Change of Mind
I do not need a change of heart. I do not need to change my circumstances I need to change the attitude of my mind. As Mark Buchanan so powerfully puts it in his book `The Rest of God´ in God´s economy nothing really changes until our minds do, or to quote another section, ´God is more interested in changing your thinking than in changing your circumstances.´ That´s what I read this morning. And here´s another thing I learned. The Hebrew word for sanctify means ´to betroth´ or to commit oneself. We are to commit ourselves to keeping the Sabbath (that´s Mark´s point) but as I continued reading it was almost like the next sentence was written for me - ´you pledge to commit yourself, all of yourself, to this time, and then you honor that commitment whether it´s convenient or not (p. 33).´
As you may have noticed already this time in São Paulo has often felt less than convenient. In many ways it would be easier to be in a cultural where I do not know the language or customs at all ( Pr. Paulo pointed this out ) then to come back to a culture I do know expecting things to be easy and finding they are not. As I told my parents yesterday on the phone there are times where I wish God would give this call to missions to someone else. There are just so many more challenges then I expected. This is of course great preparation for a life time of cross cultural ministry. I guess what I´m trying to say is that in my case when it comes to cross cultural ministry there are a lot of mental attitudes that need revision. I am grateful that God is teaching me these lessons, showing me some of my own incorrect attitudes, revealing personal limitations and areas that need growth. I would however be less than honest if I didn´t say that sometimes the lessons are painful and trust does not come easy. Praise God that He is faithful to complete the good work that He begins.
This upcoming week is going to be very full as the 40 days of prayer and fasting the church is doing means there are more events than usual this week. Pray that I´ll have the right attitudes, energy, stamina and courage to speak up when I have reached my limits. Thank-you.
As you may have noticed already this time in São Paulo has often felt less than convenient. In many ways it would be easier to be in a cultural where I do not know the language or customs at all ( Pr. Paulo pointed this out ) then to come back to a culture I do know expecting things to be easy and finding they are not. As I told my parents yesterday on the phone there are times where I wish God would give this call to missions to someone else. There are just so many more challenges then I expected. This is of course great preparation for a life time of cross cultural ministry. I guess what I´m trying to say is that in my case when it comes to cross cultural ministry there are a lot of mental attitudes that need revision. I am grateful that God is teaching me these lessons, showing me some of my own incorrect attitudes, revealing personal limitations and areas that need growth. I would however be less than honest if I didn´t say that sometimes the lessons are painful and trust does not come easy. Praise God that He is faithful to complete the good work that He begins.
This upcoming week is going to be very full as the 40 days of prayer and fasting the church is doing means there are more events than usual this week. Pray that I´ll have the right attitudes, energy, stamina and courage to speak up when I have reached my limits. Thank-you.
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