Monthly Archives: February 2015

We have been talking on how toxic thinking can actually damage our bodies physically, emotionally,and spiritually.  We have been working to remove toxic thinking from our lives by:

Awareness– being aware on the kinds of wounds and thoughts in our minds.

Analyze—sifting through and sorting out the negative from the positive thoughts.

Action—taking action by removing the wounds and negativity from our minds

Acceptance–today we accept God’s word and apply it to our lives.

I like to use this visual to identify toxic thinking:  AWARENESS,  receiving a bullet attack from Satan, we then ANALYZE how we are going to remove that bullet out of our bodies, take ACTION to remove that bullet out of our bodies, we then heal that wound with ACCEPTANCE from the word of God.

You can remove all kinds of bullets(toxic thoughts) from our bodies but if we don’t take care of those wounds(hurts, negativity) and treat them properly they can grow back into something worse than we had before.

Satan is very smart when it comes to dealing with people’s emotions. He knows that once you try and get rid of something that belongs to him, he will try every avenue to force it back into your life.  You need to be aware of what is going on.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Ephesians 6:10-12

God’s word says that we don’t wrestle against things in the natural realm, we wrestle against spiritual forces that try and mess with our minds. When we take action to remove something, each and every time we are reminded of that toxic thought we need to soak it in God’s word until that wound becomes completely immersed and healed by the Lord.

Remember……..Satan comes immediately to steal all your peace. He isn’t out to steal your car, he is out to steal the word. If you are reading God’s word, stay focused on what the Word says. Don’t disregard any part of it, repeat it and memorize it. Keep that in the forefront of your mind. Don’t allow Satan to come and steal the joy that God is giving to you.

Search out scriptures that pertain to the toxic thinking you are dealing with.  Write down the verses on index cards and put them in a place you will see them.  I like to copy verses and put them on my kitchen windowsill, a place I am at frequently.  I read the verses over and over again soaking my mind with the Word.  When things come up, that are toxic, I practice reviewing those verses over and over again.  Eventually each time I am reminded of my toxic hurt or thought, those verses come to mind.  Eventually they become so ingrained in my brain that I don’t have any room for toxic thoughts to take shape and then it is healed.  I no longer think about it, no longer get offended over it, and I can say that God has delivered me from my wound.

As soon as our minds gives way to toxic thought our minds go dark immediately.  You have to dump that thought instantly, otherwise it will grow and become part of you.  Psalm 112:7-8 says:

He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.  His heart is steady; he will not be afraid.

Sometimes we don’t even think that we have toxic thoughts, because we feel like we have already dealt with them.  When you hear something, if your thoughts are turned right away to taking offense or anger towards it, then you haven’t really given that area over to God in your mind.  Satan loves to prey on our past and hurts and emotions, we need to recognize that he is apart of that and get rid of it!!

How are toxic thoughts formed in our minds?

1. They begin as thoughts formed by Satan.
2. We then entertain these thoughts and they form emotions.
3. Giving into these emotions eventually leads to taking some sort of action.
4. When you continual participate in this behavior it causes you to develop a habit.
5. Once a habit is developed, a strong-hold from Satan is built by that spirit.

Whenever you go through or experience an uncomfortable feeling, either from an old memory or a new thing, it is crucial that you DO NOT SUPPRESS it.  DO NOT BOTTLE UP your feelings.  Acknowledge it and take ownership over it.  Do not aim it at anyone or cast blame.  That will breed seeds of unforgiveness.  When you bury negative feelings, particularly offenses, they will eventually spew forth and explode.  I know this from first hand experience.  I would just keep things bottled up inside and over and over it would build up and then one day I would just explode with anger.  Usually fights don’t begin over something big, it is usually over nothing. But because we suppress our feelings, we just keep stuffing them down, until eventually the pressure is too much and we explode over anything.  This is NOT healthy or Godly ways.

A follower of Jesus can not give way to either anger or prejudice and still authentically represent Jesus Christ to others in love. 

