I spent years thinking that the process of “renewing your mind” was something that just naturally happened and was beyond my control. I used to think that it was something God was in control of. I didn’t know that I could actually intentionally do something to renew my mind — that I could “consciously” renew my mind. I used to think that if you just go about your Christian life, some way, some how, your mind is suddenly renewed.

But, in the last few years, I’ve discovered that it’s actually not that complicated — you can do it intentionally and it isn’t hard. I’m going to show you how it works, how you can use it intentionally, and how you can use it effectively.

How it works:

Imagine that you’ve lived at your house for 20 years of your life.

You’ve memorized the fastest ways to drive back from your work, from church, from your friend’s place, from school, and from the gym. You’ve developed a route that you take every time. You don’t think about it, that’s just the way you go home because you’ve done that for 20 years. You know the correct turns to make. You know the best time to take which route based on how bad traffic is. You know which roads have the most cops. And you know all the ins and outs of getting yourself home.

Then imagine if you move 10 minutes away.

The next day, you’re about to head back home from work. You get in your car as usual, and you start driving. Out of sheer habit and muscle memory, you take the same old highway, the same old exit, and the same traffic all the way until you get home, only to realize that you no longer live at your old house. You slap yourself on the forehead thinking, “How could I forget?! I moved! Gotta make sure I don’t do this again…what a waste of time!”

The next day is similar, you get into your car and you begin to take the same route you’ve taken for the last 20 years. It isn’t until about halfway home you realize again, “Shoot! I moved!” You pull a U-turn and head towards the new home you recently moved into.

So by this point, you’re consciously making an effort to make sure it doesn’t happen again. You create a reminder in your head, “Alright, when I reach this street, I have to make a left where I used to make a right.” You know it will take a conscious effort to forge a new pattern because the old pattern was so familiar, natural, and comfortable. But you know you have to do it because you no longer live at the old house – none of your belongings are there. Plus, the new house is much bigger, with a lot more freedom to move around.

The next day, as you leave your house for work, you make another mental note to remind yourself that you’ve moved so that you won’t forget at the end of the day. The time arrives, and you get into your car. Confident, reminding yourself that you have a new home, you get all the way home without taking a wrong turn. When you arrive, you breathe a sigh of satisfaction, knowing that you took the right route and you’re confident it’ll be easier next time.

Over a period of a few weeks, what started with lots of errors and mistakes starts to become second-nature and natural. The muscle memory and old pattern of thinking was undone and now it’s hard to imagine ever taking that old route again. In addition to that, you’ve done the same exercise with your church, school, friend’s place, and the gym. All the old routes were reprogrammed and redesigned to fit the location of your new home.

Months down the road, it’s nowhere near a struggle. You’ve forged a new routine — a new habit. You arrive at your new home every time. And every once in a while, you’ll be at an intersection you used to use when you were at your old house, and you’ll get a familiar feeling of when you used to slam the pedal to try to make the light…you reminisce on the memories.  But then you’d snap back into reality remembering, “Well…I don’t live there anymore.”

This is the life of the believer. This is the call of Romans 12:2, to “renew your mind.” As a believer you have a responsibility to renew your thinking, to rewire your brain as a result of understanding the fact that you have become a son of God, an heir of God, an ambassador of a King. As a result of understanding that you have been bought at a price (denoting worth) and that you have been given a new nature (new tendencies), it should cause you to make different choices. It is a different path — a different life than you once walked.
The old house had its own set of ways and its own set of patterns. If we find ourselves veering off into the old paths, it’s only because we’ve forgotten that we’ve moved to a new house that’s more glorious.

How to use it intentionally:

“Renewing your mind” is definitely not just about reciting a list of facts. Nor is it about confessing a phrase in an effort to try to persuade yourself to believe it. When you renew your mind, it should renew the way you do things. A new perspective should result in a new set of actions, just like moving to a new house will cause you to take new directions. Taking new directions aren’t a requirement, but it’s a natural byproduct of understanding that you have a new house.

Say for example I’ve dealt with jealously for many years of my life, and if I hear that a friend has achieved something that I’ve been trying to achieve, I get jealous and I have a hard time celebrating with them.

And then let’s say that I hear a teaching and I realize that I’m just like the disciples arguing and competing to be the greatest. I’m jealous because I’m actually performing for the approval/praise of man instead of understanding I already have approval from God. I realize the simple truth that my worth comes from what my Father has already said about me, not what other people say.

