Change your mental DNA

 DNA encodes the genetic material of an organism that determines what it will develop into, a building block of life.  Whatever is encoded in our genes, is what our physical bodies become. We want you to consider that the mental patterns and thought processes that you have allowed to be encoded in your brain, have caused you to become the type of person that you are: one who chooses to live by faith, or one who chooses to believe in the negative.  We have no choice in the physical DNA we are born with - but we have complete control over what we choose to think, and what mental patterns we choose to develop.  With the power of the Holy Spirit and our willingness to submit and change as He leads, we can actually change our mental DNA to become transformed into a New Creation.  Romans 12 says, "... but be transformed by the renewing of your mind..."

This was our study for the 4th session of our 40 Day Project last fall.  I've posted it here in its entirety, no need to go to a link:


“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” Matthew 6:22-23

This verse in Matthew doesn’t speak of people’s lives as inherently good or bad. The idea of a person having to live out his life as the black sheep of the family is nothing close to this verse. What determines whether a person’s body is full of light or darkness is his eyes, how he interprets the world around him.

This eye that Jesus is referring to is not your physical eye, but the mental and spiritual vision you have of yourself, and of the world around you.  If that mental vision is dark, negative, fearful, anxious, wrought with doubt and skepticism, Jesus says that our entire life will be cloaked in that darkness.  And in contrast, if our mental vision is bright, positive, courageous, peaceful, and full of bold determination, our entire life will reflect that light.

We have spoken, and will continue to speak about negativity and our battle against it, but our challenge is not just against external negative influences.  Our biggest challenge is to change our state of mind, our constant vision – our mental DNA.  What do we choose to see every day, how do we choose to react to negativity, and more than anything, who do we choose to be as a person?

We are often fooled into the belief that if circumstances changed, we’d be happier people.  But when we choose to change our vision, to have “good eyes,” we change who we are, and in turn change the circumstances around us because now we are living in the realm of faith and power.

This is nothing about being a positive thinker.  It’s about accessing the power of God, and our human potential.  Our radical choice to see what’s possible, causes it to happen, while those who choose to hang onto skepticism bring more negativity upon them.  “For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me.”  Job 3.25

One day a man carried his girlfriend into one of our meetings in Long Beach, California. She had developed a migraine and couldn’t speak, open her eyes, or even sit up in a chair. When he told me what was going on my reply was, “She’s going to be healed tonight.” He looked at me and said, “Are you kidding? You’d better be serious about what you’re saying.” And I repeated, “She’s going to be fine when you leave.” One hour later she was playing in the hallway with my 3 year-old son.

A man who has had a profound influence on my life, until this very day gets excited whenever he hears bad news… Why? Because his spiritual eyes see that the devil attacks the most whenever he senses that a big victory is coming, and because he is certain that God has to come to his aid whenever he is attacked.

Is he crazy? No. He has one of the most blessed lives of anyone I know.

Being Audacious

Like we said yesterday, believing before you see, is such a backwards concept, that rarely do people actually live by true faith.  You have to be willing to look like a lunatic to do so.  That means that faith is not for the weak minded, or for the faint of heart.  Faith is for the audacious.

The word audacious is defined as showing a willingness to take surprisingly bold risks, and showing an impudent lack of respect.  Doesn't that sound amazing? We're not talking about being disrespectful to others to hurt them or insult them.  But faith does not respect just doing things because "that's the way they're done."  It's a lack of fear of other people's opinions of you, because the conviction of what God tells you is so true and so universal, that you have the audacity to stand firm in what you believe, regardless of anything or anyone around you.

Jesus was audacious. John the Baptist was too, Ruth, Esther, Peter, Silas, Paul and basically anyone who did anything great for God was audacious, and at times put their lives at risk for what they believed.  Why would we think that the world has changed so much that those old stories should just remain old stories?  Why wouldn't God expect the same kind of audacity from us today so that He can unleash his power in our lives so much more?

On top of that, how many audacious people do you know already, who are bold and impudent in a negative way?  Count the partiers, druggies, foul-mouthed selfish people found within the 10 square miles of your house.  There are probably a whole lot more than you may realize!  They have no shame being audacious for the lifestyle that they believe in.  Why do Christians feel such a fear living out the words of the one they call their Lord?

Audacious doesn't mean random craziness, or religious fanaticism.  It means taking God's promises seriously and living as if they are already ours.  Sounds simple, but doing it is a radical thing.

