How to Remove Doubt from Your Heart
You think with your mind and your heart. But your heart is a deeper aspect of your being. Your heart is where you believe what you believe. Jesus said all things are possible when we doubt not in our hearts. Today we’ll discuss how to eliminate doubt so our beliefs and our thoughts are persuaded of God’s truth.
“For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.”
The Kingdom of Heaven resides within each of us, taking on a spiritual form. Just like a seed, the spirit within must be nurtured for it to flourish and yield fruits in our reality. The Kingdom cannot be confined to a mere seed; rather, Jesus elucidates that His Kingdom develops in our world, much like a small seed transforms into a majestic tree.
In the book of Mark, chapter 4, Jesus imparts wisdom about how the openness of your heart to the Word of God influences the productivity of the Kingdom. To experience the Kingdom of God in this world is akin to the succulent fruit that grows on the vine of the Word, which has been sown and nourished in your heart.
If you allow the seed to be uprooted, it will not thrive. Placing the seed in shallow, rocky soil makes growth more challenging. Planting the seed amidst thorns and weeds provides a better chance, but the roots of these thorns and weeds can stifle the seed's growth. However, when you plant the seed in fertile ground and diligently keep the weeds at bay, the seed will flourish.
The Kingdom is analogous to a seed, and the seeds are the Word of God. The state of the soil is determined by you, with your heart serving as the soil. Doubt represents the kind of weeds that can constrict and hinder, or even render unproductive, the Word of God, preventing you from experiencing the Kingdom's fruitful outcomes.
If you desire to harvest the fruits of the Kingdom, you must sow and nurture the Word in a receptive heart. The only aspect of this process that you have control over is your heart. Your heart is new, akin to God's own heart. However, if you allow weeds, worry, fear, doubt, the concerns of this world, and the allure of wealth to take root in your heart, they will impede or completely thwart the growth of the Kingdom seeds that seek to flourish.
I pray this message enlightens you regarding the doubt you may be nurturing, and I pray you are equipped to rid the doubt from your heart so you will experience the fullness of the kingdom within you.
Writing on the Tablet of Your Heart
What you think in your mind is important, but what you believe in your heart is more important. The deep beliefs of your heart will override your more shallow thoughts. In this article, we’ll discuss how to align your heart with the Word of God and bring your thoughts and beliefs into harmony, so there are no more contradictions in your life and you can experience the transformative fruit of God’s Word from the heart.
“My son, keep my words, And treasure my commands within you. Keep my commands and live, And my law as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; Write them on the tablet of your heart.”
Proverbs 23:7a states, "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he."
Since you ultimately live according to the beliefs of your heart, it is crucial to become proficient in writing and affirming truth on the tablet of your heart. What you believe about yourself (write on your heart) significantly influences your emotions, feelings, choices, and habits more than anything else.
If you can align your self-beliefs with how God sees you in Christ, you will always experience peace, regardless of your external circumstances.
This way of life will also continually open opportunities for you to step into what God has planned for you because you will be receptive. The question isn't, "God, will you help me?" The question is, "Am I receptive to the Holy Spirit in this moment, considering my current thoughts and beliefs?"
God is trying to help you, but your thoughts might be drowning out His voice. The beliefs of your heart may actually be in direct opposition to God's wisdom and logic that He's trying to impart to you.
Often, we find ourselves in desperate situations and cry out to God for help. But due to our state of mind and the prevailing beliefs we have affirmed in that area, we may be unable to align with His will and take the action He's suggesting. We end up rejecting the way in which He is trying to supply grace and mercy to assist us.
Have you ever been in a situation where someone asked you a question, but when you answered, they missed the point you were trying to make? They either misunderstood or refused to consider your perspective.
That's what we do to God. We ask for help, but His answer doesn't make sense because we've allowed fear, lack, trauma, irresponsibility, and sin to write on the tablet of our hearts. So when He speaks to our heart or attempts to provide grace, we can't receive it because we've spent too much time affirming things that contradict His ways and logic.
