I Kings 20:35-43 is an interesting account of a prophet. “And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his fellow at the command of the Lord, ‘Strike me, please.’ But the man refused to strike him. Then he said to him, ‘Because you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, behold, as soon as you have gone from me, a lion shall strike you down.’ And as soon as he had departed from him, a lion met him and struck him down. Then he found another man and said, ‘Strike me, please.’ And the man struck him—struck him and wounded him. So the prophet departed and waited for the king by the way, disguising himself with a bandage over his eyes. And as the king passed, he cried to the king…” This seems like a weird story, right? But I want to make it clear for you. The Bible has a message in this for us. If you don’t do what God has called you to do, He will find someone else to do it. My biggest fear is God might find someone else to do what He has called me to do. I don’t want to miss the blessing God has for me! God tells us, “Do not harden your heart the day you hear my voice.” We need to make time to spend with God in prayer and reading His word, to tune our hearing to His voice. I am talking about accessing the presence of God. Systematic disobedience will result in Him finding someone else to do what He called you to do. 

When the first man refuses, the prophet goes to another man and he hits the prophet so hard, he actually wounds him. (Maybe he saw what happened to the first man.) Now that the prophet was wounded, he waited for the king to come, knowing that the king would listen to what he had to say because he was wounded. In other words, “My wound will qualify me to be heard.” So many of us are trying to dodge things. Do you do everything in your power to avoid suffering and pain, challenges and difficulties? And when you do experience these things, you try to hide them because you think it disqualifies you. Look at this truth - it is your wound that will cause the king to stop. It is your pain and suffering that makes your words carry weight. Intelligence and beauty do not qualify you. But it is the stuff you’ve been through that qualifies you to be heard. 

The enemy wants you to think you are disqualified. However, when God heals you, He leaves the medicine inside of you to heal someone else. You are a walking pharmacy! You can offer healing to other people with your words. Testify! God will heal your wound but He will not make your scar disappear. Your scar is your testimony. Be willing to be identified by your scars, like Jesus. We show our faith by what we have been through. Quit sitting on the bench and rehearsing the wounds. God heals you and makes you whole but He leaves the scar. God never wastes pain. If you cover the scar, you will feel victimized. But when you are honest and show your scar, others realize they can get through their stuff because you got through your stuff. You can turn misery into ministry and pain into praise. Be honest with God. Give Him your wounds. Allow Him to heal you. Then use your healing to help heal others.

We tend to think when bad things happen, that the devil has stolen control of our lives. But God never sleeps or slumbers. It was God’s will for this prophet to be wounded and to carry this scar on his face. What do you do when God orders challenges? Learn to be content. Jesus learned obedience by the things He suffered. God will use these things for His glory. We go through difficulties and storms, but they don’t stay. If you get so preoccupied that you keep talking about the storm and reliving it, you will lose your joy. Rejoice and be glad. We’ve all been through stuff. Get in the truck, put it in gear and drive into your destiny. You are not disabled because of your challenges and difficulties. Look at the full circumference of your life. Don’t pull one segment of your life out and focus on that. Start ministering to people from right where you are but in consideration of all that you are, and stop believing the lie that you can’t serve because of your scars. 

Yes, you’ve been wounded. But you also need to know the truth of God’s word. Many continue in sin because of what they have been through. Romans 6 is a powerful chapter. What shall we say, shall we go on sinning? By no means! We have died to sin. How can we live any longer in it? When Christ sets you free from sin, you are free. Salvation is only the first step of your walk with Jesus. You’ve got to move past this first step. Otherwise, the devil is right there to rob you of your joy. The flesh has to die. No one, the church or anyone else, can fix your flesh. (“Still struggling” is Christian for “still doing it.”) Your flesh has to go to the cross so you can become what God has called you to be. Sin is the fruit of iniquity. You can deal with the sin but it will keep coming up if the iniquity is not dealt with. Ask God to deal with your iniquity. Jesus was bruised (bled on the inside) for our iniquity. That tree of iniquity that bears the fruit of sin has to be cut down and uprooted. If iniquity is not dealt with, living the Christian life will exhaust you because you’re trying to do it in your flesh. You will continue to struggle. 

Colossians 3:3 is my final point. “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Your life is now hidden in Christ and the devil cannot find you when you are hidden in Christ! He can’t find you to buffet you and tempt you. Only what you hold onto can Satan use to hit you. Learn to let it go. Be hidden in Christ. It’s God’s heart that you be free. And if you are set free in Christ, you are free indeed. Go to God and ask Him to remove anything in you that you should not be hanging onto. It is what we are hanging onto that makes us unstable, up and down in our walk with Christ. Be rooted, hidden in Christ. Go to God and ask Him to deal with your iniquity. It is not enough to just be in church, even if you are serving and giving. Listen to God and respond in obedience. Don’t let iniquity become seared into your heart. Surrender it today. No holding back. 