John 14:1 he says to NOT let our hearts be troubled.  We are supposed to follow the word of God—there are reasons why!!!

Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me.

It’s our choice what we store in our hearts. Sometimes we don’t consider ourselves “evil” and I would like to think I was not.  But I know that when I spew forth anger and gossip or hatred I am speaking out of the abundance of my heart.  We need to be cleansing our hearts and purifying our minds so that we can do what God’s word says.

The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Luke 6:45

We want to keep working at removing toxic thoughts from our minds.  Most are ones that we have suppressed and don’t think about anymore.  But when an instance occurs, it brings up hurt, then we get angered or take offense.  We need to search out scripture that pertains to our particular hurt and apply it to our “wounds.”  By doing this we will be cleansing our wounds and letting them heal by the word of God.  Do this over and over again until it is no longer an issue.  I repeat a verse over and over, especially when going through a particularly bad time.  Eventually it becomes a habit and then when that offense comes up, it doesn’t bother me.  Then I know that my wound has healed.

We have one last thing to do to work towards removing toxic thoughts from our brains…..being Able

I hope that you have not forgotten about decluttering your home.  I pray you have stayed with me and kept moving along ridding your home of the excess to create a peaceful haven of a home.  I am not doing this all in one day, I have broken it up into weeks as to not overwhelm you.  If you want to purchase my book and move at your own pace, I recommend you doing so, if not, just keep following along with us.

For those that like a video here it is, if not scroll past and read along

This week we are focusing on our living room.  This should be a room of peace and relaxation.  This is the room that most families come together  and share games and fun times together.  What does your room look like?  Do you have to remove things off the couch before you sit down on it?  Are their piles of paperwork cluttering up all of your tables?  How about dishes and cups that have soon been forgotten to be picked up in this area?  Do I dare ask you what the inside of your couch looks like?? or when the last time you vacuumed it out (gasp!)?

Let’s start with the biggest item in this room—-your couch.  Let’s start by taking off all of the cushions.  Get out your vacuum with the crevice tool, vacuum out all of the cracks and corners in your couch.  Move the couch away from its area and vacuum underneath it.  Have a container for you to put all the miscellaneous items that you found in there.  Have a small trash can for larger pieces that won’t suck up.  Get that whole thing vacuumed out.  If you have larger recliner chairs do the same thing to those.

Now that you have a clean couch, start working on your television center.

Everyone’ collection will be different.  Start by going through your videos and DVD’s.  Put in a pile those that you haven’t watched in years.  If you have little ones and have a surplus of  preschool shows but choose to watch broadcast tv or netflix—get rid of those videos.  No sense holding onto them if they watch whatever is on tv.  You will be putting these into your “out of sight” box.  It will sit in another area of your home and if you really think about that video again you can get it out.  Otherwise donate it to someone who could use it.

Clean up game controller’s and put all those items into a smaller container that fits on a shelf.  Be sure to wipe off your entire entertainment system with a good all natural cleaner.

What else is in your living room?  Do you have coffee tables?  End tables?  Whatever you have, start by taking everything off and going through it.

Magazines!!!!  You probably have a huge collection of magazines.  I would suggest putting these into a pile and later on going through them.  While you are watching tv or some other activity, make it a priority to go through these magazines and tear out what you want to keep.  Recipe magazines???—-Do a quick skim of it and rip out the recipes you “think” you will try and put them in a folder.  Keep this folder in your household binder or in a kitchen cupboard and designate one day each week to trying out new recipes.  Homemaker ones?  I have many of these and decided I really was not going to read them again, I tore out the information and placed it in a folder of things I wanted to keep.  Honestly, I haven’t looked at that folder in years, for future reference I will probably bind up the magazines and pass them along to some other homemaker that could enjoy them.

Bookshelves—homeschoolers usually have acquired many books.  Our family over the years went from having 3 full bookshelves down to about 1/2 of a bookshelf.  Why did I get rid of so many books?  Information changes, our teaching style changes, books are available at our local library, and we moved and got rid of many.

