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Tuesday, January 13, 2009

YES to GOD study: ch. 2-Renewing Your Thought Closet

Hello ladies...this week's chapter was great, but before I get to my thoughts on it, let me share with you this e-mail I received last Tuesday.
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This is Jennifer's Dr. Phil and we're following your Bible study at your blogspot. Tried to comment in your blog spot but the image verification wasn't working. Anyway, let your Yes to God girlfriends know that Jennifer and the team of women here at Jennifer Rothschild Ministries are following your Bible study and discussions. Just wanted you wonderful women to know we love and appreciate what you are doing.

Just wanted you all to know how much we love to see women allowing God to do a work through them through his Word.
Blessings,
Jennifer's Dr. Phil and Jennifer!
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I just thought that was pretty neat and wanted to share that with you. I hope it encourages your heart like it did mine.
Also, if you are interested, in February there will be available a video-based Bible study on the book. Click here for more info.
Thank you Jennifer and Dr. Phil for the encouragement and Jennifer thank you for your obedience to write this book. It is so needed by many.
CHAPTER 2: RENEWING YOUR THOUGHT CLOSET
Remember...anything in blue is a quote from the book.
This chapter was so good. Here are just a few of the things that really popped out at me.
We have borrowed unbecoming beliefs from other people and hung them in our thought closets.
We should refuse to let untruths and destructive words and thoughts occupy prime space in our minds' closets.
I think of some of the stuff I have hung up in my clothes closet. May not be age appropriate anymore, too tight or even too big and yet I hold on to them. I let useless clothing take up space in my closet instead of getting rid of them. Same thing with my mind. I tend to keep hold of things that don't line up with what God's Word says about me or says to do. Useless thoughts just cluttering my mind.
I really loved and felt much conviction over the section titled Keeping Watch at the Closet Door. You and I must take some control of our thoughts. We must train them to match up with the truth. If we don't keep a hold on them, they will soon gain a hold on us.
Until you choose to bring that out-of-place label into the light and make it line up with truth, it will control you. Instead of wearing it as a label, choose now to label it with truth.
I have this sign in my house that says:
Thoughts become Words
Words become Actions
Actions becomes Character
Character becomes Everything.
Oh, how I painfully know the truth of both Jennifer's statements and that signs. I am one that has to ignore advice and see if there is truth behind the warning and I always have to learn the hard way...the painful way...the way that causes the Savior to grieve. That is where the conviction pierced my heart in what Jennifer said when she used the word "choose". It is all about choice and often I decide on the wrong thing.
Out of everything in this chapter, what Jennifer said here got it underlined, highlighted and starred...
We probably never completely erase old memories, forget old thoughts, or wipe away former self talk. Those things are simply there, and depending on what we do with them, they add or subtract to the quality of our lives.
You can't remove those hurtful thoughts, words, and memories, but by the power of God, you can drain them of their potential control over you.
Wow! Isn't that awesome? Jennifer also lays it out for us how we train ourselves to recognize truth and teaches us how we can teach ourselves how to speak truth to our souls. Now ladies...if we don't apply what Ms. Jennifer takes the time to teach us, by the end of this book or rather chapter, we will remain the same. Re-read the chapter if you need to and ask for God's help in this. If you are like me at all then this is a battle the enemy will not go down easy on, but when we ask for God's help we are reassured that in fact, going down is what he will do. So, let's keep reading then applying what we are taught.
Words spoken over us, to us and about us have much power, but with God's help we can diffuse their explosion and power in our lives and it can be life changing.
In listening to a Beth Moore teaching this week she shared about one of her girls when they were little. She said that one of them didn't like the way she looked. Beth asked her..."Have you looked in the mirror? Are you seeing what I'm seeing? You are beautiful."
Her young one then said, "So and so said I look like a turtle and I do."
Beth's response..."Honey...take me to so-and-so."
Isn't that the truth though...we believe the spoken and written word?
So why not believe the spoken and written word of God instead?
May we allow Jennifer's labor of love to do just what God intends it to do in our minds and souls. He had her write this book for a reason and it wasn't just so she'd have another book to add to her resume, it was to change our lives.
May this journey with Him continue.
Love you much.
If you have something to share on your own blog, please sign up under Mr. Linky so those with a computer ~sigh~ can read your thoughts. If you don't have a blog, please feel free to share your thoughts here in the comments.
Also..thank you for your sweet comments left for Alivia on the last post. She was so excited and has such a true heart for our Lord. I only pray it continues to beat faster and faster with passion for Jesus the older she gets as life happens. Seems when life changes from driving a Barbie car to driving a car with payments our focus can get shifted off of Him. Please Lord, I pray her love for You only magnifies.
~Many Blessings~
Next week: Chapter 3~Choosing Wise Words.