We are talking about mindset in this series. What we think about is essential to what our lives become. Our choices impact our behavior and our situations. Changing our mindset means changing what we are thinking about. To help you with that, text ‘godspromises’ to 689-214-5554. As you meditate on these things that God has in His mind for you, you will get hold of them in YOUR mind for you.

Choose to feed your mind daily with the best thoughts. Resolve to free your mind from destructive thoughts. Feed your faith and starve your doubts. “Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit” (Romans 8:5) 

You have got to fight to free your mind. Focus every day. Focus on what matters the most. How do you make your mind mind, especially when your thoughts often disobey you. Do you find, for example, that when you want to read your Bible or pray, your mind drifts away? Or do you spend a chunk of time worrying about something that never happens? Defeat in life comes when we don't know how to fight the battle of the mind. 

One battle of the mind is with temptation. When temptation comes, it follows a process described in James 1:14. Desires entice us and drag us away. Temptation starts in desire. 

Desires are not inherently evil. They are usually natural desires that are a part of life. They are God-given. There is nothing wrong with a desire for food or sleep for instance, but if desire grows beyond control, it becomes destructive.

Doubt follows desire that has gone rogue. Doubt in what God says, the truth we find in His word, leads us further into the temptation process. Maybe we decide that He doesn’t really mean what He has said about a certain topic. We doubt the truth and give way to deception. 

As a person doubts God’s word and what He has to say about the area we are struggling in, we begin to settle for lies. These may be justification for the uncontrolled desire or they may be a lie about not really having a choice in the matter. Maybe it is a lie about how others will feel if we don’t participate with them. Remember too, we have an enemy and Satan will use just the right bait to draw us in. He always has a hook that will snag us.

Disobedience is the step after doubt. Scripture says that the truth will set us free. If we depart from truth and yield to deception, we will lose our way. Disobedience to the truth causes departure from healthy, life-giving behavior and good choices will be forfeited for behavior that brings defeat. 

As defeat becomes reality, we are in full-fledged sin which leads to death. Attraction leads to action and that's where the problem lies. Whatever you flirt with you will fall for and the end result is death. Death does not mean you quit breathing necessarily, but it definitely means you are not living the life God has in mind for you. You are not making choices that satisfy your soul and birth abundance into your life. 

Make up your mind to obey - no matter what (Ps 119:112).  Have you made that decision? You become what you think about the most. What you think about the longest becomes the strongest focus of your mind. Heavenly minded people tend to be of more earthly good. A lot of us are too earthly minded to be of any heavenly good.

So, why are certain behaviors, that are not doing you any good, hard to change?

1. There are thought patterns you've had for a long time. Some are survival tactics you developed as a child. They may be thought processes that don't really work well, that are obviously harmful to you and others, but they are like old friends. 
2. Some are perceived identity. An example would be “I'm a workaholic.” Or “I will always be overweight.” Those defects are not your true identity. Your identity is in Christ and it is what He says about you and what He has authored in you, that is the truth. However, what you expect with confidence will become your self-fulfilling prophecy. Listen to your self-talk and what you say about yourself. It can be very revealing.
3. There is a payoff - emotional, relational, physical… You're “rewarded” for that bad habit and whatever gets rewarded, gets repeated. Ask yourself what the payoff is from a thought process you're trying to change. Your thinking leads to behavior and behavior is reinforced when it “works for you”. A good example is a mother calling family down for dinner. She tries nicely several times even adding that the food will be cold if they don’t come eat. Finally, she yells and that is the behavior that gets results. The reward is that when she yells, the family comes to dinner. Another way to say it is that we get our way when we act out. If you can't get approval, you'll get attention.
4. Satan wants to keep you stuck. It is his constant goal to keep you from reaching your God-given potential. He is the accuser of the brethren. He can't control your mind but he can drop negative, accusing thoughts into your mind.

Change starts with choices. What are you choosing to think about? Since you've heard about Jesus, throw off the sinful nature let the spirit work (Ephesians 4:21 27). Join me next week to learn how to make lasting changes. Meanwhile, don’t forget to download the Promises Over Problems ebook by texting godspromises to 689-214-5554.

Romans 12:2 “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.”

We have a choice to allow God to change the way we think. If we pay attention, we realize choices shape a lot of our life, even more than circumstances. We are a byproduct of our past but we're not a prisoner of our past. Choices have consequences so if we change our mind, we can change our world.

Stinking thinking is a hindrance. Is there an area where you could use a fresh start? Most of us can say yes to that question. But, before you change your location or your job, change your thinking. The next thing after saying “Yes” to Jesus is to change how you see yourself, how you see your problems, and how you see God.

So, if mindset matters, what are some things you need to be aware of that will help you reset?

