Words are Precious

 

Words are very precious to me. I love to write, I love to learn new words and use them, and I love to read God's Word. Last night, I inadvertently deleted several posts I had written for my blog.

I was devastated. I backed up my files four days before this, but I had a writing spurt between then and the catastrophe and the Holy Spirit helped me to write some inspired words. All lost.

I called my sons and between them, they did their best to recover my precious words. The files did not go to the recycle bin. My computer just wiped them out.

I also lost the Google Talk phone capability on my computer. This made me realize that if I felt this loss so deeply, I will be devastated if I ever lost the Word of God through persecution of the church in America.

At my age, I do not have a good memory anymore. Much of the Bible, which I memorized in the past is no longer in my conscious mind. I will not be able to fall back on that if the precious Word of God is taken from us.

Therefore, I purposed in my heart that I will go back to the verses that I could once recall at will and refresh my memory every night, because those words are stored in my subconscious mind.

As I reread them, I am easily recalling them into my conscious mind. Many of them were set to music by friends in my past, which makes it easier to remember them.

I want to make God's Word a priority in my life, so if we ever lose the written Word, my spirit and soul can find nourishment from the Words I hid in my heart (Psalm 119:11).

Prayer:

Father God, let us never take Your Word for granted. Our freedoms in America over all of these years lulled us into a sense of security that is no longer guaranteed. Many other countries across the globe lost their freedoms in small increments over time and we are losing them also. There is not a Christian nation left in our world today.

We look forward to Christ's imminent return; but if You tarry any longer, America may fall into enemy hands and we may lose our hard won freedoms. Help us to hide Your Word in our hearts so that it will sustain us in our times of trials now and in the future.

Thought for the Day:

The Word of God speaks to our spirit and soul like no other words we could ever read or hear; it sustains us through every trial.

- Psalm 119:116

Understanding Our Mind - Part 2

Analyzing Transactions in Our Soul

Once we realize that our subconscious mind controls many of our thoughts, word and actions in our present life, we can come to God for healing of the wounds stored in that miraculous filing cabinet. The simplest and most efficient way to uncover the stored memories in our subconscious is to pay attention to the conversations in our mind.

We are not going crazy. These are not usually demonic voices or multiple schizophrenic personalities. These conversations are simply the interaction among our Inner Parent, Adult and Child (PAC). As we analyze these transactions or conversations, we soon see a pattern. We learn to identify the message, which our three ego states are trying to communicate to us.

We are usually so busy that we neglect our soul. Therefore, we need to make time to listen to these transactions. Keeping a journal is the easiest way to decipher what our subconscious mind is attempting to bring to our conscious mind. Once we learn to identify these messages, journaling will no longer be necessary, because we will readily recognize what our soul is telling us.

Start by asking questions such as:

1.) What is bothering me? The issue may be recent; however, sometimes we do not know the source of the issue, because it lies in our subconscious mind and has its roots in our past.

2.) When did this start? Maybe this is a recent issue, or it could have started in our infancy or youth. Looking at photo albums may give us clue to its origin, or accessing memories from our subconscious mind that God’s Spirit brings to our conscious mind. 

( www.theophostic.com )

3.) Where did it start? At home, school, church, neighborhood. And with whom did it start? Parent, relative, neighbor, teacher, friend or our friend’s parent.

4.) Is the issue physical, emotional or psychological? Do we feel unwarranted shame or fear because of something someone said or did to us in the past? Does our negative self-talk come from things someone said to us and we believed? Did Satan plant a lie in our past that we believe, and which is fueling our negative health or feelings?

Our Inner Child may be reticent about divulging this information to us, especially if we neglected our soul all of our life. As we start to pay attention to our negative thoughts and feelings from now on, our subconscious will cooperate with God’s Spirit, as He brings these aspects to our conscious mind and heals us of the residual affects they have on our life.

Prayer:

Father God, there is nothing too difficult for You (Jeremiah 32:17, 27). You understand our thoughts and know our life from beginning to end (Psalm 139:13; Isaiah 46:10). You do not want Satan to use the words and actions from our past to cripple our present life. Give us the courage to come to You for clarity about these issues and healing from these wounds to our soul.

Thought for the Day:

It took a lifetime to program our subconscious mind to think, feel and react to life, and it may take some time for it to respond to the healing of God’s Spirit; have patience and give God your full attention during quiet spaces of reflection during your week. 

Our Conscious Conscience

 

God put a conscience in the soul of every human being ever born. Our human conscience functions from an inherent, instinctive consciousness of the will of God for our life. We can suppress our conscience, however, and walk away from His will. We turn a blind eye to the evidence of God in creation, which is clearly seen and understood by all, so that no one is without excuse when they reject God (Romans 1:18-20).

In our youth, our conscience is very active; however, it gets seared throughout our lifetime (1 Timothy 4:2). As adults, we may go through some self-help programs, but we eventually revert to our old, carnal ways. True change only comes when we surrender our life to Jesus Christ. Even if we do surrender to His call on our life, condemnation from past failings, and feelings of insecurity and inadequacy about the future, drive our conscience to perform in our human efforts to win God’s favor.

Depending on our choices, our conscience either commends or condemns us. When we continually avoid compliance with God’s truth, we sear our conscience and have no moral compass to guide our thoughts, words and deeds (1 Timothy 4:2). When we compare our behavior with that of someone in the world, we may think we are doing fine; but the world is not our standard. Jesus Christ is our measure, which means that no matter how well we behave, we often miss the mark of His perfection and end up in sin.

Sometimes, Satan makes us feel guilty, even if we are not guilty of sin, in order to debilitate us and prevent God’s Holy Spirit from using us as He desires. God’s conviction brings no condemnation with it, but always shows us a way to escape the temptation in front of us (1 Corinthians 10:13). Even if we do wrong, we can always repent of that sin and apologize to those whom we offended. Christ died to make us a new creation for His service (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Our conscience cautions us when we violate Biblical standards. It agrees with what our heart instinctively knows about God’s expectations. Yet, many people still reject God’s truth (Romans 2:14-15). It is only as we resist Satan’s lies and submit to God’s Spirit and His Word, that we can renew our mind. We realign it with the mind of Christ (James 4:7; Ephesians 4:23; Romans 12:2). Then, the Holy Spirit replaces our carnal nature with the divine nature of Christ (2 Peter 1:4) and the fruit of God’s Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for setting us free from the manipulation of false guilt and freeing our conscience from the bondage of Satan’s lies. You forgave our sin and washed us as white as snow (Colossians 2:13; Psalm 51:7; Isaiah 1:18). We accept Your forgiveness, we forgive our self and we live to bring You glory with all of our thoughts, words and deeds. We rest from the tyranny of our human efforts (Hebrews 4:10). As Born Again Believers, we operate in faith in the sanctifying activity of Christ and Your Spirit in our life (Colossians 2:6).

Thought for the Day:

Repentance clears our conscience by changing our mind and our actions. – 1 Corinthians 3:5; 2 Corinthians 4:7