When that new revelation is received, that’s when I get a new house. Immediately, I am “free” from my old house, and I am free to not “drive back” to the old house of jealousy. I am free to celebrate with my friend instead of getting envious. I am free, but the rubber will have to hit the road.

So the next time a friend has achieved something I’ve been wanting to achieve, I have a choice to drive to the old house that I’ve been used to (jealousy), or I remember that I’ve moved on to a new house (celebrating my friend). The problem is that it will still feel natural and I will be tempted to take the old route toward the old house if I believe I still live there. I will allow the habit and the muscle memory to dictate my direction if I never realize the fact that I have a new house. But if I’m truly convinced that I have moved, I will make every conscious effort to take the new route every time. Why? Because I’ve moved. The new house is better than the old house, and all my belongings are in the new one.

So, suppose that I failed to make it to the new house. The muscle memory and habit got the best of me the first time.

Do I deem myself a failure, feel condemned and think, “You’re so horrible for driving back to your old house, what a failure“?
No, I just write it off and think, “Wow, how did that slip my mind?”

Do I think, “Man…I guess I’ll never remember to make it to my new house, it’s just so hard to remember“?
No, I just make a few more conscious reminders to make sure that I make it the next time. I’ll think, “Alright, when I’m at this intersection, I no longer take a left…I make a right. Left is the old house. Right is the new house.”

Do I think, “I just feel so stuck. I just somehow can’t get to my new house…I feel bound to drive back to my old house…every time. I’ll never make it to my new one, this is hopeless“?

Ridiculous. I will only feel bound to my old house if I still believe I live there. I will only be bound to the same old habits and same old routes if I believe I still have the same old “home base.” When I’ve renewed my mind to the fact that I have a new “default,” a new “home,” a new “building”...I will make the effort to get there every time, because it’s a better house!

So to answer the question: “How do I intentionally renew my mind?” It’s a moot point. The same way you change the routes you take when you move to a new house is the same way to renew your mind (re-read the parable if it hasn’t clicked yet).

Using it effectively:

Naturally, when you move to a new house, it’s not just one route that has to change. All the routes change. You have to ask yourself, how do I get home from the store now? From the bank? From my friend’s house? From the restaurant? All the “courses” of action change as a result of your new “‘home.”
Every one of your old behaviors will change based on the revelation of your new house, but they will all take a conscious effort. Only you can do that for you.

Whether it’s about your poor temperament, a struggle to be patient, a habit of gossiping, getting free from addiction, thinking poorly of yourself, worth issues, dealing with fear of man, struggling with jealously like I did, or struggling with pride… it doesn’t matter. It’s the same process.

You need to understand that you have a new house, and you need to figure out what the path to that new house looks like. What does it look like to no longer gossip, but speak life and encouragement? What mindsets need to change so that you don’t get angry so easily? What lie are you believing about yourself that you need to diffuse in order to stop the self-loathing and sense of unworthiness?

If you keep digressing to your old paths, it’s because you haven’t forged a new path. If you feel like you’ll never escape your old habits, it’s because you believe that you still live in your old house and haven’t moved yet.

The Process of Growth:

You’re probably realizing now that this is everything in your Christian life.
This is how you walk out the fruit of the Spirit (even fruit takes time to mature).
This is how you walk as Jesus walked (babies have to learn how to walk, and then run).
It’s all a result of understanding that you’ve become a new creation.
You’ve been cut off from the old. The old has gone. The old has died. It has been put off.

Get it?

Here’s the beautiful thing…

It gets easier.

The more you take the new route, the less you’ll feel prone to take the old. The more you take the new, the less of an effort you’ll need the next time.

Soon, after a few months, it’ll hardly cross your mind. You won’t even be tempted to take the old route. It might cross your mind and you might reminisce, but by then, you’ll have forged a new habit and living reality. You’ll have a new walk, a new path, a new way, and by then, it’ll be an effort to go back to the old.

