Mindfulness Part 1- Noting

Last time at the end of my blog, I brought up the topic of mindfulness. Mindfulness is key to handling our emotions and spiritually embrace our identity in Christ. This won't see clear right away but I promise the more we dive into this topic, you will see the connection! I wasn't able to start begin making process emotionally and spiritually until I made the connection with mindfulness.

I use the Calm app which is a meditation app I HIGHLY recommend you try out- especially if you have severe clinical depression and General Anxiety Disorder like myself. I use to be turned off to the concept of meditation but when I started using the Calm app, I learned mediation is not what most people think it is! ALL of the topics I write about here, I have learned from the Calm app. The Calm app has help change my life! 

Let's get started! The first area of mindfulness I want to teach you is called NOTING. 

Mental noting is "The practice of using a simple “note” to calmly name – as a whisper in the mind – what we are experiencing. Though it can take a while to learn, and can be awkward at first, with practice, mental noting can become second nature."

"Noting in meditation has many functions. The primary one is keeping the meditator present – sometimes it is called an ‘anchor’ to the present. The mind is less likely to wander off if one keeps up a steady stream of relaxed noting. If the mind does wander, the noting practice can make it easier to reestablish mindfulness."

This is how it works. If you feel scared, you say "scared, scared" (the 2 time rule is important)! When you say those words, it grounds you. The next step of noting is to not judge what you are feeling or classify them as good or bad. The 3 step (and this is my favorite) is to picture yourself putting it (the feeling) on a cloud and letting it go! The thing with thoughts is we so easily hold on them like a best friend. We forget the impermanence of what we are feeling or of a situation (we're go more into this later)! 

This week, practice the mindful practice of noting. Again, remember it is VERY important for you to say the feeling 2 times for this practice to work. Remember not to put a label on what it is. Just accept it as it and let it go! You may have to do this several times and that is okay! 

I have learned so much on the topic of mindfulness and I can't wait to share it with you. I hope as we explore this important topic, you will see progress in your own mental health! We also will be continue to use the book Defined by Stephen and Alex Kendrick as we explore this topic to help us make the spiritual connection!

https://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/books-articles/mental-noting/

The Lord of the (Signet) Ring

Today I am going to write about one of my favorite parts of the book Defined by Alex and Stephen Kendrick. I'll be quoting from Chapter 21- You Have the Strengthening of the Holy Spirit and Chapter 19- You Have Resources and a Rich Inheritance from Your Father.  

I will be using quotes right of the bat to set the context and then expend on it. I will start with a verse though they used it the book. "You are "sealed in him (in Christ) with the promised Holy Spirit" (Eph 1:13. "You are sealed by him for the day of redemption" (Eph 4:30)."

Why is this significant? That's the best part! "The imagery here is both strong and beautiful. The "seal" in ancient cultures was a visible sign that guaranteed a person's chosen action or agreement. Often applied with the signet ring or similar instrument, the seal meant that the contents of a document and whatever it ordered must be carried out regardless. The seal made it irrevocable."

"In a similar fashion, we have been "sealed" by the Holy Spirit "until the redemption of the possession" (Eph 3:14). God "put his seal on us and giving us the Spirit that is our future inheritance in heaven. (2 Cor 1:22)."

"It means that everything God has promised you is really going to happen"

As God's children, we have His inheritance. Jumping back to Chapter 19 they talk about what it means to be coheirs with God.  "To be coheirs, however, would mean all 5 children own all five acres jointly. Or another example: if a husband and wife maintain a joint banking account, he doesn't own half and also she owe half. Both of them own it all.

"Your right to inheritance- because you're now a blessed and beloved child of God- is the same as the Son's right of inheritance"

We are sealed with God. We may not have signet ring on our finger but that doesn't mean we aren't wearing one! Being one with God means that EVERYTHING that He has, we also have- just because we're His child. This has been hard for me to wrap my head around. We keep searching for things in this life that will only lead us to destruction- love of money, comparing ourselves to others, coveting what other people have. I can say I have done all of them. I worry about having money to be on my own a lot. I compare myself to others and then I feel small and inadequate. When I covet what other people have, I become blind to what I do have.