24 comments:

Heather said...

This whole image of "wearing" our thoughts can cause us to ponder...would I really wear THAT in public? :) Well, what in the world am I doing with it in my thought closet!?

Jill Beran said...

Good words Lelia! I can't believe how timely this study is for me right now. God's timing is absolutely amazing! So much so that as I finished typing my post for today, my little man climbed on my lap and said and I quote, "We have a messy closet!" I laughed out loud!! He doesn't know how right he is!! Anyway looking forward to doing a little soul cleaning as the journey continues!! Out with the old and in with the new right?!?!
Blessings,
Jill

Mel said...

Borrowing unbecoming beliefs, how very true this is!!! I don't have the book but i love reading your posts on it.

Laura said...

Hey, girl! I'm so sorry i keep messing up mr. linky! I just keep hitting return before my url is entered. sigh. life story.

So awesome that Dr. Phil emailed! What sweet sweet real folks those Rothschilds are!

this chapter has really made me aware of those little things I say to myself constantly that seem harmless at the time, but really create a down-trodden spirit.

Thanks, Lelia.

luv,
laura

Anonymous said...

OH Lelia,
You are right about applying the things we are reading here to our lives... really applying them, not just reading it.
I was in the middle of a pretty intense spiritual battle this weekend. Sunday i was able to get away with God, and spend some time with Him... the whole time I had such a hard time. I was really doing the self-talk rather than the soul-talk. Once I couldn't stand it anymore, i ended up reading today's chapter.... wow, talk about speaking right to where I was at.

Still dealing with depression and anxiety, still struggling in the spiritual battle, but i am feeling better and feel like I am more able to "deal" with stuff. HOpe that makes sense.
Love you and thanks so much for doing these studies!!!!
Heather

Runner Mom said...

Hey! I am missing being with y'all in this Bible study!! But I'm ready the synopsis on each chapter and the comments! Sounds great!

I had to comment on the previous post!!! WOw! How cool is that Barbie car?! I loved Barbie growing up--wish they'd had cars like that in the olden days!!! And, your new scarves are just lovely! I really want to learn to knit! Hope y'all are staying warm!!

Love ya,
Susan

Paula V said...

How nice that Jennifer and hubby contacted you. Sweet.

Yes, that last statement of her's that you quote is a powerful one.

You brought up a good issue...we are so prone to listen to the written and verbal words of others so why not listen to the verbal and written word of the Almighty. Maybe God made us that way...to seek/want other's opinions so that one day we'd come to realize and appreciate how much we don't need those opinions but rather ONLY need God's opinion of us. Think about that, I mean if thinks we are great, what could be better? If God is disappointed in us or our actions, what could be worse? There is nothing that people can say that would ever outbeat God. Disappointment from God will lead us to do better and to make our Abba Father proud of us in our character. I think I mentioned on my post regarding contentment that God is so much more concerned with our character than our happiness or even contentment.

I love what you said about Alivia...I had to chuckle when you said you hope her passion for Jesus would increase as she gets "AS LIFE HAPPENS"....yep, life sure happens and it can be rough...thus the NEED for the powerful armor of God.
Visit me when you have time. I miss hearing your opinion on my chapter posts.
Love you, sweet one.
Paula

The Dementia Nurse said...

Hi Lelia! I am showing my technical ignorance today as I haven't figured out how to put "Say Yes to God Tuesdays" on my site. The good news is I have an eight-hour workshop about online writing this Saturday, so I should get there soon. In the meantime, any and all are welcome to come by for my thoughts on this week's reading. Thank you SOOOOOOO much for doing this AND for letting us know Jennifer is in the loop!

Stonefox said...

Lelia, I am so excited about this week, and one thing in particular. As you know, I don't have the book (yet! :)) but I sure wish I did so I could do a post on my thoughts. This is what Jennifer said, "We have borrowed unbecoming beliefs from others..." and I thought about how my unbecoming beliefs mostly originated in childhood...and how my own parents were the ones that spoke them.

So I thought, "How important for us to be teaching our children who God says they are!" Not just in words and with scripture, which is incredibly important, but also in the way we parent them. Like not using manipulation or shame or abusing their personal weaknesses to get their behavior in line, but through reminding them who God has created them to be and treating them as such. I don't know if that makes sense, but I was parented in all sorts of wrong ways by good intending parents.

Yet I see how I was crippled by these techniques and it still remains a handicap. So these truths don't only apply to us as adults, but also to the way we train up our kids.

Okay, I'm done now! :)

The Dementia Nurse said...

Heidi, you have spoken an awesome truth!!!!!

