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How to Renew Your Mind in Truth

Lisa Preuett

Ever struggled with negative thought patterns? Wonder if you’ll ever be able to change your perspective on pain from the past?

If you’re human, then you answered YES to both those questions. I’m excited to be hosting Kelly Balarie today on my blog. Her most recent book, Battle Ready, was recently published and it’s full of amazing wisdom on how we can renew our minds with God’s truth. We’re going to constantly have battles we face, so it’s essential to equip ourselves in preparation!

Kelly writes with transparency and shares from the deepest parts of her soul. She knows herself how crucial it is to renew your mind. 

Enjoy her post today and make plans to get her book!

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Don’t doubt the power of your mind. This football-sized mass has the power to create and recreate everything in your life. This is why Jesus tells us not to conform to the pattern of the world, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind.

If we renew our mind, it is like getting a re-do on life. Rather than continuing with old patterns, ways of doing things or habits, we get an upgrade.

You know, when my boy was a baby: he spent nearly every waking hour of every night screaming crying.

My mind now, occasionally hears that baby voice of his crying late at night. He’s 6.

This traumatic time was emblazoned in my mind. The trauma is still there. The memory is still there. The fear is still there.

Another example of this is my finger. When I was a kid I had to feel for a little bump on my right hand finger (where I sucked my thumb) to know the difference between right and left. I still when, deciphering right between left, mentally think about feeling for that bump. My mind was trained in this.

When we experience something again and again, we expect it. We expect a husband to treat us a certain way. We expect pain to keep hitting us as it always has. We expect people to abandon us. Our mind tells us: this is normal. The pain you dealt with from back then is going to happen.

…unless we renew our mind.

To renew your mind is to dig up all the old lies, mistruths, perceptions and fears and to replace them with God’s truth, hope, life, grace and fullness.

It is to break the power of what was, for Who Is. The I AM.

When you know God is I AM, and you let your mind conceive that truth, he overpowers all the ways you tell yourself:

I am not…, I am never…., I am going to….

Mistruths become truth when a woman dedicates herself to the biblical wisdom, practical application and habit-forming strategies that come with abiding in Christ.

Do you know them? I wrote the book Battle Ready as a practical manual to help those struggling with doubt, discouragement, despair or devastation. The whole purpose of the book is to help you renew your mind with the Mind of Christ and to experience His freedom.

Many are getting touched by this message. Lives are changing. People are finding new hope.

Will you be one of them?

About Battle Ready: Train Your Mind to Conquer Challenges, Defeat Doubt & Live Victoriously

“The best time to be strengthened against the Enemy’s tactics of doubt, disappointment, and devastation is before he makes his first move toward us. We all desperately need the biblical guidance and preparation found in Battle Ready!”

Lysa TerKeurst, (New York Times bestselling author and president of Proverbs 31 Ministries)

Battle Ready is a hands-on scriptural plan that teaches you twelve easy-to-implement, confidence-building mind-sets designed to transform your thoughts and, therefore, your life. You’ll gain practical wisdom:

. how to make new habits stick in just five steps

· disarm the seven most common attacks that plague women

· exchange self-limiting thoughts for purpose-driven,love-releasing thoughts

· implement thirty-second mind-lifters that deliver peace

· create boundaries so you live life full of what matters

Buy Battle Ready here:

Kelly Balarie, an author and national speaker, is on a mission to encourage others not to give up. Through times of extreme testing, Kelly believes there is hope for every woman, every battle and in every circumstance. She shares this hope on her blog , Purposeful Faith, and on many writing publications such as Relevant, Crosswalk, and Today’s  Christian Woman. Kelly’s work has been featured on The Today Show, 700 Club Interactive, Moody Radio and other television and radio broadcasts. When Kelly is not writing, she is chilling at the beach with her husband , a latte, and 2-toddlers who rightfully demand she build them awesome castles.

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Taming the Waves of Fear

Lisa Preuett

Standing on the edge of the shore, I peered out into the ocean as far as my eyes could see. Way out there, the waves appeared so huge and powerful.

Overwhelming. Unstoppable.

I sure wouldn’t want to be caught out there! Those waves would crash over me, taking me under to be drowned.