I have kept books that are hard to come by.  Ones with good values and morals.  Ones that my older children enjoyed reading. I weeded out those that were not as exciting or that had one part of questionable material in it.  Our teaching consists of me writing their curriculum with information I find online so I don’t have need to hold onto many books.  I know each family is different and some have textbooks and other workbooks that they must hold onto and I understand that—get rid of the ones you don’t need, the ones that are taking up space.

Have shelves of knickknacks?? Go through those as well.  How many “pretty” things do you need to look at?  Is it taking up space?  Causing you to do more work by having to dust them each week?  Get rid of things that cause you to do more than you have to.  We are in the process of simplifying our homes, not creating more work.

If you store your family games in this room, go through them.  I have decided to take most out of their boxes and store them in plastic bags.  It works better for our household.  We keep only games we enjoy, I don’t usually hold onto ones that “one day” we will play.  I keep those that we will play now.

Extra throw blankets, go through and keep only the ones that aren’t ripped or stained.  Put them in a basket or inside of a piece of furniture.  Even though it is great to have Christmas throws, it is just one more thing that you use for about 2 weeks out of the year, keep them simple.  Find your favorite and get rid of the rest.

Have multiple candles?  Start by working to burn them down.  Instead of lighting 5 different candles and having 5 different used candles, just burn one at a time until it is done. Move onto the next one.

Look at your wall hangings??  Are they something that needs to be thrown away?  Do they collect way to much dust and hard to clean each month?  Think about getting a “cleaner” sleeker item for your walls.

You should be having a feeling of freeness right about now.  Your home is mostly decluttered.  The major areas, that people see, you have gone through.  Keep at it.  Put items that you are going to get rid of into your “out of sight” box.  Just go through your items quickly.  Don’t think too much about things, look at it and your first thought should be ,”do I use this?”  If you don’t, get rid of it.

The book has a few more steps but we will be skipping those and moving onwards to part 6

Work hard this weekend, by going through your room and decluttering it.  Be blessed.

I have been slowly working on improving my diet.  I think I have finally passed over the line of craving salty or sweet foods.  It took awhile.  I had to retrain my body and what I put into it.  I have been really focusing on eating nutrient dense foods lately.  If I am going to put calories into my body,  why not make them worthwhile?  I don’t want to eat something that I have to go exercise an hour for just to burn it off.

I had bought some chia, and raw hemp seeds awhile ago and was intending to put them in smoothies to drink because of their nutritional value.  I unfortunately do not care for yogurt or kefir tasting drinks so it never happened.  Call me crazy but I just started putting a couple tablespoons into my daily kombucha and drank them down?!!?

I was thinking not to share with anyone what I was concocting—because it was odd:)

I realized I like the way that the seeds made me feel and so I decided to come up with a bar to eat.  A much more appetizing treat.

Before I give you my recipe, maybe you don’t know much about chia seeds, raw hemp, or flax seeds and how good they are for you.  Here are some quick facts:

raw hemp seeds:

• excellent source of both fatty acids (good fats)
• great source of protein (3 Tablespoons contain 11 grams protein)
• highest form of protein that is not an animal product
• natural appetite suppressant

chia seeds:

• labeled as a “superfood” which means they are one of the healthiest foods on the planet
• excellent source of Omega 3’s
• excellent source of easily digestible protein
• excellent source of dietary fiber (3 Tablespoons contain 48% of daily fiber)
• contains 500% more calcium than milk
• have the ability to sustain energy for a long period of time

flaxseeds:

• helps lower cholesterol
• high in Omega 3’s which aid in reducing inflammation
• high concentration of lignans which help to inhibit tumor growth
• helps reduce bone loss thanks to concentration of fatty acids

So how do we get all that into something that resembles a food worthwhile to eat?? You make a bar.

I tried a recipe that I found on the internet and went with it. Here is the original recipe I found from wellnessmama

I did most of the same ingredients, in mine I put:

• 6 large dates
• 1/2 cup chia seeds
• 2 T coconut oil
• pinch of cinnamon
• 2 T shredded coconut

I put the dates into my food processor and processed them for a few moments.