TeriAnnElizabeth said...

I loved your thoughts Lelia, and everyone elses!

Question: Is that Dr. Phil or is Jennifer's husband named Dr. Phil? I'm totally confused.

Love you and praying for you, Sweetheart!
Teri

Leaon Mary said...

Hey Lelia,

Gosh, I feel like Jennifer got in my head somehow writing this book. lol
I hope I haven't said many negative things to other people, but I've really talked alot of trash to my soul over the years. I think alot of times I do it in laughter... laughing at myself. Maybe that's not very harmful, but it's not BENEFICIAL either.
I'm really happy to be doing this study. Thank you so much for leading us through another journey.
What a cool message from Dr. Phil n Jennifer! WOW!
Holykisses,
Lea
soli deo gloria!

Unknown said...

Hi, I'm a friend of the Heather from Swallowing a Moose (she would be my best friend). I am reading along but didn't comment after the first chapter - didn't really think I had anything important to say.
It is amazing however how over the course of 31 years so many negative things have built up. I was a professional at calling myself a number of those names Jennifer lists in the book during high school and into college. At the point I am at right now, yes, I still have those moments, but am more aware of what Jennifer calls "relabeling" - which is so very true. I catch myself definitely less often now with the negative thought... didn't do something right or something like that. Doubting myself was huge and is becoming less actually quite quickly as I am making a number of changes in my life.
Heather pointed out to me one day that daily I should say, out loud, "I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus" - this has become a daily phrase and makes me more aware of those negative things and not letting them surface.
Sorry, rambled enough. Thank you for doing this study.
Sarah

Liz said...

Great thoughts and great challenges from your post today, Lelia.
Thanks for posting the letter.

Carol said...

Hey Lelia,

This is great advice: Jennifer also lays it out for us how we train ourselves to recognize truth and teaches us how we can teach ourselves how to speak truth to our souls. Now ladies...if we don't apply what Ms. Jennifer takes the time to teach us, by the end of this book or rather chapter, we will remain the same. Re-read the chapter if you need to and ask for God's help in this. If you are like me at all then this is a battle the enemy will not go down easy on, but when we ask for God's help we are reassured that in fact, going down is what he will do. So, let's keep reading then applying what we are taught.
Words spoken over us, to us and about us have much power, but with God's help we can diffuse their explosion and power in our lives and it can be life changing.

It comes back to what you said it's a choice, a choice of what we say and it's a choice of putting these lessons into action. Thank you for the challenge, and the reminder.

I too love what you said about Aliva and hopping she still sees God's blessing when there is a car payment. Oh how life happens.

Joy Junktion said...

"Thoughts become Words
Words become Actions
Actions becomes Character
Character becomes Everything."

I really like this - I may need to get my own sign for my 'closet'.

LeeBird3 said...

Ok...your new picture is gorgeous!

I haven't had much time to read the blogs the last week, but I hope to catch up this weekend!

Thinking nice thoughts about you! Lee

Paula said...

It seems my first comment has disappeared into cyberspace! Anyway...this was a great chapter, and the enemy worked me over hard tonight, so I am thankful that I had my post to proof and publish as a reminder of what I did so very wrong tonight. Bad words spoken to not only myself but my little cherub. And yes, I grieved the Saviour. Thankfully we worship a forgiving Saviour. I will be re-reading this chapter, and can't wait to explore some of the other lady's posts over the next couple of days. Love ya, and your new photo! Paula :-) xo

Cindy said...

Great thoughts. I don't have the book but I'm following what a lot of the participants are saying. Thanks for doing this.

MrsProverbs31 said...

I love your examples of the clothings in our closet. Thank you for sharing. I don't have her book. But I am enjoying this. So, I will come back.

Julie said...

Couldn't agree with this post more...

I just wrote a post about living in the truth of our new identity. It's all about what we choose to believe about ourselves that makes the difference in our lives.

I agree with Jennifer. You cannot move on from the past until you remove it's affects on how you think about yourself. We so often believe what we feel or hear through someone's actions instead of what God would say is true for us.

If we stopped everytime we felt something, heard something, believed something AND asked God what He saw, and thought about us, it would change our lives forever... Because we would be blown away with what He thinks!

Little by little I am learning to do that.

Thanks for your sweet post, friend,
Love,
Julie

Kelley said...

The feet look great on your blog! It's like they were meant to be!!!

Love,
KK

Liz said...

Hey Lelia, over on my blog is a little snippet of how you have encouraged me. Love, Liz

Corner Gardener Sue said...

Hi Lelia,
I have my week 3 post up. I'll check later to see if you have Mr. Linky up.

God's blessings on your day,
Sue