Week 1

Week 1

Renew Your Mind

Genesis 1

 1In the beginning God ('Elohiym) created the heaven and the earth.
 2And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God ('Elohiym) moved upon the face of the waters.

In the Bible, the darkness came before the light. What an amazing place to start. If you are reading or listening to this, you or someone you love is in a place of darkness. It may seem so deep there is no way out, but Holy Spirit is moving over the face of your tears.

If God started in the darkness, then it's a good place to start. Before we go on, I want you to take some time to analyze where you are at.

How long have you been suffering this depression?

Do you know what the trigger(s) was/were that set this off? Take some time to list any situations occurring now or in the past that have hurt you deeply.

Take some time to write down the negative thoughts and words that come against you.

What is missing in your life?

OK, now it's time for verse 3 - Gen. 1:3 God ('Elohiym) said, Let there be light: and there was light.

Father, In the Name of Yeshua, the Precious Lamb of God, I ask that by the power of Holy Spirit who is hovering over this lost one, that the dawn would break right now and grow brighter and brighter till it shines as the noon day sun. Amen. (Proverbs 4:18)

I want you to take a look at the account of creation in Genesis. Please take a pencil, pen or highlighter, mark each time the word “said” is used and count them.

Genesis 1 (from whatsinanamebible.blogspot.com )

 1In the beginning God ('Elohiym) created the heaven and the earth.
 2And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God ('Elohiym) moved upon the face of the waters.
 3 God ('Elohiym) said, Let there be light: and there was light.
 4' God ('Elohiym) saw the light, that it was good: and God ('Elohiym) divided the light from the darkness.
 5 God ('Elohiym) called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
 6 God ('Elohiym) said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
 7God ('Elohiym) made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
 8God ('Elohiym) called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
 9God ('Elohiym) said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
 10God ('Elohiym) called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God ('Elohiym) saw that it was good.
 11God ('Elohiym) said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
 12And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God ('Elohiym) saw that it was good.
 13And the evening and the morning were the third day.
 14God ('Elohiym) said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
 15And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
 16God ('Elohiym) made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
 17God ('Elohiym) set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
 18And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God ('Elohiym) saw that it was good.
 19And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
 20God ('Elohiym) said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
 21God ('Elohiym) created great whales, and every living creature that moves, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God ('Elohiym) saw that it was good.
 22God ('Elohiym) blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
 23And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
 24God ('Elohiym) said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
 25God ('Elohiym) made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creeps on the earth after his kind: and God ('Elohiym) saw that it was good.
 26God ('Elohiym) said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.
 27So God ('Elohiym) created man in his own image, in the image of God ('Elohiym) created he him; male and female created he them.






How many times was the word “said” used? This account could have easily been written like this: On the first day God created … On the second day He created … Why is there such an emphasis on the word “said”? It is to stress the fact that God creates by His Word.






Now look at verses 26 and 27. How is man created? Answer: in God's image. We are like Him. How does God create? With His words. We are not God, we are created in His image. An image does not have all the power of the original, but it is similar enough that it can be recognized. Our words do not have all the power of God's words, but they do affect the world in which we live. The really good news is that God's words are much more powerful than ours. Over the next 7 weeks, you will learn to replace the negative words that have ruled your life, with the positive, creative and life giving words of God






The saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” is a lie, a bold faced lie. You are where you are because of the words that have been spoken over your life. Some of them were spoken by your parents, your teachers and your peers. Some of them were spoken by you. All of them have been internalized and have worked together to dig you into this impassable hole.






This week, we are going to work on replacing some of those words. This is the number one concept you need to get from this program. Later, we will talk about some physical things you can do that will help, but this one concept is key. Everything else is built on it. Practicing this alone can rebuild your life.