I added the chia seeds, cinnamon, and coconut.

Then the coconut oil and came up with a mixture.

I put this in a pan lined with parchment paper and froze it. 

I came up with this result.  They were okay, thinner and more seed like.  But not enough for me to keep making them.  So I decided to tweak it and make it more my own.  I wanted something that had more of a chewier texture and taste a little better.

This is what I added:

• 1 1/2 cups dates
• 1/2 cup cranberries
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 4 Tablespoons unsweetened coconut
• 1/3 cup each of hemp, flax and chia seeds
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1 cup sliced almonds
• 1/2  teaspoon of almond and vanilla extract
• pinch of sea salt
• 2 cup oatmeal

I did the same technique by putting in the dates and cranberries into my food processor.  I added all of the rest of the ingredients ending with coconut oil.

I came up with this mixture.  It looked and smelled much better.  As far as taste goes it tastes wonderfully.  It has an almondy, fruity, nutty and chocolatey taste.

I put them in a parchment paper lined baking pan and froze them. I cut them into bars and placed them in a plastic container.  I would recommend keeping them cool otherwise the coconut oil will melt and they will fall apart.Everyday I take out a chunk of a bar and enjoy its taste.  It is actually very good.  I recommend you trying this version.

All of the ingredients added to this are healthy.  The only thing I discredit is the sugar that they put in the dried cranberries to make them sweeter.  You can actually omit this if you want to, but I enjoy the flavor of it and like to keep it.

This made a full 9×13 pan and they are thicker than my first batch.  I will be making these each month and enjoy them as my daily nutrient based food.  I think these are better than the kombucha and seed mixture….agreed???

We have been talking about toxic thinking and how living our life in the negativity can actually be damaging to our health.  We are working on changing our thoughts to line up with the word of God

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body.

Colossians 3:15

God wants us to have a peaceful heart.  We are told to cast all worries and anxieties to Him.  He wants us to live a life of peace and happiness.   In Matthew 12:34 it says that what we speak is FROM the overflow of our HEARTS.  If we are speaking negative and harsh words then our hearts are NOT lined up where they should be.  We need to be cleansing our hearts and purifying our minds to line up with God.

Let’s get started…..

We have our list that we compiled of our negative thoughts, we sifted and analyzed through them to see where they were coming from and why they were forming negatives in our brains, today we plan to take action on  them and cut them out!!

I gave you some examples of toxic thoughts last post, but do you have more?  What are some toxic thoughts that we hold onto? Here are some toxic thoughts and how to remove them from our minds.

Believing that our past determines our future

Just because you came from a poor background or had a rough upbringing it does not self-fulfill who you become.  When you became a new person in Christ you left the old you behind.  We are now walking with God and He walks within us!! Think about that, if God is “perfect and whole” why can’t we be part of that??  We just need to CHANGE our mode of thinking and STOP believing the lies from Satan.  Stop speaking words about your past that YOU think will define your future.  Start speaking the word of God instead!!

Worrying about what other people think of you

We can’t sit around and worry about what other people think.  If we are lined up with God and ask Him to direct us, then what you do, you do.  You leave the rest up to God.  Let Him deal with people.  Most people probably aren’t judging you as much as you judge yourself.  They are doing exactly what you are—so STOP!  Do what makes you happy and ignore others.

Feeling you always need to prove you are right

I always wonder why people feel like they need to fight to prove their point to things?  Maybe its their own feelings of inadequacy to not feel weak or dumb.  Sometimes they don’t want to appear vulnerable.  But I think it is much better just to be quiet.  Everyone has opinions to things, I say to each his own.  Hold onto what is truth and leave the rest alone.

Having expectations of others

This is a HUGE one for I think everyone.  We all like to “think” people should respond a certain way, but in essence, people are people.  They will say and do things that are hurtful, negative, and wrong.  We cannot expect everyone to respond well.  It would be nice, but it is NOT reality.  Having expectations can be deadly to our happiness–avoid this.

