Unchanging Fact

 

        No one wants to be labeled, but some labels are facts.  Labels like, child, mother, father, husband, wife, married, single, divorced, widow, and more.  Christian is a label that is placed on the people that follow Jesus.  That label is a fact.  It is unchanging if you choose to step in faith to follow Jesus for the rest of your life.

    Labels that come from perception are not unchanging labels.  They are just labels that people place on you.  You do not have to accept them.  Labels can be a barrier that keeps you from being able to connect.  If that happens, then remove the barrier.  Finding connection is more important than some title.  This includes the labels you place on yourself.

    The unchanging labels should be used as a strength, not a weakness.  If you have something that is labeled as a limitation, then find a way to use it to connect with people.  For an example the label divorced used to mean tainted, unlovable, on worthless.  Today you can use it to connect with other divorced people to find healing from what got you there.

    Things happen in life that changes you forever.  These things are not always good at the time.  You can allow the circumstances to make you miserable, bitter, and angry.  You can stay there for the rest of your life.  It is understandable because some things happen that are unfathomable.  However, if you want to have peace, joy, and even happiness then you need to turn to God.  He will hold your hand to healing.

    Do not lie to yourself with bad labels or your mind will believe the lie.  It will steal value from your life.  Do not blame God for your unfortunate circumstances.  He may have allowed you experience it, but He did not put you there.  More than that He stays with you in it.  He never abandons you when other people do.  

    Everyone has their struggles.  Everyone goes through it .  There is no exceptions.  Do not label people going through it, but have compassion and remember when you were going through it.  If you are going through it, don't label people as uncaring.  They probably have their own stuff keeping them from being able to see your situation.

    Stay focused on following Jesus.  God is walking with you.  You are not alone.  Focus on faith over fact to find hope.  Faith labels are stronger than fact labels.  Look for the opportunities instead of what chains you down.  

    How you talk to yourself matters.  You decided how you will process life events.  You decide how you will handle a label.  It all starts with how you talk to yourself about it.  Do not disservice yourself by mislabeling who you are.  You are who God says you are.  If you are a Christian, then you are His child: loved, saved, blessed, faithful, and more.  His labels are not temporary.  They are eternal.

Ruth 1:20-22, 4:18-22, Isaiah11:10-12, Matthew 1:1-17, 21:8-9, 22:41-46, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, & Hebrews11:1-3

Space for God's Truth

 

    Words matter.  They take up space in our mental closet.  They have meaning and are powerful.  Words that you say in your mind make up what kind of person you will be: defeated, loved, feel safe, and more.  Some words hold truth and some are lies.  The truth is constructive.  Listening to lies is destructive for you.  God's truth is constructive.  It corrects, disciplines, instructs, educates, and empowers wisdom.    

    Labels can hurt and always limit your ability.  Labels put you in a nice neat box that may be too small for you or at least leaves you no room to grow as a person.  Some people put labels on you, but most of your labels you accept or put upon yourself.  They are destructive, discouraging, or untrue in defining who you are.  You are far more than a few titles to God.

    Painful labels can produce anger.  It is okay to be angry, but do not allow your anger to cause you to sin.  Reject the lie and remind yourself that you belong to God.  He will take care of the labels/titles that cause harm.

    Your struggle is not so much the label itself, but spiritual forces that make you feel uncomfortable, angry, hurt, and more negative feelings.  It feels physical, but it is actually a spiritual battle.  The damage people inflict is real, but the source behind it is always Satan.  He loves using bitterness and unforgiveness to keep you in our box.  God's truth is telling you that you can free yourself at any time.

    Fill your mental closet with scripture.  Make physical space for God to study, pray, and meditate.  This is your greatest weapon against Satan.  This is where you can erase the lies.  Capture every thought and align them with God's truth.  Do not live another day as a prisoner under Satan's controlling lies.  Believe the truth and start using it to get free.

John 8:42-47, 2 Corinthians 10:3-6, Ephesian 6:10-12, 1 Timothy 1:5-7, & 2 Timothy 3:14-17

Mental Closet

 

    If you want the truth about life and eternity, then you will find your answers in the Bible.  There are several versions and multiple languages.  If you want one, then you will be able to get one easily in most places.  You have access to the truth.  

    Your mental closet is where you store the truth.  You organize where you can understand and apply it in your life, find comfort, or wisdom as you need it.  You do not have to memorize every word of every chapter in all 66 books that are contained in the Bible.  You learn it and dig deeper to find the true meaning and value.  Your mind will remember what it needs to, but it is always good to memorize some verses.  When you do you are meditating on God's Word.

