Today in the podcast we're talking about.
Speaker BHaving a vision for our lives.
Speaker BWe are talking about shifting from having negative thoughts or thoughts that aren't serving us to how we can switch that with understanding what it is we want for our lives in the different areas of our lives and how powerful it is that when we understand what we desire and we focus on that and what God has for us, everything changes.
Speaker AAnd so I can't wait to share this conversation with you because I think.
Speaker BIt will help you shift your thoughts, shift your mindset, and get clear on how you want to be living.
Speaker AHey friend, are you craving deeper faith, renewed purpose and more joy in your everyday life?
Speaker AWelcome to Faith Healed Woman Podcast that helps Christian women grow spiritually pursue God's calling and embrace the abundant life he has for you?
Speaker AI'm Kristin, an encourager, mentor, entrepreneur, wife and mom here to uplift, equip and inspire you with faith filled conversations and Biblical wisdom.
Speaker ASubscribe now so you never miss an episode and join our faith fueled community for more encouragement.
Speaker BBefore we jump in.
Speaker BI did want to let you know if you haven't already joined our community and my weekly newsletter, head on over.
Speaker ATo my website KristinFitch.com and I have.
Speaker BSome amazing workbooks that you can go and get for free.
Speaker BOne is called Rewire your mind but it's five steps on how we can take our thoughts captive and shift those thoughts to serve us better and what God has for us.
Speaker BSo you can get that@kristenfitch.com mindset or you can grab my joyful 15 day.
Speaker AJoyful devotional on my website under my freebie section.
Speaker BSo head on over there now, join our community and get one of those workbooks or devotionals that you can start using today.
Speaker CHi.
Speaker AToday on the podcast I would like to welcome our guest Titi Jones.
Speaker AShe's a speaker and author, a certified coach, and she's the host of Goliath is Calling YouTube series.
Speaker AShe also is a home stager or has a home staging company called Homeworks.
Speaker AShe has her Master's in Architecture and she's working on her Master's in Business and ministry.
Speaker AAnd I'm excited for her to join us from Oxford in the uk because we're going to talk about mindset, we're going to talk about purpose and why it's so important to transform our thoughts and take them captive.
Speaker ABecause when we do that, we can step into everything God has for us.
Speaker AWe're also going to talk about the importance of having spaces that actually allow us to be renewed to rest and to use those spaces to lift us up.
Speaker ABecause when we do that, we actually can feel clearer, we can have more momentum, and it's just easier to step into everything God has for us.
Speaker ASo I'm excited to share this conversation with you.
Speaker AWelcome to the show, td.
Speaker DThank you so much, Kristin.
Speaker DReally happy to be here.
Speaker DThank you.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker AAnd I was fortunate to join Titi on her show, her series last week.
Speaker AAnd I will definitely link that in the show notes as well for anybody that wants to go listen to that conversation too.
Speaker ASo, Titi, can you start off by sharing with us a little bit about your life and what it looks like and then just what you're up to now?
Speaker DYeah, so of course, I have, I guess for me, always really been interested in transformation of any kind of homes, haircuts, you know, the before and after.
Speaker DAnd I love hearing God's impact on people and how he's transformed their lives.
Speaker DAnd, you know, I studied architecture, studied architecture in the 80s in America, did a master's degree and concentrated on homes, renovating homes, building homes.
Speaker DBecause I think that homes have such a big impact on who we are and how we live.
Speaker DAnd it can change how we live.
Speaker DIf you live in a home that works well for you.
Speaker DAnd in fact, my business is called the Homeworks, because when a home works well, the people inside work well also.
Speaker DSo our first family home was on a street which had identical 1930s post war homes.
Speaker DIn the UK they were all quite small, but when we lived there, you know, I had visited some of our neighbors and just noticed that each one was so different depending on the people who lived there and how they had altered the home, extended the home.
Speaker DThey had just made a difference for their season of life, for the way they lived.
Speaker DAnd it just really fascinated me.
Speaker DAnd what our family did is we extended out the back and had these really large doors that opened up in the garden.
Speaker DI could keep an eye on my young children at the time.
Speaker DAnd we had these heated floors that we ended up playing games on.
Speaker DAnd it really changed, you know, the dynamics of our family interactions in a very positive way.
Speaker DAnd I suppose for me it's really, how can you be intentional about creating a home that works for people?
Speaker DAnd my journey really trying to transform homes has led me more and more inwards.
Speaker DYou know, I want to create dream homes for people.
Speaker DBut God was taking me on this journey where he said, you know, I want you to be first, my dream home.
Speaker DAnd when we can be a home for the Holy Spirit, for the Father and The son to live in.
Speaker DWhen we work well, then truly the sky is the limit.
Speaker DWe can create anything externally when the internal part of us is working.
Speaker DWell, I wrote a book a few years ago called seven keys to create a dream home that you love.
Speaker DBut really now I would like to write another book about how you can be a dream home.
Speaker DBecause really, just thinking about yourself as a home and decluttering the thoughts and the things that devalue this internal home is as much as an important aspect of that of transformation as creating a dream home externally.