Caught up in anxious thoughts, the water suddenly splashed around my ankles. The bubbling water refreshed my tired feet, white foam tickling my toes. This felt invigorating and relaxing as my feet sunk into the wet sand. Soaking up the moment, I peered out once again at the huge waves in the distance. And that’s when it hit me.

The threatening waves that started out enormous, had gradually diminished into tame wavelets by the time they reached the shore. 

What was viewed from a distance invoked fear and anxiety. But when viewed up close, now tame and subdued.

This image paints a powerful picture of what we do with the fears and worries of our life. When we peer into the distant, unknown future, our minds get tangled up in waves of anxiety. Things that haven’t even touched us yet threaten to pull us under, drowning our faith with fear.

What will I do IF that happens?

How will I survive IF they do such-and-such?

I will surely crumble IF this comes true. 

While these enormous waves of fear build their power and momentum, we allow defeat to crash over us, drowning out every ounce of peace and joy.

Viewed from a distance, these fears lurk heavily in our mind. But if only we would wait…

Wait for those fears to lose their momentum. Wait for those threats to diminish. Wait for those worries to dissipate to wavelets.

By the time our “what ifs” reach the shore of reality, we will often realize that the very things that once threatened to drown us, are now tame ripples we splash with our feet!

The things that appear powerful are now powerless. The things that seemed overwhelming are now manageable. The things that looked impossible are now hopeful.

In past seasons of my life, I’ve allowed the waves of fear to pull me in. I’ve allowed my thoughts to run wild with worry instead of letting God’s peace soak up my parched soul. I’ve learned that when I live my life out in the distant waves, I can’t possibly enjoy the abundant life back on the shore.

On the shore there is solid ground. On the shore I can stand still. On the shore I can soak up the sunlight.

Just as the bubbling water foams around my feet from the broken waves, God’s presence and peace soothe my aching soul.

So how do we live on the shore when the waves threaten to drown us? I truly believe the secret is where we focus our eyes. 

I can glance at the waves in the distance, but I don’t stay there. I can get a glimpse of an approaching storm, but I don’t get caught up in it. Instead, I focus in the other direction.

The day I stood on the beach at the edge of the shore, I turned around and heard the laughter of children. Their shrieks of joy drew me in. They were picking up shells. They were running back and forth, splashing in the ripples. Some were flying kites, throwing balls and building sand castles.

They were too busy having fun to notice the huge waves in the distance. They lived in the moment, enjoying the blessings of life.

I didn’t see any child looking out and focusing on the waves that could swallow them up if they drifted out. I didn’t see any child paralyzed by fear, refusing to budge from their beach chair.

Maybe this is a picture of what it means when God tells us to become like a little child. A child playing on the shore, refusing to get pulled under by the waves of fear. A child trusting their father to take care of their every need.

Where are you today? Are you living in fear from the “what if’s”? Are you letting the waves of worry control your every move?

If that’s where you are, I urge you to turn around. Walk upon the shore.

Trust God with the things that seem to threaten you. Enjoy the abundant life He wants you to have. Surrender to Him your fears and worries you see in the distance.

I pray that the peace of His presence will refresh your tired and weary soul.

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Matthew 6:34 “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

 

Blessings to you!

Lisa Preuett

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Impatience to Peace

Lisa Preuett

Whoever is patient has great understanding, but one who is quick-tempered displays folly. (Proverbs 14:29)

I’d just finished composing an important email that needed to go out. All I had to do was hit “send” and I’d be on my way to the next task of the day. But the Wi-fi signal dropped out and my email couldn’t go through.

Ugghh! Really??

 

My daughter needed one last piece of information from the Internet for her school work. After carefully searching for what she needed, I was ready to print. But no. The printer had a mind of its own and stubbornly decided it wasn’t going to print in that moment.

You’ve got to be kidding me! I need this right now! 

I had just enough time to get to my appointment as I happily drove down the highway. Christian music blasting and the sun roof open, I sang cheerfully, soaking up the beautiful afternoon. But suddenly I had to slam on my brakes as traffic came to a screeching halt. A slow truck pulled a trailer behind it, at a whole 25 miles per hour. I was going to be late now!

Come on! Can’t you go faster?? (I said these words out loud as if the driver could actually hear me.)

