Word of Life
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- Jun 26, 2006
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Is Your Mind in the Desert?
by Joyce Meyer
The people of the nation of Israel wandered around in the desert for forty years making what was actually an eleven-day journey. Why? Was it their enemies, their circumstances, or the trials along the way? Or was something entirely different preventing them from arriving at their destination?
As I pondered this situation, God gave me a powerful revelation that has helped me personally and helped thousands of others. The Lord revealed to me that the Israelites spent forty years in the desert making an eleven-day trip because they had a "wilderness mentality."
We really shouldn't look at the Israelites with such astonishment because most of us do the same thing they did. We keep going around and around the same mountains instead of making progress. It takes us years to experience victory over something that could and should have been dealt with quickly and put behind us. God showed me that "wilderness mentalities" are wrong mindsets These wilderness mentalities are what kept the Israelites in the desert for so long.
We can have right mindsets or wrong mindsets. The right ones benefit us, and the wrong ones hurt us and hinder our progress. Colossians 3:2 teaches us to set our minds and keep them set. We need our minds set in the right direction. Wrong mindsets not only affect our circumstances, but they also affect our inner life.
There was a time when my circumstances were not bad, but I could not enjoy anything in my life because my mind was "in the desert." Dave and I had a nice home, three lovely children, good jobs, and enough money to live comfortably. However, I could not enjoy our blessings because I had several wilderness mentalities that had me trapped in the desert.
Some people see things negatively because they have experienced unhappy circumstances all their lives and can't imagine anything getting any better. Then there are those who see everything as bad and negative simply because that is the way they feel on the inside. Whatever its cause, a negative outlook leaves a person miserable and unable to make any progress toward the Promised Land.
God had called the Children of Israel out of bondage in Egypt to go to the land He had promised to give them as a perpetual inheritance—the land that flowed with milk and honey and every good thing they could imagine. It was a land where there would be no shortage of anything they needed—a land of prosperity in every realm of their existence. Most of the generation that the Lord called out of Egypt never entered into the Promised Land, instead, they died in the desert. To me, this is one of the saddest things that can happen to someone—to have so much available and yet never be able to enjoy it.
I was one of those people for many years of my life. I was on my way to the Promised Land (heaven), but I was not enjoying the trip. My mind was in the desert, and I was dying in the wilderness. My wilderness mentality, or wrong ways of thinking, was keeping me from dealing with those areas of life God was wanting to touch and redeem. I was stuck...going around and around the same mountain. But thank God for His mercy. He showed me the way out of the desert! He helped me identify and change those wrong mindsets. Today, my mind is renewed. I have a new way of thinking and I've been rescued from the desert.
What God did for me, He can certainly do for you. Ask Him today to show you your wilderness mentalities, and ask Him to help you make the necessary changes. He can deliver your mind from the desert and help you enjoy the journey to the Promised Land!
by Joyce Meyer
The people of the nation of Israel wandered around in the desert for forty years making what was actually an eleven-day journey. Why? Was it their enemies, their circumstances, or the trials along the way? Or was something entirely different preventing them from arriving at their destination?
As I pondered this situation, God gave me a powerful revelation that has helped me personally and helped thousands of others. The Lord revealed to me that the Israelites spent forty years in the desert making an eleven-day trip because they had a "wilderness mentality."
We really shouldn't look at the Israelites with such astonishment because most of us do the same thing they did. We keep going around and around the same mountains instead of making progress. It takes us years to experience victory over something that could and should have been dealt with quickly and put behind us. God showed me that "wilderness mentalities" are wrong mindsets These wilderness mentalities are what kept the Israelites in the desert for so long.
We can have right mindsets or wrong mindsets. The right ones benefit us, and the wrong ones hurt us and hinder our progress. Colossians 3:2 teaches us to set our minds and keep them set. We need our minds set in the right direction. Wrong mindsets not only affect our circumstances, but they also affect our inner life.
There was a time when my circumstances were not bad, but I could not enjoy anything in my life because my mind was "in the desert." Dave and I had a nice home, three lovely children, good jobs, and enough money to live comfortably. However, I could not enjoy our blessings because I had several wilderness mentalities that had me trapped in the desert.
Some people see things negatively because they have experienced unhappy circumstances all their lives and can't imagine anything getting any better. Then there are those who see everything as bad and negative simply because that is the way they feel on the inside. Whatever its cause, a negative outlook leaves a person miserable and unable to make any progress toward the Promised Land.
God had called the Children of Israel out of bondage in Egypt to go to the land He had promised to give them as a perpetual inheritance—the land that flowed with milk and honey and every good thing they could imagine. It was a land where there would be no shortage of anything they needed—a land of prosperity in every realm of their existence. Most of the generation that the Lord called out of Egypt never entered into the Promised Land, instead, they died in the desert. To me, this is one of the saddest things that can happen to someone—to have so much available and yet never be able to enjoy it.
I was one of those people for many years of my life. I was on my way to the Promised Land (heaven), but I was not enjoying the trip. My mind was in the desert, and I was dying in the wilderness. My wilderness mentality, or wrong ways of thinking, was keeping me from dealing with those areas of life God was wanting to touch and redeem. I was stuck...going around and around the same mountain. But thank God for His mercy. He showed me the way out of the desert! He helped me identify and change those wrong mindsets. Today, my mind is renewed. I have a new way of thinking and I've been rescued from the desert.
What God did for me, He can certainly do for you. Ask Him today to show you your wilderness mentalities, and ask Him to help you make the necessary changes. He can deliver your mind from the desert and help you enjoy the journey to the Promised Land!
:rainbow: :rose:
