Author: Lia

The bible often speaks about the power of the mind and controlling our flow of thoughts. For many of us it is a struggle, and the inability to control our thoughts has infringed our spiritual walk with GOD.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.  1 Corinthians 9: 24-26                                            

The ancient Greek philosopher, Epictetus and apostle Paul, both used this metaphor of athletic contests to explain the way man struggle against weakness, erroneous beliefs and all lower impulses in order to win the prize of higher virtue.

Although their worldviews differed, they weren’t unique in deploying this analogy. This philosopher and prophet understood that it was important not only to train the body but also crucial to train the mind.

The paradigm of practising virtue and confronting weakness has not entirely disappeared form modern culture but has dimed and is obscure to us today. Due to this reason the spiritual life of a believer has become somewhat a dire struggle and an uphill climb.

It is often said that man’s thoughts determine his reality. But how does he change his thoughts in order to change his life?

1.  WATCH YOUR THOUGHTS. THEY BECOME YOUR WORDS.     

Do not be conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  – ROMANS 12:2

Your thoughts are a pure reflection of your mind. Changing the way you think, changes your perspective on how you react to the world. When your state of mind harbors negative and sinful thoughts, it brings destruction to your life. Your mind stands guard at the door of your heart. You decide what comes through it. Feed your mind with biblical truth. Guard your mind against unwanted intrusive thoughts such as pornography, lucid images, sexual orientation.  Engaging in grumbling, complaining, anger, incessant thoughts of hatred and dissatisfaction brings utmost destruction to yourself.

When a sinful thought pops for the first time, it’s a temptation, a suggestion from Satan. But you can choose to deny that thought and block it completely by putting it to death on the cross. When you do this, you destroy the root of sin. This is a process of sanctification, a deep transformation of inner man. Although this process of purification and refinement is tough, it is not impossible to achieve.

2. WATCH YOUR WORDS, THEY TRANSFORM YOUR ACTION               

Those who guard their mouths and their tongues keep themselves from calamity – Proverbs 21:23

Words are more powerful than you can imagine. Your choice of words align to your actions.  They have the ability to carry you far off to amazing places or crush you. Words often come with emotions attached to them.

In training your mind, you strengthen your self-control.  You gain the ability to harness your energies towards deliberately chosen ends, to choose long term ideals over short term impulses. You decide how you act, regardless of the circumstances. Your words are a reflection of who you are. Feeding your mind with GOD’s words, spending your time in prayers and having a close relationship with the Holy Spirt, will enable you to eliminate the darkness of your mind and step into the light of Christ.

In time, through faith and perseverance, you will experience an inner transformation which will elevate and refine your thought patterns. Through this process of refinement and purification, you will experience an inner awakening, which will take you to a higher spiritual dimension, whereby your own spirit is able to synchronize and communicate with the Holy Spirit, unleashing the power to manifest the abundance of GOD’s promises, to secure GOD’s spiritual immunity and to enable you to fulfil his divine will.

3.WATCH YOUR ACTIONS, THEY DEFINE YOUR HABITS.

May your hearts be fully committed to the Lord, our GOD to live by HIS decrees and obey his commands, as at this time – 1 Kings 8:61

Living a Christian life and walking a spiritual path requires dedication and commitment. God is gracious and compassionate to HIS children. He blesses us with gifts in order for us to grow spiritually. But more than often, pride, jealousy, greed, discontentment takes precedence and as a result leads to a downward progression. Once these actions become a habit, it becomes difficult to break. The inability to recognise these transgressions causes a stagnation in our spiritual growth.  As humans we tend to falter sometimes but constant prayers and meditating on the word of GOD, enables the Holy Spirt to bring us back to the right track.

4. WATCH YOUR HABITS, THEY BECOME YOUR CHARACTER               

What comes out of a person is what defiles him – Mark :7-20

Most people want to change their lives but few people actually do. The difference comes down to the power of habits. Habits govern our lives and allow us to engage in a multitude of daily tasks. In taking action of your habits, your thoughts shift to match your character.  Spiritually disciplining yourself calls you to intentionally choose the things you focus on.

This spiritual habit is more than simply reading a quick bible verse or a quick prayer to start your day. It’s an attitude towards the word and approaching it like a starving man approaches a loaf of bread. Read the word, think about it throughout the day, listen to it, meditate on it, memorize it, and consume it.