Back when I was so terribly depressed, I started attending a church that taught the importance of words and thoughts. Over the course of a few years, I practiced this concept, but I was still having days where I was overwhelmed. At the time, I was still very, very sick physically and I knew absolutely nothing about nutrition. On one of those “I can't stop crying” days, I was standing in my kitchen, tears streaming down my face. I kept telling myself, “It's OK, Sue. There 's nothing wrong. This is just a chemical imbalance and God will get you through it.” over and over again.






I started thinking about a song that our worship team did and in my mind I could hear Shannon (one of our worship leaders) singing it. “I'll not be defeated. I'll not be defeated. I'll not be defeated anymore. For when the Holy Ghost came in, He gave me power over sin. I'll not be defeated anymore.” Did I tell you that God talks to me? I've never actually heard an audible voice, but that day, from way down inside of me, I heard a soft voice. “Sing it.” At first, I resisted, but I kept hearing it, so I grudgingly began. “I'll not be defeated.” I wish you could hear how I did that. You know how you tell a child who is angry to say he's sorry and they snap back, “SORRY!” in a tone that tells you they are anything but sorry? That's how it was. I was rolling my eyes and dragging the words.






SMACK! Well, God didn't physically smack me upside the head, but it sure felt like it! This time an incredibly strong voice yelled at me inside my spirit. “SING IT LIKE YOU MEAN IT!” I belted it out. As I did, I literally felt something being pulled out of me. From that day on, I've never been in that ditch again. I've had some sad days, but there's always been a real reason, not that miserable for the sake of being miserable stuff that used to debilitate me on a regular basis.






When I was young, no one understood my physical problems including me. I knew something was wrong. I lived in a fog. It was difficult for me to remember things, follow directions or even function at times. Frequently, I heard words like, “lazy”, “inconsiderate”, “not working up to potential” and “bad”. I wanted to be good, but I couldn't. All these had made a negative path in my brain. That negative path was as much a physical problem as the asthma. God could have healed me instantly, but if He had, I would have quickly seared a new negative path. I had to get my mind renewed first. There are physical strategies that will help your mind heal, but to begin with, we are going to concentrate on changing the words that reign in your head.






For this weeks assignments you will need a Bible, a concordance, a thesaurus, a pen or pencil, a notebook and some index cards.






Assignments:






Each day read one chapter in Proverbs, Psalms and in the Gospels (the book of John is the best place to start in my opinion). Proverbs is a book of wisdom, Psalms is a book of praise and the Gospels are basic to your salvation. If you can, find audio versions and play them all day long. You got into this place because you heard negative words. We have a tendency to believe what we hear most. Make it a priority to read and hear God's Word on as much as you can.






Each day look up one of the negative words you identified earlier in this lesson in a concordance. (There are lots of online concordances. My favorites are http://www.blueletterbible.org/index.cfm and http://www.biblegateway.com/ ) Write down verses that speak to your situation. Try to fill at least one page in your notebook. If you can't find enough, look up that word in a thesaurus and look up synonyms and antonyms of the word.






Personalize one verse and write it on several index cards. To personalize scripture, ask God how the verse applies to you and then decide on how to make it first person.






Example: This is a favorite of many people. It is from 1 Corinthians 13:






4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails.






Here's how I have personalized it:

God's love has been shed abroad in my heart. I choose today to let His love flow through me. Therefore: I am patient. I am kind. I am not jealous. I don't brag and I'm not arrogant. I am not rude, crude or nasty. I do not seek my own will, but God's. I am not easily provoked. I do not hold grudges. I don't rejoice in unrighteousness, but I rejoice in truth. Through Christ: I bear all things. I believe the best of every person. I have hope in every circumstance and I can endure anything. God's love in me will never fail.

Post these cards in places where you will see them frequently. When you see them, take the time to stop and read them out loud.

Before or after you eat physical food, take the time to eat the spiritual food you have prepared here. Read out loud the verses you have gathered at least 3 times a day. If you have access to a voice recorder, record the verses and listen to them as well.






Next week we'll add to this and start working on some of the physical things you can do.