There is no substitute for time in the saddle, meaning time thinking about and pondering upon his word. I pray you find a way to incorporate a steady diet of his ways and logic into your life.
I pray that you take the time to listen to this message and extract nuggets that you can put into practice in your life. Please let me know what stands out to you.
All of the Goodness of Jesus is in you, acknowledge it to activate your faith
As as we think in our hearts, so are we. Do you know how to think with your heart? Do you still think your heart is wicked, evil, and deceitful? We have good news for you today. God put a new heart in you that knows how to hear and obey God. You must renew your mind so your heart awakens unto righteousness and lives from the power of God’s spirit within. Today’s message may challenge you but it will equip you to live in the power of righteousness if you will believe with your heart that God has truly made you righteous and holy.
“that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.”
Your faith becomes effective as you acknowledge all the good things that are in you through Christ. This powerful truth echoes Proverbs 23:7, as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.
Whatever you believe about yourself, whether it’s true or not, you will become outwardly. The powerful truth about our new creation identity in Christ is that we are already forgiven, sanctified, holy, and righteous in Christ. From that spiritual truth, we are to renew our minds and put on the new man.
and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:24
The stumbling block for many Christians is that you already are righteous and holy, you just need to renew your mind so the other aspects of your being reflect the righteous state of your spirit.
To take it a step further, God not only made you new in spirit, He put a new heart in you.
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. Ezekiel 36:26-27
If you want to live worthy of your calling. If you want to live in obedience to God, where your inner spiritual, righteous state is reflected in the rest of your being, you must renew your mind.
To be more specific, you must acknowledge that you actually already are righteous in Christ and put on that new man, You are as you should be with God. You are in right standing with God. You are fully accepted by God. You are welcome in God’s presence because you have been made worthy through the work of Christ in you.
And because “as you think in your heart, so are you,” you must persuade your heart of those good things in you, to glorify God and allow Him to establish His will through you.
Philemon 6 says, that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.
If you believe you’re still a sinner by nature, guess how you’ll live? But if you believe and acknowledge that you have been created in the likeness and image of God, truly righteous and holy, guess how you’ll live? As you think in your heart, so you will live.
Acknowledge the good that Christ put in you because it’s already true, not to make it true, and watch the power of God’s Spirit in you strengthen you in the face of sin, fear, guilt, depression, anxiety, sexual perversion, lack, and anything else that is contrary to the good things Jesus put in you.
Use this resource to renew your mind. It will equip you to acknowledge every good thing that is in you in Christ.
Click here -> List of in Him scriptures
How to Capture and Control Negative Thoughts
Your brain might betray you, but the Word of God never will. Wouldn’t it be nice if your thoughts were always in alignment with the Word of God? You’d always know God’s perspective on any matter. You can experience this, but it takes some effort. In this message, we discuss how to bring your thoughts captive and align them with what Christ accomplished through His obedience and how to allay that to your life.
“casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ”
Your brain might betray you, but the Word of God never will. Wouldn’t it be nice if your thoughts were always in alignment with the Word of God? You’d always know God’s perspective on any matter. You can experience this, but it takes some effort.
As we think in our hearts, so are we. The abiding thoughts of our inner self are shaping our lives more than anything else. The thoughts you dwell on and allow to become the driving agents of your choices and decisions determine whether or not you are following God or not.
If your thoughts are negative or not aligned with God's ways, they will lead you away from what He wants to establish in your life. When your thought patterns are more influenced by the logic in this world than what God says is true and possible, you experience a form of death. But when your thoughts align with what God thinks about a matter, you are open to allowing Him to establish His will in your life, and it will be life and peace for you.
You must agree with God in your heart and mind, regardless of your feelings. No matter how much it contradicts your current circumstances. No matter how impossible it may seem. If your habitual thought patterns are not based on God's truth and what he says should be, you must change that way of thinking at all costs. If you don't, you will eat the fruit of death in one way or another.
There are many ways to reign in your thoughts and bring them under your control. You can begin by paying attention to what you are thinking at the top of each hour and walk through the Philippians 4:8 process. "Is how I'm thinking about this true, honorable, and just? Am I looking for the good? Am I in faith or doubt? Am I currently believing that Jesus can help me with this right now? And what do I need to think instead of what I have been thinking so I align with God's ways of truth and possibility?"