1. Thoughts direct your life.

Proverbs 4:23 (TEV) instructs us to be careful how we think because our life is shaped by our thoughts. How often do you sabotage yourself? Outside of your conversations you have with God, what are the conversations you have with yourself? As you think, you will be. The problem is in your mind.

1. Struggles happen in your mind.

The mental battle is continuous. Depression, stress, addiction, fear, anxiety, jealousy, resentment low esteem, lies from the devil – these are all mental battles. There is always a battle in your brain. Paul was gut-level honest about his own struggle in Romans 7:22-23 (LB), “I love to do God’s will so far as my new nature is concerned; but there is something else deep within me, in my lower nature, that is at war with my mind and wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. In my mind I want to be God’s willing servant, but instead I find myself still enslaved to sin.” The battle is intense because your mind is your greatest asset. It matters.  

1. The mind is where God’s Spirit works.

When we come to belief in Jesus and what He did for us, we invite Jesus into our hearts. The heart is a symbol for the brain. Ephesians 4:22 (CEV) is worth memorizing – “You were told that your foolish desires will destroy you and that you must give up your old way of life with all its bad habits. Let the Spirit change your way of thinking.” When Satan suggests an idea into your mind, we call it temptation. When God suggests an idea into your mind, it is inspiration. Romans 8:6 (NCV) let’s us know that where our thinking is controlled by sinful self, there is death but where it is controlled by the Spirit, there is life and peace.

Nothing is going to change until you change the way you think. When you change your thinking, you can change your life and when you change the way you look at things, the things that you’re looking at will begin to change.

What can you do to transform your mind? One way is to feed your mind with good thoughts. Feed your faith and starve your doubts. Philippians 4:8 shows us how to do that. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Does this verse describe the majority of your thoughts? We have to train our thoughts to do this. We have to choose. We need to monitor what we are taking in, - watching, reading, listening to. What's on your mental diet? 

In John 8:31-32, Jesus tells us if we continue to obey his teaching, we are truly his followers. Then we will know the truth and the truth will set us free. He also says if we continue in His word, we're His followers. Would Jesus say you are truly one of his followers? We need to choose every day to feed our mind with good thoughts and choose to free our thoughts from destructive thoughts. Destructive thoughts can be from our old nature that is contradictory to God’s way for us, it can be lies we have believed and held onto, and they can come from the world we live in.

How serious are you about transforming your life? Mindset matters. Investment in changing your mind in order to change your world is worth every effort.  

You've Got the Power!

I love this quote from Henry David Thoreau, “The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.” Another way I like to think of it is that if something is of value to you, the cost of that thing is worth it. Whether it costs you time, money, emotion – it is worth that investment.

The vast majority of the things that happen to us result from the choices we have made, the actions we have taken, the words we have uttered, or the attitudes we have exhibited. They flow from our own actions and choices, not circumstances that are beyond our control. Consequently, if we could somehow learn to approach life’s biggest challenges with a positive mindset instead of a negative one – with wisdom instead of imprudent behavior – even the worst experiences in life could end up contributing to our success.

Because it is mostly your choices that have gotten you where you are today, I have great news for you! Based on choices you make today and going forward, you have the power to shape your life to affect your future. You can change direction and move toward a different destination if you want. You have the ability to shape the rest of your life. If you are willing to pay the price today, make the changes, work on changing your focus, and invest in your dream, you can enjoy the benefits of your sacrifice tomorrow. More investment and sacrifice today means greater benefits later. Success. Simple.

We talked about Newton’s Third Law of Motion in an earlier blog and podcast. Some people are smart enough and charming enough to fool the people around them and seemingly get by without paying the price, but ultimately, there is no way around it. If you have the rare ability to charm your way into certain places, you may be tempted to think you can bypass the Third Law of Motion. Never forget that you may be able to fool people – maybe all of the time – but you cannot fool life. The laws of nature are firmly established. Just as the land is programmed to reproduce the seeds that are planted in it, so life is programmed to give you back an equal and opposite dosage of what you have put into it. Your success will be in direct proportion to the effort you put forth and the price you are willing to pay to obtain the success you achieve. Controlling your thinking is imperative. If your life is directed by the mechanics of your subconscious rather than your deliberate choices, you are not controlling your own thinking. You must be willing to replace old ways of thinking with new ways of thinking. Identify and deal with those recurring thoughts that are depleting your mental energy and hindering you from pursuing better things. Build relationships that will help you change. Explore new ideas. Think positively in order to give yourself a fighting chance to achieve your goals. Break out of the entrapment of limited thinking so you can see beyond the horizon. Employ personal vision. The person who can keep their eyes peeled on the prize will find ways around problems and will make progress toward their desired destination. Be willing to do what it takes. All things are possible for one who refuses to focus on the bitter parts of life, focusing instead on life’s possibilities.

