So many of us try to work so hard.  We work so hard in trying to believe The Bible, what Jesus said and what Paul wrote.  So many have worked so hard and given up to the extent they've created their own belief system, based on their own perceptions. 

We're like the father who had the demon possessed son.  He told Jesus that if He could do anything to please help his son.  Jesus then responded "If you can?  All things are possible to him who believes".  The father then responded, "I believe, but help me in my unbelief."

That's where many of us are in this walk of faith we're taking.  Intellectually, we believe what the Bible and what Jesus said.  But, in our hearts, down where it really  matters, we struggle with unbelief.  Some of us struggle mightily with unbelief.  

Why do you struggle so much?  Why do I struggle so much?  We want so much to believe, yet we find it so hard to believe at the same time.  You look around and see the way things are in the world or perhaps even your own life, and those things you see, really cause you to struggle. 

But there's great news.  Faith doesn't have to be that kind of a struggle.  Keep in mind, I didn't say faith would come easy or that we'll have the kind of faith we need all the time in every single situation.  But, faith doesn't have to be the struggle you and I often think it is. 

What in the world are you listening to?  No, I'm not asking regarding the kind of music you listen to.  I'm asking literally what are you listening to in the course of your day?

Jesus made a very interesting statement, which on the surface, seems odd.  But, when you think about it, is a very powerful and wise statement. 

"Therefore, consider carefully how you listen" (Luke 8:18). Consider carefully how I listen?  How I listen to what?;  I find myself asking myself.  How do you listen?  

Then He goes on.  "Whoever has will be given more;  whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken away from him".  

Actually Jesus made a profound statement here.  Research has shown that the average person hears between 20,000 and 30,000 words during a twenty-four period.  That's a lot of words.  The average sentence length is around 14 words.  That means you and I are hearing between 1,429 and 2,143 sentences per day.  We are hearing plenty of noise.  This doesn't include times we're hearing other sounds in the course of our day, such as telephones, TVs, DVDs, etc....

What we hear goes into our thoughts.  We filter it and determine the most important.  The most important are embedded in our subconscious and eventually filters down to our hearts.

So, all of this begs the question.  What gains your attention?  With all the words you hear each day, along with all the other noises, what words gain your attention over the course of a day?  What do you consider important to give your attention to and what do you discard?

Most of this is done subconsciously.  Our subconscious minds automatically filter out those noises that we don't want to hear.  For example, most of us have reached the point, where we automatically filter out written ads or television commercials.  We just don't listen to them.

Or we subconsciously tune in to something we wish to hear.  For example, you may be at a restaurant.  There are many people there talking.  Your mind is on let's say, your favorite sports team.  Even in the midst of a conversation, you may hear other people at the next table talking about your sports team.  Then without even trying, you find yourself keying in on that conversation.

So, we are constantly and automatically filtering in or out those things we wish to hear. 

Filtering can be good.  In fact, most of the time it's good, because we are bombarded with so many words and noises all day long.  But, filtering can be very dangerous to us.  If you or I filter out the wrong thing, our lives may go down a path we don't desire them to go. 

We're told in Colossians 2:14, that through the penalty He paid on the cross, Jesus "canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us...."  Studies have shown that we have between 12,000 and 50,000 thoughts each day.  About 80% of those thoughts are a critical nature.

It seems that no matter the amount of success we've had or the positive things about us, our tendency is to focus on the negative we see in ourselves.  This results in negative self-talk that we indulge in each and every day.

Often we nurture the roots of fear by our negative self-talk.  We say things  like "I'm not good enough", I'm not pretty enough" or "I'm not intelligent enough".  More often, we filter out the good comments people give to us.  For the Christian, someone may pay us a compliment by saying something like "you're a very good singer" or "you're a very good speaker".  

Most often, what is our response.  "Well thank you, but it's the Lord".  Yet, we have no problem whatsoever taking credit for the negative things we say and think about ourselves.  These are the negative decrees we speak against ourselves. 

But, Jesus took those away and  made them powerless on the cross.  You and I need to be mindful of this.  Filtering can be good.  But negative filtering can be dangerous for us.  

