What Are You Feeding Your Mind With?

In the face paced world we live in today, our minds are constantly exposed to more than hundreds of facts through social media, online avenues, and even the people we interact with daily. What thoughts and information are you choosing to absorb? It's important to watch what we feed our minds with because it has the power to impact our actions and set our directions. What are you feeding your mind with? 

Anxiety. Frustration. Anger. Those were the 3 things I found myself juggling with throughout the whole day. It was a busy week for me at work with many projects and deadlines coming up, and on top of that, I also had to prepare for my first Living Revelations booth at a conference that was coming up at the end of the week. 

The whole day I was complaining in my mind with how much work I had to do and kept repeating in my head that everything wasn't going to get finished in time. There, my road to anxiety started. From anxiety, I then became frustrated because things were not getting done the way I wanted it to be. Soon enough, my frustration grew to anger because someone who I had been working with started annoying me and nitpicking my work. 

When the day finally ended, I found myself restless and weak. 

I decided to open my devotional and spend some time with God. The first thing I read from my devotional was, "Our mind has the potential to take us away from where God wants us to be." It was at that moment when I realized that my current state of being weak and restless was not part of God's plan. 

Yes, God had opened doors for me to have a busy job for me to learn from and the opportunity to share my passion and calling through my blog, but none of that was created to leave me feeling frustrated, angry, and worried. 

Anxiety and frustration never come from God. I fed my own mind with negativity that led me to that state of restlessness. What we feed our mind with has the power to impact our actions and state of being. Everything starts from our mind. A simple secret thought may seem powerless, but it has the power to take control of our whole body. 

Our thoughts are what set our direction, and if we want to walk in the direction that God has set before us, we must feed our minds with the word of God and not with the negative thoughts that come from this world. 

Romans 12:2 says, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may test and approve of God's will is - his good, pleasing, and perfect will." The only way to see God's beautiful ways in our situations is by renewing our mind so that we can see from His perspective, and not our own. We can't always change our situation, but we can always change our perspective. 

To renew our mind will require us to feed our mind with good food, the word of God. What we feed our mind will determine the health of our emotional and spiritual state. Just as eating junk food will make us feel sick, so will feeding our minds with negative thoughts make us feel weak. To be strong we must eat healthily, and to have a healthy mind we must feed our minds with healthy thoughts. 

Feeding your mind with God's truth will keep you strong. 

We all want to be happy and full of joy, so how do we become this in a world that was made to suck out all of our energy? By feeding our mind with healthy thoughts. Philippians 4:8 says, "..whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think of such things." 

Do you find yourself stuck with anxiety, anger, worry, or depression? If yes, then maybe it's time to feed your mind with God's truth. Don't let Satan lie to you and tell you that there's no way of escaping these emotions in an unstable world because there is a way of escape, and it is only through the word of God. The fact that God loves you and has the best for you is enough to take you through the struggles with joy. So remember, what are you feeding your mind with?

Your Passion Has Purpose

We all have passions in life but many times, we put down our passion for jobs that seem more secure for our lives. It's easy to see our passions as hobbies or things of least importance, however, your passion was placed in your heart to be more than just a hobby to buy time. Your passion has purpose. 

Not too long ago I was given the opportunity to have a booth table for my blog and clothing line at a conference for college students and young adults.  I was excited because this conference was the perfect opportunity for me to share my burden and passion to help college students find their purpose and calling from God. 

I started to prepare what I was going to say and got everything all together. Finally, the day of the conference had come, but instead of feeling excited and ready, I was filled with fear and doubts. 

I began to doubt the whole purpose of my clothing line and started asking God, "What if my story and purpose doesn't resonate with anyone?" "What if I sound stupid and my passion to help others discover their calling from God was needless?"

Despite all these doubts, I chose to believe that my original intention to start this clothing line came from God and trusted that if he opened the door, then there was a purpose behind this all. And to my surprise, that was exactly what I found. 

Throughout the whole weekend of the conference, people came up to me telling me that they could relate to my story and really needed to hear that encouragement. It was at this moment when I realized that the passion that God had instilled in my heart had a purpose. God showed me that my purpose mattered and that there was a need out there for people to know they were made with a purpose from God. Jeremiah 1:5 says, "Before I made you in your mother's womb, I chose you. I set you apart for a special work."

Satan tried to place lies in my mind telling me that the passions I had inside of me were useless to share to others. If Satan did that to me, then he will do the same to you. But I am here to testify that if you have a passion and burden for something in your heart, stick to it because God placed it in your heart for a purpose. 

