A Nudge vs. A Club - The Battlefield of the Mind - Day 4

Let me show you what I learned this week in Beyond Beyond...  Chalkboard Art with photography!  Kim is so amazing and giving in sharing with us her wealth of knowledge.

So, I chose a quote to coincide with the Bible Study I've been sharing about this week:

I know at times, more often than I care to disclose, I am tempted to throw in the towel, because all I can see are my failures as a Christian. I resolve to do something...and then I don't follow through...(you know the Gutter Ball illustration). And there goes the spiral...

Kind of like a lawn mower (non-riding, of course), the enemy pulls the cord to get the thoughts going...then I do the rest of the damage running things over and over.  I allow him a foothold just by giving him access to the rip cord!

Galatians 6:9 pleads with us:

Do not be weary in well doing, for in due season we will reap a harvest if we do not give up (ESV).

That is the Spirit cheering us on...throwing us a towel or bottled water from the sidelines as He runs this marathon with us.

If ever you feel or sense that abusive tone of condemnation, of belittling, of gaslighting, of bantering, of accusing...THAT is the enemy's club attacking you in the battlefield of the mind. The Bible calls him the Accuser...I also like to add that he is the Abuser!!!!

How can this be the Spirit who says, "So now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus..." (Romans 8:1 - NLT)

And the same One who says:

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by name, you are mine.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;

when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,

and the flame shall not consume you." (Isaiah 43:1b-2 - ESV)

So how do I discern between the two influences in my mind and heart? Go into an indepth study of the schemes of the dark side? No...remember Philippians 4:8 that says what we should be embracing and focusing our thoughts on? That which is good, right, pure, reputable, et al.

If I spend my time studying Who God is and His character...I will be able to identify when the voice I hear does not compute with the God I know and love. God persistently, but tenderly, nudges when he convicts one of His own...he loves us too much to not keep His commitment in Philippians 1:6.

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As I Think, I Am...(I think?) - Battlefield of the Mind - Day 3

Well, I used this verse in this post two days ago, but it has surfaced once again...

As a man thinks in his heart, so is he... Proverbs 23:7 

So...my thoughts, if dwelled upon, will become a self-fulfilling prophesy.  If I think about how overwhelmed I am at work, then I will feel overwhelmed, and then act that way with my tail draggin'.  If I keep dwelling on the time change and the gray, gloomy skies in northeast Ohio today, I will start feeling tired and then my behavior will be yawn, after yawn, after yawn.  If I dwell incessantly on the things I cannot control, I will become anxious and my behavior will be reactive to the developing anxiety that I've allowed to flood me.



I love this example...if I start obsessing on ice cream, I will start craving ice cream...next thing I know, I'm in the car in my jammies off to Dairy Queen for a cone.

You laugh...but I actually did this once!  And I was at a stop light, with my prized ice cream cone, enjoying it...and my foot slipped off the brake and I rolled into the car in front of me.  OF COURSE...the lady had a brand new car and there was a little scratch on it.  I wrote her a check for $300 and was on my way.  That was one EXPENSIVE ice cream cone.

But...on the other side of the coin...the same is true.  And we all KNOW this, don't we?  And yet, we always end up in the negative end of the pool, if we are not vigilant with this battlefield between our ears.

I will admit...I am NOT a bowler.  (Although the first time I went bowling, I picked up a 7-10 split, and I fell on me bum...I did not even know that something like that was hard to do...)  But sometimes I view this path we travel like a narrow bowling lane with huge gutters on each side.

I start out great...

           the ball is going perfectly...

                   and then before I know it...

                             it gets close to the side....

                                         and you can guess the rest...

GUTTER BALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I remember early October 2011...Edster and I spent 10 days in the grandeur of autumnal appalachia...Canaan Valley, West Virginia.  No schedule.  No pressures.  We like to read a book together on our vacations.  This one was One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp.

It was transforming!  The premise:  We are lavished every single moment of the day with amazing gifts from God that we fail to see because we fail to look...to anticipate...and therefore do not meditate upon.