Consider Job.  Job was a very blessed man.  In the beginning of the book of Job (1:3), it's  written that Job was very blessed and was the greatest of all the men of the east. 

Satan came before God and asked permission to attack Job.  God, knowing Job to be an upright man, allowed Job to be tested.  Satan attacked all Job had, including his health, but was not allowed to kill Job.  

In the midst of his troubles, Job made a very powerful statement.  "For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me.  And what I dreaded has  happened to me."  Job had filtered out all the good things about his life and filtered in fear, by nurturing the roots of fear.  

​How Job "listened" brought great and needless calamity upon him.  

"Therefore consider carefully how you listen" (Luke 8:18).  

When I was in school, I was terrible at math.  In fact, I had to take both Algebra and Geometry twice. Keep in mind when I said I had to take Algebra twice, I wasn't talking of just one class.  There was Algebra part 1 and Algebra part II.  

I'd see other students where math appeared to be so easy for them.  Now, when I took the courses a second time, they were easy.  I  made very good grades with little to no effort.  I'd always wondered why that was. 

Was it because I already had basic understanding of the subject matter?  If I did, why was there a need to take the course twice.  Did the teacher have better understanding of the subject matter and taught it better?  Maybe.  

For me, the real reason was whenever I would take a new math class, I'd automatically tell myself I wasn't good at math.  I knew I was going to have a hard time.  More than likely I'd fail the class. 

As a result, at the first sign of difficulty, I'd quit.  My effort decreased because I knew my ceiling had been reached.  I was at my limit.  I knew this, because I told myself I wasn't good at math and there would come a point beyond which I wouldn't or felt I couldn't go.  The effort I put forth or the lack of effort, corresponded with how far I thought I could go.  

My math bar wasn't set very high.  

When your mind dwells on success, failure, faith or fear, your actions will follow.   When you dwell on faith and success, you will achieve positive and successful results.  In the same way, when you dwell on failure and fear, you will achieve negative and not so successful results. 

It depends on where you've set your internal thermostat regarding your self image.  There is a powerful link between thinking and physical responses.  

There was an experiment done in the 1960s, where there were two groups of students.  These students were instructed to shoot a certain number of free throws.  The results were recorded.  Then the groups were given a week to practice.  

One group was instructed to actually go to the gym and practice.  The other group was instructed to only visualize shooting the free throws and seeing the ball go into the basketball.  

After a week, each group returned to the gym, to shoot free throws again.  The result was very interesting.  They found that the group that had only visualized making the shots had the same degree of improvement as the group that actually practiced shooting free throws.  

Your actions will follow your thoughts.  ​

​I was thinking the other day that often we compartmentalize things.  At least I do.  I'll look at different things, such as the execution of an activity as separate from the planning of the activity.  

Or more accurately, I'll look at spiritual preparation as an entirely different activity from what many of us think of as everyday, practical activities.  The belief being that the "practical" activities are distinct from the "spiritual".  Or even more dangerously is the belief that the  "practical" activities are more "practical" than the spiritual.

The reality is the spiritual is over the "practical".  In other words, the spiritual dominates the physical, because that which is physical was from that which spiritual. 

The key question is what do you and I put stronger trust in?  Do we trust the physical more or do we trust the spiritual more?  But, it's not a question of which one should we trust more.  Because in fact, they both work together. 

We have a tendency to forget this while we're doing our day to day activities.  This is one of the main reasons we may walk in fear as opposed to faith.  We've divorced the spiritual from the physical.  We feel like a little orphan with no Mommy or Daddy.  We feel real fear in the midst of life's struggles. 

We often put up a good front for people.  We Christians especially, love to try and show strength, yet at the same time, we feel we've been left on this earth sometimes to fend for ourselves.  We feel like an orphan in an orphanage, abandoned by our parents.  It doesn't matter if we're  older or younger.  We can still feel  like orphans. ​  

In 2008, the housing crisis hit The United States hard.  Companies were bailed out.  Housing values plummeted.  Many mortgages were foreclosed on.  Unemployment sky rocketed.  Financial fear shot up like a rocket. 

