Chapter 2: Teach Your Mind To Work For You

I still find myself amazed at how wonderfully and fearfully God created us. When I consider my thoughts affecting everything from my health to my outlook, I’m all the more aware of God’s originality. Teaching our minds to give the advantage rather than focusing on the shortcoming may be the novel idea that changes everything! The result of positive thinking can be seen in our daily living and in the execution of tomorrow’s dreams.

I’m so glad Joyce Meyer mentions the account of the Israelites as she walks us through how our thoughts release the power of potential. The most interesting thing about how the Israelites reacted wasn’t just their initial thoughts of inadequacy, but how in the next few verses (Numbers 13:27-33) their negative thoughts grew even bigger. As I read this I’m reminded of how I should stay focused on how big God is in every area of life. It’s so easy to make our difficulty larger in our own thoughts than the God who delivers us. I find that whatever I fill my mind with most will become the chief factor in my outlook. The key to retraining our minds is renewing them in His word and staying aware of how our thoughts impact results. Remember that positive thinking encourages positive responses. After studying this chapter I’m a lot more aware of how a negative attitude can produce negative results in my life.

The chapter details how positive thinking also keeps things in perspective. This notion always brings me back to the Israelites (Numbers 13:31-33). When Caleb and Joshua returned with a positive report about Canaan, the other men “spread scary rumors among the people of Israel” saying “it’s a land that swallows people whole”. They even went as far to claim they were grasshoppers in comparison to the giants in Canaan. I can relate to them because I’ve counted myself out based on how things look more than a few times. God has taught me to handle my molehills in His strength and not my own. When I look at it from His angle, nothing seems large enough to overtake me. I’ve grown to see things from God’s perspective rather than my limited knowledge.

When this chapter asked us to evaluate what ways we needed to start believing God’s Law more than Murphy’s Law, I immediately thought about my work life. With the high stress environment, fiscal goals and challenging deadlines; I can sometimes start to let a negative snowball get the best of me. When I step back and focus on how able God is to meet all my (work) needs, it lessens the anxiety and negative notions. I lean on what God tells us in Isaiah 43:2 Mess “When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you. When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down. When you’re between a rock and a hard place, it won’t be a dead end - because I am God, your personal God”.

In conclusion, I wanted to offer part of a devotional called “Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young. She writes from God’s perspective to give insight to His thoughts. The following was a perfect complement to our study. “I’m renewing your mind. When your thoughts flow freely, they tend to move toward problems. Your focus gets snagged on a given problem, circling round and round it in attempting to gain mastery. Your energy is drained away from other matters through this negative focus. Worst of all, you lose sight of Me. A renewed mind is Presence-focused. Train your mind to seek Me in every moment, every situation. Sometimes you can find Me in your surroundings, at other times you must draw inward to find Me. I am always present in your spirit. Seek My face, speak to Me, and I will light up your mind".

Points of Discussion:
1.In what specific situation do you need to believe that God is greater than your difficulties?
2.Can you remember an occasion when your negative attitude provoked a negative response?
3.Have you made a mountain out of a molehill lately? What are you blowing out of proportion?
4.In what specific circumstance do you need to start believing God’s law instead of Murphy’s Law?

Chapter 1: The Power of a Positive You

Wow. This chapter is true and evident in our lives. How many times have we complained about something going on around us and stayed in that mental rut? The power we have within ourselves is mighty and great! One of my favorite excerpts from this chapter is, "It is vital for you to understand you can choose your own thinking. You may be in a habit of merely thinking whatever falls into your mind, but you are now in the process of retraining your mind one thought at a time. As you learn to think as God thinks it enables Him to partner with you in accomplishing whatever you need to accomplish." (Meyer, 2010).

One of the questions posed in this section looks at what our most important thought or attitude that we feel needs to changed in our life. That for me would be changing my average thoughts to superior thoughts. Instead of looking at my present to define or guide my thinking into what I can build for the future; allow my mind to go to greater heights. To imagine and think of what some would consider impossible or less likely to happen. In my career; I have a huge goal, which from time to time, I cannot see how it will be accomplished. All praises go to God because although I cannot figure out how to get there exactly; I have not let the idea leave me. Training the mind is the starting point.

As I read through the rules. I was challenged by #1 and #3. For me controlling my attitude internally is where I fall. I can adjust the exterior some times...but those inner feelings..thats a whole 'nother challenge to conquer. I will practice reminding myself of what God has done for me during this time in order to maintain a good attitude. Also meditating on how no one is perfect and being mindful on how I can matters all the worse while having a bad attitude during the storm. Rule #4 helps to guide me through this challenge. Interesting enough, rule #3 has been looming in my life recently. I have made some pretty terrible decisions during storms and found that I should have just waited to do so until my mind was back in order. I am a spontaneous type of person however when in the storm, Ive had to check myself and not make any moves.

As far as #2, #4, and #5...I live by those already! Hallelujah! God put me through some tough (at least in my mind) situations which allowed me to learn the lessons. There have been countless occassions where bad things happened to only realize that it eventually did go away. As I enter every storm, Im always assured that, it wont last forever...eventually...it will go away, and I have to make the best of life through it all! I have never seen God move so much in all my life!!! Following rule #4 has kept me so wrapped up in Him. Although, I don't do what's right all the time, I still stay connected...one of my fav scriptures is Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not to your own understanding. Seek God in all your ways and He shall direct your paths". There's nothing I do that He doesnt know about! I always say, Id rather be with Him than without...its a cold world out there. And as far as rule #5, I had a business teacher once that said, the answer is "it depends". That to me is putting things into perspective. Although it may look one way, well depending on the nature of the situation things change..therefore it all depends on something else. I almost think too much perspective isnt good based on the expectations of others. Some like solid answers...no gray area.

Points of Discussion:
1. Which rules have you conquered?
2. Which rules do you need push harder towards?
3. Based on this chapter; is focusing on being a positive a difficult or easy task for you?

Part I: It's All in Your Mind - Introduction

What are our thoughts and/or questions about the Introduction?

Before We Begin...

"We become what we think" Proverbs 23:7

Greetings everyone! This is an exciting journey to begin amongst great people. I pray we all are able to communicate freely with one another, gain insight on our mind constructs, gain wisdom on how to control and allow God to direct our thoughts. Our minds are very powerful and tapping into our inner most thoughts can create a whole new world for us! I am thrilled to connect with those closest to me and those not as close. Thanks to Eboni D. for selecting a wonderful book, Power Thoughts by Joyce Meyers. It is our expectation that we can have yet another avenue to grow closer in our relationships with each other and Christ. This book club will continue after the reading of the current selected book. We can collaborate on how to select the next book. Feel free to invite others to join in our discussions.

Let us start by laying ground rules for our blogging adventure! :) Per a discussion with Eboni, a new blog topic will be posted every two weeks based on a chapter. We can utilize the questions posed throughout the chapters to lead discussions. If anyone feels led to spark a new discussion please feel free to do so.

We chose Victorious Book Club because we are all walking in God's victory and as we expand in our spiritual journey we will only become more victorious!