Speaker DSo that's really where I am currently.
Speaker DI'm working on a coaching program to help people become the dream homes that impacts their external environment.
Speaker AI love it.
Speaker AThat's so beautiful.
Speaker AAnd yeah, I know one of the things you talk about is transforming our hearts in home, which is really our thoughts, our mindset and our spaces.
Speaker CRight?
Speaker ABecause there is such a connection to those two things.
Speaker ANow, while I'm not saying that we're always going to work on both of them at the same time, that can happen though I'm sure you have stories about that.
Speaker ABut what can you tell us about the connection of clutter or just when our spaces aren't working for us and how that actually can impact our mindset or vice versa, how our mindset impacts maybe us not addressing things that aren't working in our space or clutter?
Speaker DWell, I always say that our homes affect as well as reflect us.
Speaker DAnd we are holistic beings.
Speaker DAnd when we are internally cluttered, when we are internally dealing with a lot of unresolved issues, it is a challenge to let go of things or we find comfort in things like shopping and holding onto things and in a way that having dealt with these issues, you wouldn't ordinarily have.
Speaker DAnd I have a dear, dear friend who deals with clutter.
Speaker DAnd the people I know who deal with that kind of clutter have usually had some kind of trauma in the past that's not fully resolved.
Speaker DAnd it has to do a lot of them.
Speaker DIt's about grief and wanting to hold on to memories or finding it easy to let go of the things that they think they might need in the future.
Speaker DBut part of finding peace internally, allowing the Holy Spirit to heal you in those places and resolving some of those issues that really does have an impact on how we live, it can free us to create the external environment that will enable us to invite more people in.
Speaker DSo this dear friend of mine, she would love to be in relationship, but her home doesn't allow space for people to Come in.
Speaker DAnd there's an emotional part of herself that doesn't allow people to come in internally.
Speaker DAnd dealing with some of those issues, it does have a holistic impact.
Speaker DAnd that's really what I would say, is that you first find some healing from the Holy Spirit.
Speaker DBe very intentional.
Speaker DBut at the same time as you are intentional about letting go, knowing that this is the impact it will have.
Speaker DYou can have that dual impact on both your internal and external space, but it's being mindful, it's being intentional.
Speaker DIt's seeing yourself as valuable, seeing your home as valuable, and that there are thoughts and there are things that devalue your internal space as well as your external space.
Speaker DSo clutter devalues a home.
Speaker DIt's not as valuable as a home that is free and accessible.
Speaker DAnd that's just the bottom line.
Speaker DAnd it's the same inside as well as outside.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker AAnd sometimes I also talk about decluttering our spaces.
Speaker AYes.
Speaker ASometimes it's the physical space that we live in in the different rooms.
Speaker ASometimes it's mind.
Speaker CRight?
Speaker AThe decluttering our mind, which we'll get into.
Speaker ABut other times it's decluttering even our cell phones.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker AOur cell phone or bedroom hygiene.
Speaker ABut because what we don't realize is most of us probably have 20 to 100 apps on our phones we don't need, or we have notifications on for things that aren't actually urgent.
Speaker AAnd what we don't realize is that's it's cluttering our minds because we're having to, oh, do I need to pay attention this?
Speaker ADo I need, you know, just like they say, a home that's.
Speaker AThat has clutter.
Speaker AAnd I'm not talking about the people that have so much clutter.
Speaker ANot like a hoarder.
Speaker CRight?
Speaker AWe're not talking about that.
Speaker AWe're just saying maybe you just have piles and things that you haven't dealt with.
Speaker AYou know, you're holding on to extra stuff.
Speaker ABut they say the more stuff you have, the more it takes time.
Speaker AIt takes you to even clean.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker AIn other words, because you have to move the stuff to clean and put it back in.
Speaker ASo it's just like all the other parts of us, our minds, our phones, you know, or whatever else, or maybe our computers.
Speaker AWhen we don't do maintenance, right.
Speaker AWe don't clear out what's not needed.
Speaker AIt takes up space that we could otherwise have time.
Speaker AMore time.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker AFor prayer life or enjoying our families or, you know, having.
Speaker AQuieting our minds.
Speaker AAnd so I think, like, you Said it's holistic.
Speaker AWe have to look at all the things that are taking away from us.
Speaker ABeing able to live the way that we want to live so that when we're at our homes or we're near our phones or in our own minds, that it's not always racing, it's not so busy and it overwhelms us.
Speaker DYeah.
Speaker DYou know that it just makes up too much clutter on your phone.
Speaker DThose open apps.
Speaker DIt makes your phone a lot more sluggish and really imagine what that's doing to your thoughts.
Speaker DAnd I feel like this is the dis.
Speaker DEase of our age is just so much information.
Speaker DMost of it we're not going to use.
Speaker DMost of it is not helpful for us.
Speaker DAnd it's being very mindful and intentional about letting go, realizing that this is not helping, this is not useful, and that it is just making you more sluggish and distracted from the things that you should have in front of you.