Read more from our 3rd session of the 40 Day Project here.

Believe and You Will See

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

Everyone who knows what the Bible says about faith, knows that it has to do with believing in something that you don't yet see.  When you have faith, that's when miracles materialize.  When you doubt, nothing changes, no matter how good you may be or how much you know of the Bible.

Those are some of the most basic principles of faith, taught in the famous chapter of faith, Hebrews 11.  But finding someone who REALLY lives that way?  That's rare.  Proof of that is that so few people have seen real, bonafide miracles in their lives.  But there are truckloads of people with empty lives who claim to have faith, and are proud of it.

One proof of faith, is that you begin to live as if what you believe in is a reality, even though you don't see it with your eyes.  Your actions make your faith real.  Anyone can talk about what they believe, but only those who really do, act as if it were true.  Acting this way either turns you into a delusional lunatic, or you begin operating in a supernatural realm and have no shame in appearing crazy to the rest of the world, because you know the truth about faith.

Practically every day we have people coming to church telling us about problems that seem so out of control, involving people and situations that just won't cooperate with them.  A strong conviction from the Holy Spirit to proclaim that this problem is not going to overtake them, that God will come through for them in a big way, overcomes us.  We say it with determination, knowing that God and His promises are backing us up... and then we look at their faces as they pity us for being so ignorant as to make such general sweeping statements.  "No, I don't think that can happen, you don't know my son/daughter/husband/boss/insert name...and you don't understand how serious this is..."

Some people are actually offended that we should tell them that their problem can be overcome, as if we are robbing them of their sense of importance as they complain about their lives.  But most just pity us for being such simpletons.  Fortunately they have the courtesy to listen to us explain how these things are possible, and that God's Word has come true for us, and will come true for them if they choose to use even a mustard seed of faith.  We can sort of persuade them to at least try faith, and when the first answer to prayer comes, they are shocked at the results.  Each attempt at faith becomes slightly easier and though the process is slow, they do learn if they don't give up. What a great victory when we can turn a skeptic into a firm believer!

There are a rare few who grab a hold of those words and just say, "YES."  They are the ones who begin to act on that faith right away, who push aside fear and doubt, and who choose to take God at His word.  They are the Jairus's, the Roman centurions, the Bartimeus's, the Abrahams and the Joshuas.  They dare to act as if their prayers are answered, and they are the ones who learn to live in that realm of the supernatural.

This principle goes for everyone - from those who need to be rescued from evil, to those who just want to experience more of God and His presence.  Believe and you will see.

For the original lesson for session 2 of the 40 Day Project, click here

Inertia and change

in-er-tia |iˈnərSHə| noun

A tendency to do nothing or to remain unchanged

The 21 Day Fast has begun, and for some, it's just one more exercise in denying yourself the pleasures of entertainment, while for the few, it's an opportunity for great change.

Everyone is stuck in some kind of rut at different times in their lives.  No one is who they ought to be, and if they think they are just fine, they are in a deeper rut than they know.  But just like the laws of physics, an object in motion tends to remain in motion, while an object that is stationary remains so unless a force greater than itself moves it from it's place.

We can be either of those objects: an object in motion, heading the wrong direction, but unable to stop or turn aside, or an object stuck, static and immovable.  Our negative minds and stubborn attitudes keep us far from God, but though we know we need to change, inertia has us locked into old habits and behaviors.  Just knowing we need to change isn't enough.

A greater force needs to dislodge us, or to push us out of our rut and onto a different pathway. In the 21 Day Fast, that greater force isn't God, but you.  The hatred of your old life has to be the force that drives you to find more of God, to know Him and to hear Him.  He can't and won't change you without you pushing yourself to change first.   Only then does He come to aid and strengthen you, and in the end it's all because of Him.  

Some people will end their 21 Day Fast in awe of God's amazing presence and power that He revealed to them during this time.  They will be the ones who hated the old mediocre faith that was stuck in a rut, and pushed themselves to give their utmost to God.  Meanwhile the rest will be counting the hours before they can finally watch their favorite reality show and go back to the movies... 

Check out this page tomorrow for the next topic of our 40 Day Project.  Find the original lesson sheet attached here from November 2012: Inertia, 40DP Session 1

On Thanksgiving of 2012, we held the first course of the 40 Day Project, where we taught how to change our lives in 40 Days.  Beginning Thanksgiving, running through Christmas and culminating on New Years Eve, we met every Sunday and Friday, with a total of 15 in-depth life lessons.  Now that we have begun the 21 Day Fast, we are reposting these lessons with a brief summary to keep you inspired. And for those of you who joined in our project last winter, we hope to refresh and reignite that desire to see big changes in your relationship to God.  Enjoy!   

