May 25, 2009

 Change of Mindset = Change of Behavior!

For the last seven years I have worked diligently with his royal highness “The Fitness Angel”, to build this ministry and website the way God wanted it to be. I was Focusing on writing articles, creating podcasts and monthly newsletters. Even though I knew I needed to lose the weight. I found myself very much like Paul struggling. When I would do good evil was always around me.

Not the evil you might think of eating too much, but the evil of not getting my head wrapped around the project. Yes, I heard from the Lord. Yes, I knew what I needed to do, but for some reason I could not stick to the plan. My failure in this area is just like any failure in any area. If I know what to do, I know what God wants and I don’t do it, it is an act of disobedience.

We often want to make outward changes without having made the inward changes necessary to strengthen us or sustain us through the process. I wanted my body to look a certain way, but I kept getting sidetracked. A sister in the Lord even prophesied (declared what she saw in the spirit) over me. She shared what she saw in my future, that I was going to look different and she was very specific.

She had just met me, but what she said lined up with what I knew God wanted. She had no idea what was in my head or in my heart. She had no idea what God had already told me about my future and what I needed to do. God sent her to confirm what He had already said and to be an encouragement to me. She reminded me of what He had already said. I have to visualize it. I have to stop running away from being all that God has purposed me to be both inside and out. I have to stop allowing the enemy to bring fear and doubt against me. I have been in this very place before just like you have.

Recently, I found myself at a place of being frustrated by being inside so much. My treadmill, while I loved it seemed too confining. I felt trapped. I missed my daily walks and conversations with the Lord. We were still communing but from the treadmill or a chair, not the way I liked doing it. I liked being outside with Him, just He and I. I guarded that time. I cherished it and would never even allow anyone to walk with me during it. This was our time.

I asked myself what happened, what changed? Our relationship was still great. I was still growing closer to Him but something...... People kept telling me to get out and walk, but I had all of the excuses. I used to love getting up early to walk, so what changed?

Seven years ago, I moved to a new neighborhood. It was like being in the country, because it had not been completely developed. The truth was it was like the country. Dogs ran throughout the neighborhood unchecked, people rode horses up and down the street. It was different and the dogs running in groups were a deterrent to walking outside.

We hear about abductions and bad things happening to people and there again we have another deterrent. Nobody wants to be approached or receive unwanted attention or worse yet to be followed home when you were just trying to get a little exercise. If you have ever had that experience you know what I am talking about. So instead of taking a chance on unwanted attention or the possibility of dogs we stay inside, locked in our own exile. Well these are nice excuses if you are looking for an excuse for not getting out.

I actually thought I could wait and do my working out when I got home in the evening to avoid getting up early, but getting up early was what was best for me and it is actually what worked for me in the past.

I was going to have to get up. The truth is that God was going to have to change my thinking. There was nothing that anyone else could say or do to get me moving in the right direction it was going to take a direct conversation with God, not The Fitness Angel and not my friends. God had to change my mindset in order to change my behavior. And God will have to do the same thing for you in whatever your area of need is, but you will have to decide to listen and obey.

God is my protection and if God be for me, who can be against me. The bible says no weapon formed against me shall prosper. Do you hear me, no weapon! I have been walking from 45 minutes to 90 minutes every day and I have yet to see a dog that is not on a leash with its owner. Yeah, there is some barking going on behind walls and fences, but ain’t that just like the enemy to try to scare us out of doing what we need to do with loud noise, barking, when there is no real threat? Isn’t that just like him to try to cause us to be fearful of what might happen when we have seen no sign of it? The devil has us messed up because he has our thinking messed up.

The Truth:

• I wake up early anyway. Any time between 5am and 5:30am I am awake. I just needed to get up.
• I don’t have time or feel like walking or working out when I get home. When I get home most nights after doing the stuff I need to do working out is far from my mind.
• I don’t see dogs running wild in the neighborhood any more like I did when I first moved here, and I haven’t for a long time.
• There is plenty of traffic and people moving around in the neighborhood where I am walking, I have good discernment and God is with me.

 After dealing with the truth my mind changed. It does me no good to attempt to change any of my behaviors if my mind has not changed. Without a mind change I am still looking for the bad thing to happen and the excuses are still real. Any type of change that we make without first changing our mindset will be temporary at best and it will not be one that we can hold on too.

The first time the behavior is challenged you will find yourself right back where you started. This does not just apply to exercise and weight loss. It could be an addiction of some type or whatever your specific issue is. It can be any area of your life where you know you are living outside of the will of God or doing the very thing you hate because you know it is wrong.

I challenge each of us today to identify the things in our lives that need a mindset change from how we spend our money (God’s money), to how we live our lives. Remember to find the standard in the Word of God. If you find it in yourself or in the world your standard will constantly be changing like our minds do and like the world does.

Remember that change is a process and while God can deliver you instantly, He may not choose to do that because the process He takes to accomplish His good pleasure helps to grow us so that we won’t slip back into the bad behavior.

If God calls you to help someone remember that it is a process and you will need to be in it for the long haul or at least as long as the Lord directs you, there are no quick fixes and we are not the savior for the people we are called to help. He will be using you to help change their mindset not just their situation. It is important not to tell them every step to take, because if we do they will become dependent upon us and we will be setting them up for failure as they follow the standard we set instead of God. Don’t be God for them, lead them back to Him, so He can change the mindset which is the only way to make a lasting change in our behavior.

If you want a lasting change, first begin to see yourself as He sees you, then let Him renew and change your mindset.

Start Today!

Weekly Scripture:

Romans 12:1-2:
1 And so, dear brothers and sisters,[a] I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.[b] 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.