By: Craig Groeschel
Hennepin County Library hardcover 231 pages
Published: 2021
Genre: Non-fiction, faith, psychology
I loved this book! I loved it so much I plan to buy a few copies - one for me to keep and re-read and two to give to others. Praise God for the right book at the right time . . . which leads me back to The Book!
Page 55: "The truth, not just for me but for you, is that our value is based not on what we do but on who made us (Ps. 139:13-16). That's why paintings that may look goofy to me are worth millions of dollars. Because if they were painted by Pablo Picasso, the value is in the hundreds of thousands or millions. So if God made me, I have tremendous value even if I do not have the approval of other people."
This was such an interesting way of stating our value. As someone who grew up with a lot of self-deprecating humor, it can be hard to value myself. God's Word tells me differently! Reading Psalm 139 is like a love letter with the Lord.
Page 91: "Draw your declarations from God's truth and make them your own. . . . Write your declarations in a way that will speak to you and inspire you. Put them in places where you can quickly see them and memorize them. . . . Repetition will dig your new trench deeper and deeper, making the new pathway easier and more accessible."
He had so many great examples in this chapter. This is more than just simple affirmations; this is taking God's Word and making it personal. Reading this reminded me of the power of reading Neil Anderson's Victory Over the Darkness. The absolutely transformative power of reading Scriptures in "I am . . . " form blew my mind 30+ years ago!
Page 92: "Don't be discouraged. Don't give up. The gravitational pull toward your old negative thoughts will likely be stronger than you can imagine. Resist those lies. Keep renewing your mind with God's truth, and it will become true of you."
I really appreciate his conversational writing style, personal examples, and encouragement.
Page 102: "Why do we meditate on God's truth and God's love and God's great deeds? One reason is because it allows us to get the maximum amount of spiritual nutrition out of our godly thoughts.
There's another reason: repetition is the reason for ruts."
At our church, we often say, "Repetition is the key to mastery." I thought of that often while reading this book. Sadly, if your repetition is a litany of all your problems or faults, it will not be helpful to living the life God intends for you! Repetition of God's Word is nourishment for our souls.
Page 105: "The goal of meditating on God's Word and on our declarations is automaticity. We want to fall into the new trench, which will lead us into the right thoughts and actions. Automatically."
The idea of exercise, practice, and mental automaticity made sense to me. I like when a situation brings a Scripture to mind. "The joy of the Lord is my strength" has been frequent lately. (Apparently, "automaticity" is not an accepted word in Blogger. However, Dictionary.com says: "Automaticity definition: the quality or fact of being performed involuntarily or unconsciously, as a reflex, innate process, or ingrained habit.")
Page 123: "The third tool to change your thinking is the Reframe Principle: Reframe your mind, restore your perspective. (The first tool is the Replacement Principle: Remove the lies, replace with truth. The second tool is the Rewire Principle: Rewire your brain, renew your mind.)"
I just wanted to capture the three main parts of the book, so I put a post-it note here. Replace, Rewire, Reframe. The fourth part is Rejoice.
Page 143: "The frame through which you look at the world may not be the one you picked up on your own. Sometimes other people force the frame on you."
- Your father said you would never amount to anything.
- Your mother made you feel unattractive and overweight even when you lost weight.
- Kids at school told you to just accept the fact that you were a loser.
- A grandparent insisted only rich people are important.
Maybe you have a cognitive bias constructed by other people. You accepted what they told you as truth, and even though it was a lie, ever since it has affected your life as if it were true."
Ooh. This hit hard. How much of my life have I had a mental tape of qualities other people attributed to me? I grew up identifying with, "I am selfish." My mom told me often when I was a child how selfish I was. My dad constantly praised some of my characteristics and nit-picked me about others. Ironically, he was super critical about my weight and eating habits. I don't miss that dynamic!
Page 166:
I grabbed a picture of this page because I didn't want to re-type it all. I love the language and the positivity!
Page 172: "God doesn't want you do it (prayer) "the right way" either. He wants you to be yourself, just like he made you. Let your needs be known in the way that feels right to you. Pray your way.
You might talk your prayers, yell your prayers, sing or journal them. You might pray long or you might pray short; just make sure you pray. There is no perfect way. Just pray.
When you pray, ask with confidence."
This brought to mind the book on prayer I recently read by C.S. Lewis. I like Groeschel's plain language. I don't want to overthink, overplan, or overanalyze my praying. I just want to spend time drawing near to the Lord!
Time to figure out where I want to buy copies of this since I'm trying to not use Amazon any more!
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