Day 23 – Believing New Thoughts

The Write 31 Days Challenge – 31 Days,Every Day,One Topic

Day 23

(day 1 starts here)

So I’ve already shared with you that forgiveness is the KEY to freedom – Forgiveness of Self, Others, and God – and having others who cared enough to pray prayers of forgiveness with me made a huge impact on my healing journey. We are all wounded in community and we are also healed in community. That's why we need each other. Click To Tweet

But even after praying those prayers of forgiveness my walk with God and others didn’t suddenly become perfect. Nope, not even!

Transformation is a lifelong pursuit and as Christ followers we are all (hopefully) in the process of being transformed from glory to glory. II Cor. 3:18 Click To Tweet

There were still some old thought patterns that needed to be dealt with and God, in His infinite goodness, had a pathway to healing designed specifically for me. A prescription if you will, written and signed by Jesus Christ, the Great Physician! Looking back I find it incredible how God placed me in the right places at the right times, with the right people to minister to my unique needs. Click To Tweet

Counseling. Yes, I took the advice of the pastor’s wife and sought counsel from the person she recommended. Both Kelly and I saw her for individual counseling at first and later had sessions together. In sharing my life experiences with the counselor I became more specific in my forgiveness toward those who’d wounded me; we spent time breaking some of the foothold’s I’d allowed the enemy to have in my life (Foothold: a secure position from which further progress may be made); in prayer we broke off unhealthy ties I had with certain individuals in my past; and we also spent time talking about generational curses (from Deut. 59b-10) and praying that they’d be broken in my life and in generations to follow. I believe that anyone with life trauma (and who doesn’t have that?) can benefit from spending time with a great counselor. Thank you S.G.

Prophetic Encouragement. Prophecy is a word that some of us shy away from because of what we’ve heard or believed about it. There are different types of prophecy mentioned in the Bible but the gift of prophetic encouragement is one who speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging, and comfort. I Cor. 14:3. The gift of prophecy is to edify the church.

I first became aware of people with this gift when we moved to Olympia. In our first church there the pastor’s wife was especially gifted at speaking God’s heart into the lives of others and when she looked your way, with intensity, you knew you were about to hear a word from God!

If there was time I’d love to share some of the wonderful words of encouragement I received that helped me through that time in my life. I have many of them written down and when I look back at them now I’m truly amazed to see how God used those words to move me forward into my true purpose.

Words from the Lord, or rhemas, are like prophetic encouragement only we receive them directly from God. There are two Greek words in Scripture that are translated word. Logos refers to the written word of God, or the Bible. Rhema (from what I’ve been taught my Foursquare background) is a verse or portion of Scripture that God impresses upon us to apply to a certain situation in our lives.

An example of a rhema would be when one is reading through Scripture and a certain portion of that Scripture stands out to you and speaks to a specific need you have that day.

Here again, I wish I had time to share the many times that God spoke to my heart in quiet times with Him. Many of my deep seated beliefs about myself were changed through those encounters as He showed me who I really am, in Him!

Knowing and believing who God says you are is a powerful weapon to be used against the enemy when old - and wrong - beliefs try to resurface. Click To Tweet

Prayer ministry. During my healing journey I had opportunity to be ministered to by counselors trained in a specific type of prayer ministry. Through prayer they helped me discover past lies I’d come to believe about myself in the bad situations I’d been through, and those lies were replaced by the truth of Jesus.

Believing New Thoughts. 

When we become aware that our current beliefs that are not in line with what God says about us, and that they are not in line with God’s calling on our lives, we can learn to practice new thoughts, replacing old thought patterns with God thoughts.

As I said on Day 5, when I wrote about the neural pathways of the brain, scientists have discovered that our brains have neuroplasticity and can be changed, but God knew that long before they did when He said, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:2 NIV.

Yes, my path toward healing was uniquely designed by God for me.  The right people, the right words, the right church, the right Bible studies, etc., and do you know what? He wants to do the same for you.

Listen! You may not currently believe this, but there is no limit to your lovability. None! That’s because how much you are loved doesn’t depend upon you, it depends upon the one who loves you – God. God's love is unlimited, unbounded, measureless, unfathomable and infinite. Click To Tweet No experience you’ve been through, no sin you’ve committed, no false words you’ve spoken or believed can change God’s love for you, and His desire to bring healing to the broken areas of your life.

Just like He did for me, God has a unique healing journey ahead for you. You can choose to pursue God’s healing of the broken places in your life or not. It’s up to you. But I promise you that when you begin seeking Him with your whole heart He will reveal Himself to you (Jer. 29:13), and He will lead you on your own journey through the pain into the glorious healing on the other side.

The next post is one I’m really looking forward to writing. Please join me tomorrow for Day 24 – Relate, Restore, Release.

Y’all come back now, here?  😉

To start this series at the very beginning you can catch Day 1 right HERE.

I’ve been known to link up to the following great parties!!!

Sunday:

SundaysAtHome, LifeOnLakeshoreDrive, SilverPenniesSundays, RusticAndRefined, Spiritual Sundays

Monday:

IShouldBeMoppingTheFloor, TheDedicatedHouse, Dwellings, ProjectInspired,  InspireMeMonday, CelebrateYourStory, What Joy is Mine/Monday Musings, Darling Downs Diaries, The Art of Homemaking, MomentsOfHope, Glimpses, SittingAmongFriends, InspireMeMonday, GodSizedDreams

 

Tuesday:

TalkOfTheTown, HomeStoriesAtoZ, AStrollThruLife, CoastalCharm, CedarHillFarmhouse, TuesdaysAtOurHome, TheWinthropChronicles,  Rich Faith Rising Unite Linky, Testimony Tuesday,Cheerleaders of Faith,Tell His Story

Wednesday:

SavvySouthernStyle, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home, Woman to Woman Word Filled Wednesdays, Coffee for Your Heart, MessyMarriage, ThreeWordWednesday,  WriterWednesday

Thursday:

ShareYourStyle, ImpartingGrace, EmbracingChange, HaveADailyCupOfMrsOlson, MyRepurposedLife, ADelightsomeLife, KatherinesCorner,  Thought Provoking Thursday, SincerelyPaulas, ThoughtfulThursday, Tune-inThursday

Friday:

FrenchCountryCottage, TheCharmOfHome, TheDedicatedHouseAnythingBlueFriday, ShabbyliciousFriday, Faith’nFriends,  Dance With Jesus FreshMarketFriday

Saturday:

FunkyJunkInteriors, SaturdaySparks, TheInspirationGallery, Make My Saturday Sweet