The Purified Mind - Deborah Ashaye
“Purity” means something holy or without blemish. “Purify” means to cleanse something. “Purified” means made pure or more pure. If there is to be a cleansing that means there is something impure.
In the world of today, it is not unlikely to see ladies living with so much burden, guilt and shame.
Some likely scenarios of impurities:
These Five scenarios can bring about impurities.
“You look with your eyes but you see with your mind.” If the mind that is supposed to be seeing greatness is blinded by matters of this world, what is the fate of such a life?
A woman is a mother to generations...
A woman is an intercessor…
A woman is a wife…
A woman is a sister…
She is an encourager…
She is a woman of worth but she sees herself as worthless… What went wrong?
What should be done?
How should impurities be handled?
Where can she get help?
What does God have to say about these?
“And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it was written, the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up”
- John 2:14 - 17
Jesus chased both buyers and sellers out of the temple made with hands. The New Testament reveals that God not only dwells in temples made with hands, He has actually made His abode in our hearts/minds. So if you have things causing damage in there, they would be contending for space with the Lord. Just like Jesus drove impurities out of the temple, you should do likewise to your heart/mind. You should do everything to ensure that the Lord has a good place of rest in you. God is holy and Impurities cannot be found in His place in our hearts. Impurities makes the word we take in fall on a thorny ground. The word needs to grow on a fertile ground
A summary excerpt from a book that relates to the subject matter goes thus:
When things get bad, learn to lean on Him solely. Spend more time with Him and enter into a pure life, His rest… Hebrews 4:6.
Sometimes, God leads us the hard way, it’s because He is doing a work in us. How will we ever learn to lean on Him if we can handle everything in our lives ourselves?
You have the mind of Christ so you can handle things the way He did by being mentally prepared through victory thinking.
If you want to have life flowing to you and from you then guard your heart… (Proverbs 4:23).
You should not open your life to everyone you meet giving them the opportunity to crush you. Apply wisdom and discernment in your dealings with others.
If God is laying it in your heart to start a journey with Him or there’s something you want to do and you have been putting on hold, please, put your acts together and get to work. Life is too short to waste time, seek God’s face, seek counsel and get to work.
Worry is an impurity and it is pride in disguise. It is better to make up Joy than to have genuine depression. No matter the situation, choose to be happy and stay happy, if there’s anything like “formed joy”, please embrace it. It will pay off in the end. The moment you choose to be joyful, the Spirit of God agrees with you and takes over. Count it all Joy when you fall into diverse temptations.... Stay Joyful!
You are special, don’t let anything or anyone tell you otherwise. You are who you are for a reason and you are part of God’s special plan. You are a precious and perfect unique design called God’s special woman.
That trauma you faced wasn’t easy and God wasn’t happy that you had to go through that. Nevertheless, it happened to shape your heart so that His likeness will evolve in you. God specializes in giving people a fresh start and you can be sure He’s more than willing to do same for you only if you reach out to Him....
Are you hurting, don’t stay in your hurt; reach out to Him today....
How can a man cleanse his ways....? It is by taking heed…
The devil, our adversary goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom to devour.
An understanding of the Word will keep you purified... Both in your mind and in your soul.
There’s a need to take root downwards... We need to stand and keep standing firm against the wiles of the devil.
At each point in time, there’s a struggle as per who stays in charge of your life and knowledge of the word gives you an edge and a sense of control over happenings in your life.
Gift Onyewuchi: Over time, I’ve heard some people say that outward look has nothing to do with what is in the heart. Now my question is: isn’t being purified supposed to reflect in every area and in all that you do?
Chinenye Nwanna’s thoughts: I think the outward look referred to here is physical dressing. But when you are purified, it most definitely would reflect inside and out because the glory of the Lord shines forth. It does not mean we should go overboard with vain appearance.