If you can make it a practice of capturing and controlling your thoughts so they're in faith toward God, in alignment with your identity in Christ, and based on what Jesus accomplished in obedience, you are on the path of life, and God's Word WILL come to pass in your life.
Be careful that you don't choose confusion as you attempt to bring your thoughts under control. It will be easy to tell yourself you don't know how to do it or you don't know what to do but don't allow yourself to be deceived. The Holy Spirit is with you. You have a Bible. You know what Jesus did. Put your thoughts there and hold them there until it changes what you feel and believe is possible.
Or, keep thinking the way you're thinking now and never change. It's your choice.
➡️ Take a FREE Discipleship Course
➡️ Become a Member and Download Everything
➡️ Give a One-Time or Recurring Donation if this is helpful
How to Let the Spirit Transform You
You need to change, but you can’t change yourself. God will not automatically change you just because you pray. Only an intimate living relationship with the Word of God and the Spirit of God will open your heart to allow the fruit of the Spirit’s transforming power to work in your life. It’s time to put away the former way of life and live in the power of Christ in you.
“Put off your former way of life. Renew your mind and put on the new self which is created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
You need to change, but you can’t change yourself. God will not automatically change you just because you pray. Only an intimate living relationship with the Word of God and the Spirit of God will open your heart to allow the fruit of the Spirit’s transforming power to work in your life. It’s time to put away the former way of life and live in the power of Christ in you.
In order to transform, you have to change the way you think. For believers, we have the very source of life to fuel our transformation, which is the word of God. The word of God is alive and active, it’s spiritual and life-giving in nature, and will find its way into every nook and cranny of your soul And mind to bring about God’s will. But you must have a plan of action that you implement consistently to yield your inner being to the life-giving, spiritual word of God to experience the fruit of Transformation. Try this.
Pray Scripture Exercise
Go to www.openbible.info (or any topical search tool)
Click on the topical page
Type in a subject, like parenting, finances, relationships, abuse, self talk
Read through the list and make note of the passages that stand out to you
Copy and paste those into a document that you can open on your phone to read through regularly, this will give you fuel for mind renewal
If you want to take it to the next step, rewrite those passages into first person, affirmation statements, noting that this is already your identity, and you are just putting on who you are spiritually.
Do this daily, if not multiple times a day.
Your thought life and mental health needs nurturing. Plant the word of God and watch what happens. As you familiarize yourself with God’s thinking on a subject, it’s amazing how you become more open to his solutions. I know the word of God is powerful to help you, I pray you put it into practice in your life.
➡️ Plz Give a One-Time or Recurring Donation if this was helpful
How Does Changing Your Thoughts Change Your Life?
Your destiny is to be shaped and molded by the Spirit of God to be just like Jesus. He accomplished this by living in you. His living Word will manifest in you to activate your new nature and produce His spiritual nature and fruits in and through you. Your role is to align with His will in your thoughts and rest in your completed nature in Christ as the Spirit does the work. We pray today’s worship and message equips you and empowers you to put on your new nature in Christ.
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us”
Do you need to change some things in your life? Maybe you’re not desperate, but you’d like to grow beyond your current limitations. The pathway to transformation is mind renewal.
Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. KJV
The source we use for mind renewal is not just positive thoughts or selfish meditations, the source that produces godly transformation is the Word of God.
Mere positive thinking can yield results, but when you anchor your mind-renewal efforts in the Word of God, you’re engaging a life source beyond positive thinking.
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, even penetrating as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
As you align your inner man, heart beliefs, emotions, and thoughts with God’s ways and logic, the spiritual Word manifests to shape and mold you because it’s alive and is seeking to carry out God’s will.
It’s your very destiny, from the beginning of time, to be shaped and molded by the living, spiritual Word of God.
