Topic: You Can Change Your Mind [RICK WARREN Devotional 31 December 2023]
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You Can Change Your Mind
BY RICK WARREN — DECEMBER 31, 2023
FROM GOD’S AMAZING PROMISES
“Let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.”
Ephesians 4:23 (NLT)
Lasting change requires new thinking. The battle for change is won or lost in your mind! Ephesians 4:23 says, “Let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes” (NLT). Spiritual renewal takes place in your thoughts and in your attitudes—or, in other words, in your mind.
Here’s how it works: Feelings aren’t feelings in themselves. They are a response to a thought. It’s what you think that determines the way you feel. And what you feel determines the way you act.
If you want to stop a self-defeating behavior by changing the way you act, then you first must change the way you feel. But you can’t just change your feelings and tell yourself, “I’m just not going to feel that way anymore.” That doesn’t work. The only way you can change a feeling is indirectly—by going to the root of it, which is a thought.
In other words, you can change the way you act by changing the way you feel. And you can change the way you feel by changing the way you think.
There’s a biblical word for this process: repentance. The word “repentance” comes from a Greek word, metanoia. Meta means “to change,” and noia means “mind.” Repentance simply means you change your mind. That’s all there is to it!
You tell God that you want to go a different direction, and you ask him to help you choose to think about right and good things. If you change the way you think, it will change the way you feel, and the way you feel will change the way you act. It’s a reversal of your mindset—a mental U-turn.
The Bible says in Philippians 2:5, “Think the same way that Christ Jesus thought” (CEV).
What you think is a choice. And choosing is the beginning of changing. When you put on the mind of Christ and begin to think about the things he loves, then you will start to see your defects in a very different light.
Ask God to help you see him, others, and yourself the way he does, and you will start to see the changes he wants to make in your life.
Talk It Over
- Think about the last time you experienced a strong emotion. How did your thoughts affect how you were feeling?
- What’s something in your life that you need to repent of—to change your mind about—today?
- How can you know the good and right things that God wants you to think about?
God loves you, no matter what you’ve done.
Because we’re human, we’ve taken Satan’s bait and been hooked into sin more times than we can count. But no matter what you’ve done or where you’ve been, you’ve got a place in God’s forever family ready and waiting for you. The invitation is wide open. Just believe and receive.
Are you ready? Here’s a prayer you can start with: “Dear God, I know that when I die I’m going to give an account of my life to you directly. I confess I have ignored you. I know I have sinned against you, and I have lived by my plan, not yours. I want that to change, starting right now. I want to turn away from my sins and turn toward you.
“Thank you for sending Jesus to die for all that I’ve done wrong so I don’t have to pay the penalty. I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness. I know only your grace can save me, Lord.
Also Read: Open Heaven 31 December 2023 Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – PRAYERS FOR YEAR 2024
“Jesus, thank you for loving me so much that you took all my guilt on yourself. You made me acceptable for heaven, and I humbly ask you to save me. I ask you to save me from the sins and the habits that are messing up my life right now. I believe in you, Jesus. And I believe you will keep your promise to save me instantly, certainly, completely, and eternally. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”
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