(1 Peter 1:13-14, 4:1-3, Col 3:5-10, Eph 4:17-23, 5:8-10, Gal 5:24, Gal 5:13)

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• The End of Performance
• The End of Worthlessness

This is an awesome video:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRqDmDohTLM

Transcribed:

This is called, “Decisions that Define Us”

We have decided, that teaching the Gospel without demonstrating the Gospel is not enough
good preaching, good doctrine, being good people — it’s not enough
We’ve decided that having a good church club is not enough
good fellowship — it’s not enough
just being a member of that club is not enough
We’ve decided that having good bible studies is good, but not good enough.
That just making it to heaven is not our goal
and that knowing about God without truly knowing Him and experiencing God is meaningless

We’ve decided that having good programs is not enough,
That change without transformation is intolerable
And that staying the same is not an option

We’ve decided that gifting without character is futile
We’ve decided that singing songs without worshipping is hollow
Having meetings without God showing up is pointless
We’ve decided that faith without works is not enough
And having works without love is not acceptable
That our function comes out of our relationship first, with our father and second, with each other

We have that decided that reading about the book of Acts without living the book of acts is unthinkable

We’ve decided that confident faith is good, bold faith is better
We’ve decided that hearing about the Holy Spirit without experiencing Him is silly
That believing in His presence without seeing it manifested in signs and wonders is hypocrisy
That believing in healing without seeing people healed is absurd
and that believing in deliverance without people being delivered is absolutely ridiculous

We’ve decided to be Holy Spirit filled, Holy Spirit led, and Holy Spirit empowered
Anything less doesn’t work for us

We have decided to be the ones telling the stories of God’s power, not the ones hearing about God
We have decided that living saved, but not supernatural, is living below our privilege and short of what Christ died for.

We have decided that we’re a battleship, not a cruise ship
an army, not an audience
special forces, not spectators
missionaries, not club members

We have decided to value both pioneers and settlers
pioneers to expand our territory and settlers to build on those territories
but we are not squatters — people who take up space others have fought for without improving it

We have decided to be infectious instead of innocuous
contagious instead of quarantined
deadly instead of benign

We have decided to be radical lovers and outrageous givers
We have decided that we’re a mission station, not a museum
Therefore, we honor the past, but we don’t live in it.
We live in the present with our eyes on the future

We see past events, success and failures as stepping stones, not stop signs
We pursue learning in order to be transformed, not learning in order to know

We are people of engagement, not observation
We focus on what could be, not what is or has been
We are not limited to the 4 walls of this building
Our influence is not restricted by location
Not even the nations are ‘out of bounds’
We are more concerned about how many we send out into the world,
Than how many we convince to come into the building

This building is meant to be filled, and it will be
but it will not be the measure of who we are, or the measure of our effectiveness
We raise up world-changers, not tour-guides
We train commandos, not committers

We are people of our destiny, not our history
We have decided that it’s better to fail while reaching for the impossible that God has planned for us than succeed in settling for less
We have decided that nothing short of His kingdom come, and His will be done in our world as it is in heaven will satisfy
We have decided we will not be satisfied until our world freaks out, and cries out “those who have turned the world upside down have come here too” (acts 17:6)

These are some of the decisions that define who we are as a community and how we live our lives
These decisions are not destinations but rather journeys
Journeys along an ancient path, we’ve not found some new way
but rather we’ve discovered the path as old as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
The same path followed by Moses, Joshua, Caleb, Paul, John, and Peter
A path followed by the first century church
A church that revolutionized the culture of the 1st century and beyond

It’s a path that will impact the world we live in today
It’s a path of bold faith
believing that what God says is really true and acting on it

It’s a path of outrageous generosity
Giving our life away in order to demonstrate his kingdom
It’s a path of radical love
Loving God with everything in us
and our neighbors as ourselves

It’s a path of liberty freedom and healing
On this path, you will find significance purpose and destiny
It’s a path less traveled, however
It’s not a path only available to a select few
but to whosoever will may come
It’s for people of every nation tribe and tongue
for those in any occupation or vocation

No matter where you are on this life journey, there’s room on this path for you.

- Graham Cooke

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRqDmDohTLM

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It frustrates me when people reduce “healing the sick” to a theological argument.

Think about this.

It’s not even supposed to be a “stance” of scripture. Jesus didn’t even try to prove that healing was for His day.

He didn’t try to validate it through Scripture. He just did it.

It wasn’t an argument. He just did it.

It wasn’t a formula. It was just a byproduct of who He was with — His Father (John 5:19-20)

“God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” – Acts 10:38

Jesus never mentioned “this is for the elite”. He never said, “for pastors and people with ministries only”. He did it because God was with Him.

Doesn’t that make perfect sense?

God, Creator of the universe, spoke worlds into existence…

Jesus healed all who were oppressed by the devil because the Creator was with Him.

Hmm…

Ok.