Romans 8:29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
God will not override your will to shape you, he works with you as you renew your mind in His ways. As you meditate in His Word, you will be faced with opportunities to hold on to old ways of thinking, or repent and adopt new life-giving ways of thinking. Herein lies the transformation.
Jesus Is The Word
The Word of God is more than just history, information, doctrine, wisdom, and instruction, it’s an aspect of God himself. Jesus IS the Word. So when you expose your heart to the written aspect of God’s identity, you’re creating the opportunity for the spirit of Jesus to manifest within you to shape and mold you into His image.
When you host His presence / Word in your heart and mind, with the intention to do His will, His spiritual Word will work its way into the nooks and crannies of your thinking, your conscience, your decision-making processes, your beliefs, and ultimately your choices. It’s what He’s trying to do all day, every day. Our role is to align with Him within and let him work in us.
Ephesians 4:21 Since you have heard about Jesus and learned the truth from him, 22 throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. 23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. NLT
Transformation is the result of an intentional process. God will not just change you because you prayed. There’s work to do. The work is to renew your mind, with a wide-open heart to live differently when inspired and moved by His Word. If you’re not engaging the Word on a regular basis, I’m not sure how you can expect to experience transformation.
The manifestation of transformation is not a process you can control, but it is one you must initiate and cultivate if you want to change and allow more of God’s will to be established in your life.
Here’s a practical mind-renewal exercise to try.
Homework
Philippians 4:8 Thought Life Exercise
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think on these things.
This single passage, when applied, can change your life. No matter what you're facing: financial issues, relationship challenges, inner peace struggles, parenting difficulties, or sin habits, this single passage can help. Identify the area of life you want to transform and ask yourself questions on each "step" based on what the Word says specifically about that area.
For example, Parenting.
What is true about parenting? Find five passages and allow them to shape your parenting methods. What is honorable? What is the honorable thing to do for yourself, your spouse, and your children in this situation? You might have to dig a bit, but you're essentially building a parenting plan based on these points rather than just reacting to each emotional situation with no consistent boundaries or agreements.
What is right? What is the right thing for you to do, and what is the right thing to expect from your children? And if they, or you, do not adhere to that right thing or that standard, what will be the consequences or rewards? This goes for you, too. What is lovely about parenting? This is where you must cultivate a thankful heart toward your children. Are you communicating to your children what is lovely, or do they only hear from you when they have done something wrong?
Continue through the rest of each point and frame a few questions for each point. You can do this for any area. The end goal is to renew your mind in what the Word says about that area of life and create a plan to put that Word into practice. The Holy Spirit will help you, you are not left to your own wits.
What Happens When God Holds Your Heart?
There are hundreds of passages in the Bible about our thought life. God gives detailed instructions on how and what to think about almost every subject. The goal of this instruction is to repent, change the way we think, and think as God thinks in every area. We often nurture harmful and destructive thought patterns in our minds and hearts rather than reigning in our thoughts and fixing them on what God says to think about. In this series, we will explore our thought lives' ups and downs and develop plans to experience transformation through mind renewal. In today's sermon, we will look at the hardening of Pharaoh's heart to discover a powerful truth about our responsibility to respond to God correctly. We pray today's message is a blessing to you.
“And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.”
I want to look at the story of Pharaoh hardening his heart to begin my Thought Life series. God spoke to Moses and asked him to go to Pharoah and set His people free, but God also told Moses that He would harden Pharaoh's heart.
The heart becomes hard from pride, ego, wounding, and trauma. Pharaoh's heart was most likely hard toward God out of pride. Egyptian Pharaohs believed themselves to be gods, so I can imagine when Moses came to him with the demand from the one true God to let all his slaves go, his heart was not soft toward God to comply with this request.
The Hebrew word for "harden" in Exodus 4:21 is ḥāzaq. This word is translated in other places in the Bible as; strengthen, hold, caught, hardened, relieve, encourage, be strong, courageous, and held.
In light of this definition, try reading that passage again.
"I will ḥāzaq his heart." You could just as accurately say God encouraged, strengthened, and held Pharaoh's heart.
