Day Two Of 6th Annual Fast & Detox: Power Of The mind

We are officially 48 hours into the fast and detox. How do you feel? Today for me was better than yesterday, but still a struggle. All I wanted to do was go get some Taco Bell, lay down and watch tv, but I didn't give in. After I went for a walk around my neighborhood, with Dior, I was back feeling good. Discipline is doing what needs to be done, even if you don't want to do it. That's the key to this fast and detox. Training your mind to be stronger than your body. If you don't train your mind, you'll never have discipline which means, you'll never buckle down and accomplish a goal. I was reading my devotional this morning and it said how in Mathew 4, Jesus went and fasted in the desert. While he was fasting and praying, satan came and tempted him continuously. Every lie that Satan tried to give him, Jesus relied on the truth of God to replace it. Why shouldn’t we do the same principle: Remove the lies, replace the truth. The world will try to get you to think you can’t do something, or you’re not worth it, but replace those lies with the truth that God shares in the Bible. Find a scripture and lean into it, during this fast. Make it your mantra. Today, my mantra was, I can do all things thru Christ that strengthens me. 

Your mind is so powerful. I watched an interview with Israel Houghton, the famous gospel singer, and he said “What you believe is sometimes different than what you know.” That spoke to me because our minds have more power than you think. You can know something for sure, but the fear and anxieties from our minds or even outside influences can alter what you believe. What I mean is, what truth you stand on can vary. Our lives follow the direction of our thoughts. In Philippians 4:8-9, Paul tells us that our thoughts shape over lives. Modern psychologists talk about cognitive behavioral therapy. This teaching reveals that many problems from addiction, anxiety, relational challenges, depression, and more, are rooted in negative patterns of thinking. When the Bible and modern psychology say the same thing, you know it’s the truth. Proverbs 23:7 says, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” I chose to stand on the truth of what God has said. 

Do you like the direction that your current thoughts are taking you? If not, it’s time to change them. Once you remove the lie, and replace it with Gods truth, it’s time to dig deeper. So many times when we want to be better, we focus on the behavior we want to change, rather than the getting to the root of what causes the behavior. Let’s say you want to start exercising daily, or eating cleaner, you’re focusing on the behavior. When we do that, we ignore the real problem of the lie we believe and the mental rut we fall into. That leads to us only attacking the symptoms and not the source. You can not change a habit simply by removing it. You will always drop the ball and fall back into it. That’s why I had us come up with reasons as to why we’re completing this fast yesterday. Today, I want us to dig deeper and see what thing leads us to the bad habit. It’s time to rewire our brain and renew our minds. In Genesis 3, Eve explains how she was in the headspace to go against what God said. The serpent went after her mind and made her question what God said. Satan will continue to attack your mind and you will lose every time if you do not have the truth of God to to stand on.

The words you speak and thoughts you think shape your world. You can’t believe this is true for positive things and not true for negative things. What we declare, no matter good or bad, is what can come to pass. There's so many scriptures on the power of the tongue. You have to learn how to hold your tongue because, you may be the person holding yourself back. Faith and fear can not coexist. Are you constantly down playing yourself and accomplishments? Stop that. Be kind to yourself. I want you to write down ten affirmations. According to Mindtools, "Affirmations are positive statements that can help you to challenge and overcome self-sabotaging and negative thoughts.'' HABAKKUK 2:2 says, "And the Lord answered me and said: “Write the vision and make it plain upon tablets, that he may run that readeth it." When you write something down, you affirm it. Not only do I want you to write it down, I want you to speak them out loud throughout the day. Make sure you write your positive affirmations in present tense and first person. Write them as if they have already been achieved. By doing it this way, you are training yourself to believe in them, by making them real and achievable. This is a great activity help you be more positive and overall happier. You need to let go of any and all negative thoughts and images and bombard your subconscious mind with new thoughts and images that are positive.

Now for those of you who are detoxing as well, here's my new task for you. Write down your old habits, ways, traits, and things you used to do. The things that led you to failure. Now, when I say failure, I don't mean the literal term. I mean led you to not meet the mark. The things that didn't get you to where you wanted yourself to be at. For example, I used to eat fast food at least once a day, so I didn't reach my flat stomach fitness goal. A business example is, I went out three nights in a row, which caused me to sleep in late, and on Monday I didn't write a post for the blog. Every effect has a cause. Normally, it's a list of causes that lead you to failure. Write down this list, on paper or in your notes. Keep this list and if anytime throughout this new season of your life you see yourself reverting back to old ways, CATCH IT EARLY. Break old habits. If you're religious, pray that God removes those habits. Changing those habits will change the outcome. Changing the outcome means gaining success. Failure isn't bad. Failures are apart of life, if you don't fail you don't learn; if you don't learn you'll never change. We all have habits or ways, that make us better and make us worse. Write that list for you