Consumer confidence was high before 2008, then shot down from 2008 until even now.  But that has been the case for years.  Take a look at any graph about it and you'll see the truth in this.   

There's an interesting scripture in the book of Deuteronomy.   It's located in Deuteronomy, chapter 8.  In this chapter, there's a discourse where God, through Moses was giving the people of Israel instructions before entering into the land promised them for their own possession.

God told them in chapter 8, verses 17-18, "You may say to yourself, 'My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me'.  But remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms His covenant, which he swore to your fathers."

I've always found these to be incredible verses.  God didn't tell them "if they produced wealth".  He said He "gives you the power to get wealth".  The scripture doesn't only say that God gave them the power to get wealth, but He also gave them the reason.  He gave them the power to get wealth in order to confirm His covenant with them.

His covenant He had made with them was an inferior covenant. Hebrews tells us that we live under a superior covenant with better promises (Hebrews 8:6).  

If the covenant you and I live under is a covenant of better promises, then that means that those better promises also include the ability to get wealth. ​ 

I remember when my first dog died.  He had been going downhill for awhile.  He was diagnosed with kidney problems a few years earlier.  He was on a special dog food for his  kidneys.

Then shortly after my first daughter was born, he began losing weight.  He was taken to the vet, but the vet couldn't figure out what the problem was.  One night, I took him out for a walk.

As we were coming home, he quit.  He just sat on the road and quit.  He didn't want to walk anymore.  So, I picked him up and was carrying him home.  As I was carrying him home, he died in my arms.  I felt the last breath leave him.  His little body became limp and heavier. 

After I got him home, I looked at him and saw that the life had totally left him.  He was gone.  Just a few minutes earlier, I had taken him out for a walk.  Now, I was carrying his lifeless body home. 

That was an experience and a pain I'll never forget.  It hit me hard.  I didn't want to get another dog for the longest time.  I didn't want to chance going through an experience like that again.  

I had such pain, because my love for that little dog was deep down in my innermost being...my heart.  I didn't have to think about whether I grieved.  I just grieved.  I saw the little guy with my eyes.  My mind told me he was dead.  My heart welled up with grief.  

My mind and heart were connected. 

The Bible tells us that transformation comes from the renewing of our minds.  The renewed mind is the first seed we need to plant for the growing of faith.  

It's important to understand, we go in the direction of our minds.  Your actions will go in the direction of your focus.  The mind is the gateway to the heart.  So, the mind is the GPS and the heart is the engine.  You will go in the direction of what your mind plants and takes root in your heart.  

Also realize your mind is made up of two parts.  Our minds are made up of our conscious mind and our subconscious mind.  The interesting thing about this is roughly 90-95% of decisions you are make, are made in your subconscious mind.  

This is like an iceberg.  Part of the iceberg is above water.  But, most of it is unseen, below water.  

The same holds true for the two parts of your mind.  Your conscious mind is like the part of the iceberg above water.  The subconscious mind is like the majority of the iceberg that's not visible because it's under water.   

The other decisions are made consciously, in your conscious mind.

Think of when you learned to drive a car.  You got in the car and thought about everything.  Making sure the review mirror was adjusted.  Making sure your seat belt was fastened.  Double checking to make sure you were in the right gear.  You even thought about how to start the car.

Then as you drove the car, you might have been a little jerky.  Your driving wasn't smooth.  You had to really watch and concentrate on the other drivers.  You tried to think about what you'd do in certain situations.  Most of your driving was reactive.

After gaining some years of experience, your driving became automatic.  You didn't have to think about all of those things.  This was because the knowledge of how to drive a car was implanted into your subconscious.  

As a result, when you get in the car to drive, your subconscious takes over.  Ever had a situation where you were driving somewhere and you were on the phone with someone or listening to music?

Before long, you arrive at your destination and you are amazed that you arrived so quickly.  You might be amazed because it seemed you didn't do anything..that the car virtually drove itself.  

