Day 23 Purpose Driven Life.

DAY 23 Thinking about My Purpose

 POINT TO PONDER: It is never too late to start growing. 

VERSE TO REMEMBER: “Let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God — what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect.” ROMANS 12:2B (TEV) 

QUESTION TO CONSIDER: What is one area where I need to stop thinking my way and start thinking God’s way?

ANSWER :This mornings meditation from Abide helped me to see where I need to change. The meditation was called "MANAGING YOUR THOUGHT LIFE". As Rick says in the video if we change our thoughts it will changes our feelings. And if we change our feelings it will change our action. When listening to it it made me see  that I was being distracted by my old thinking. I need to keep vigilant with my thoughts and take them capture. That was my scripture for last year. [Corinthians 10:5]. 

I don't like when I talk crude now. Yesterday Jean said to me when I was talking crude. "Christian". This is like a halt sign for me to remind me about what I am doing (MY ACTIONS). I love when she does this because sometimes am on auto pilot and my old thinking is taken me on a course I don't like. So as it says in the highlights I need to change my direction it also says in the Bible "Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts." Proverbs 4:23

So between today's purpose and this morning Abide Meditation I have been taught to be careful of my thinking. And I am not alone anymore I have a helper who can help me. Self will is not enough so that's why The Holy Spirit gives me discernment to help me change.

This year I NEED TO KEEP MY EYES ON JESUS ...this is where my Scriptures for this year comes in Psalm 105:4....1 Chronicles 16:11,,,,LOOK TO THE LORD AND HIS STRENGTH; SEEK HIS FACE  ALWAYS

Highlights From Book : The Bible says, “Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”

This verse shows the two parts of spiritual growth: “work out” and “work in.” The “work out” is your responsibility, and the “work in” is God’s role. Spiritual growth is a collaborative effort between you and the Holy Spirit. God’s Spirit works with us, not just in us. 

This verse, written to believers, is not about how to be saved, but how to grow. It does not say “work for” your salvation, because you can’t add anything to what Jesus already did.

During a physical “workout,” you exercise to develop your body, not to get a body.

When you “work out” a puzzle, you already have all the pieces — your task is to put them together.

God has given you a new life; now you are responsible to develop it “with fear and trembling.” That means to take your spiritual growth seriously!

When people are casual about their spiritual growth, it shows they don’t understand the eternal implications (as we saw in chapters.

Changing your autopilot. To change your life, you must change the way you think. Behind everything you do is a thought. Every behavior is motivated by a belief, and every action is prompted by an attitude. God revealed this thousands of years before psychologists understood it: “Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts.

Imagine riding in a speedboat on a lake with an automatic pilot set to go east. If you decide to reverse and head west, you have two possible ways to change the boat’s direction. One way is to grab the steering wheel and physically force it to head in the opposite direction from where the autopilot is programmed to go. By sheer willpower you could overcome the autopilot, but you would feel constant resistance. Your arms would eventually tire of the stress, you’d let go of the steering wheel, and the boat would instantly head back east, the way it was internally programmed. 

This is what happens when you try to change your life with willpower: You say, “I’ll force myself to eat less … exercise more … quit being disorganized and late.” Yes, willpower can produce short-term change, but it creates constant internal stress because you haven’t dealt with the root cause. The change doesn’t feel natural, so eventually you give up, go off your diet, and quit exercising. You quickly revert to your old patterns.

There is a better and easier way: Change your autopilot — the way you think. The Bible says, “Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.”5 Your first step in spiritual growth is to start changing the way you think. Change always starts first in your mind. The way you think determines the way you feel, and the way you feel influences the way you act. Paul said, “There must be a spiritual renewal of your thoughts and attitudes.”

To be like Christ you must develop the mind of Christ. The New Testament calls this mental shift repentance, which in Greek literally means “to change your mind.”

You repent whenever you change the way you think by adopting how God thinks — about yourself, sin, God, other people, life, your future, and everything else. You take on Christ’s outlook and perspective.

We are commanded to “think the same way that Christ Jesus thought.”

There are two parts to doing this. The first half of this mental shift is to stop thinking immature thoughts, which are self-centered and self-seeking.The Bible says that selfish thinking is the source of sinful behavior: “Those who live following their sinful selves think only about things that their sinful selves want.”

The second half of thinking like Jesus is to start thinking maturely, which focuses on others, not yourself. In his great chapter on what real love is, Paul concluded that thinking of others is the mark of maturity:

The Christian life is far more than creeds and convictions; it includes conduct and character. Our deeds must be consistent with our creeds, and our beliefs must be backed up with Christlike behavior.

Christianity is not a religion or a philosophy, but a relationship and a lifestyle. The core of that lifestyle is thinking of others, as Jesus did, instead of ourselves.

Thinking of others is the heart of Christlikeness and the best evidence of spiritual growth. This kind of thinking is unnatural, counter-cultural, rare, and difficult. Fortunately we have help: “God has given us his Spirit. That’s why we don’t think the same way that the people of this world think.”

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