More often than not, I’ll humbly admit that my level of patience is not good in these moments.

Technology and Traffic. These are the two things that–when they aren’t going my way–try my patience more than anything.

Instead of letting the Holy Spirit work patience in me, I frequently choose to let my flesh drive me in the opposite direction. A direction leading to a quick-tempered attitude. According to the scripture above in Proverbs, this displays folly.

Folly? A fancy word for sin.

This is where the process of sanctification takes place. The areas in which we are most weak are where God wants to work His character in us. The situations that drive us most crazy are where God wants to usher in His peace to replace our impatience.

I honestly feel like a failure in these moments! The moments where I’ve lost my patience and embraced my flesh instead of finding God’s power and following His lead.

What about you? Can you identify the areas of your life where you seem to lose your patience most often?

The moments that trigger the worst in you?

The moments when your calm spirit quickly turns to a chaotic sass?

God is showing me that these are the very opportunities He allows for me to turn to Him. These are the moments in which I get to decide to follow my flesh or surrender to Him. As a teacher continues to test his students until mastery is achieved, our loving Heavenly Father continues to let us encounter these moments until His character comes through.

So the next time I blow it (yes, it will happen!), I can soak up God’s grace and forgiveness and trust that He will give me yet another opportunity to try again. For me it’s traffic and technology. For you it might be something else. But whatever it is, as long as we live on this fallen earth, there will be ample opportunities for God to work patience in us in our most trying moments.

 

Blessings to you!

Lisa Preuett

Exciting News- Book on the Way!

Lisa Preuett

I’m elated to let my blog subscribers know that I recently secured a book deal! If you’re on Facebook, you might have already seen my announcement last week.

This has been in the works for some time now and I’m excited to enter the publishing phase of this journey.

The book is a 40-day devotional about the parallels between running and our Christian walk of faith. Now I know that many of you wouldn’t classify yourselves as runners, but please don’t dismiss this book as something not applicable to you.

Whether you ever run a step in your life or not, you are in a race! Not a physical race. But a spiritual race that takes a lifetime to complete. In the New Testament the apostle Paul writes in many places about how our life is a race. My favorite one is this:

Hebrews 12:1-2  “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”

He painted a vivid picture of what our walk with Jesus should be like. Everyone in that time was familiar with the terminology because of the popular and competitive foot races people flocked to.

Many of my posts in this last year have been about running. Thanks for your support and encouraging words along the way, especially if you’re not a runner! Thanks for taking the time to subscribe to my blog and allowing me to enter your world through email!

I’d appreciate your prayers in the days ahead for God to use this book to reach those who need encouragement, hope and inspiration as they embrace their race in this life. I’ll keep you posted on the details and let you know when the book will be launched.

Until then, I’ll keep posting encouragement to inspire you when life gets weary. May you keep running your race of faith one step at a time!

This is an evaluation image and is Copyright Rosie Piter. Do not publish without acquiring a license. Image number: 0071-1012-0821-5214. http://www.acclaimimages.com/_gallery/_pages/0071-1012-0821-5214.html
Blessings to you!

Lisa Preuett

Jesus on Facebook?

Lisa Preuett

If you’re an avid participant on Facebook, you know the feeling of excitement when you log into your account and see those red numbers lit up over these three features:

Friend Requests. Messages. Notifications.

Why do we get excited to see a friend request? Well, someone has searched for us and wants to specifically be a part of our social media world. You have a choice though to either accept or ignore this request. Once you’ve accepted, this person becomes part of your Facebook world….a window into your life.

It’s a big deal to get a private message from someone!  One of your friends is seeking you out with a specific message intended just for you.  Someone knows you well enough to ask you a question or connect with you on a deeper level.  You can reply back with confidence that nobody else sees your words because of the security attached to this private feature.

And what about all those notifications? What’s it really mean?It might sound simple, but the more active you are with posting comments and pictures, the more likely it is that people will give you feedback.  Ultimately it’s the evidence of interaction. The more you are actively engaged on Facebook, your social media life becomes more intertwined with others.

