Lemonade and a Renewed Mind

dreamstimefree_84256If you didn’t read Life, Lemons and Truth you might want to read that post prior to reading this one. This post is a follow up to the first one where asked, “What good does it do a person to tell them to take the lemons of life and make lemonade if they don’t know the first thing about making lemonade?” I then compared that to telling someone that they need to “renew their mind” or “take captive their thoughts”.

So often we have cute little answers for life’s big problem. But they really aren’t helpful at all. For example to tell a person to just stop thinking wrong thoughts, or that they need to replace the lies with truth may be true but if we don’t help them, or give them the tools then often we’ve done more harm than good.

There was a time in my life when I struggled with wrong thinking all the time. To hear from well meaning people that I just need to stop it, get over it, renew my mind or take captive my thoughts only made me feel stupid or as if something was really wrong with me. Why? Because they were assuming I totally understood what they meant. Even if I understood what lies I was believing I didn’t understand what they meant by renewing the mind.

Through my experiences with wrong thinking I have learned that in order to really help we must be willing to take a person by the hand and walk them from negative thinking to truth thinking.
So while I typically do not like “how to” steps I am going to give you a “recipe” for making lemonade from lemons or how to turn lies into truth. This is how I learned to do battle against the lies in my mind.

First of all, apart from a personal relationship with Christ it is impossible to know truth. Without the Spirit of God working in us we can not do this on our own. If you do not have a relationship with Christ and want to know more I would consider it a privilege to talk with you about it. You can email me here.

If you’ve never seen a lemon you may not know what it is. I didn’t know I was believing lies until I started sharing my thoughts and someone told me they were lies. I was believing things that were based on lies but didn’t know it.

Extracting the juice. A trusted friend needs to come along side you and help you “extract” the lies you are believing. A friend, or counselor, who is mature in Christ and knows the truth of God’s word. A friend who is well grounded in her faith.

You will need someone to help you distinguish the lies as God “squeezes” the lies and all other kind of yuck from you. And trust me He when I say that HE will!

God, more than anyone, wants you to live in freedom of those thoughts that keep you in bondage. So He will allow things and people in your life to “squeeze” you.

Once the lies are squeezed to the surface what are you to do with them?

Adding sweetness. This of course is where the analogy breaks down a bit. When making lemonade we add sugar and water to the lemon juice. But when lies are squeezed from us we want to replace them with truth. Replacing, not adding to.

When we come face to face with a lie that we believe about God, our life, or ourselves then we must replace it with the sweet truth. The truth found in God’s word. For example if I believe I am worthless, or unlovable then one truth I might want to go to is Ps 139 which will remind me that God’s thoughts toward me are precious. Or maybe Roman 9:25 that says that when I was not beloved God called me beloved.

This is why you will need a trusted friend. She will help you know where and what truth to replace the lies with the truth that speaks to the lie. Trust me when I say you will need help, we all do from time to time, but especially when you are just learning to take captive those ugly thoughts.
But a time will come, as you continue, that you will be able to speak truth more often on your own. Don’t believe another lie though and think you will get to a point when you won’t need help at all. We will always need one another, but our need will become less as our minds become renewed.
How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Psalms 119:103
Drink deeply and be refreshed. Our minds are refreshed and renewed as we drink deeply from the word of God. In order to replace lies with truth we must KNOW truth. The only way of knowing truth is being in God’s word. We must know God. Know His character. Know His commands. Know His promises. Once we know, and by know I don’t mean a head knowledge only. We must know, believe, and obey the truth. We must trust in all that God has written.
Once we have drank deeply of truth and it’s imprinted on our minds we have the promise of the Holy Spirit who will remind us of what God has taught us.
 But when the Father sends the Counselor as my representative -- and by the Counselor I mean the Holy Spirit -- he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I myself have told you. "I am leaving you with a gift -- peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn't like the peace the world gives. So don't be troubled or afraid. John 14:26-27

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