    A good reason to retain God's Word is that it will change your self talk.  Your mind will recognize your worth.  Your mind will respond to God's Word in a healthy way.  Your mental closet will find amazement, curiosity, astonishment, and more.  Jesus' Words are gracious, kind, and fit every situation.  That is why the Bible speaks to the soul.  When you read it your mind and soul align.

    The truth hold authority.  Authority can come across harsh at time, but it is actually gracious as it holds power.  It can make you uncomfortable as it confronts your sin, but that is gracious because you can face it now and repent.  

    Never allow negative words into your mental closet.  It only hurts your soul and fills it with useless clutter.  Clutter keeps you from getting what you need.  The truth gets lost in the clutter.  When life feels confusing take the time to clean out your mental closet.  Don't let the mess get out of control.  It is much harder to deal with.  However, if you allow Jesus to come in and clean out anything that is unnecessary, then the work is cut down in a big way.

    God's truth will set you free.  Do not be a prisoner in your own mind by incorrect perspective, opinions, feelings, or choosing a sinful lifestyle.  It makes you a prisoner because you devalue God's creation: YOU.  

    No one has the same struggles, but everyone struggles. If you catch yourself allowing negative words into your vocabulary, then stop and pray to God for forgiveness.  Don't allow Satan's lies to make a home in your beautiful mental closet.  Paint your closet with grace and truth.  If you label yourself, then you are limiting yourself.  Instead see yourself as God's workmanship.  You hold value.

Genesis 11:5-7, Proverbs 3:1-4, 8:1-11, 12:17-19, Luke 4:22, John 1:14-18, 8:31-32, & 1 Peter 2:5-6

Think About It

 

    Think about the words you say to yourself.  Do you focus on your fears or what God could do?  The thoughts you dwell on, you are meditating on.  Worry and doubt do not fix anything.  Instead think about God's Word.  It brings life into your soul.  Worry only strangles the life out of your soul. 

    Surrender your problems to God and He will fix them.  You just have to trust that truth.  Pinder on all the good God has done in your life.  Why would you doubt that He would still take care of you today?  Think abut what God is doing in your life now.  This meditation will help you let go of all of your worry.  

    Do not allow the what ifs into your mind.  It only takes you down the rabbit hole of anxiety.  Jesus has told us what matters.  He has provided the alternative to harmful thoughts.  Your job is to capture all your thoughts and control where they go.

    Meditate on what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, excellent, praiseworthy, and admirable.  Do this and you will learn to receive God's truth.  Your heart will lie to you, so trust you mind when it is filled with God's Word.  Align all your mental talk to what is acceptable to God.  He listens to how you talk to yourself, even if it is not spoken out loud.

    Visualize God in your mental closet.  What would He see?  Would he be pleased?  Would he be upset?  Would He ask you to be allowed to clean up a little?  He cares how you talk to yourself.  He is invested because He loves you.  Allow Him to clean up some, so you can focus on His comfort, relief from anxiety, support, and solace.

    What you focus on, meditate on, remanence about is all prayers.  Are you praying to God or are you praying to yourself?  Are your prayers going to be heard by God or will you sit in your negative thoughts?  God's way leads to the truth and will bring delight to your soul.

    

1 Chronicles 16:4-7, Psalms 19:14, 55:16-19, 77:10-12, 94:8-11, Matthew 6:25-33, Philippians 4:8-9

Played on Repeat

 

    What do you play on repeat in your mind?  These are the words, phrases or sayings that you say to yourself.  Are they productive, life-giving, or negative?  The words that you play on repeat are the words that you are meditating on.  What you meditate on is what you will believe.

    Your mind is susceptible to the words that you use.  If you repeat God's Word, then your mind becomes stronger because you are feeding it to the truth.  It helps you see lies more easily.  Discernment is the fruit of meditating on the truth that comes from God.

    Words become thoughts and thoughts come together to become beliefs.  They all stream together to become what you meditate upon.  It is important to keep your thought closet stocked with quality words because these are the words that you ponder over.  When you ponder you converse with yourself which means you pay certain thoughts on repeat.  This is meditation.

    Take a minute to write down what you focus the most on.  This is what you are meditating on.  Does it bring life or is it tearing you apart?  Writing it down will give it clarity and help you organize your mental closet.

    When you meditate on God's Word you are transforming your thought closet to be more heaven focused.  You train yourself to think more like God.  Focusing on the present will only bog you down.  Commit yourself to God to find contentment.  It changes everything.  

