(continued from July 12 )

The journey that started in Mid May continues. I have been meditating on several Bible passages as I think of the words so clearly spoken to my heart in a Guest House in Phang Nga, Southern Thailand.

Change Your Mind. I must stop focusing on the negative – what I can’t do, the things that overwhelm me, the myriad of weaknesses that make up Anne. But I must keep my gaze fixed firmly on Christ, know who He is and who I am IN Him.

Romans 12:1-2
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 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.

I have highlighted the two key phrases that stuck out to me, that have almost literally rung in my ears for the last 3 months.

First, the phrase, ‘be transformed by the renewing of your mind’ has become for me the definition or the ‘how to’ of Changing My Mind. Renew it. Focus on the truth of who God is and who I am in Him, and the truth in His word. Do not be ruled by the emotion of the moment. I recently listened to a devotional by Brian Hardin (Daily Audio Bible) in which he shares that in the Greek, to Repent is to Chang Your Mind, to turn it in another direction. That really stood out to me. Because it’s exactly what God was telling me to do. Repent of my old ways of thinking and doing.

The second phrase that began to ring in my ears was ‘offer yourself as a living sacrifice’, coupled with another key verse, ‘whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God’ (1 Cor 10:31). I have an overwhelming sense that I need to lay down my life, my dreams, my plans for my family. To serve them and give my best to them as an act of Worship to God. There’s a lot of things I would rather be doing. There are dreams that I have put to the side for the sake of my Husband and my Kids. And in many ways I was beginning to resent them for it. God was telling me that they truly are my main ministry. This is what I signed up for when I prayed for kids. To offer myself daily as a living sacrifice, laying down my dreams in the effort to build up and encourage them and help them fulfill their destiny, in order to bring Honour and Glory to God.

Does this mean I can’t have dreams?? No. It just means that I need to keep those dreams in perspective. In fact, even as I walk through this process of Changing My Mind, I am seeing opportunities for long dormant dreams to be fulfilled. But I need to always remember what my primary responsibility is. To Love Sacrificially, laying down my life for my family, giving them the best I can give each day. 

(more to come…)