Renewed Mind
We are starting a new year and in the first month of the year 2024 what better time to renew ourselves from the inside out.
First of all, it is important to recognize that God made us, He created us and not ourselves. And he made us in his own image and likeness.
God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7
What has God given us?
Power, Love and Selfcontrol.
Yes, we have power. We have power in our words, power in our thoughts.
Proverbs tells us that in the tongue is life and death.
With words we bless or curse, even ourselves, our children and without realizing it, the people we love. So let us speak well and think as we should.
Let's start by having a renewed mind.
When we talk about renewal, the eagle comes to mind and God exhorts us to renew ourselves.
God exhorts us to renew or rejuvenate ourselves like the eagle.
Let's look at some of the characteristics of eagles.
There is much to talk about the eagle, its strength, its vision, it flies above the storm. Engineers took the eagle as a model to make airplanes. There is much to say about the eagle's qualities. But the one I bring you today is
The Eagle's Renewal
When the eagle reaches its 50th year, its old, long feathers weigh it down and it can no longer fly high. Its talons are already so bent that it can no longer grasp live prey for food. His beak, no longer as sharp.
How many of us have felt this way, old, tired, no longer strong enough to keep fighting?
What does the eagle do?
It decides to make a decision, either to die or to renew itself.
When the eagle decides to renew itself, what does it do?
How does the eagle renew itself?
It withdraws to a place alone. There it plucks out its heavy old feathers, one by one, even if it hurts. With his beak, he also pulls out his hooves, even if it bleeds. Then he looks for a rock and bangs his beak against a rock until he tears it off.
The eagle waits patiently for new feathers, new talons, a new beak. Then that rejuvenated and renewed eagle takes flight and can live another 50 years.
What should we do to renew ourselves?
1. The first thing we need to do is to step back, to be alone with ourselves, to reflect.
What is weighing me down?
What is the situation that is preventing me from moving forward? Why do I feel that I can't go on any longer?
What is it that I need to tear away from me to be renewed?
2. It is time to let go of our old way of living.
If I'm doing the same old thing and it hasn't worked, then it's time to do something different. Make changes. Changes in your environment, in your home. In your closet. Take out the old stuff and what you are not going to use anymore. Clean, buy new things, because the outside reflects on your inside and vice versa.
3. Get rid of fear. Fear is what paralyzes us, what does not let us move forward.
Fear is like a magnet and attracts to your life precisely what you fear. Identify what you fear and remember that God has not given you a spirit of cowardice, but of power, love and self-control.
You have power, there is power in your words, there is power in your thoughts. But you have dominion over your thoughts. You have the power to control your mind.
When negative thoughts come to you, immediately change them with thoughts of good and well-being, of health and prosperity. Love, love yourself and others, Love, cast out all fear.
4. Begin to speak, declare what you wish to happen. Change the saying and thinking I can't, I am not capable to Yes I can, Yes I am capable.
But you have to do it with conviction.
I am intelligent, because God endowed me with intelligence.
Recognize your gifts and talents and declare them. I am an excellent salesperson, for example. When you are cooking, I am an expert cook, and you will see how tasty that food is.
5. Have Faith. Faith is the opposite of fear. Faith is the certainty of what is expected, the conviction of what is not seen.
Visualizing what we want, the house of our dreams, the business of our dreams, the economy that gives us the financial freedom to get out of debt, travel, do what we want and spend more time with the people we love.
When you think differently and confess differently and take actions towards that goal, then, you will see how doors open, opportunities open, you meet people that help you achieve your goals.
I always recommend presenting your plans to God in prayer, according to His will which is good, pleasing and perfect, and He will prosper in everything you undertake, just as your soul prospers.
6. Let us renew our inner self. Our evil desires of those people who may have harmed you.
Let us exercise forgiveness. That it does us more good to ourselves. Because unforgiveness sickens the soul and the body. Do you know how much bitterness it takes to develop diabetes?
Most cancer cases involve negative feelings of distress. Poorly managed stress can produce an increase in cholesterol and even provoke a heart attack.
Let us recognize those feelings that sicken the soul and body and decide to heal our inner self by changing those negative feelings into love, forgiveness, peace, joy and faith.
7. Your soul has to be aligned to God's will, do what is right with a noble heart, do not speak deceit, live in love. as John, the beloved disciple of Jesus tells us.
"Beloved, I desire that you may prosper in all things, and be in health, even as your soul prospers." 3 John 1:2
In my book "My Last Sunset in Lebanon" I tell you that I had to make a decision, come back home and never see my daughter again or stay and die. I read and prayed Psalm 91, "He will cover you with his feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge." I decided not to die, and I took flight alive and with my daughter to the lands of freedom.
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