    Meditation stores your thoughts to treasure them.  As you study God's Word, you ponder it.  When you need it, it is right there.  Allow it to take up space, so that there is no room for the negative self-talk.  Meditating on God's Word will elevate your thoughts giving you wisdom.

Psalm 19:14, 119:25-32, 41-48, 73-80, 145-152, Isaiah 55:8-9, Luke 2:16-20, Colossians 3:1-4

Cleaning out Your Closet

 

    The first step in cleaning out your thought closet is to stop the negative self talk.  You are not perfect, but you are not useless either.  You are you.  God made you to be you and no one else.  He knew you were not going to be perfect when He made you and He still made you in love.  Stop beating yourself up with guilt, hopelessness, frustration, or anything else that hurts you.

    Gloomy thoughts brings dirty clutter into your neat and organized mental closet.  It messes with your emotions and thought processes. Satan loves to tell you that you are not good enough, but God tells you how loved you are.  It is time to get a hold on your thoughts.  It is the only way to keep the mess out of your mind.

    Remove negative words from your thesaurus.  They only hurt your soul even if they are spoken about someone else and not yourself.  Other people are God's beloved creations too.  Negative vocabulary leads to insecurities, believing lies, and reminds you of failures that should have been let go of long ago.  They hide the truth about who you are with Jesus.

    Examine your mental closet. Where do you put your thoughts about yourself, other people, and God?  How is it organized?  What areas need cleaning out?  Organizing is easy.  You start with finding a home for one thing and work around the room until it is done.  The same goes with organizing your mental closet.

    Take out the storage bins full of your past hurts and damage.  Allow God to heal that area.  If you allow God to really heal it, then that area becomes stronger.  In the closet it become more sturdy to hold heavier items.  

    Without Jesus, the weight in your closet will become suffocating.  It will crash everything to the ground and you with it.  He brings in the light to really see the mess and hidden areas that need to be fixed.  He enables you to see clearly.  

    Once your mental closet is fixed, cleaned, and organized, you can maintain it by spending time with God every day.  He knows you.  He knows what you need.  He knows what you need to clean out.  You can trust Him to have your best interest in mind.  All you have to do is commit in trusting Him.  Together you can control your thoughts.

Psalm 10:1-6, 40:4-5, 56:5-8, 59:6-10, 92:4-7, 139:17-18, Proverbs 16:1-3, Isaiah 55:8-9, 65:1-5, Jeremiah 29:10-14, Romans 1:21-23, & Hebrews 4:12-13

Thought Closet

 

    Your thought closet is your secret place where you store and organize your thoughts.  It is where you dress yourself with your self talk.  When you are in your thought closet you need to be honest, real, and loving.  It is just you and the Holy Spirit.  You don't have to be perfect, eloquent, or put on mask.  All you have to do is identify yourself as the person you are to God.

    You are good enough because God loves you.  He pursued you.  You can accept His love and feel worthy.  The more you strive for perfection, the more you will struggle in your life.  You have messed up.  Guess what, you are not alone.  Everyone has.  Do not allow the sins that God has already forgiven and forgotten keep you from having a full life.

    In your thought closet store up what you read in God's Word to think about until you get a clear picture of what He is telling you.  Then you can move on to the next set of scripture.  This is meditation as God designed it.  

    In your thought closet look at yourself fully naked.  See that you were made beautifully.  You are a wonder of God's creation.  This is the truth.  Do not allow anyone else reshape your thinking to believe the world's lies.  

    When you are in your thought closet use your words to describe who God is telling you, you are.  Do the I am phrasing.  Your mind will believe you and give you confidence.  Only list the good qualities.  List what makes you different.  List why you have the friends that you have in your life.  They would not be there if you were not special or important to them.  Only speak kindly and lovingly to yourself.

    At salvation you get a clean slate where God starts pouring in love, truth, kindness, and hope into you.  Are you listening?  Are you willing to make changes in your life to preserve your clean closet and not allow the world to clutter it with junk?  Satan wants to keep you buried in lies and negativity.  It is time to break free.  

    The world will discourage and disappoint you, but God will make you feel cherished.  Spend time praying over your thought closet.  Clean out what is not bringing life into your life.  Only allow God's treasures to remain because you are one of His children.  

Genesis 29:31-35, Exodus 4:10, Psalms 86:1-7, 139:13-16, Song of Songs 1:5-6, & 1 Corinthians 15:10-11