That was the work of your subconscious mind.  Consciously, you made the decision to drive somewhere and you got in your car.  But, after getting in your car, the driving was automatic.  That was your subconscious taking over and leading you to drive.

This is important because you program yourself for actions.  Are your actions ones of faith or ones of fear?  You decide this by determining whether you'll plant the faith seed of the renewed mind.  

In my next post, I'll go over how this is done. 

​Blessings.  

Often our Christian journey is full of ups and downs.  I'm sure you've had times where you were going through trials and asked God why you were going through that. 

​I remember when I was laid off from my corporate job.  My reviews were good.  I was told, I was doing a good job.  Yet, I received a call from my manager stating that my job was eliminated and she told me about the severance package I would receive. 

That was shocker and  really caused me to scratch my head.  I never saw it coming.  On the other hand, who ever does see that kind of thing coming.  It's not like they announce it before it happens.  

I began to ask myself why.  I thought back over the course of my time with the company and wondered why it  happened.  They told me it wasn't because of my  performance, but that due to cuts, my job was eliminated.  

I then began to ask God why?  Why did He take my job from me?  Why did He allow this to happen? Wasn't He supposed to be our provider?  Wasn't He supposed to be taking care of me?  I asked God "why" plenty of times. 

Can you identify with that?  Have you ever asked God "why" when you've been through a challenge?  If you're like me, you have.  I'm sure we all have.  

But, to ask God "why" something happens to us is a question a victim would ask and it causes to feel even more like a victim.  You are not a victim.  

God doesn't see you as a victim nor does He see me as one.  He sees us as His children, royal heirs.  God refuses to speak to the spirit of fear.  

The right question to ask God is:

1. What does this mean?
2. What should I do?

These questions free us for our purpose rather than keep us in bondage to our past. 

So, don't ask God "why"?  Ask Him "what"?

​Blessings

Much of our learning comes from life experiences. Whether it's negative or positive learning, much of our learning comes from everyday life. One of things I've learned is that whatever I focus on expands.  

It doesn't matter if what you focus on is negative or positive, it will expand.  Our subconscious mind is designed to find solutions for us and to verify things for us.  

Have you ever been in a situation where you've tried to find a solution to a problem?  You wracked your brain trying to consciously come up with a solution.  But you only drew a blank.  Then you let the problem go and you decided  to not worry about it or to sleep on it. 

What happened?  Voila!  A solution came to you.  That was your subconscious mind finding a solution to your problem.  Then can also happen when you seek God and the Holy Spirit provides you with a solution.  

Your subconscious mind is designed to give you solutions to questions you have.  When you focus on something, your subconscious mind goes into detective mode to find answers for you.  It takes what you are focusing on and gives you a solution to a question you may have.  It also finds reasons to agree with you, if you make statements.

For example, if you start your day and something negative  happens, what do we often say?  "I can see this isn't going to be a very good day" or something to that effect. 

Have you ever had a time where you knew, I mean just KNEW you had faced fear and death?  If you have, it's not something you'll ever forget. 

When I was 18 years of age, at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, I met fear and death face to face.  It wasn't something I'd want to re-live.  But, it's something I'll never forget.

My girlfriend, at the time, and her family invited me on their vacation at Myrtle Beach.  I was excited about going, but not too excited about the beach.  She was one who loved to lay on the beach in the sun.  I like the old, trustworthy beach umbrella.  

One day, we went down to the beach.  My girlfriend, to lay in the sun and me....well....to try and do anything BUT lay in the sun.  Those of you, especially guys, who don't enjoy laying in the sun, know what I'm talking about.

She brought a book to read and I decided to spend some time in the water instead of laying in the sun, being grilled like a good sirloin.  

Now, this back in the day of the canvas rafts.  Remember those rafts?  They were made of canvass and you could rent them.  Some would try to ride waves on them and others would just like to lay on the water.

Considering I swam and still swim like a rock, I rented one of those rafts to just hang onto it in the water and enjoy the calming effect of the ocean.  So, I rented one and went out into the water.  

I didn't lay on the raft, I just kind of dangled...with my arms resting on the raft and my feet in the water. ​