The theme of this blog comes from the line in the old hymn, "Morning by morning new mercies I see..." that comes from Lamentations 3:22-23:

It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

So, just as that bowling ball...I was gung ho...searching daily...moment-by-moment...for things to add to my list of One Thousand Gifts and dwelling on continual gratitude was creating a noticeable difference in me that others observed.

But like that bowling ball...unless it is a continual discipline in our lives...even with our best intentions...even with how it starts out...without God's grace, well, I'll speak for me...I go back to being a GUTTER BALL...  And so I know this list MUST be a spiritual discipline.

Lord, may your Spirit be a citadel over this battlefield...and may I continue to see your new mercies every moment of every day and receive them with a grateful heart.





The Battlefield of the Mind - Day 2 - True Freedom

“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,  and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

John 8:31b-32 (ESV)

This is not something I haven't read before...I have heard it all my life. But in the battlefield of the mind, it is the best weapon I know.

Jesus, in John 8, declares the keys to freedom:

1. Abide in Him. (now we don't use the word "abide" anymore in regular English venacular so what else can we use?) Let's try "reside" in Him or "stay" in Him. Hang out. Be joined at the hip with.  I love how the Message says it, "If you stick this out, living out what I tell you..."

2. Know the truth. Wow, that's a toughy. The truth, not versions of the truth. Have you listened to cable news. You'd think we were living in different countries when you compare network news to MSNBC, CNN, and Fox. The source of truth is living and active in God's word.

3. The truth will set you free. Freedom from all that binds me today will flee...as I hang out with God and read (and apply) His word.

This has a transforming effect...but it must be a daily discipline in my life.

I know in my own life, as a highly sensitive person, I do play a repertoire of negative tapes in my head that often feel like truth...first it is my voice parroting the tapes, then my parents, and then sometimes I hear God's voice parroting the same things...

This is not truth...but landmines in my battlefield. God only seeks to build us up and encourage us, even if it is in words of conviction. Our enemy desires to belittle and verbally abuse us, to the point that we are chipped away to nothing of any use...unless  we picking up God's word...the sword of the Spirit...and let Him defend me through it.

Help me today, Lord, to know the difference.

The Battlefield of the Mind - Day 1

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.  Ephesians 6:12 (NLT)

I started this 14-day study that I spoke of here, when I contemplated the mind and acknowledging that it truly is a battlefield.  And this verse in Ephesians...and it is so true!

Now, I disagree with this quote...as I believe that only God sees us fully...so how can this be a human offering?  And yet...the battle that rages in the mind can cause one to doubt that love when He is able to see who and what we are...our failures and blunders...parts others do not see.


This is SO where Satan gets me every day...and Oh the curse of the introvert who tends to have a committee between the ears. Satan is NOT part of that committee...but he tries to disguise himself as one on a regular basis. And...he sits there often...interjecting unrecognized.

Lately he has been saying things such as: "you blew it," "you're a has-been," "you're unqualified," "God can't use you," "You are fat, out of shape, your prime years are behind you," "you will never be who you once were." And he surely knows how to lay on the guilt.

But I am to blame, as well. What do I expect when I wear no weapons to defend his attacks? How can I expect to be strong when I am spiritually malnourished? What, Denise, can you do...NOW...TODAY?

"I can do ALL things through Christ who gives me the strength." His strength.

Today is March 10. The weather is unseasonably near 70 degrees in northeast Ohio. Panic sets in. I do not want to go through this wonderful season hot, sweaty, overweight, and out of shape. Most of all, because it does NOT glorify God or show gratitude for what He has given me...this body, this life, this day, this chance...

This is the day the Lord has made...let us rejoice and be glad in it!

Psalm 118:24



Beyond Beyond - Day 7 - Without You

People have been dropping like flies in the hospital with this stomach bug...and now we know it has gone global...as it visited our dear friend, Kim Klassen.

But this week, it was worth the wait (but not worth Kim's misery), as she gave us a photo to take from step one with only a white balance adjustment provided and edit it into our own image.