When you consume the word, you gain a new perspective on life and receive guidance. At the same time you feed your soul just like you feed your body with physical food. Over time consuming the word renews your mind, changing the way you think and therefore changing the way you live.

The more intense you study the word of GOD and apply it, your mind will conform to the order upon which your habits changes, transforming the contours of your entire self.

5.    WATCH YOUR CHARACTER, IT BUILDS YOUR DESTINY.

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21)

Our character is determined by our conscious choices as to which attributes we want to develop and which we want to suppress. To develop godly character, it is important that you embrace principles, not people. As you focus on building a foundation of godly ethics and scriptural principles in your life, you will as a result build a foundation of excellent character which will lead you to the destiny GOD has ordained for you.

The key to every man is his thought. It takes real courage to honestly confront what is and what is not true about yourself, to regularly take a good hard look in the mirror. But committing to do so, through spiritual disciplining is eminently a worth while endeavour.

I remember during my early years of being a Christian, I found it really difficult to pray.  I simply did not know how to pray and what exactly to say. Feeling very dishearten, I waited for our Sunday service to be over, and then I walked up to my Pastor and told him to teach me how to pray. Pastor Philip, took one look at me and knew immediately how distressed and desperate I was. He sat me down gently and told me simply that there was no method in prayer except in being truly genuine and to speak to GOD from within. I knew there was truth in his advice but I wasn’t entirely satisfied. I went home and did as I was told but eventually as time passed my prayer life was strengthen and my prayers became effective prayers by the help and the power of the Holy Spirit.

I decided to write this blog on “Prayer” because I realized that I was not the only one who found praying difficult, but many Christians today, struggle silently in this predicament and eventually fall out in building a relationship with GOD.

Why is prayer important?                                                            
Prayer is the key to GOD’s heart. Prayer is the practice of invocating the presence of GOD and to draw GOD close to you, enabling you to build a relationship on the foundation of faith, truth, love and sincerity. A believer should be so captivated in developing a relationship in order to tighten the bonds of intimacy with GOD.

In the books of Psalms 42:2 “My soul thirst for GOD, the living God.”  The longing for the living GOD, belongs to all men. For all men on earth, Christian and none Christian experience a void within the recess of their soul that seeks a sense of belonging with the divine but stumbles in the darkness and loses his way.

As Christians, prayer is an indispensable part of our everyday lives. The core purpose to begin a prayer life should stem from the intense love we have for GOD, the longing to soak in HIS company to feel HIS presence intensifying our very being. That is the first step to reach the heart of GOD.

The key to having a close intimate relationship is having genuine faith in God. The bible speaks about disciples with genuine faith who God blesses. For example Moses had faith in GOD and through HIS guidance, was able to overcome the myriad obstructions and limitations of the Pharaoh, successfully leading the Israelites in their exodus from Egypt.

Abraham who had unshakable faith in GOD was willing to sacrifice his only son Isaac, to GOD and ultimately GOD blessed him, allowing his descendants to multiply and become great nations. The Canaanite woman in Mathew, had faith in Lord Jesus and believed that HE could drive out the evil spirit from her daughter. She made her plea to the Lord and her daughter was cured.

We so often hear this word faith thrown around all the time. So what is faith?  In Hebrews 11:1 it is said, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen”.  It means faith is the tangible essence of what is hoped for. It’s so tangible that faith itself is the evidence of those things that are not yet visible. In other words it becomes so tangible that you now possess it.

In our contemporary minds faith is a mental recognition in knowing that someone or something exist. But true faith is deeper than that. It has the power to connect you to a spiritual dimension which links us to God and makes HIM become a tangible reality to the sense perception of a person.

As a Christian it is imperative that we understand the truth, pertaining to what true faith is, so that no matter what hardships, trials or setbacks we face in our lives, we stand grounded and rooted in faith that is unwavering knowing that with GOD we can overcome all barriers triumphantly.

This faith that we speak about, can only come from a new heart, regenerated by God. We strengthen our faith, by reading the bible, sharing the gospel, through self-discipline and control.

Faith is acquired through refinement, a process of purification of our minds through the adaptation of obedience and righteousness from the word of GOD that would transcend and enable GOD to accomplish the work of transformation in our lives.

How to pray?                                                                                           
If you are a new believer, I would say pray, prayers of praise, adoration and thanksgiving. As a born again Christian, you have so much to be thankful for. Among the millions of people in the world, “HE CHOSE YOU”! What a privilege, to be chosen by god HIMSELF. The more we praise with love and adoration, and try to discipline our minds and engage in meditating on GOD’s words, the easier it will be for the Holy Spirit to help us in our walk with GOD.