When all is said and done, action is essential to success. Act on the things you have discovered and take initial steps to implement the thoughts you have entertained as you have read Mindset Matters. If you haven’t bought the book yet, make sure to get a copy at davemartin.org, amazon.com, or anywhere books are sold. Remember. Change your mind. Change your world.

Go For It!

I had a friend who started a gluten-free diet with his wife to try and isolate some health issues. In the end, the diet did not do anything special for him but it did help his wife. Going on the diet did not yield great benefits for him, but my friend had nothing to lose and much to gain.

In the same way, I want to encourage you to try the things I have been sharing with you the past few weeks. You have nothing to lose, but everything to gain. Put into action the things you have learned from these principles and I know you will see results and benefits. Try them! You have nothing to lose. Commit to work in your everyday life so you can experience firsthand just how powerful your own thought processes can be and how strongly your thinking can affect every aspect of your life.

To further assist you on your journey, I encourage you to search your heart, be completely honest with yourself, and identify the one thing that you want more than anything else in life. Identify this primary driving motivation – that one thing that floats your boat and quivers your liver more than anything else – and write it down in one phrase or one sentence so you can use it as a launching pad for a short-term trial of these principles. If you could achieve one thing before you die, what is it that you would achieve? Focus on this phrase or sentence for four weeks. Read it a few times in the morning and the evening and all the in-between moments when you have time to focus for a minute or two. Say it out loud during the course of your day. Do this every day for at least four weeks. (If you haven’t read my book Make That, Break That on habits, you can buy it today at davemartin.org!)

I am not the author of this concept. In Deuteronomy 6:7-9, after God had given the Israelites His law, He gave them this piece of wisdom, “Impress (these laws and truths) on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” God designed and created the human mind and knows how He designed it to work. He set us up for success! We just have to do what He told us to do.

Without even realizing it, a person becomes what they think. They drift toward those things. My four-week challenge will help you take the initial steps toward a mindset shift. It will get your focus off the negative and onto those real desires of your heart, what I believe is most probably your actual purpose in life or a contributing goal to that purpose. You will begin to see ways that you can make it a reality as you dwell on this phrase or sentence. You will begin to understand your own capacity to create success for yourself and see your own potential for sharing in the world’s abundance that God has provided and set before us. I believe if you commit to this challenge daily for the next 28 days, that you will have a new habit that will completely revolutionize you as a person and set you on a course that can alter the outcome of your life.

The goal of this exercise is to help you stop thinking like everyone around you – narrowly and for the short-term. Catch yourself every time you start drowning in the mundane and repetitive problems of day-to-day life that deplete all of your thinking time, leaving no time to consider nobler things. What I want for you is that you learn to formulate a mental picture of your strongest personal goal so it can begin to dominate your thinking, impact your planning, alter your actions, and change your life. It will take time to unlearn old patterns but do not give up! Take control of your mind. Let it only think about the things that you teach it to think about and only consider the data that you program into it.

I go into more detail regarding this process in Chapter 7 of my book Mindset Matters. It’s one of the best ways to invest in yourself, and in your future. Do this for yourself today. It is truly Success Made Simple.

Mediocrity vs. Exceptionalism

When I was in school, many years ago… I remember studying Sir Isaac Newton. Specifically, I remember Newton’s Third Law of Motion. Simply stated, when one body exerts a force on another body, the second body simultaneously exerts a force equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to that of the first body. In other words, for every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction. This principle is seen in our everyday life when we walk across the floor. As we walk, our body pushes against the floor and the floor pushes back, propelling us forward across the room.

This fixed principle of nature does not apply solely to the physical aspects of life; this law also applies to many of the unseen and non-physical parts of life. To achieve your goals, you also have to push down against the realities that constrain you. Whether talking about physical momentum or life momentum, you cannot propel yourself upward without pushing downward.

Your success in life will be directly proportional to the effort you exert toward the achievement of that success. The obstacles that you encounter in life are there to provide you with the forward momentum you need to achieve great things for yourself, but you must learn to push against these obstacles in order to gain momentum from them by utilizing the opposite force they were designed to create for you.

Remember, anything worthwhile is readily available to the one who will embrace it and is willing to pay the price to attain it. Every great achievement is protected by a high wall of hard work, sacrifice, risk, and delayed gratification. Each person succeeds or fails according to his or her own capacity to visualize where they are going with their life, to force themselves to do what is necessary to begin and compete their journey. Vision alone won’t guarantee success.

Are you ready to break out of the rut of mediocrity and rise to a level of exceptionalism that distinguishes you from 96% of the population? There are things you can do to propel yourself forward. I talk about them in chapter 6 of Mindset Matters. There are ways we can learn to control our thoughts, attitude, limited thinking, wastefulness of resources, and mental laziness. Check out this chapter in Mindset Matters. If you can change your thinking, you can change your world.