You can't make lemonade from POOP!

08.18.10

You can’t make lemonade from POOP!

My mind is so wrapped around the fact input = output. Think about it, if a person grows up hearing things like…

You’re nothing!

You suck

You will never amount to anything

… there is strong likelihood they will have some future “baggage” to unpack with a counselor or therapist later on.

Now for a little experiment!

Fill in the blank:

A penny saved is a penny _________.

What goes up must come _________.

Don’t look a gift horse in the ________.

Can’t teach an old dog new _________.

You completed those sentences, without prior preparation or training. You just “knew” the missing words.

You grew up hearing these phrases.

Your Grandmother quoted these to you like they were her marching orders!

Same thing is to be said about our internal beliefs.

What we believe about our selves, life, work places, others, challenges, EVERYTHING stem from a series of sub-consciously learned inputs that we’ve been infused with since birth.

Not your fault.  Not your choice… until now.

We can quickly and easily act on what we believe. (whether the action is good or not!) Think about this:

If I believe credit card debt is normal for everyone… then I will buy on credit

If I believe all husbands watch TV at night, and avoid family engagement… then I will become addicted to each season of Survivor, American Idol, and Arrested Development!

If I believe smoking pot is okay, in moderation… then I’ll probably justify a little drug habit (so long nobody gets hurt, what’s the big deal?)

If I believe a leaders job is to BOSS people around and command the troops like Hitler, then I’ll probably bark orders and punishments…

Newton said: “To every action there is an equal and opposite RE-action”

Continuing with this illustration:

Got Credit? Got financial stresses.

Avoid family engagement? Lose family.

Smoke Pot? Lose control of your world…

BOSS people? End up walking alone.

But take heart, there is THE WAY to overcome this challenge!

2 Corinthians 10:5 (New International Version)

5We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Paul tell us to TAKE OUR THOUGHTS CAPTIVE and MAKE IT OBEDIENT TO CHRIST!

How?

By exposing our minds (at all angles) to the things of Christ!

1. What you watch

2. What you read

3. What you listen to

4. What you talk about

5. What you do for fun

6. What you associate with

7. What you journal about

8. More and more…

We MUST fill our minds with the spirit, in order to grow fruits of the spirit and change our outcomes!

Galatians 5:22-24 (New International Version)

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.

I will choose to focus on these things.

I will choose to repeat these things.

I will choose to overfill my mind with these things, in expectation for them to spill out in my actions, world, and future!

You just can't make lemonade from POOP!  So choose to squeeze lemons into your mind, instead!