So praise HIM, thank HIM and love HIM with all our heart, soul and might. Let your prayers be as simple and honest as possible.  In John 4.23 the bible says that a true worshipers, should worship the Father in spirit and truth, as the Father seeks such worshipers.  GOD looks for those who pray with a sincere heart. As long as we have a reverent heart towards GOD and are sincere in our prayers, God would find our prayer acceptable.

However when we start praying, we often are unable to quieten our mind’s before God and are unable to use a true heart to pray. Our lips move vehemently but the heart is miles away from GOD. It often drifts to work, family and other issues except GOD. We don’t intentionally do it but due to lack of mental discipline, our mind shifts focus. These prayers are classified as empty prayers.

Don’t get discouraged when you get distracted. Once you are aware that your mind has lost focus, bring it back to the presence of GOD. Pray daily, practice mental discipline by meditating on the scriptures. Eventually the Holy Spirit will help you to focus and you will be able to be one in spirit with GOD.

 Many times our prayer is dry and we don’t know what to say. We spew out all our problems and worries and sometimes even blindly demand things from GOD. Prayers are often overlooked by us in our daily lives.

Do not blindly say whatever that comes to mind. Your prayer must contain the word of GOD. If there is a need, be specific and focus on that need.  Repetition is not encouraged in prayers. An effective prayer is not based on the length of time but quality and manner in which the prayer is invocated. After prayer don’t just go off, but sit in silence and meditate on his glory. Feel the presence of the Holy Spirit and listen to what He tells you.

The significance of a prayer is to have fellowship with GOD by lifting our mind and heart to GOD in praise that glorifies GOD and reinforces our love and need for HIM.  Through a devout prayer life, one can earnestly seek and find the priceless treasures of God.

Called by the will of GOD… sanctified in Christ Jesus (1 Corinthians 1:1-2)

Today, I am a Christian “BECAUSE” God called me. Being brought up in a conventional orthodox family, drew a barrier that concealed me from other belief systems. I did not know JESUS neither did I have any biblical knowledge nor any exposure to Christianity.

So what is this call? In the old testament of the bible, we often read the accounts of how GOD approached HIS people and called them to follow HIM. The Old Testament is filled with pages describing the events of GOD’s personal encounter with Abraham, Noah than Moses and different leaders, prophets and Kings. Even in the New Testament, we read of GOD calling Mary and Joseph and then Jesus HIMSELF calling HIS apostles to follow HIM. Jesus plainly stated, in ( John 6: 44) “No one comes to ME, unless the Father who sent me, calls him’.  

Many presume that such encounter only existed in the past, but this is not so. Although the ancient age of miraculous convergence between man and GOD was apparent in the past, GOD still calls HIS people in different mysterious and miraculous ways. Being unenlightened about Christianity or of Christ, my encounter was indeed, an extraordinary divine experience. (Refer to 1^st Blog)

So what is this call? There are several calls revealed by the scripture and each one is a genuine and a divine call. I would like to share two calls with you. The first call, is The Call of Salvation or The Divine Call.

I believe that this call from God is a sacred call, a divine invitation made to every single person in the world, as GOD will’s it, at HIS predestined time. The Call of Salvation enables a believer to access into another world where he or she is now under GOD’s sovereign authority.

A call that sets the tone of a new beginning in your life, to accept Christ’s invitation to be in unison with HIM and turn away from your past. The response,  is entirely up to man. But the call can only be made by God, and none other.

There are two worlds set against each other, dominated by two wills. The will of man and the will of GOD, respectively. The human will lies in a fallen world of darkness. However men are given the will to decide his own events. To accept the invitation of God’s call, is in the hands of men. If the believer decides to take that leap of faith, to follow Christ and turn away from his sinful nature, he than enters into a new dimension that could change his entire destiny.

Accepting this call enables the Saviour to cleanse your slate with HIS precious blood and give you a brand new identity. An identification that is sealed and marked under the covenant of HIS blood giving you the access to inherit the Kingdom that was laid for the supremacy of HIS beloved son, which now belongs to you.

The question now comes down to, “Do you want to accept this call”? The beauty of this Divine Call is that HE gives you the liberty to accept or to reject this invitation. But once you take the plunge to follow HIM, there’s no turning back. You belong to Jesus and you are sealed with HIM.