This is not how it is meant to be. If we have asked Jesus into our hearts, His inheritance is OUR inheritance! We are children of God! We can crawl up to Daddy's laps and rest in Him. We have everything we need because of our inheritance in Him! It is hard to understand this! It is hard not to worry about things and get in thought patterns that simply do not fall into our new identity. I will share you some things I have learned about mindfulness and put a spiritual aspect to them. I use the Calm app and it has REALLY benefited me and I have been able to apply what I learn into a spiritual point of view fairly easily. For now, I want you to know that it is possible even if it hard and goes against our human nature.

Remember that YOU are SEALED with God by a document that cannot be amended or torn. Think about what having His inheritance means for you! Do you believe this? How would your thoughts and days be different? How would it change your relationship with God? How would it change your prayer life? Your church life? These are questions I need to ask myself to! We have such a powerful inheritance which we did nothing to deserve or earn.
                                           
       

Amazing You

I have not written in a long time because it was hard for me to. Sometimes I feel l like what I have to say does not matter, that people wouldn't want to hear what I have to say, that it is just not important. I know I cannot let fear or anything else keep from doing what I want to do, saying what I want to say. It is not easy. In fact, I almost didn't write this but here I am and here it goes. Hopefully what I say in this blog entry (and other entries) will be a blessing to you. I am very shy so hopefully this helps me to and getting rid of some of fears. I know I have a talent for writing and I want to use it! So.. let's begin!

I recently read a book called Defined: Who God Says You Are by Alex and Stephen Kendrick. They are the creators of such Christian movies such as Fireproof, Courageous, and most recently Overcomer.  This book is ABSOLUTELY amazing and the best book I have found on this topic.

I have tended to put my identity on the wrong things! I put them on my job, what my bosses and co-workers think of me, what my family thinks of me and more. I wouldn't accept certain things about myself. In the book I learned that "Only your God, the one who made you, the One who redeemed you has the perfect knowledge, full ownership, and absolute authority to define who you are and what He's created you to become. You are who He says you are. Period. And the sooner you can discover that and find out what He says, the better off you will be." I also learned "Our identity and being can only be found in Him."

So how did He make us? "To claim you're a result of a mere time and chance is laughable and ludicrous. It's like believing that the most complex computer in the world could be accidentally design itself, wire its own circuitry board by chance, plug itself in, haphazardly create a digital language code that enables it to communicate, then write all the code for it's operating system, and unintentionally survive and reproduce itself successfully for thousands of generations. Not a chance"  We were made wonderfully complex (see Psalm 139: 13-14). We  are unique! "Expecting God to make two people exactly the same would be like asking Mozart to rewrite the same symphony, line for line, note for note. Why would he do that? That work had already been done. Only something refreshingly new will do. Your distinctive image, your wonder uniqueness, your irreplaceability, makes you incredibly valuable... a walking miracle."

 Do you believe this about you? Where do you place your identity? Does where I've placed my identity ring a bell with you or is it somewhere else?

I will be using this book more to help steer us in a good direction. In other words, we are NEEDED, IMPORTANT, MIRACLES, and IRREPLACEABLE. We are so much more then this and I will delve into that later but this kinda lays the groundwork for us. I've learned reading this  book, that true peace can only come God and in who He says I am, I also am STILL learning that because He made me, that I can trust Him completely. This is a concept that is I am still working through but the foundation is there where it was not before.

I hope this blesses you, and I hope you know how uncomfortable it was for me to do but I did it. It was hard... I won't lie. If I can do uncomfortable things and take risk so can you!


All quotes taking from Defined: Who God Says You Are by Alex and Stephen Kendrick.