God is with US. We have become the temple in which God Himself dwells. God is with us (1 John 4:4, John 14:16, Joshua 1:5). We have the same spirit that Christ had.

Are you connecting the dots?

God was with Jesus, therefore, Jesus healed all those oppressed by the devil.

God is with _____, therefore, _____ can heal all those oppressed by the devil.

Must I fill in the blanks for you?

-

See, it’s not about, “let’s examine the theological soundness of this statement”

It’s about healing those who are oppressed by the devil. 

(rephrase)

It’s about freeing people from the devil. 

Do you realize that the sickness that Jesus healed are the same sicknesses that are still here today? Deafness. Blindness. Muteness. Paralysis. Epilepsy. Leprosy. Fever. Sickness of the blood. Death.

All those sicknesses, Jesus healed.
All those sicknesses are from the devil.

All those sicknesses are still here today. 
All those sicknesses are still from the devil.

Do you see where I’m going?

Healing was a tool that Jesus used out of the overflow of compassion that He had for people.

He healed people because He wanted to free them from the devil. Because when you get someone free from the devil, that’s actually good news.

Healing isn’t about a doctrine. It’s a jail-break from the prison of physical bondage (Luke 4:18). It’s about serving people who are in need (1 John 3:18).

Think about this: When Jesus encountered someone sick, He could say to them:

“You don’t have to be blind anymore.”
“You don’t have to be deaf anymore.”
“You don’t have to die of this sickness.”
“You don’t have to suffer from epilepsy anymore.”
“I can set you free from the devil. Right now.”

What a privilege! What a joy to get to be able to say that! How was He able? Because God was with Him.

Think about this: When a Christian encounters someone suffering, we ought to be able to say:

“You don’t have to have chronic depression anymore”
“20 years of scoliosis? No problem.”
“Doctors said you have stage 4 cancer? Would you want that report reversed?”
“You were born deaf? Would you like to be able to hear?”
“Your husband has advanced Parkinson’s? Do you want your husband back?”
“You’ve had migraines for 10 years? It can stop today.”

Why?

Because He is with us. 

What an honor to be able to represent King of Kings.

What an privilege we can bring hope to people who have lost it.

To not run after this is like shirking at a $10,000 bill.
Yes, it seems like only rich, famous, renown people have been able to use this $10,000 dollar bill.
Yes, people have abused their use of the $10,000 bill.
Yes, people have idolized the $10,000 bill.
Yes, people have boasted in their $10,000 bill instead of using it.
Yes, the devil has created counterfeits of the $10,000 bill.

Every believer has been given the $10,000 bill.
But God gave it to us with the intent that we would freely give to others, because it has been freely given to us (Luke 12:32, Luke 17:21, Matt 10:8, Acts 3:6).

It was given to us as a tool to better serve the people around us. It was a tool to equip us in a supernatural way to express love for people, not something to wave around and idolize.

Do you get it?

You get to demonstrate love for people in a supernatural way because God. is. with. you.

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A few weeks ago (September 17), I went to Tijuana, Mexico with a team of ~15 people led by Chris Preitauer. Chris actually compiled the majority of the team’s testimonies here, including videos and pictures.

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But first, here’s some background to how I met Chris:

The last time I went to Southern California (SoCal), I was staying a night in Los Angeles and I came across Chris’ site that my friend had cross-posted. I read a few of the testimonies on the site and realized that this guy was on a similar page as me.

I looked him up on facebook and found out that he was in San Diego — it just so happened that I was going there the very next day. I sent him a friend request and a message saying something along the lines of:

“Hey I came across your site, seems like we’re on the same page. We should meet up! Are you free in the next few days?”

He responded, and a few days later, we met up at a local mall and spent a few hours sharing our stories/journey/testimonies. At one point in the conversation, Chris told me that he went to Mexico on a consistent basis and he invited me to go with him the next time around. This trip we just came back from was a result of what we discussed that night.

-

I left 5:30am from San Jose, picked up my friend Christian as I was passing through LA, and we arrived at the meeting area around 2:30pm. Chris had me do a short training on the basics of healing. Here’s the clip:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpjPTFQKw0Y

We drove across the border, and before we got started with anything, we had tacos. While we were ordering at this small taco shop, Chris yelled out at me and pointed across the street. I looked, confused at first because I didn’t know what he was pointing at. And then I saw it. It was a man on crutches; he was missing his left leg.

