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This is the last part of our series, we have been working hard to remove toxic thinking from our brains to make our minds healthy.  By having our minds free from negativity that  in turn pours out into our lives by making our actions as God would have them.  It is hard for the Lord to work through us and be “in us” if He has to work around all of the “toxic” things in our minds.  I am not saying he cannot—-I am saying, if we line ourselves up with the word of God and do as he commands us, the spirit is allowed to flow through us, without our own thoughts to question things.

Today we are working on being ABLE.  Able to trust God enough to remove the toxic thoughts from our memories.

I know that facing your toxic memories will require courage.  It will require that you trust that Jesus CAN and WILL heal your forgiving heart.  For myself, that meant forgiving others who had wronged me in the past.  I had a situation when I was a child where I was abused and taken advantage of.  Something no child, who is helpless, should have to go through.  I know that in the midst of crying out to “anyone to help” I wasn’t receiving it.  For a child to grow up through that, Satan love that it affected every walk of my life.  Through my teen age years,  I was rebellious and angered. I did things my way, and was always “looking” for that love that I didn’t have.  For years it affect me through bouts of depression.  I wouldn’t be able to explain it, but a few times a year, it would replay over in my mind again and again.  Usually it happened because someone offended me and I took it to heart.  This in turn relayed back to when I was a child and the hurt I experienced.  My toxic thinking was triggered from memories as a child.

Over the years I have talked with others who had similar experiences and I saw how their bitterness and anger would affect every area of their lives. I saw their marriages crumble. I would see them repeat the same mistakes in their own children as their parents did with them. I would see how they harbored that unforgiveness and hurt inside.  It was hard to talk about, they cried when reliving the memories.  I saw how harboring those toxic thoughts hurt my own marriage and situations in mylife, I didn’t want any part of that.

When I became a believer in the Lord Jesus, I just wanted to grab onto the love that He was offering.  So I did.  I was thankful to have someone explain to me about forgiving others and how past hurts would put wounds in my soul and that would deter my ability to do the Lords work effectively.  So I worked on it.  I would confront each and every wound that I had.  It was hard.  It is hard forgiving others who don’t deserve forgiveness.

Often a toxic memory is exposed when you are faced in a situation and your brain immediately reminds you of a memory when something negatively was spoken or done to you.  As soon as you are reminded of that “wound” you need to speak repentance and forgiveness for those situations.  I KNOW ITS HARD!! ITS NOT FAIR!!  BUT IT MUST BE DONE!!!  If you want to truly live your lives free from Satan, you CANNOT let him have any part of your life.

Satan would love nothing better than to watch me as a child experience what I had gone through, and then watch me through my teen years, falling deeper and deeper into sin and depression.  He loved every moment of it, because he was winning.  As a woman who has been completely free of depression and toxic hurts and unforgivness, that is when he can no longer hurt me.  I am thankful that at 39 years of age, God is using me to minister to others who have gone through hurts in their lives.  By speaking out and sharing my past and how I went through healing makes Satan go back to the corner he belongs in.  He no longer has any part of my life, I don’t allow him.  He isn’t worth any of it.  I found my peace and my freedom in Jesus.

As you are working and allowing God to replace your toxic memories of your past with something good and redemptive in your mind, Satan will try to keep bringing it up over and over again.  But the more that you are ABLE to push through and keep denouncing his power in your life, the further he goes away.  I can honestly say, God has erased a lot of my memory from my past.  Things that I know I don’t need to dwell on or think about.  He has healed my mind and I don’t ever think about those bad things anymore.  It is a freeing feeling—let me tell you!!  But it took time.  BUT GOD IS ABLE!!  My favorite verse is Ephesians 3:20:

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us

God IS able to do things, but it begins with US.  We have to allow Him access to ALL of our life.  We need to have the FAITH that He will bring you through and out of your troubles.  He did it for me and I KNOW He will do it for you!!!

If you don’t allow yourself to confront your past pain and then turn your heart for right judgment, you WILL NOT be able to get rid of the negativity in your brain.  You HAVE to face the reality of your emotional pain so that you can FORGIVE those who brought it on you.  WHEN you do those things, you WILL receive the healing from the Lord.

This was something that really helped me realize the magnitude of forgiveness.  If you insist on holding on to your toxic memory, then you will not be able to fully experience what you have been forgiven of.  By allowing yourself to remain imprisoned of your toxic memories you are rejecting the sacrifice that Jesus died on the cross for.  He has paid the penalty of our sins. For myself, it was scary to think that if I didn’t forgive others, how could God forgive me??

And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

Mark 11:25

Don’t shut the door!!

Some of us grew up thinking we got the short end of the stick.  Maybe you grew up impoverished, or were at a disadvantage then others around you due to circumstances.  As you grow into adulthood, these toxic memories may compel you to do whatever it takes to never experience that again.  You will intentionally align yourself with others of similar wordly goals and avoid anyone who questions your motives in light of God’s word.  If you do not deal with, and remove that toxic memory from your past you will find it very difficult, if not impossible, to trust God for anything.  Especially provisions. As a parent, you will dote on your children and give into their every demand.  Through your life your toxic memories will cause you to hang around people that will not confront you.  You will never have any real relationships with people that want to help you overcome past hurts so that you can be free.  You will feel very judged if anyone offers help and grow offensive towards them, because you need no help.  You will close the door on God’s blessing because you will constantly feel like the world is judging you.  This all stems from past hurts.  We need to let them go.

Jesus is the ONLY source for your determination to NOT let your thoughts become fear-based as they enter your brain.  EACH AND EVERY thought MUST be taken captive as it enters your brain.

If you feel like you have worked on your unforgiveness and offenses in your brain then when a situation comes up and you start to feel that anger, immediately dump that thought.  Turn to the scriptures that you have worked at memorizing to get rid of that thought.  Don’t allow Satan any part of your life.  He will try, but we do not have to allow him.

Align yourself with the commands of God that are found in the bible.  His love is at work IN and THROUGH you.  We are to OBEY His commands because they are intricately connected to our well being.

We want to live a life of freedom in Him.  That all begins with aligning EVERY part of our being with Him.  Our minds are connected with our hearts. We speak what is in our hearts.  Our hearts need to be filled with love.  That love can only come from the Lord.  Remove the toxic thinking and put in Gods’ word which is love.

I pray that this has been an encouraging series and that you have begun working on remove toxic thinking from your life.  I know that you WILL experience the difference in your life by being completely free from toxicity.  Be blessed.

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