Pharaoh's response was to harden his heart toward God rather than to allow his heart to be held and repaired by God. Pharaoh had a choice, and he chose to reject God. He faced the consequences of doing so, but he had a choice nonetheless.
The outcome was based on the receptivity of Pharaoh's heart to God's action toward him. Pharaoh could have allowed God's attempt to lay hold of his heart to soften his heart. Pharaoh could have said yes to Moses right away and turned the mighty nation of Egypt toward the one true God. But he didn't, he hardened his heart and reaped the wrath of God for doing so.
The point is this, as Proverbs 23:7 says, as we think in our hearts, so are we. The way Pharaoh thought with his mind and believed with his heart would not allow himself to be influenced by God. He rejected God's action toward him instead. This is an extreme example, but we do the same thing.
The Hard Heart
You think with your mind and your heart. The mind thinks about your feelings, and the heart thinks about what you believe. Both are irrational and need to be told what to think. The mind needs to be focused on the Lord for self-control and obedience, whereas the heart needs to be focused on the Lord to walk by faith.
Your emotions and decisions are directly affected by the way you think. Pharaoh could have changed the way he thought about God, and his life would have gone in a completely different direction. But when God moved toward him, he rejected God and faced destruction.
We do the same thing. We will reap our destruction when we reject God's strength and wisdom. Why would we reject God at any level? Because our hearts become hard toward him. We harden our hearts for many reasons.
Have you ever tried to love someone with a wounded or broken heart?
They can't receive it because they either don't feel worthy of it or are protecting themselves so fiercely that they reject love because of their past. Whether victimized or engaged in perverted experiences with unhealthy love, all love becomes potentially hurtful. Most efforts to love this person are rejected because this person has an unhealthy perspective of love and builds a fortress around the heart.
So the state of your heart determines what you will allow God (and people) to do for you. God is extending salvation, healing, and deliverance to everyone, but his method is Christ. If people harden their hearts to Christ, they reject God's strengthening, which can lead to salvation, and choose self-effort or destruction.
The heart has to be willing to be healed, which means it must be willing to forgive and stop allowing the trauma to define the identity. The wounded still wants to punish the person who hurt them, so it ends up being rolled over onto whoever is trying to love them. Or there is no self-love because of the perverted life they have lived. Each is equally as damaging and difficult to heal.
If you have been hurt, and it is difficult to allow people to love you, you are hard in your heart to God's forgiveness for you which causes you to continue to harbor unforgiveness for the one who hurt you, even if that is yourself.
You push others away because you despise the shame and are angry with yourself that you're still allowing it to hurt.
Forgiveness and reconciliation break shame and the fortified broken heart. The hard shell cracks and begins to fall away, leaving a tender heart that can finally heal and grow. You've packed the wound with wartime field dressing, and it's time to remove it so the actual healing can take place.
How you think and the paths you walk down in your thoughts will lead to more hardening or healing.
Homework
Reword the following passages into phrases that help you apply them practically. Each passage has instructions on how to think and what to think about, but unless you personalize it and see a way to incorporate this instruction into your daily life, they will remain words on a page.
Colossians 3:1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts (affections) on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds (thoughts) on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
Ephesians 4:22B put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. ESV
Here's how I would reword these ideas and truths into personal, practical application.
I will think about things from a higher perspective than fear, depression, loss, anxiety, and carnality because Christ shares His authority with me. I am seated in Heavenly authority in Christ and higher than the things in this world. I am dead to the cares of this world because I live in Christ, and He lives through me.
In any given area of life, I will consider God's truth in the situation instead of thinking about it the way the world thinks about it. I will look for reasons to be thankful. I will think about what is good, honorable, and excellent about the situation rather than all the negatives. I will think like God thinks about it because he has made me new to be like Him in this situation.
I will reign in my thoughts and think about myself in light of who I am in Him and who He is in me. I am as He is, so I have nothing to fear.
Now...develop an awareness of the different areas in your life where you can change how you think and apply these principles. You will not think yourself into success, but changing the way you think will cause you to make different choices and eventually bring about an inner transformation, so living this way is more natural than living according to the world.