Pursue Healing ~ Pray for a Miracle

Put It into Practice

Focus on . . .

Rerouting Your Thoughts

Scripture Says . . .

With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.

God went for the jugular when he sent his own Son. He didn’t deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant. In his Son, Jesus, he personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all. The law code, weakened as it always was by fractured human nature, could never have done that.

Romans 8:1–4 THE MESSAGE4

We cannot fathom the transaction that took place for our identity, our security, and our eternity. But may we spend the rest of our lives pondering the wonder of it all. May the miracle of our salvation never be lost on us; may God’s kindness to us continually occupy our thoughts.

Science Says . . .

Evidence accumulated in the last three decades indicates that brain cells have a greater capacity for adaptation and regeneration than we previously believed. This characteristic is generally referred to as neuroplasticity. This property of neurons allows for the connection between different domains of the brain, and thereby different functional components such as sensations, images, feelings, thoughts, and bodily actions. . . . Renewal of the mind, therefore, is not just an abstraction. It means real change in real bodies. . . . The more I practice remembering the things I am emotionally drawn to, the more I become that which I remember.5

Pursue Healing

When you consider the fact that even today we can begin a new work in our thoughts, which will directly affect our overall health, why put it off for another day? Start today by pondering, remembering, and rehearsing God’s goodness to you and His affection for you. Like me, you may also have some buried trauma that the enemy has used to accuse and threaten you. But as you ponder the Lord’s great love, you’ll be strategically positioned to face what’s buried beneath the surface. Be proactive with your thought life. Ruthlessly interrupt and redirect every pattern of thought that . . .

• Steals your joy
• Makes you feel like others barely tolerate you
• Makes you negatively self-aware
• Compels you to rehearse your failures and missteps
• Gives you a pessimistic view of your future

Because here’s what’s true:

• Jesus doesn’t just tolerate you; He’s crazy about you!
• You have zero reason for negative self-awareness. You are an heir!
• You are completely and forever forgiven because of Jesus.
• Jesus already knows the plans He has for you, and they’re good plans to prosper, not to harm you, to give you a hope and a future. (See Jeremiah 29:11.)

Put every thought through the filter of God’s wild and passionate love for you. Practice, practice, practice, and develop new healthy thought patterns that are consistent with God’s thoughts toward you. You will experience a miracle transformation in your brain.

Pray for a Miracle

Precious Lord, I know You want this for me. I want this for me. Help me to retrain my thoughts and reframe my perspective. I marvel at how often my thoughts take me downward. But like an eagle that soars in the sky, You call me to set my sights on things above. I need supernatural help with this! Fill me afresh with a strong sense of Your presence and Your peace. Help me to remember the great things You have done. May I one day marvel at how my thoughts reflect a heart and mind that are healed and whole, just like You always intended them to be. Do a miracle in me, Lord. In Your name I pray. Amen.