Day Two Renewing my mind

Romans 12:2

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

 

The Bible tells us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.  There are many ways that we can renew our minds. Philippians reminds us about what kinds of things we should allow into our minds.

Philippians 4:8

[ Meditate on These Things ] Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

 

One way to transform your mind, is to read.  I love to read and usually have more than one book going at any given time.  

 

During my 90 day transformation I am committed to reading 20 books.  Below are some of the books that I am currently reading.

 

First and foremost there is the Bible, I like to start each morning out be reading a portion of the Bible, I also like to have a devotional going at the same time.  The devotional that I will be reading during this transformation is Transformed by Rick Warren.  I will share what I learn as I go along.

I also like to have a personal development book, a leadership book and a biography book.  My first personal development book is The Gift by Shad Helmstetter, my leadership book is Whitewashing the Fence by Keith Potter and my Biography is Funny Side Up about Rita Davenport.  

I looking forward not only to what these books with teach me, but my growth as I read these and many other books during this 90 day period.

I will post my weight every day, today its 185.2

Here I am yesterday shopping at one of my favorite stores, Barons.  Notice how far I am parked away from the store?

My transformation will come as I allow God's Spirit to move inside me to guide me and teach me.  I am learning to listen, which is not always easy. 

I said I would be completely honest with this blog. 

Small victory:  Even though my husband and I have very different opinions regarding spiritual matters and I don't like to discuss matters with him, as I was writing today's blog and he came in and started reading over my shoulder.  Immediately he had an opinion, but through the power of the Holy Spirit, I was able to allow him to speak (held my tongue) and then just said that although I appreciate his opinion, this is suppose to be a blog from my point of view.

If you knew my husband, you would know what a victory that was. 

Talk to you more tomorrow.

My Daily Thoughts

As I was doing my daily quiet time, I was reading in the book of Nehemiah, Now it happened when Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall, and there were no breaks left in it (though at that time I had not hung the doors in the gates), that Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come, let us meet together among the villages in the plain of Ono.” But they thought to do me harm.
So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?”
But they sent me this message four times, and I answered them in the same manner.
Then Sanballat sent his servant to me as before, the fifth time, with an open letter in his hand. In it was written: It is reported among the nations, and Geshem says, that you and the Jews plan to rebel; therefore, according to these rumors, you are rebuilding the wall, that you may be their king. And you have also appointed prophets to proclaim concerning you at Jerusalem, saying, There is a king in Judah!” Now these matters will be reported to the king. So come, therefore, and let us consult together.
Then I sent to him, saying, “No such things as you say are being done, but you invent them in your own heart.”
For they all were trying to make us afraid, saying, “Their hands will be weakened in the work, and it will not be done.”
Now therefore, O God,strengthen my hands.
Afterward I came to the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was a secret informer; and he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you; indeed, at night they will come to kill you.”
And I said, “Should such a man as I flee? And who is there such as I who would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in!Then I perceived that God had not sent him at all, but that he pronounced this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. For this reason he was hired, that I should be afraid and act that way and sin, so that they might have cause for an evil report, that they might reproach me.
My God, remember Tobiah and Sanballat, according to these their works, and the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who would have made me afraid.

I had these thoughts: As Nehemiah was trying to do a good thing (build the gates around Jerusalem) he was met with people trying to distract him. And I thought how sometimes when we try to do something good, we too can run into dis tractors. Over and over again they tried to pull Nehemiah away from what he was trying to accomplish, but yet he kept right on track. Sometimes those trying to pull us away can actually think that they are trying to do something nice. But they are in fact distracting us from our goals our purposes.

Let's say you are trying to improve your health, you can be sure that there will be those who will try everything they can to get you to eat something that you are trying to stay away from. They will say things like "just one bite can't hurt", or those who want you to hang out with them instead of going to the gym. Whatever the reason, they are distracting you from your goals.

It seems the more you try to improve your life, the more people will want to distract you from doing so. But like Nehemiah, we need to be single minded, with clear goals and direction and then we will see remarkable changes in our lives.

Please feel free to share what areas of your life you have run into dis tractors.