The passions that God has placed in your heart was placed there to take you where you need to be to heal the broken. Don't ignore the passions that God has placed in your heart because your calling starts from there. 

Your calling starts with your passion. 

God placed that passion in your heart to take you to where he wants you to go - to the dark places where light needs to shine. 

Your calling from God will always start from the things you are passionate about. Paul, a disciple of Jesus is a great example. Paul's calling started from his passion to help his own people. In Romans 9:2 Paul says, "My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters." 

Moses is another great example. Before God used Moses to save the Hebrew slaves from Pharaoh, God first opened Moses's eyes to the hard life his people were going through and placed a burden in his heart to help his people. Exodus 2:11-12 says, "...Moses went out to visit his own people, the Hebrews, and he saw how hard they were forced to work." God wanted Moses to have compassion for what God was about to call him to do. 

Just as God placed a burden and passion in Moses's and Paul's heart before calling them into their purpose, so will he do with you. God will always call you to a purpose that you have a heart for and can relate with. Paul was called to serve his own people, the Jews because he himself was a Jew and could relate to them. Moses was a Hebrew and was called to serve the Hebrew slaves because he could relate to them. 

Whatever backgrounds or hardships you are coming from, know that it is happening for a reason and that God will use it to be a part of your calling. Your calling in life will always include sharing God's word and glory because we were all created to share his good news to the world in our own unique ways. 

What burdens is God placing in your heart? Are their people or groups of people you are feeling compassionate for? Where is your passion taking you? Don't ignore your God-give dreams and passions. God has placed certain burdens in your life to compel you to reach out and touch lives that only you could touch. The passions instilled in your heart were not placed there by coincidence but were placed there by purpose. So remember, your passion has purpose. 

Healed At The Feet Of Jesus

Matthew 15:30 "Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them." 

Where do you turn to when you've faced a dead end in your situation? Has your solution given you true healing and restoration? There is only one place to find healing and hope and that is at the feet of Jesus. 

There is power when we submit our lives to Jesus. Matthew 15 talks about how many who were blind, lame, and sick with no hope all ended up healed at the feet of Jesus. I'm sure the sick all tried everything they could to be healed but found that their only real hope was Jesus. 

You may not be physically blind, but are you feeling lost to what you should be doing in life? Blind from seeing a solution in your situation? You may not be physically crippled, but do you have a weakness or limitation in your life that is stopping you from doing what God wants you to do? Feeling crippled and weak from the struggles of life?

We may not be physically sick like the people in Matthew 15, but we can still relate to them because we all have some kind of brokenness in our lives that need healing. The good news is, we have a healer and that is Jesus. 

The greatest power you will ever find in this world is at the feet of Jesus. 

Healing happens at the feet of Jesus. It is when you lay everything down that Jesus will then take it and turn it around for your good. Jesus wants to heal you, but it starts with you making the first step to lay it all down at his feet. Give all your hopelessness to Jesus and he will start bringing miracles into your life. 

Just as Jesus was able to heal the blind, lame, and sick, so can he heal any of your shortcomings. Being weak and broken isn't bad news because you have a healer who can heal you.

  Be healed at the feet of Jesus. 

Prayer: 

Dear Lord, may my brokenness lead me to to the feet of Jesus. I surrender it all to you. 

Suffering Can Lead To Hope

1 Peter 4:13 "But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed."

Suffering is not something we look forward too, but rather dread. However, God calls us to suffer and takes it a step further by asking us to rejoice in our sufferings. Why would God ask us to rejoice in our sufferings? Because our suffering can lead to hope. 

As much as suffering can seem like an unnecessary waste of time, it really is not. 

Your suffering has a purpose. God has a plan to use your suffering for His good. 

When we suffer in accordance with the will of God, the end result will always glorify God. Suffering for Christ is not like suffering from partaking in sin. The suffering that comes from partaking in sin leads to death, while the suffering that comes from partaking in Christ leads to life. 

Just as Jesus's suffering on the cross gave us salvation, so will our sufferings open the door of salvation for others' lives. If you are going through a hard time, persevere because your suffering will produce a testimony that will lead others to find the true life which is Jesus. 

Romans 5:3-4 says, "Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character, and character, hope." Our sufferings were meant to give hope to the world. 

Jesus suffered so that we could have hope, and now he passes the duty along to you - to suffer for His glory.

Your suffering can lead to hope.