Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Corina: Have you ever experienced a real breakthrough with God only to find yourself struggling with the same thoughts or patterns later? Breakthrough can happen in a moment, but lasting transformation happens when we learn to think and believe differently. Today we're talking about why the breakthrough is only the beginning and how renewing your mind helps you hold onto the freedom that God has already given you.
[00:00:27] Josh: If you're tired of leading others while secretly battling doubt, discouragement and mental warfare,
[00:00:32] Corina: and you want practical tools to renew your mind and walk boldly in your
[00:00:36] Josh: calling as a leader, you're in the right place. Welcome to believe and become.
[00:00:40] Corina: We're Josh and Corina your spirit filled coaches here to help you overcome those limiting beliefs and lead others confidently.
[00:00:47] Josh: If you're ready to hear God's voice more clearly, to step into your purpose and find joy and strength in the
[00:00:52] Corina: everyday silence, those Bible app reminders judging you from your lock screen and let's jump in.
[00:01:05] Josh: So there was a period in my life where I really was struggling with anxiety. Had been over several years and we decided to go to this conference.
And in the conference in the middle of worship, nobody prayed for me, nobody said anything.
But I felt something physically fall off of my side.
And I knew in that moment that that was anxiety. I had also struggled with some digestive issues too. And so it kind of all just went together like God was taking out whatever was causing all those problems. And it was incredible. Like I. I felt a lift, I felt free. I felt full of just peace and joy. We had somebody pray for me at the end and it was incredible. I had a good solid two, three months of just feeling really good, really free. I could eat things I couldn't eat before. It was awesome. But then I noticed that just slowly some of the things that I was struggling with started to try to creep back in. Like I started to. I would feel anxious again a little bit, or I was having issues with different foods that I couldn't eat that would give me digestive problems. And I was like, what's going on? God set me free. Why? Why is this coming back?
And what I realized is that God can set you free in an instant, but old ways of thinking can hold us back. My beliefs and my old patterns in my mind were taking me back to where I was before God set me free.
And we love it when God does something in an instant. So many people, we've heard so many testimonies of God just instantly setting somebody free, like from addiction or drugs or alcohol and they're free the rest of their lives. But some People, they get that moment of freedom, and then it takes some time. It takes effort. It takes a little bit of partnering with the Holy Spirit to really maintain that freedom. And that doesn't take away from what God did. But I think actually it's in his loving kindness that he lets us walk through that process of renewing our minds. He's giving us tools that we can apply to other areas of our lives. We can help other people out that are suffering from similar things. We get authority in the areas that we achieve victory with God's help. So I just want to encourage you that maybe you had a breakthrough moment like that, praise God, but maybe you started to see things creep back in and that you thought, oh, why is this what happened? Is there something wrong with me? Was I. Did I just get it wrong?
Makes you start to question what happened? No, that. That actually is pretty common. And we're going to equip you today with the tools you need to walk out your freedom. After the breakthrough, I thought it was
[00:03:59] Corina: interesting how you said those thoughts started to come back of, like, I started feeling a little bit anxious. I think that when that happens, our first instinct is, it didn't work right. It didn't really take. I. I thought it was true, but I guess I'm not. Instead of grabbing that anxiety and being like, you don't have any place here anymore, and taking that authority that we have because we don't have the renewed mind. And I think that is the difference between getting free and staying free.
It is having that renewed mind.
Because even. Even if you're like, we also know people who have been trying for years and years to get free and who have had measures of breakthrough but never fully broken through. I think the renewed mind is the key. I think that as you learn to think like Jesus, as you allow the Holy Spirit to give you his thoughts, and you begin to take that authority in these situations, then that transformation starts to become more and more your reality and less and less something that you feel stuck in.
And I think it's important that we recognize that transformation isn't just the moment. Like, there is the moment when somebody lays hands on you, when something falls off of you, but then there's the process of walking that out. What does that actually look like to stay in freedom? And I think that's so important that we recognize that. That there's a process. Even when you have the zappage, as we like to call it, when you have the zappage in the moment where the Lord zaps you and Something changes. We still have to walk that thing out. And I think that's just vital for our freedom. I heard somebody say yesterday that we are not working for it. We're not working for the transformation. And I think that's really important. We're not working for it, but we're walking it out. And it's really important that we recognize that your. Your freedom and your breakthrough, it's not conditional on what you do, but in order to maintain it, to stay there, you have to know how to live in that place. And so that's what. That's where we get to walk it out.
[00:06:22] Josh: Yeah. It makes me think of the Israelites entering the promised land, that there was a process the Lord let. He could have just smoked, I guess,
[00:06:31] Corina: smited, smitten
[00:06:36] Josh: all of the giants in the land and said, here's your land. Live it up, you know? But they needed to build that strength, that character, by clearing the land so that they could occupy it and they could own that promised land and defend it against all the attacks that were coming. Like, we kind of know the story after the fact. They didn't know how much work it would be to defend that promised land. And it's the same thing with us. We need to be equipped to defend our territory that God has given us. And I love it. We love Zappage. We love it when God, in a moment, delivers you or sets you free. That's incredible. We always pursue that. We always pray for that, and we rejoice with those that. That get that. But then there's. We always need to be renewing our mind. That is something that we get to do for the rest of our lives, is to renew our minds, to be transformed, to think like Jesus. And it's just practice. We get to practice that in every area of our lives because you might get free in one area, there will always be another area where it's like, okay, God wants to take us higher in our thinking in that area.
And I don't say this to discourage us, but to encourage us that there's no limit to how much we can transform because we continually renew our mind over and over again and get our beliefs more in line with God's truth. His truth is infinite. And so we just continue to look more and more like Jesus as we walk through this process.
[00:08:05] Corina: Yeah.
Just about trying harder. Right. It's not just. I think your. Your picture of, like, the Israelites taking the land is really.
There's so much in there. Because even when you think about, like, Joshua and the walls of Jericho, they, they had to partner with God in the process of taking the city. And then when they blew the trumpets, they'd been marching seven days, they blew the trumpets, the walls fall down.
Now they have to go and fight.
So it wasn't even like, just be obedient and then it's going to happen. They had to engage in the process with that. For us, there is a. An amount of effort that we feel is feasible that should have happened by now. I've been praying for so long, or I've been, you know, trying so hard. But with God, it's not often about. It's not usually about the trying. And I think even in that picture with Joshua and the walls of Jericho, they didn't win it because they tried harder. Yeah, they won it because they did what God asked them to do. He asked them to march around the city and not say a word. And that. And for me, just to do that one day is hard enough, but seven days of marching in silence, you know, that's a huge deal. And so to, to partner with God looks different than just trying harder. It's not praying more. It's not, you know, worshiping harder. It's not doing the things that we think it's supposed to be. It's God, what do you want me to do in this situation? What am I supposed to believe? It's taking those beliefs higher and renewing our mind with the truth that is most often going to break the stronghold. Because we get stuck in these patterns a lot of times, most of the time because of the things that we believe, because of something that happened, because of a belief that was planted. And then we are, you know, coping.
We are trying to find comfort. We are, you know, covering something. There's always. It's always go so much deeper than just the symptom that we're experiencing. We want to get rid of the symptoms, but God wants to deal with the disease. He wants to get down deep and to dig up the stuff that is not serving us well. Because your digestive symptoms could have gone and your anxiety could have lifted, but that wouldn't have taught you how to eat, to fuel your body, or how to partner with God. When anxious thoughts do come or when something scary happens, you go through that process of, where is this coming from and how and God, what do you want me to believe about it? And so I think it's really important that we recognize it's not just trying harder, it's not just doing more. It's really coming into agreement with what God says, and digging up those roots so that we can find true healing on the like deep, deep inside.
[00:11:00] Josh: And we're here to set you free from that treadmill of effort. I'm working really hard to try to change myself. I mean, look at the self help section of the library or the bookstore, if those even exist anymore of Amazon.
It's huge. There's so many things that we're trying to do, trying to fix ourselves, but we have something way better than human effort. We have the grace of God.
His. That's his supernatural power to change. And he's giving it to you even right now, he's imparting his grace to you to see victory in that area. Dr. Caroline Leaf has written many books on and studied neuroplasticity. We love a lot of her materials. And she says it takes 72 days to create new neural pathways in our brains, and that's the way God created us. And that doesn't mean that the process is hard or arduous or you have to work really hard, but it does mean we have to be intentional for 72 days in order to build those new neural pathways. And we don't say that to discourage you or say, oh my gosh, it's going to take forever. No, we just say, holy Spirit, lead me through this process.
You're the best life coach ever. You're going to lead me through this, show me what to do every single day to renew my mind with the truth. And if you just keep at it for long enough, you get free. Yeah, that's all it takes. I just gotta follow him, say yes to his process.
And 72 days later, voila, you have. It's not exact science like that, but that's approximately what it takes. You're gonna get free. You're gonna change the way that you think. Your new default mode will switch from anxious thoughts or from fear or whatever it is that you're struggling with. God will flip the switch to, okay, my default is truth. My default is what God says about me and my circumstances instead of what I've been believing, maybe the lies that have had me trapped for so long.
[00:12:56] Corina: And I think it's important that we remember that Christianity is not behavior modification.
And so when we are trying to break old habits or old ways of being or thinking or doing, it's important that we're not just trying to not do it. We're not just trying to stop. We are partnering with what God says is true. So, God, who do you say I am? God? What do you want me to believe about this situation. And I think that that's where real transformation comes. Real transformation comes when we partner with God, not when we stop doing the thing that we think we shouldn't do. Because God's really, he cares about what we do, don't get me wrong. But he's more interested. He cares more deeply about what we believe and who we are. He's always more interested in our character than in our behavior. And so because I think God knows that as our character develops, as we become more like him, as we draw nearer to him, then those other things start to fall away. They're not the most important thing. Who you're becoming, who you are as a person. That is what God cares most deeply about because that really affects everything else.
[00:14:11] Josh: So this is why beliefs are so important. Just like Corina was saying, we gotta get changed from the inside if we wanna see transformation on the outside.
And so if you go to our website, joshandkarina.com coaching we have a free hope quiz that you can take. We'll help you identify an area of your life, maybe where your beliefs need a little bit of an upgrade. We all could be upgraded in our beliefs. This will help you identify one of those areas and then you to actually schedule a free 15 minute session with one of us to go over your results and talk about what are possible next steps that you could take to renew your mind and to be transformed and to see that stronghold that's been in your life for so long be torn down. That is what God is all about. Jesus is all about destroying strongholds and giving us new positive strongholds built on the truth of his word. So go to joshandkarina.com coaching take our free hope quiz and schedule a free 15 minute session with one of us. We would love to meet you and talk about what's going on in your life.
[00:15:10] Corina: All right, so let's talk about some action steps. One of my favorite declarations is we celebrate progress, not perfection.
That is one of my favorite things to remember to remind myself. It doesn't mean that we don't celebrate when something is perfectly done, but we celebrate every step along the way. I'm not just waiting for the finish line. I'm not just waiting for the day that I'm fixed. I'm celebrating every step I take along the way. Not just the big things, but the little things too as we celebrate. I didn't stay stuck as long. I didn't get trapped in that negative mindset for two weeks. It was only one week and six Days, there's, yay, good job. Go me. Right? And we want to look, we want to evaluate, how am I doing? And this is just such a good question for you to ask yourself. How am I doing? Am I doing better than I was doing last week, last month, six months ago? And just begin to evaluate, is it working? Because even when you're in the middle of discouragement, anxiety, fear, worry, 72 days feels like so long. But what is that compared to six months or a year or five years or 10 years of freedom, Right? And so where am I in the middle of this? Maybe today is day one. Good job. You made it through day one. Celebrate the progress along the way. I didn't stay stuck as long. I didn't. Somebody said something negative to me and, and I felt, okay, right? Like just these little things that we can begin to celebrate and, and begin to just thank God, because that gratitude will actually inspire you to continue to keep going, to move forward.
So celebrate yourself every step along the way. And even if that means today I made this commitment and maybe tomorrow I forgot about it and I. And I didn't do it, but today I made this commitment, right? It's always coming back to, what is God calling you to? Who is He? Who has he created you to be? And getting back to that place and starting from there every single time, as many times as you have to, but celebrate your progress along the way.
[00:17:25] Josh: And this really is a life philosophy of training yourself to recognize what God is doing.
So many times we're tempted to focus on what God isn't doing. God, why aren't you taking care of this situation? Why are you moving over here? I feel so stuck. When we train ourselves to see what God is doing, the changes that he is making in our lives, and then we come into agreement with that and we partner with what God's already doing, that gives us the momentum to keep moving forward in life. Because God is. He's always at work. He's always at work in your life. He's always doing something. If you train yourself to notice that and go, okay, that's what God's on. I'm going to be on that too. I'm going to go with God. Because a lot of times he has this process. It's not about, okay, you might have a symptom over here. I'm not ready to deal with that. You're not ready to deal with that. God says, let's focus on this area. That's where you're going to get victory first. And maybe that's the foundation for what he's trying to build in your life.
So important focus on what God is doing, not on what he's not doing.
[00:18:32] Corina: And when we recognize what God is doing, we're actually inviting him to do more. And so when we say thank you, when we say, wow, God, I see you doing this, we're actually opening. What we're really doing is opening ourselves up and inviting more of him into our situation. So that's just so good.
[00:18:51] Josh: So the first thing we're going to do is celebrate our progress. Notice what God is doing, celebrate all the victory that you have. The next thing to do is to just choose one area to focus on, one truth to practice we've seen so many times and experiencing in our own lives. We go, oh my gosh, I have all these different things, all these lies. I'm believing I'm going to try to renew my mind in every area and fix everything.
That can be really hard to do. It can be overwhelming. It can feel like I'm not really making progress anywhere because I'm spreading my attention so thin. So a lot of times it's much more effective to choose one area. And we love to just follow the Holy Spirit. God. Which area are you highlighting that you want to work on? What's your finger on right now? Choose that one belief that God is highlighting and then have a handful or less of declarations, a few that are really powerful, that speak to you, that God has spoken to you, that come directly from his word verses, that jumped off the page and really spend intentional time on those handful of declarations.
That's going to be so much more powerful than I'm reading through a list of hundreds of declarations with just trying to get through it. So we want to engage our imaginations as we do this. What is this truth? Ask God for a picture. What does it look like when I'm walking in the truth of my identity and I'm not believing lies? What does that look like? And then picture that in your mind. Maybe spend some time. What does that feel like when I'm truly free the way that God has already said that I'm free? The more that we involve our imaginations and our words, the more powerful that is to renew our minds.
[00:20:32] Corina: And then you want to pair that truth with an action. And this isn't just like, take a random step, right? This is if. If I really believed what God says about me is true, how would I behave differently? What would I do? What kind of person is that person that I'm becoming? What does that person do? The one who I'm becoming? So it's the difference between I write books or I'm an author.
A person who is writing a book or writes a book, you can do that, but then you're done, you've set a goal, you've completed the goal. But an author is diligent. They write every day, they're growing in their craft. They behave differently than somebody who just wants to write a book. And so you can even look at people who, like, want to run a marathon or do a 5K, right? And they exercise, they do all the training, they get in there, they run their 5K, and then they're done. And now they're couch potato again versus somebody who is a runner. And so what does it look like to be the person who God says you are? Not just today, but what does that person do long term? How does that person behave? And then begin to take the smallest step in that direction. And one of the great ways that we like to do this is to do something called habit stacking, where say the Lord says, you're an author, you're going to write books. And you're like, okay, I'm an author. What does an author do? Well, an author probably writes. And so you pair writing with something else you already do. Maybe you come home at the same time every day, or you take a break at the same time every day, stop at that moment or put it in your calendar and say, when I get home, I'm going to write for five minutes. Or when I wake up in the morning, I'm going to write for five minutes, or during my break, I'm going to just close the door and write and attach that habit of writing to something else that you already do so that it's easier for it to become a new habit for you. And this could even just. You could use this with your declarations. The person I'm becoming is positive and speaks truth all the time. All right, well, I'm going to take these declarations, these things that God is spoken to my heart, that I am now partnering with, with my words. And I'm going to say them every time I brush my teeth. So after I brush my teeth in the morning, I'm going to stop and say my five declarations for the day. When I brush my teeth at night, afterwards, I'm going to stop, say my declarations for the day. So you're attaching the new habit to an old habit that you already have so that you can begin to just make it really Easily a part of what you do.
[00:23:09] Josh: And we love to just ask the Holy Spirit, what.
What's the one thing that I need to do? What's the habit that I need to develop? Say you're called to preach. Are you actually practicing? Are you writing sermons? Are you practicing delivering them? I mean, you might not have an opportunity to do that at your church, but that doesn't mean we just sit around and wait until somebody goes, hey, do you want to preach on Sunday? No. We get better at our craft practice. Giving messages to your phone and put it on YouTube or send it to your friends and say, how could I make this better? Send it to your pastor and go, here. I'm working on my preaching gift. Can you coach me in that? Just take some practical steps. Maybe it's just five minutes a day writing sermons during your devotion, you're going to say, okay, what did God say? How would I teach that? And I just write it down. It doesn't have to be complicated, but you're starting to give God something to work with. We're developing our craft. We're getting better at it. We're being intentional. And if you do that a little bit every day, that begins to snowball into something huge that God will open a door for, especially when he's put it on your heart. He's going to make a way for it. But we do have to just be a little bit intentional to partner with God and what God is already doing.
[00:24:19] Corina: I heard Dan McCollum, he's a prophet who I follow online, and he comes to our church sometimes, and I heard him say that he was talking about when he started doing speaking engagements, and he said, the Lord told me to start writing sermons, and he said, I had no speaking engagements on my calendar, but the Lord told me to do it, so I started doing it. So every day for an entire year, he wrote a sermon every day for a whole year with no invitations, nothing on the calendar. And after that first year, he started getting invitation after invitation after invitation. And he had sermons for every single occasion for which he was asked to speak because he had been obedient in that year when it seemed like nothing was happening. I think it's so important that we recognize that God is doing more behind the scenes than we can really appreciate or understand.
When he asks us to do something, when he asks us to take a step of obedience, there's a reason for it. He has a plan and purpose, and you're not going to miss it. So just say yes to what he's asking you to do today, right now, in the moment, because he is preparing you for something greater in the future.
[00:25:36] Josh: I sense God's grace coming on you to step into that next thing that God's already put on your heart. There's something. There's some dream that's been rolling around in your head and your heart for so long, and you've been nervous, you've been scared. You think, maybe I feel inadequate. I'm not prepared, I'm not ready. God's saying, today's the day. Take a step, set the timer for five minutes, and just work on that one thing for five minutes. We can pretty much do anything for about five minutes. That has been so powerful in my life. And it will be powerful in your life as you just are intentional to partner with God and what he's already doing. So we just want to say yes and amen to the breakthrough that either you're seeking or you've already received.
But more than that, we want to say God is inviting you into his loving process as he teaches you to renew your mind with his truth so that you can walk out that breakthrough every single day, your life, and then impart it to all those around you. As a Christian leader, you are gaining authority in every area of your life where you start to see victory, and God is just increasing that in your life day by day by day. So we just bless you as you walk it out with God.
[00:26:57] Corina: Hey, friend. We hope you enjoyed today.
If so, would you take 30 seconds to share this podcast with someone who may need encouragement or practical tools for fighting their battle?
[00:27:07] Josh: Then rate and review this podcast. Help us spread the message of transformation far and wide.
[00:27:13] Corina: All right, time to walk back into the noise with peace, purpose, and maybe a tiny bit of guessing.
[00:27:18] Josh: We'll meet you back next Thursday for another episode. Bye.