Maybe you didn’t realize it, but Jesus has been an avid user of friend requests, messages and notifications way longer than Facebook has been alive.  Now he doesn’t use these exact labels, but the parallels are strikingly similar if you ponder this closely. If He used our “Facebook terminology” it might look something like this:

Friend Requests: Because of what He did on the cross, Jesus has sent out a friend request to ALL people. Each and every person on this earth is extended a friend request from Him. He seeks them out specifically desiring to enter their world, and ultimately their heart.  They have the choice to accept or ignore that request.

Messages: After accepting the friend request from Jesus, your relationship becomes personal.  The Bible is God’s message for all followers of Christ. But the way He speaks to us goes even deeper than that! There are private messages He communicates to us through the Holy Spirit, living inside each uniquely designed follower.

He knows you well enough to meet your deepest longings. And you can pour out your heart directly to him with confidence. Confidence that nobody else knows what you just prayed–with security that He’s heard you.

Notifications: Once you’ve embarked on a genuine journey with Jesus, you get involved with other followers. You do life with them.  You celebrate your joys together as well as grieve through the tough times. You can’t do this alone by any means. You need the body of Christ.

He also calls us to fulfill the great commission…to become fishers of men. This is where we go beyond ourselves and reach out to others. We invite them into our lives. We pour into them. We build them up to go out and do the same. Just as Facebook notifications are evidence of involvement, our ministry to others is evidence of our faith. It’s our FRUIT.

So where are you, dear friend? Have you accepted His friend request?I pray that you have! But if you haven’t, the request is still valid. Call out to Him today.

If you are His child, are you seeking Him with all your heart and soaking up His word?Are you being still enough to hear His  message–that gentle whisper? Are you calling out to Him? Rest assured that He hears you. He knows you. He loves you.

What do your notifications (FRUIT)  look like? Are you walking alongside anyone? Pouring into those who need help? Reaching out to those co-workers who seem hopeless? Building relationships with your neighbors?

Ask God to give you courage to step out of your comfort zone and get involved. He doesn’t suggest this. He commands it. And what He calls us to do, He promises to equip.

Next time you’re checking your friend requests, messages or notifications, let it be a reminder to check the condition of your heart and see if you’re where Jesus wants you to be.

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Blessings to you!

Lisa Preuett 

 

 

Overflowing to the Brim

Lisa Preuett

When I first got my Keurig coffee machine, I had to play around with it before I figured out which size cup to use for each setting. One of the first times I used it, I didn’t have a large enough cup for the amount of coffee trickling out. When the coffee oozed out and spilled over the brim of my cup, I quickly grabbed an empty cup to pour the overflow of coffee into it.

As I was cleaning up the spilled coffee, I learned two things: Number one of course was to use an appropriate sized cup for the large cup setting!

Lesson number two was much more profound as I was reminded of a scripture in Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the holy spirit.”

After watching my first cup of coffee overflow, it hit me that the only way to overflow with the power of the holy spirit is to BE STILL. If I’d moved the cup before it spilled over, it wouldn’t overflow. And just like that cup, WE need to sit still long enough to hear God speaking truth and hope into our weary hearts.

So what exactly is overflowing out of our hearts? It’s hope! The hope of what Jesus has done for us. The hope of eternity. The hope of the resurrection power living in us every day!

And when we get filled up so much with that hope, it is going to spill over. Hopefully we aren’t just standing still when this happens. Hopefully we will spill out into those around us.

Those around us who are hurting.
Those around us who are empty.
Those around us who need the hope of Jesus.

Kristin Sauder, a dear friend of mine who recently went to Heaven, once said to us, “Full things are waiting to be emptied. And empty things are waiting to be filled!”

So where are you right now in this season of life? Is the brim of your heart almost full? If so, who are you pouring into? Who around you needs to be filled with hope?

Or maybe you feel empty. If that is the case, I encourage you to take time to sit still before God and allow Him to fill you up. Allow Him to show you the hope you are looking for in your current challenge. And then you need to surround yourself with other believers who are FULL! Because if they are FULL, then you are going to get some of that hope overflowing. And it will spill right into the empty places in your heart.

So the next time you grab a cup of coffee, let it be a reminder to you that God longs to fill our hearts to overflowing. And He wants us to spill over into the people He’s placed around us.

Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the holy spirit.”