Renew YOUR Mind with God's Word! Part 1

[Dr. Dorothy E. Hooks, PsyD]

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” Romans 12:2

You can do all the planning you want, but your subconscious mind can stop you from succeeding - the IMAGE of how YOU see yourself, lies in the subconscious mind (Maria Karefilakis, “THE CONSCIOUS AND SUBCONSCIOUS MIND”)!! WOW!! This is why we MUST, there is no getting around it, RENEW our minds, with the Word of God - it is God’s Word that is going to CHANGE the way we see ourselves, change the image that is in our minds/hearts, of ourselves; cause us to see ourselves as God sees us!! The Word of God is what transforms us into the image of God, according to His likeness - the way God the Father, God the Son Jesus, God the Holy Spirit ORIGINALLY created us to be (Genesis 1:26)!! YES, we ARE new creatures in Christ Jesus but that is our spirit man - when we accepted Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, our spirit man became COMPLETE, just like God!! We have the Trinity (God the Father, God the Son Jesus, God the Holy Spirit) living in our spirit man! To understand more about your spirit, soul, and body, study Andrew Wommack’s teaching titled, “Spirit, Soul, Body.”

Although our spirit man has been renewed, we still have the same stuff in our souls (mind, will, emotions), as we did before we accepted Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior! That is why, people backslide after they come to Jesus - their subconscious mind, still holds the image of who they WERE!! They made a CONSCIOUS decision to give their lives to Jesus, BUT the subconscious mind, still saw them as the old person because once they accepted Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior, they did not begin to study the Word so the Word could transform their mind.

They made a CONSCIOUS decision to give their lives to Jesus, BUT the subconscious mind, still saw them as the old person because once they accepted Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior, they did not begin to study the Word so the Word could transform their mind.

If they were like me, I did not know to study the Word - the idea of salvation was to get save so you would not go to hell!! I wanted to be saved though but did not know how to walk out my new life - I just basically went to Church and that was it. Not blaming anyone for not teaching  me how to have a solid foundation in the things of God - I am just telling my story! I backslid often - like every three weeks I kept going back to what was familiar to me – I would TELL God one thing, but my heart/soul (mind), was set to the way I USED to be! I did not know anything about renewing my mind with the Word, so the Word could transform me! But thank God for teaching me a LOT of things now, I did not learn before!! I found out, until your heart AND mouth (what you say), come into agreement/alignment, you just giving God lip service, and going through the motions of serving Him – you will say one thing and do another, not only to God, but others!! And the ONLY way our hearts, and mouths are going to come into agreement/alignment, is by renewing our minds with God’s Word (Romans 12:2) – I cannot say this enough!

It is NEVER too late to learn - we just have to stay teachable, and humble, then God will teach us what WE NEED to know!! Remember, God sees us as an individual, and treats us accordingly – DON’T compare yourself to ANYONE else – YOUR journey is not the same as theirs – even if you have the same experiences as someone else, God still deal with each of you differently.

We DON’T lose any time in God - so do not allow the devil to tell you it is too late, you are too old, you missed it, etc., the devil is a LIAR!! God can restore the years you lost – just humble yourself before Him and ask for His help!

Remember, God does not look at time as we do - “with God, a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day” 2 Peter 3:8. But God is faithful and WILL keep His promises to us - what He said will happen, will happen!!

Quotes by Maria Karefilakis from her article, “THE CONSCIOUS AND SUBCONSCIOUS MIND”:

“…the brain can ultimately be divided into two distinct yet connected systems: the conscious mind and the subconscious mind. The conscious mind is your logical mind. It receives information from your five senses. It is where you think and rationalize. Logic rules the day in the conscious mind. However, the conscious mind does not control our actions. Our actions are almost exclusively controlled by the subconscious mind. This mind is largely ruled by emotions and instinct. Its job is to help us meet our needs and urges: reproduction, food, thirst, safety, intimacy, and many others. It is a very powerful force. It doesn’t reason or judge; it simply acts, often commanding your actions. Together, these two minds work together to determine your actions. They can bring you success or failure, happiness or anxiety, achievement or frustration. It is all in the way you use them. You cannot outperform your image of yourself that is stored in the subconscious mind. This is what often prevents us from succeeding.”

Here are some Scripture verses to meditate on - Philippians 4:6-9:

“⁶ Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. ⁷ Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. ⁸ And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. ⁹ Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”

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God’s Blessings to you all, and your families!

Rev. Dr. Dorothy E. Hooks