Comfort James’s thoughts: Now, this question can be analyzed based on different but maybe not so many perspectives. Saying "dress the way you want to be addressed" is one perspective. We live in a world with different beliefs... Christians,
Muslims, atheists... So my thoughts on this is: both inside and out matters... Some "Christians" know the part of scriptures that says: “it is what comes out of a man that defiles him...” So the question is: where is that which defiles him coming from? As predicted, "Inside." Going deeper, "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." "As he thinks in his heart, so is he" "God looks at the heart and not appearance"… The list goes on and on... We are however not to be judgmental even while knowing for sure that both (inside and out) matters. For me, there is no point getting into vain argument when a debate as this arises. "Answer not a fool according to his folly...Answer a fool according to his folly...” - Proverbs 26:4-5 CHAPTER FOUR
The Mind and Health connection - Nike Aruwajoye
According to Wikipedia, “the mind is the combination of cognitive faculties that provide consciousness, thinking, reasoning, perception and judgment in human and potentially other life forms”.
It is the seat of power of one's being and it has the ability to be aware of things both in its conscious state and its subconscious state.
The mind is incredibly important in that it is the human seat of reason. From the mind can emanate both positive and negative thoughts.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defined health as "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”.
The human health entails both the physical and the spiritual well-being of the human entity and requires a sound and healthy mind.
Note from the above definition, health requires COMPLETE well-being of man.
The mind is seated in the human soul which in turn is in a body that is within an environment, hence, there is a deep connection between the mind and health. Health is not limited to the physical state, it also affects other states: mental, social and spiritual.
The mind and the body are connected in the sense that the wellbeing of a man begins to fail if his mind becomes unhealthy. Lifestyle also plays a huge role as a determining factor of the state of the mind. It is therefore important to maintain a healthy lifestyle between your spirit, your soul and body. A healthy mind easily helps to generate a healthy being and vice versa.
“And the LORD said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.”
- Genesis 11:6
The above scripture is about the tower of babel. Their plan was against the will of God (be fruitful and multiply) and the Almighty Himself acknowledges that "nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them", meaning they could have achieved their set out plan if it was in God's will. This underscores the power of the mind backed up with action in God's divine will (for full story, please see Genesis 11:1-9).
Your thoughts are the architect of your life (including your health) and it is expedient to focus practically on positive thoughts. Focusing on positive thoughts takes constant intentional practice and will-power that can mostly be achieved by a regenerated (purified) mind. Having a healthy mind is just as important as having a healthy body. An unhealthy mind, even in a healthy body will ultimately have negative impact on one's health.
The potential of your subconscious mind may be limitless but potential alone can be more detrimental than useful when the programs being carried out are negative. Its incredible power is also its greatest weakness. Not everything has the right to take residence in your life. To better put, it’s only the things that you permit in your mind that have the right to take residence.
Your thought can create your reality if not carefully handled. Your realities should be positive! Everything you perceive on the outside has its origin in the inner world of your thoughts. To consciously create a healthy body in reality, you must (among other things) learn to control the nature of your dominant, habitual thoughts. The mind is very powerful. Learning to access deeper states of consciousness enables you to consciously program and re-wire your mind for a healthy lifestyle.
In summary the human mind has great power over health hence, we need to maintain a healthy mind and a healthy lifestyle.
Frank Lloyd Wright is known as the world’s best Architect. In one of the interviews he had, he was asked "of your many beautiful designs, which one is your favorite?” Without thinking, he replied “my next one”. We should develop the mindset that says ‘it is well’ even when the case is otherwise. Having conceived a thought, the words that proceed from the mouth creates the reality.
As women (mothers, wives and daughters) that happen to be the WOMB to the next generation, we have the power to cause tremendous change (either with our mind or mouth). This change can go as far as affecting any health condition.
These are practical things we need to do in order to stay healthy. They include (but not limited to):
All these and many more can help to maintain a healthy lifestyle. As pointed out earlier, a healthy mind breeds a healthy life, so also does a healthy life help to have a healthy mind. There has to be a balance between the two.
Note that you can only plant positive thoughts intentionally, hence, challenge your belief system.
Finally, your thoughts are not things only but are tangible things that can frame the triumph or the tragedies of your life.