Life is always greener on the other side

This is big because most everyone believes the “if only” statement. “If only I was married to that type of man.”  “If only we had more money.”  “If only I had______.”  This could go on and on, but it is not healthy.  If you believe God then you know that He has you orchestrated in your own life.  If you trust and obey Him then he will direct you in paths of righteousness.  If you by your own doing have made mistakes that are having a huge result on your life, know that God will make ALL things work together for good.

The “what ifs” of your life

Some things in life you can change.  You can change if you are overweight.  You can find a better job.  You can learn more skills to become better as a mother.  But there are some things that you cannot change in your life.  You can’t change if your husband is not nice, but you can change how you respond.  You can’t change that you have to pay rent or mortgage but you can stop resisting it.  Resisting the unchangeable does nothing more than frustrate you and make you miserable. So change what you can, and accept what you can’t.

Thinking you can change other people

No matter how much you think you motivate or inspire others, the fact remains that people need to change themselves.  We cannot force someone to change.  No matter how much you think your talking and encouraging will do the bottom line is, you speak your peace and then leave the rest up to God to do.  Once you step out of the way and let the Holy spirit do His thing that is when God can start working.  Don’t get discouraged if you don’t see changes, not everyone is at the same place that you are.  You took time to get to where you are at, other people will take time as well.

Stop playing the victim

Having the victim mentality is a terrible thing to replay in your mind.  You are not a victim.  Stop blaming people or circumstances in your life, and start living.  Forgive, as God commands so that you can be prosperous in your life.  Victim mentality is only an obstacle in life.  But we are over-comers!!

 Remove those wounds and deal with toxic thoughts.  We do this by:

Affirmation

It’s all good to be aware of the toxic thoughts in our brains but it is another thing to eliminate it.  Being aware is good, but unless we can continually push against the thought when it comes up, then it will retain a front row seat in our brains.

How each person deals with their negative thinking is going to be different for everyone.  Some people like personal affirmations.  I like the movie Evan Almighty where he says in front of the mirror each day, “I am successful, powerful, handsome, and happy.”  I use that many times when encouraging my husband.  We can smile at it because we know the movie, but the words still hold true in our minds.  Whatever we are saying, we can start to think.

Our old pastor would challenge us to speak out 5 things that we were thankful to God for before each service .  That was a good way to start speaking positiveness into our lives.  We ALL have something to be thankful for—even if it is the air we breathe, the legs we walk with, or the home we can be safe in. Start speaking words of thankfulness instead of words of negativity.

Truth

Another way to deal with negative thoughts is to replace them with truth.  Many of the thoughts we have held in our minds have only our own truth attached to them. We have started out with something small and have created this gigantic thing that isn’t even real in our minds.  We may have concocted a whole scenario by choosing to latch onto that one negative thought and now it has grown into a full fledged war in our minds.  Some people  make mountains out of mole hills.

We need to take a step back and look at the situation that is bringing the thought into being.  What is the truth about it from another person’s perspective?  What about from God’s perspective? Thoughts are based on our own reality and not necessarily in truth.

Visualize

Sometimes it helps to visualize the thought being removed from our brains.  I remember back when I was first learned this principle many years ago and it was a freeing experience.  I pictured each thought, the negative ones that were toiling away in my mind and I pictured placing them in a balloon.  I visualized letting the balloon go and watching it drift up into the heavens.  I was giving my problems/thoughts over to the Lord to deal with, they were no longer mine to worry about.  Sometimes those thoughts would creep back in, and I would repeat the process, bad thoughts were not something that were meant to be part of my life, but they were something that Satan knew could keep me from moving forward.  He used FEAR and WORRY to keep me from experiencing what God had for me.

Darkness comes upon as an illusion.  It isn’t real.  Once we really believe and say “I don’t fear.”  It leaves.  Once you don’t accept the negativity, it goes away.  When darkness goes away it turns into light.  Light is God.  You can activate fear or you can activate faith in your life.

