Read, Understand and Apply

Had a session with my therapist last night.  He made some good suggestions for starting to make changes.  The first was simply "Deny the Lie, Embrace the Truth."  Of course this is easier said than done.  After more than 5 decades of believing the lies of the enemy, it is hard to simply push them away and cling to what is true.  The first step, as always, is to start developing a sense of awareness.  This means that as the negative thoughts cascade over me, I need to start the process of identifying them and recognizing what they are and where they come from.  Once I can do this on a regular basis, I can start working towards replacing those thoughts with "truth" which comes from above.

Learning to appreciate who I am is going to be a long, hard road.  I was reading yesterday  about temporizing what the Word says about us with "in God's eyes, I am ..."  This actually is contradicting what He says.  We are claiming that we are something other than what He sees and that our reality is NOT the same as His.  Of course God's reality trumps ours every time - except in our own minds.

Which brings me to point 2 and the title of this post.  In order to make a change in my thoughts, I need to first read what is true - the Word, encouraging and edifying books, sermons, etc., spend time digesting and increasing my understanding of those things and then applying them with wisdom and discernment. By following those 3 steps, I have the power to change my thoughts which in turn determines my heart.

Our heart - our feelings - are mutable and deadly.  They will mislead and betray us.  If we don't take the time and make the effort to reign in our feelings, they will take us places too dark to survive and encourage us to make decisions that will destroy us (many verses starting in the O.T. and continuing with Paul).

Jeremiah 17:8-10 (ESV)

He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”

blessings on your day