Here is the original image:

When I looked at this image - what first struck me was the looooooooooooong shadows...the late afternoon shadows, reminding me of about the time I get home from work on a hot, humid summer dog-day.  I wanted to capture that in my interpretation.  There's no relief, you can't sit outside because it is too hot, unless you have a SunSetter Awning or put your feet in cold water.

I remember that kind of a day as a child...usually I had been playing with the neighbor kids, drained, and wanting to come in from the heat.  My mother would be watching "Another World," her favorite soap in the 1960s.  As a grown up, its the time of day I want to rip my bra off and lounge in comfy, airy clothing.  Or I might take a cold shower to cool down my skin...only to feel sticky five minutes after.

Doesn't that sound pleasant?  My point exactly.  You feel like the sun will never creep down and the day will never close.

So here's my interpretation...

And that's exactly the way I feel when my Edster is not here...

So grateful for him!!!!!

What's In Your Mind?

Edster and I were driving home, after he picked me up from work...

We are both Baby Boomers born in the late 1950's...and lately we've been enjoying a local AM station that features news on the hour and songs from the 60's and 70's.  (Does anyone remember when most stations were AM...and transistor radios?)

So there we were listening...and I heard this song by Gordon Lightfoot, which inspired this photo:

As I've gotten older, I seem to carry more and more in my head...keep things inside versus talking so much.

What tales could your mind tell?  What do you with your tales?  Do you write them down?  Do you use a creative outlet?  Do you tell them to a friend?  Do you let them remain inside for fear no one would understand?  Are these tales full of kind words and support?  Or are they filled with negativity and things that tear you down?  Do they get bigger and almost unmanageable?

As a mental health therapist, I think about cognitive therapy developed by Aaron Beck and rational emotive therapy developed by Albert Ellis based on cognitive theory.  To put it in a nutshell: What the mind thinks, effects one's emotions, which ultimately directs one's behavior.

But wasn't this written about ages ago by Solomon?

As a man thinks in his heart, so is he...  Proverbs 23:7 (NKJV)
 

And so, despite my Master's education, it is in an ancient book, one that is "living and active" that holds the keys to the thoughts and tales that weigh us down.

One of my favorite verses is in Lamentations 26:3 that holds one of those secrets...

You keep in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. (ESV)
 

And if our thoughts are as powerful as Beck and Ellis assert, the Apostle Paul beat them to the punch:

...whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:8 (ESV)
 

I came across a great site by accident (yeah, right) called YouVersion.  You can also downoad the app for iPhone, Blackberry, and Android here. They have a variety of reading plans/devotionals.  I found one called, "Battlefield of the Mind" which can be done in 14 days!

I am grateful for God's word that can counter the negative thoughts and "tales" in our heads...that it brings us hope and focuses us into His reality, on which should be our mindset that always brings perfect peace.

March - Schmarch!

For the love of Mike, where did February go?  March is here and I am SO not ready...but that's another story.

But how can one help but focus on Spring...especially being in the middle of the Lenten season.

So Day 6 in Kim Klassen's Beyond Beyond class...we were challenged to take photos "From Above."

Here's some of my renderings...paired with quotes about Spring...

Texture used here is Kim's 1301...

The same texture was used for this one, as well...

These next two photos are not from above but ones I tok from the same setting...

Again using 1301 texture, which I think works great here...

And if it's not broke, don't fix it...so I used 1301 texture here, as well...

Additionally, Kim provided one of her Lightroom presets (barely color) and gave us a few secrets to use in Lightroom to give the effects below.  Again...I can't share the secrets...my gangsa KK groupies will find me and cut me... They are obsessed!

This is using Kim's texture called Chilled...

And I liked it on the first one, I used Chilled again.

I think this quote is very appropo for the month of March...it is SUCH a tease...

Who knew Sitting Bull could be so eloquent?...

And this is just part of how I responded to Kim's challenge for Day 6...

And just how are you feeling about Spring?