Barb Raveling - The Renewing of the Mind Project: Going to God for Help with Your Habits, Goals, and Emotions

GOING TO GOD FOR HELP WITH
HABITS, GOALS, AND EMOTIONS

BARB RAVELING

Truthway Press

Copyright 2015, 2016 Barb Raveling

All rights reserved.

First Printing February 2015

Second Printing December 2016

This book is not intended as a substitute for the advice of professional counselors. If you are struggling with a serious issue, please do so under the guidance of a professional counselor and/or physician.

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New American Standard Bible , Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

Cover design by Steven Plummer

ISBN: 0-9802243-5-7

ISBN-978-0-9802243-5-1

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1

The Secret of Transformation

I STILL REMEMBER THE moment I became a Christian. I was in a huge auditorium, as high in the stands as you could get, and David Wilkerson was asking me to come to the front of the arena.

People were streaming to the stage, and God was whispering, Are you willing to be embarrassed for me? I debated and then I said yes. I left my friend and trudged down the never-ending flight of stairs.

As the auditorium filled with thousands of voices singing I Have Decided to Follow Jesus, I surrendered my life to God. And in the midst of a crowd of hugging and crying people, it felt like He was wrapping me in a blanket of love.

The next day I jumped on my bike and pedaled to the Christian bookstore. After buying a yellow and orange Living Bible and a booklet by Leighton Ford called Letters to a New Christian, I hurried home to begin reading.

Jesus did not disappoint. He was everything I thought He would be and more. I loved spending time with Him. Loved reading my Bible. Loved just sitting with Him.

As vividly as I remember those early days, I have no recollection of when I started to walk away from God. I dont remember when quiet times became a drudgery rather than a delight. Or when the same goal began surfacing year after year on my New Years resolutions list: start having quiet times.

Like the church in Ephesus, I had lost my first love. And even though that love came back sporadically over the next twenty-five years, for the most part it was a duty-driven relationship.

Dont get me wrongI was still a good Christian. I went to church, stayed away from the Christian no-nos, and even led Bible studies. But I wasnt in love with God, and I wasnt experiencing victory over my habits and sins.

I was beginning to feel like I would never change when God stepped in. He showed me the secret, not only to breaking free from my bad habits and sins, but also to a closer walk with Him. The secret is found in Romans 12:2: Do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

How did I miss that verse? It told me what to do if I wanted to change. The only thing I can say in my defense is that I was blinded by unrealistic expectations. You see I was expecting God to change me automaticallywith no effort on my part.

So when I read Romans 12:2, I wasnt thinking, Oh, I need to spend some time actively renewing my mind if I want to be transformed. I was thinking, Oh, isnt that great? God is going to change me and cure me of all my bad habits.

After all, I was a Christian. Isnt that what God did for Christians?

I waited and waited and waited but nothing happened. Each year ended the same way it began. Same old bad habits. Same old unmet goals. Same old me.

So I took matters into my own hands. Surely I could drum up enough willpower for a few minor changes: Learn to be nice, for example. Stop complaining. Have a regular quiet time.

As it turns out, no, I couldnt. My new strategy was just as ineffective as my old strategy. Instead of relying on Gods strength, I was relying on my ownand I was a weakling in the strength department.

Nothing worked until I started doing what the Bible was telling me to do all along: I started to renew my mind. Consistently, diligently, and expectantly. And thats when God began to change me.

Not overnight, but slowly and steadily, so that now, looking back on fourteen years of consistently renewing my mind, I can see changes in my thoughts, emotions, and behavior that I never would have thought possible in the old days of constant defeat.

I was so grateful to God for what He had done in my life that I began to write. And now three books later, Im finally writing a book devoted solely to the renewing of the mind.

This book isnt a Bible study, but its not a regular book either. Think of it as a workshop on transformation. Not one of those workshops where you sit for a couple of days, take in a lot of great information, and then go home and forget it.

No, this is a hands-on workshop. Where you focus on one area of your lifesomething youd really like to changeand learn how to go to God for help with it.

Im going to ask you to take on a project. Something youve been trying to change forever with no results. It could be a habit or emotion that hurts your relationship with others. It could be a sin that distances you from God. Or maybe something that just plain makes you miserable.

As you consider different projects, think back to the last time you made New Years resolutions. What did you want to change? What did you think youd never be able to change? Since you dont have to rely on your own strength, the sky is the limit for what you can work on.

Well explore possible projects in chapters 2 and 8-11, but first lets take a look at the overall process well be going through. With most workshops, the instructor takes you by the hand and walks you through the steps necessary to complete whatever goal youre working on. This isnt one of those workshops.

Instead, youll be taking Gods hand and going to Him for help with your project. Im just another person in the class, still working on my own projects.

If you look through the book, youll notice that the last half is full of Bible verses and questions. In chapters 5 and 6 youll find practical everyday examples of how to use those questions and Bible verses to go to God for help with your project.

Well look at the biblical model of transformation in chapters 3 and 12, and well look at the renewing of the mind in chapter 4: what it is, why it works, and how to do it on a practical, day-by-day basis. In Chapter 7 well look at truth journaling, which is a practical application of 2 Corinthians 10:3-5.

I hope youre getting excited. Not only about changing something youve been wanting to change forever, but also about going to God for help with it. Philippians 4:13 says, I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. God can help you accomplish your goal, and He tells us how to do that in His Word. Well talk more about what that will look like in later chapters, but first lets talk about your project.

CHAPTER 2

The Renewing of the Mind Project