Women's Conference in Houston and NY!

Deep stuff from the movie, "Lincoln"

A few weeks ago our family went to see the movie Lincoln, and I knew right away that Daniel Day Lewis would have to get an Oscar for his portrayal of such a fascinating man.

Raised dirt poor by a devoutly Christian mother, born in a one room log cabin, Abraham Lincoln pushed himself to eventually become a successful lawyer, riding the circuits with a judge who tried cases in the various towns along the prairies of Illinois.  How a classically trained British actor could be so convincing as this poor pioneer man who became the 16th president of the US, amazed me.  Even the way he paused to take a breath, tipped his head to the side and grunt the tiniest bit, brought back memories of my uncles from Indiana and so many other elderly men I knew whose way of life had been formed in another era, when people would sit in rocking chairs on their front porches in the summer, sipping iced tea and telling long stories... Day Lewis made me feel like I knew Lincoln personally.

I had to pay close attention to all the details of the movie, and the complicated political discussions.  It was a great history lesson for my 9th grader, who was actually able to keep up with all the ins and outs of the story.  (Yay for me, homeschool mom!)  For those who aren't familiar with the struggles that the US had before the outbreak of the Civil War, the rights of the individual states, the economic impact that slavery had on the South, and the way that our government functions, it would have been hard to follow.  But even so, it was a brilliantly done film.  These were the points that most caught my eye:

• Great, heroic moments in history (such as the abolition of slavery and the winning of the Civil War), come at a great and painful price.  This includes heroic moments in the Bible until now. Massive sacrifices were made for them to come about.
• Just the fact that we believe in what is right is no guarantee that we'll win.  As kids learning about Lincoln and his great deeds, there was always a rosy glow around each story, as if it was just natural that America would abolish slavery and that the north would win the war, and that we would never be divided into two countries.  But the reality was that nothing was a given.  Many times it appeared that all would be lost throughout that fight.  Had the leaders given in to doubt or discouragement, had Lincoln and his supporters not pressed onward tirelessly for years, this country would not exist today as we know it.   
• The influence of a weak woman can shake the strength of her husband, and the determination of a strong one can raise him up.  The movie's take on Mary Todd Lincoln was the kindest and most understandable one I have ever seen.  Most historians talk about her being wasteful with the White House funds in decorations and renovations, and that she was too superstitious and mentally unstable to be a good wife.  This movie showed her in a light that seemed highly credible, and I trust that Steven Spielberg did his homework well enough to portray her fairly.  As strong a man that her husband was, her fears and emotional outbursts were painful for him to bear on top of all the other stress of leading a country at war with itself.  But one thing that did come through was that they ultimately believed in each other, stood by each other's side, and loved each other deeply.  
• One of Lincoln's greatest strengths was that he never stopped being an ordinary man.  Power and prestige didn't mean much to him.  He cared about leading well and holding his country together.  His down-to-earthiness made him immune to the temptations of pride and the praise of others.
• Lincoln believed so deeply in his principles, he was willing to do whatever it took to establish them - sometimes he used sneaky and questionable ways.  These parts of the movie are the funniest, and take him down from being the "holiest" of presidents to being very relatable!
• He comments to his wife on an afternoon carriage ride once the war is over and the anti-slavery amendment has been passed by congress, "We must both be cheerful in the future. Between the war, and the loss of our darling Willie, we have both been very miserable.” And then he goes on to speak of someday going to the Holy Land to walk where King David and Solomon once were.  The movie doesn't show him praying or being particularly spiritual, but you can see that his heart was on the things of God throughout his struggles, all of his life.  His mother's teachings stayed with him till the end.

The saddest thing about this movie is that a large portion of movie goers are either not going to understand what is going on because they won't try to figure it out, or others won't even bother seeing it because they "aren't into history."  If we aren't willing to learn from history, we aren't really willing to learn much at all.

I didn't leave the movie all pumped up and inspired as some movies can make me feel, but instead it was like a slow burning flame that reveals new insights that I'd like to keep with me for a very long time.  

Reason and Emotion, Walt Disney style

Got 8 minutes to smile about something we always talk about but never quite get a handle on?