“I’ve discovered that when we take time to renew our minds with God’s Word, we learn how to think like God thinks, say what God says, and act like He wants us to act.” – Joyce Meyer
For the longest, I felt that God spoke clearly and audibly to a select few and the rest of us had to listen to others’ testimonies or Sunday morning sermons to get excited about His mighty and mysterious ways. I mean who wants their faith to be spoon fed to them by someone else while never really encountering on a personal level this great God everyone speaks about? Not I. In order to change this, I needed to change my mind about how I perceived God. 
Outfit details:
I wore and shot this outfit when I traveled to Florida a few months ago. When transitioning from summer to fall, a lightweight sweater comes in handy since it is breathable enough for the daytime heat but also keeps you warm enough to survive the freezing stores that blast the AC to subarctic temperatures.
H&M shorts // Sweater (old) – similar here // Gladiator flats (old) // Michael Kors crossbody // Sassy Jones Boutique sunglasses
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It so happened that on new year’s day, someone sent me a clip of a sermon by TD Jakes where he talked about the fact that many of us love to exclaim “new year, new me” at the start of every calendar year. He made a great point when he said that “It is not the movement of the clock that produces the newness of life. It is the movement in your mind.” I had to pause the video to write that down! So so good. So so true!
The Bible says in Romans 12:2 ⇒ “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.” What that means to me is that I have to assess my current beliefs and train of thoughts, my perspective and attitude. Before I can transform my life, I have to transform my mind, but before I can transform my mind, I have to identify the old ways, habits and limiting mindset that have caused me to live a limited life.
For example, I have since stopped saying that I am not a morning person. If I want to get up earlier and if I know that I am extremely more productive when I wake up at 5, why should I keep believing that it’s an impossible thing for me to consistently do? For the past week or so, I have been able to wake up on most days with no hesitation simply because I changed my mind to see mornings as a blessing instead of an annoyance. I have woken up early for a few weeks before but it never remained a lasting habit because I still thought to myself that I just wasn’t a morning person. I was simply forcing myself to do something that I didn’t want to do. This time around, I realized that I had to believe that it was possible before it became possible. I intend to keep waking up early far longer than this month and certainly all throughout 2018 and beyond.
The same thing happened with finding the time to read a book. I always told myself when will I find time to read? No one has time for that. Then I decided, I’m going to read a book a month. So far, I’ve read for about a half hour almost everyday since the year started. That’s only because I changed my thoughts, became intentional and made the time to read daily.
I have also found that because I wake up earlier, I spend more quality time with God. By setting aside distraction-free, intentional, and consistent time in prayer, I am able to truly experience what it’s like to have a personal relationship with God. By doing this daily, I expect to hear from God and I am also more attentive to the signs He sends me as a confirmation that He has heard my prayers.
Choosing to hold your thoughts captive and redirecting them to more beneficial and true concepts is an amazing thing. I plan to consistently re-evaluate my thoughts in every area of my life and make a change where necessary because I truly believe that it is the only way to make a lasting change. I hope you are inspired to do the same.