Fear is twisted faith

Forgiveness

This is probably ONE of the reasons that we have such big wounds in our minds.  Someone has wronged us and hurt us in our past and we just let it sit and fester in our minds.  Unforgiveness leads to a whole slew of toxic thoughts.  Everything in our life plays on how we forgive others.

Matthew 6:15, “But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

God commands us to forgive others so that He may forgive us.  Even if someone has wronged you in the past, don’t let them control you in your future.  You forgive and let God deal with them. When we forgive, it allows God to work freely in our lives, if we don’t it blocks that door to God.  We want to be open and free so that the Holy Spirit may work in our lives in EVERY aspect.

Why are we doing this??

We don’t have to accept any form of negativity in our lives.  But we have to get rid of  it.  We have to FORGIVE and LET GO.  Even if you have long standing unforgiveness that you “think” you have forgiven, if you are reminded of it, then it  has not been dealt with.  This is damaging your health.   Everytime you push down that old unforgiveness and anger, it grows.  It grows to create stress and anxiety in your emotions which in turn affect your health.  But it does not have to be this way.  We have the opportunities to accept ONLY the good information and make it a part of us, and that will help put our minds back into a normal state.

Just as germs and bad bacteria cause our body to focus on protection of our cells, negativity does the same thing to our minds.  Negative thoughts shift our bodies focus to protection thus it reduces the ability to process and think in wisdom.  This leads to negative attitudes which produce stress and angered feelings inside our minds.  BUT if you apply God’s advice not to worry, then your brain responds by secreting chemicals that give you feelings of peace, positive thought building, and clear thinking.  Even though you can’t always control your circumstances, you can choose how you will react to those circumstances.  This will keep toxic input from permanently living in your brain.  But it starts with you.  You decide which incoming thoughts will become a part of you.

Have you decided to bear all your toxic thoughts and get rid of them?  Do you feel like you have “over analyzed” your brain and dissected out all of the negative toxic parts?  It is like  a doctor cutting out the bullet from the wound. It is good to get it out, but now you have a wound.  Even though it is patched up, sometimes it can still create problems.  So what do we do with that?  We apply God’s word into our life.  that is part 5 of our series.

We have been talking about toxic thinking and how it damages us physically, emotionally,and mentally. God’s word is true when He says in Proverbs 17:22

A joyful heart is good medicine but a broken spirit dries up the bones.

When our hearts and MINDS are lined up with God and His ways they are like a good medicine, soothing to the soul, spirit, and mind.  They will pierce our brokenness, bind our negative thoughts,  and heal our soul.  This in turn, proven by medical research, will affect the positive growth in our minds and bodies resulting in the person that God has made us to be.

God made us perfect, in His image.  He wants us to be whole and complete.  But we need to line up with what are His thoughts and His ways.

Ecclesiastes 7:29 says

I have discovered only this: God made human beings for righteousness, but they seek many alternatives.

We were made to be perfect, in His way.  But we have chosen other ways in life.  We choose to listen and believe negative people, we choose to be fearful of things.  We choose to be anxious about the future.  We dwell on the “what-if’s” in life.  We need to get in line with God so that God can activate what He wants done in our lives.

Today you will analyze through your wounds and toxic thoughts.  Your list may be long and that is okay.  Maybe some of the thoughts you can group together or maybe once you work on one or two, a few more will come off your list.

Look at it and analyze some of your negative thinking. What is causing the wounds in your mind.    Here are some examples:

• Feelings of inadequacy.
• Worries that your performance in your job will not be good enough.
• An anxiety that things outside your control will undermine your efforts.

Feelings of inadequacy

 Maybe as a Mom you feel that you are not qualified enough to do the job.  Maybe you work outside of the home and feel inferior to those around you.  You might have a volunteer position in church and you don’t feel that you can “measure up” to the expectations of your position.  You need to first STOP and ask yourself these questions:

• Have you trained and educated yourself reasonably to do the job required?
• If you are a  wife, have you sought out older, wiser woman to help encourage and guide you as you walk your path in life?
• If it is a job have you equipped yourself with the education necessary to do the job?
•   If you are a volunteer at church, do you equip yourself daily in the word of God and study your materials to be prepared for your lesson?