As other similar occasions, this is what went through my head.

“You’ve never seen an amputee healed.”

“This is IMPOSSIBLE. HELLOOOOOO”

“What? A limb’s gonna grow out? You crazy.”

I blipped. I decided it would be more convenient to not go after the guy. I spent a few minutes fixing my thinking. If I blip, I intentionally confront why I had the hesitation, and correct it with the right thinking. I picked myself back up mentally and went on with the day.

I went back to ordering tacos and getting acquainted with the team. We ate tacos and talked for a little bit, and after a while, to my surprise, the guy with the missing leg came into the store. I turned to one of my teammates, Francisco, and asked, “Hey you wanna translate for me?”

“Sure.”

We went to approach the guy, but he was ordering tacos so we decided to wait a little. When we finally greeted him and asked, I asked, ‘Hey, you mind me asking what happened to your leg?’ Francisco translated for me and the guy told us that it was a medical mistake; the doctors ended up amputating his whole leg with the exception of a stump.

I asked, “Do you mind if I pray for your leg to be restored?” He welcomed it. I put my hand on his stump and commanded the leg to be restored, and then asked him how he was doing. He said he felt some tingling in the area, but not much else. I went in to pray again, commanding bone/flesh/tendons/ligaments to form and then asked again how he was doing. Not much else.

I decided to close it. “Thank you for letting me pray for you. Make sure you keep checking your leg for any change.” He was grateful that we even took the time.

-

The church we were ministering at was “Charismatic Family Center” in Tijuana. There were probably about 100 people there.

I decided to hang outside the building just before the meeting was about to start. I saw a younger woman pushing an elderly woman in a wheelchair across the street. It just so happened that Francisco was outside as well. “Hey there’s a lady in a wheelchair across the street, you wanna come?”

We approached the lady and asked what had happened to her. The younger woman told us that she had diabetes and it was affecting her eyesight and her strength. I asked if she wanted to be made well (who doesn’t??), and she nodded. I wish I could give a solid result of what happened, but that was lost in translation.

Immediately after, I met Jose and his wife. Jose was using a blind cane, so I went to talk with him to see what happened. He told me he had glaucoma and he lost most of his vision. I laid hands on his eyes ~3 times without much concrete progress. He dismissed himself and told me that he was heading to the church meeting anyway. We will continue with his story later..

On a side note, we didn’t just go to this church to minister to the sick, Chris also arranged for clothes and food to be given out to the locals.

http://powerdemonstration.com/2011/09/21/videos-the-blind-3-receive-their-sight-in-mexico/

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This was probably the most prominent question in my life when I was growing up as a believer…

I spent most of my time searching for this elusive “God’s will” whenever I was trying to figure out which direction to go.

Should I go to this event?

Should I choose this option or this option?

Which job should I take?

Which school should I go to?

And then in the midst of the decision that I picked, I hoped and hoped that I didn’t miss God, that I didn’t choose the wrong one and now I’m missing out on “God’s best” for my life.

Fear, regret, and cautiousness plagued my life rather than faith, thankfulness, and confidence.

I found the greatest freedom when I realized that God actually trusted me to make decisions.

When a son is growing up and asks his father, “Dad, what should I do when I grow up?” The father will probably say, “Son, you can do whatever you want! I will always love you be right behind you.”

“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” – John 3:6-8

When I realized that the wind blows where it wishes, that the wind doesn’t ask God where it should blow, I realized freedom. No longer, paralyzed in fear of ‘missing God’, hesitant in making decisions, but now freedom realizing God is behind me in every choice that I make. I can’t go wrong.

And even if I pick the wrong one, my Father is wise enough and powerful enough to help me learn from it, and overcome my mistake. That’s the reason I was sent a Helper/Counselor/Comforter.

Obviously, there are choices that are good, choices that are better, choices that benefit in some ways and benefit in other ways.

But it’s the freedom of knowing… you can do anything. Yes, you can actually CHOOSE.

Regardless of how the situation unfolds, God’s able to work it out for the good, and He’s able to shine through you whatever the choice you make. Understanding this made me free to confidently make decisions knowing that I’m backed up by my Dad. I have no regrets about “what if I had chosen a different path?”

I make a choice, I represent my Father and what He stands for, and I rock it out. He’ll give me wisdom along the way, and I’ll dialogue with Him along the way.

This is a whole lot more freeing than “Ohh brother you want to be careful, you don’t want to miss God!“

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