talks a great deal about this principle in her book, as well as her ministry in general. As if God wasn't speaking to me enough through the book, a visiting pastor spoke on this very subject tonight at church! I KNOW God is revealing all of this to me because he knows that my mind is where my struggle has been the majority of my life. I am being set free of so much spiritual bondage in this area of my life, and I just want everyone to feel as liberated as I do about this subject!! One important thing that the pastor I heard tonight say is that God gives each of us a "thought-monitor" within us...and that is our feelings and emotions. HOW TRUE! It is impossible to be thinking good and positive thoughts, and be feeling bad. Likewise, it is impossible to be thinking depressing and negative thoughts..about yourself, situations, whatever..and be feeling GOOD! I have seen direct results in my life the past couple of weeks... in my outlook on law school and this new chapter of life away from everything I have ever known and loved...by changing my attitude about it all- beginning with how I think about this new chapter. It IS God's plan for me, and it WILL be a good and fruitful season. Has it been easy? of course not. Anything good takes work. But OH FRIENDS, it is so worth it!! This is the first time in my life that I truly feel CONTENT...something I have ALWAYS longed for...and it has come largely just by changing what I choose to think about on a DAILY basis.
As Paul encouraged the Corinthian church to do, so I encourage you to do when negative thoughts start to manifest themselves in your life..

"we demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up AGAINST the knowledge of God. We take EVERY thought captive to make it obedient to Christ." (2 Cor. 10:5)

God created us with PURE thoughts about ourselves and who we are in Him. My desire is to get back to that mindset that I was originally created with, so that I can be emotionally healthy and productive for the kingdom of God. God is calling me to a higher standard...one that I believe we are ALL being called to...and the only way I can get there is to BELIEVE that I belong there, as a daughter of the King, and to take captive every thought along the way that would try to tell me otherwise. I hope you will join me in this EXCITING journey, as we renew our minds everyday to align them with the word of God. I will leave you with a verse-mix from J.M.'s book that will begin to get our minds on the right track of what we should be thinking/believing:

I believe God.
I believe He is working in me, no matter how I feel or how the situation may look.
The Lord has begun a good work in my and He will bring it to full completion!
(philippeans 1:6, 2:13)