Life is not a Lottery

Christmas break has brought TONS of life lessons for me, and I am truly inspired and ready to start living my life differently. This is not a New Year's resolution thing...this is a life-changing message from God that will alter the entire path of my life if I let it. Lately in my devotions, I have been reading through this book that talks about gaining control over our minds and allowing them to be transformed by "letting the Word of Christ dwell in [us] richly" and God has really opened my eyes. I read that it takes only 6 weeks of thinking a wrong thought to develop a habit, and that our lives and actions eventually reveal what we have chosen to think about and what we believe. When we allow negative thoughts in our lives and we begin to believe the lies that Satan so easily plants in our minds, they become destructive thought patterns that can dictate how we feel and what we do. The truth is that God does not give you negative thoughts about yourself, others, himself, or your circumstances. And whatever does not come from God is from Satan. As I was reading all of this, I began to pray that God would reveal any lies I'm believing or any negative thought patterns in my life that are affecting it for the worse...and boy was I amazed. Tons of lies starting pouring into my head-- lies about myself, my boyfriend and our relationship, lies about God, lies about my family and friends...and each and every one of them was altering the way I was thinking about myself or those relationships. And because I was believing all of those lies, each time something happened (like a negative event or a comment to hurt my feelings) I would interpret it in the light of that lie (like "they don't really care about me anyways," or, "I must not be worth their time.") You can see how completely destructive these ways of thinking are in my life and anyone else's who believes anything similar.

They (whoever "they" is) say that recognizing the problem is the first step. I know it is a big step, and I am so glad that God has revealed these things to me, but I am also overwhelmed at how I am going to fight these lies that seem to almost control my entire thought life. As I continued reading, I was struck by how simple (yet not easy) the solution is. My initial reaction would be to be ultra cautious of my thoughts and everytime I realized I was thinking or believing a lie, to simply refute it and say it wasn't true. That sounds like a TON of work. But, surprisingly enough, (hopefully you can hear the sarcasm), my way is not the best way. The only way to get out of this pattern and stop this cycle of lies is to fill your heart and mind with the truth that is in the Word of God. "Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly!" Fill your mind with truths about yourself, others, God, and your circumstances. Choose truth. Do not let your mind be taken captive by the lies of the evil one. Cling to your position in Christ and the value He places on you. Spend enough time in the Word and memorize verses that spell out God's promises and your security in Him that any time a lie does come into view, you will be able to laugh and say, "Good try, Satan, but my Father already told me who I am and how much He loves me, and He's a heck of a lot more trustworthy than you!"

Life is not a lottery; the odds are all in our favor. All we have to do is believe the truth and be transformed by the renewing of our minds.