A Change of Heart

 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  Galatians 2: 20

In my pursuit to remain in the world, but not of it, moments of clarity from prayer and conservation with the Lord have been revealed.  One of the revelations in spirit was that in giving up my life for the Lord is what leads to real change in my life.

As I live in the world and maintain a worldly viewpoint, the idea of change is that of changing the way you think.  For years I invested time and energy in learning new "techniques" of thought control, visualization and meditation in hopes of finding peace and prosperity in my life.  Struggle after struggle would appear in my life and once again I would work on focus, thought control and self discipline.  I would see short periods of happiness and success, but nothing lasting.  It wasn't until I accepted the essence of this scripture verse that real change began in my life.

True peace, joy, happiness and prosperity comes with a change of heart, not simply a change of mind.  Exchanging this earthly life of fear, worry, and torment for a Godly life meant giving up my perceived control of life.  Allowing the Holy Spirit to take residence in me began the change I have been so desperately wanting and searching for.

No way can I, alone, wipe away the years of conditioning from my MFTP by myself.  No way can I erase the effects of my poor choices, mistakes and sin.  But Jesus can.  He gave his life so that I might live! Truly live- free from my past: past mistakes, past conditioning, past traumas, past sins, past hurts and so on.  He died so that the Holy Spirit could free me from the bondage of this life and prepare me for my eternal life.

With Christ living in me, now my thoughts are changed.  My whole point of reference is changed which allows me to think, live and act differently.  Now the notion of change your thinking making sense.  With Christ, all things are possible!  Knowing that, how does your thinking change?  HUGE...if you believe...if you have faith.  And no affirmation or thought control technique can provide faith because faith comes from the heart, not the mind.

Thanks be to the Lord for the gift of life and the changing of heart he offers for those who have faith in him and believe in the change that he brought to the world.