If you have done all that you can, then you have done everything that you should sensible do.  The rest you leave up to God.  If you are still worried, then you might be setting yourself unattainably high standards for doing the job.  Just look at the place God has you now, seek Him, and He will do the rest.

Worries about performance

Do you sometimes feel that you can never “measure up” to where you “think” you should be in your performance in life?  Do you sometimes dwell on feelings of depression because you worry about how well you do in life? Instead of dwelling on anxiety about a job or negative feelings of self worth, ask yourself these:

• Have you planned appropriately in your day?
• Do you have all the information and resources that you need to complete a task?
• Have you cleared the time you need to get the job done and have no distractions?
• Do you have the training that a reasonable person would think is needed to do a good job?
• Have you prepared yourself, daily in the word of God?

If you haven’t done these things, then you need to do them. Do them now, stop waiting to become a good cook, start today.  Start by reading and watching videos of how to do basic steps.  Need to declutter your home—set up a time that you can do it, don’t wait for it to happen, set a time just like an appointment and do it!!!  Feel alone and away from God?? Get in His word each and every day —no excuses!!!

Problems with issues outside your control

Are your toxic thoughts about things and issues outside of your control? Do you constantly worry and have anxiety about things that you cannot do anything about? Do you worry about other people’s reactions?

Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Matthew 6:34

We were wired originally for LOVE.  God wants us to walk in truth and love. FEAR is a learned habit.  We walk around fearing the “what-if’s” of life.  Stop looking at things that are out of your control.  You need to put your FAITH into action by trusting the Lord with ALL of your life.

Events and circumstances of life we can’t control, that is the result of everyone else’s actions. The ONLY thing we can control is how we RESPOND to them.  We can’t blame biology, parents, or circumstances that’s just part of life. Those are part of other peoples positions.  We can ONLY focus on what is in our life.  We do that by turning to the ONLY one who can heal our negativity and transform our minds by focusing on today, the here and now—God.

If you do all that you can do in your own life and it is the BEST that you can do, then that is all that you need to know.  If you perform as well as you reasonably can, and stay focused on what God has for YOU,  then that is it.  You cannot worry or dwell on how people respond to that.  If people are fair and respond well, then great.  But if people are unfair and respond negatively, then that is something out of your control.  You leave that part up to God.

Look at how your  toxic thinking has shaped in your own life. You can filter through them by asking these questions:

• Has this thought always been this way?
• Has it grown, as you continually add fuel to the fire by agreeing with it?
• Has your thought started out one thing and now has grown into something different and much larger?
• Is it leading to other toxic thoughts?

Answer some of these questions when focusing on your individual toxic thoughts.  Just by writing down and answering them, will help you deal with your toxic thinking.  You will be able to recognize your negative behavior and learn from it so you can change.

Deuteronomy 28 talks about the blessings that flow by living in obedience to God’s word.  You have a choice….you can choose blessings or curses in your life.  It is up to you.

We need to think on good things even if you don’t feel like it.  All this process has an impact on your brain.  Science proves now that what you think has a HUGE impact on how your body responds.  How a brain is impacted on certain thoughts can actually cause damage to the brain.  Our minds control our brains.  It isn’t the other way around.  The mind is powerful and we are NOT a victim of our biology.  Our thoughts are the same as memory. We are commanded to bring ALL thoughts into captivity.  We are DESIGNED to be aligned with God.  Thoughts are real things that change the physical and chemical make up of cells.  When you corrupt them by having toxic thinking they then take root in your body in the form of abnormal cells.  Those abnormal cells can grow causing illness and disease.  God did not plan for us to be this way.  We have the power to decide what type of life we will live.  A life of health or sickness.

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.  Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Phillipians4:6-8

Need more detox…..keep reading on how we can heal these wounds in our minds.