The moment you pledge yourself to GOD, and diligently seek to follow Jesus, you are than baptised with the power of the Holy Spirt who holds a major role in reforming, redefining and converting you, with a new spirit with whom you can now partner, to embrace the world of GOD’s sovereignty. This call literally helps to unveil a person’s faculty of perception in order to understand the higher dimension of spiritual truth.

One of the greatest challenges a new believer faces, is the struggle of an uphill climb.  This new path that you thread is filled with rocks, portholes, quicksand that many times believers pause to see if there is another path but more often turn back as the journey is beyond their endurance. What most Christians fail to understand is that the walk you take, is led by the divine HIMSELF. The path will be challenging and difficult but the confidence knowing that HE will never leave you nor forsake you, will give you the strength and assurance. The key to be in alignment with GOD, is to surrender to HIM completely.

 As you hold HIS hand tightly during your journey with HIM, the living GOD is cognizant of your hunger and inner desire to be one with HIM. He does not only cleanse you and wash off your past sins, but HE transforms you, in mind, body and spirt in preparation of your next roll. Here he opens up another door to HIS Calling. A door that will enable HIM to partner with you to build and enlarge HIS Empire in order to reign and establish the KINGDOM GOD. Every Christian has a role to fulfil but the goal is to build HIS KINGDOM.

In conception, GOD blesses each of us with an inherent skill which now, the Holy Spirit harnesses and sanctifies for your greater use in order to raise HIS KINGDOM.

The Call to Service differs usually form one individual to another. To some, HE specifically lays down your roll and what exactly you need to do and how to execute HIS divine plan and to others the Holy Spirit leads you to the nature of your capacity and empowers you to accomplish HIS plan. GOD is the director of all HIS work. He chooses and commissions man and women for HIS service. When GOD calls he empowers and equips you to carry out HIS work with the power of the Holy Spirit.

Everyone is called to belong to Christ and to participate in HIS work of creation and redemption. The plan GOD has for your life can only be accomplished when we give our best to HIM. The bible tell us, in ( 1 Timothy 6:12 ) “Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses”

As you grow in your relationship with Christ and separate yourself from the distractions of the world, it’s natural that you will want to give GOD your best. This will enable you to follow GOD’s greater call and better advance HIS Kingdom on earth.

When you are living in the deepest and darkest pit, when thoughts of death are the only solution to a life of endless pain and misery, when you are sucked in a vacuum that has no lights no doors and no air, life becomes a living hell!

During this time of pain, solitude and misery, I remember it was the 30th of August 2016 and it was 3 in the morning, a mist of clouds appeared to me in the corner of my four walled ‘dungeon’. In the midst of all that pain and anguish that I was undergoing, I squinted my eyes to have a better look at what was in front of me, but jolted, when an audible, firm but subtle voice echoed behind that cloud.

The very words spoken still rings in my ears. “I am your Saviour. Leave everything behind and come to me. I will heal you! ” As a non Christian and having completely no knowledge of Christianity, I was totally petrified, trying to make sense of what was happening. The voice again spoke, saying… “Don’t be afraid”. Hot tears started welling up in the two sockets of my eyes, as I asked, ” why me? ” The voice replied, “You didn’t choose me, but I chose you. Come to me”. By that time my whole body was uncontrollably trembling and streams of tears poured down like a gush of river. All I wanted was to remove my grueling pain and someone to lift me up. And here ” HE” was, waiting for me to accept his help. As I was saying ” Yes!”…”please help me” I felt all of a sudden lightness from my body. A weight that was churning and squeezing me from within had abruptly ejected from my body.

A half an hour encounter had physically left me drained. As the misty cloud disappeared I stumble and headed to my bed.

The next morning when I opened my eyes I experienced an unusual feeling in my body. The absence of numbness and pins piercing my legs. As I slowly arose, I realized that I was devoid of the gripping and ghastly spinal pain at my lumbar region of my back.

Well everything that had happened and was happening to me didn’t quite make sense to me than but I felt a sense of relief. A relief of pain that had finally left me, a relief of being normal again and a feeling of inner peace and tranquility that I have never experienced before. I knew that very morning that something had changed in me. I knew I was overwhelmed with gratitude and thanks. I wanted to know who this ” Saviour ” was.

This was when my doors to Christ opened as I walked hand in hand in a journey led by my saviour.

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When you pray God listens,
When you listen God speaks,
When you believe God works.

~My day begins when I talk to GOD first~

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