picturesfromheaven

Picture…a cartoon picture of a man’s head sitting on a mechanism that some garbage cans have at their base that enables you to lift the lid without touching it. You just push the mechanism with your foot and the lid opens. That is exactly what happens with this mans head. When the mechanism is pressed, the top of the man’s head flips up. You can see the man’s brain, but remember that it is in cartoon form so that it is not at all unsettling to see. Large hands reach into the opening and removes the brain, and replaces it with a brain that is golden and has the word, “mine” clearly written on the top.

Hear…the Lord say, “I want to change their minds”.

Consider: Continue to picture that golden mind as you consider the fact that God wants to give you a new mind. He wants to change the way you think. You have this mindset that if God is going to reveal something to you or bless you in any way, he is going to do it in a certain way. This criterion was developed as you observed how God moved in your past. So now you believe that if God is going to do something, he is going to do it in a specific manner. The problem is that this type of mindset, radically limits what God can do in you and through you. Just because God answered prayer a certain way in the past does not mean that he is going to do it the same way this time. In fact, knowing God, he wants to do something entirely different. He doesn’t want to be limited by your expectations. He wants you to open up your mind and understand that he has innumerable ways to release his power, glory, anointing, revelation, purpose, finances and healings. Consider the accounts of healing in the gospels. Sometimes Jesus would just speak. Sometimes he would touch. There was one occasion that he spit on the ground made mud and put it in a man’s eyes. Talk about gross, but Jesus doesn’t ever want you to limit him with your expectations. There are a number of ways that he can go about answering prayer. Don’t tell him what to do, and don’t tie his hands by expecting it to be done in a certain way and in a certain time period. Allow God to be God. Change your mind and give him permission to work in any way that HE sees fit. When you think about God, it is wise to expect the unexpected.Besides the manner in which he moves, there is something else that God wants to change your mind about. He doesn’t want to you look for things to get better. It is altogether possible that things are not going to get better. What God wants you to do is to begin to think like HE thinks and recognize that the things that are coming into your life are coming through HIS hands for a purpose. That purpose may be to correct, or change, or even to give you the wisdom that comes through experience so that you can encourage others. Rather than looking for God to change your circumstances, begin to look for God in your circumstance. Ask yourself, “What is God trying to do in me or through me?” Ask God, “What is it that you are trying to teach me? What is it that you are trying to prepare me for?” Change your mind about problems. Rather than being something that needs to be removed, think of problems as something that God can use to create HIS likeness in you. So rather than crying, begging and pleading, approach God with praise and worship. When you approach God with praise and worship in the midst of life’s struggles, in effect you are saying, “God, I trust you with my life.” When you release that kind of faith through praise and worship, God releases HIS power in you. I’m sure that you already know that anointing is released in praise and worship. Answers are received in praise and worship. Chains of bondage are broken during praise and worship. But did you know that you could also get that new golden mind in praise and worship? When God meets with you, he doesn’t come to patty-cake with you, he comes to change you. You can take ahold of that changed mind when you trust him enough to worship him with your whole heart, soul, mind and spirit. It really doesn’t matter if you are a quiet person, withdrawn person or the biggest, loudest extrovert on the planet. When it comes to worshipping God in the midst of your struggles, you need to it with everything within you.

Pray: “I worship you God, I lift you up, I praise your name. To me you are glorious, you are holy, you are righteous, you are worthy, and you are the truest thing there is. You are truth. I worship you. Holy, holy, holy, is your name, oh God, my hope, my redeemer and the “changer” of my mind. If there is anything that I need to do to change my mindset, new thought patterns that I need to create, then tell me. Show me my part in this, for I know that we are partners in all your work. I’m not asking you to just say the magic words and change my mind. I am asking you to help me to partner in the process. For I know when my thoughts travel along with yours, really great things can happen. Help me to change my thoughts about how you operate. Help me to change my thoughts about the nature of problems and what should be done with them. Help me to worship you through every one of them in Jesus Name, Amen.”