BeyondSeeLevel

New Mission…New Mind…New Living

Many of us have resolved within ourselves to change or stop some unhealthy, unprofitable and unproductive behaviors/habits.
We will adjust, rearrange and shift somethings around in order to accomplish this.

We’ll stop going to that place.
We’ll stop hanging out with that person.
We’ll stop watching or listening to those/that.
We’ll stop smoking or drinking this/that.
We’ll X instead of Y.
The list goes on & on….

But in order for us to be consistently successful, we have to do more than modify our behaviors.There has to be a transformation of our minds. Otherwise, we’ll only make a switch, but we won’t make a change.

Many will struggle with this process because the appetites of our flesh dominate us. (perhaps not in all areas of our lives, but in certain areas of our lives).

The Bible teaches us that the flesh wars against the spirit.

You can not fix a spiritual problem making a physical sacrifice.

Switching up what we do is just a temporary manipulation of the flesh. But in order to produce some stick-to-it-ness you must have a different mind. Not just a new mind, but a transformed mind. Having a transformed mind is the result of submitting to a God-shapening process, not just an independent decision to do something different.

Having a transformed mind will give you new appetites. New appetites will give you new behaviors and new habits.

The only way to do this is to allow God to transform your mind by the transforming power of His word. He will plant His seed in your spirit that will bring forth fruit of its own kind. You may not see it at first. But before you see the evidence, trust that a work/growth is going on underground. Keep planting and keep watering the seed that God places in your spirit. In due season, you will see growth.

This is His process. Plant a God seed, get a God fruit.

*Tressa Jo

Being disappointed by people will cause to you separate yourself from them. But pride will lead you to stay away from them. No man is an island. You will need people. Sometimes you have to humble yourself to ask those that agitate you to help you. Disappointment may have caused your disconnect. But don’t let pride cause your deterioration.

It’s not about being at a level. And I definitely haven’t mastered it myself. I think it’s more about self awareness and realizing that, as humans, we have the propensity to take the shape of our wounds. In essence, we conform to them and allow hurt to shape who we become. It’s an intentional discipline imo. Not easy or natural at all. It’s natural and makes a whole lot of sense for us to want to disconnect from what disappoints us. But we have to always strive to be constantly self aware and test our own spirits so that our hurts don’t bring us into a place of sin/pride. The enemy is always attempting to use our hurts against us. So we have to pay close attention to ourselves when we are hurt, wronged or disappointed by others. Sometimes, we have to realize that our disappointments with others can cause us to separate ourselves from them as a defense mechanism. It’s easier to remove them out of our lives to avoid any more disappointment than it is for us to look beyond their faults to see their needs or to adjust our expectations of them, understanding that you can’t expect to draw water from empty wells. Sometimes, the defense mechanism of having “the gift of goodbye”, as some say, removes our God appointed opportunities for next level spiritual growth and development. I definitely believe in self care and self preservation. But disconnecting from everyone that troubles you may not be effective or conducive to personal growth in the long run. This is why it requires much prayer and petition of the Lord. It’s never just about how you deal with the other person. But it’s always about how you deal.

*Tressa Jo