How Should I Live If He Loves Me? (Part 2)

This past week I have been spending time reflecting on how I should live my life, if I really believe that God loves me.  This is definitely one of those multiple day reflections, as it really should last the rest of my life.  :-)

Today I wanted to spend some time thinking about my life attitude, if I believe that God loves me.  I believe our heart attitude and mindset are key to our fulfillment and happiness, for they affect how I perceive things and approach things in my life.  For Example, one of my favorite authors Graham Cooke says we should try to approach problems as possibilities, possibilities for God to show us His love and favor. although that is a very simple suggestion, imagine if we actually started practicing that change of perspective in our daily life.  Every problem that we encountered, we would stop and say to ourselves that this is  possibility for God to move in my life, to show me His love and favor.  It is a possibility to grow personally, and become more like Jesus.  If I started thinking that way, I believe I would see life quite differently.

My tendency is to complain when bad things happen.  I don't like hardship or difficulty and so my likely response is to feel sorry for myself and complain to God about how bad I have it.  I might slide into listening to the accusations of the enemy, accusing God of not paying attention to me, not caring for me, being angry with me, punishing me for something I did wrong.  None of those things is true, and certainly wouldn't be true if God loved me.  This type of reaction exposes my real beliefs about God.  If I want to hold onto the belief that God loves me, then I need to learn how to recognize the lies of the enemy, and reject them with the truth!

The truth is that God Loves me, has a plan for me, has a good plan for me, and He never makes a mistake or is caught unawares or unprepared.  All of my life is an opportunity to experience His love and interaction, every single day.

Another issue that many of us have is our earthly mindset.  We are completely focused on this world around us, our stuff and possessions and tend to relate everything to this material realm.  In our western understanding of reality, we do not think much about the spiritual realm, unless it is for horror stories and the like.  We spend very little time thinking about eternity or spiritual realities that exist all around us. We spend most of our time focused on the here and now.  God's desire is that we change our mindset.

I find, after paying attention to my thoughts this week, that much of my thought life does not line up with a belief that God Loves me.  There appear to be decades old patterns of thought which are not Godly, which I find myself traversing regularly.  These represent mindsets that need to change.  I find that for some they are my default thought pattern.  I absolutely need to change these to align myself with the truth.

In Romans Paul says the following about our mindsets -

Romans 12:1-3 NIV:

[1] "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God---this is your true and proper worship. [2] Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is---his good, pleasing and perfect will."

[3] "For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you."

It is interesting that Paul says this renewing of our mind, precedes, at least in part, the transforming of our lives.  I can definitely see that at work in my life.  Our thoughts and thought patterns affect our actions and behaviors.  They affect how we perceive and understand things.  One author that I read quite a while ago calls this our grid of understanding, through which we filter everything we experience.  For instance if we think that people don't like us, we perceive their actions  in light of that thought.  If we walk into a room and people are talking in a low voice, we immediately think they are talking about us, because they don't like us.  If I don't think my father likes me, I will perceive his lack of attention, which might be caused by something at work, as proof that he doesn't like me.  Our though life is critical in guiding and directing our attitudes and behaviours, and is thus critical to address in order for me to live my live in accordance with the truth that God loves me.

The other point of significance is that Paul lays the renewing of the mind in our laps.  We actually can decide to be willing to change or not.  We may not know how to change, but the first step is being willing.  Paul starts that line of thinking by urging us to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, this includes our thoughts.  Surrendering our thoughts and thinking to God is the first step in transforming our minds.

I have been asking God for help in the arena for some years, and find that He gives me very practical help.  He has indicated that what I choose to fill my mind with greatly affects my thinking - which makes perfect sense.  I love to read and the Lord has encouraged me to read things that will continue to build upon the truth, things that will encourage me in my walk with Him.  I used to read for entertainment, almost all the time, now I read to build myself up in the truth.  What I watch on TV also can affect my thought patterns, and I find myself watching less and less TV, due to the content of much of it.   This is in small ways choosing to offer my life to Him, and it does affect the way I think.

Lord I know that Your truth needs to invade and to be established in every area of my life.  I want my mindset, my thoughts, and thus my attitudes and behaviours to be transformed.  Help me to renew my mind completely.  As Bill Johnson says, "I cannot afford to have a thought in my head that is not in His (Gods)." Lord, I want to live my life that way, thinking the way You think, perceiving things the way You perceive them, and trusting in Your love, faithfulness and goodness.

Amen!