Speaker DI've spent this last season really just unsubscribing to all these emails that you received.
Speaker DYou don't need all of that.
Speaker DAnd just.
Speaker DOkay, what's helpful for me in this season, everything else has got to go.
Speaker DBecause I feel like we are so busy mentally that it's difficult for God to speak to us, for us to hear clearly, for us to be present with ourselves and with other people as well.
Speaker DAnd that is of the age, really.
Speaker AYeah, absolutely.
Speaker AI mean, yeah, that's definitely even.
Speaker AOne of the things I've written down is that we do live in a time where one of our biggest struggles of being present.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker AWhich if we're not present, we're going to miss the opportunities, the conversations, the people we're supposed to speak to, you know, for God, you know, with.
Speaker AWith the Holy Spirit within us is because we're distracted.
Speaker BYeah, Right.
Speaker AWe're distracted from our phones or we're distracted with our to do list, or we're distracted or we're just distracted with, like, what do we have to get done tonight?
Speaker AWhat do I have to get at the grocery store?
Speaker AInstead of noticing the person you're walking by and saying hello or.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker AAnd so I think you're so right.
Speaker AIs that a lot of the challenges we have today are being distracted.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker AWe're being pulled in too many directions, and it really does impact us.
Speaker AIf we're not intentional, then we aren't making time to get quiet, to settle our minds and to hear the voice of God.
Speaker BAbsolutely.
Speaker DYeah.
Speaker DYou know, there is that verse, be still and Know that I am God.
Speaker DIt's difficult to know God when we're not still, and it's difficult to plug in.
Speaker DAnd I, you know, rest.
Speaker DI feel like rest is in itself, is a mindset and finding a place where you can enter into the rest of God and truly know that your life is his.
Speaker DSo part of this idea of being the home, the dream home of the Holy Spirit and enabling him and giving him permission to be at home in you is yielding, is a yielded heart.
Speaker DAnd I sometimes use my imagination to think, okay, what's what in me is what rooms have I barred him from as I think through my life?
Speaker DWhat have I closed him off from?
Speaker DAnd just really giving him access to all areas and inviting him in.
Speaker DBut that rest means that I'm not hiding things from him.
Speaker DI'm not doing other things, you know, that distracted, I'm seeking after him with my whole heart and coming after him with all of me and just being present for him, just as I can be present for my husband and be present for my children when I'm talking to them, but allowing the distractions to fade and realizing that there are just some things that are a distraction.
Speaker AYeah, absolutely.
Speaker AI've seen a meme going around over the last couple of years where it has someone staring at their cell phone in their hand, and they said, imagine if we carried our Bibles around like we did our cell phones, right?
Speaker AIn other words, you know, we don't realize.
Speaker AIt's like the cell phone's glued to so many of our hands, at least so often.
Speaker AOr in our pocket or in our purses, but often, how often are you looking at the word compared to how often you might be on your phone?
Speaker AAnd that might not speak to everyone, but it definitely speaks to a large portion, I think, of some cultures at this point, you know, especially, I know, in the U.S. yeah, I would guess.
Speaker BIn the UK as well, but definitely.
Speaker AOkay, so let's dig in a little bit more to mindset, you know, and I just want to start that with saying that.
Speaker AAnd I've shared this concept before, but I think sometimes we underestimate how important our thoughts and our mindset are.
Speaker AAnd not only does it matter, I mean, like, it doesn't just matter to our hearts.
Speaker AIt doesn't just matter to us.
Speaker ABeing present, our thoughts, negative thoughts spoken to other people can cause real harm.
Speaker ANegative thoughts spoken to ourselves can actually change the gene genes turning on and off on our body, like repressing and suppressing emotions and feelings or desires of what we need actually can be another factor that leads to more disease in our body.
Speaker AIn other words, all of it is so tied together, and it all.
Speaker AOr I should say, it's so connected.
Speaker BTo our thoughts and our mindset.
Speaker AAnd so as you dug deeper into mindset, work and transformations and you've talked to more people about it, what would you just share with us about, like, where do we start?
Speaker AIf maybe we're somebody that's realizing when they're hearing this conversation?
Speaker AYeah, I am somebody that feels distracted and, you know, all over the place with my thoughts.
Speaker AAnd maybe I do have these thoughts on repeat.
Speaker AYou know, what, what, what do I do?
Speaker ABecause I think a lot of people don't even realize that we can take these thoughts captive and we can shift things.
Speaker DVery definitely.
Speaker DIt says in.
Speaker DI think it's Proverbs somewhere that as a man thinks in his heart, so is he that your thoughts, you.
Speaker DIn fact, you are living the reality of your thoughts, and in order to change your life, you have to change your thoughts.
Speaker DAnd Romans 12:2 tells us that we are transformed by the renewing of our minds.
Speaker DAnd another translation calls it the renovation of our minds.
Speaker DAnd again, it comes back to that, you know, seeing yourself as a home.
Speaker DBut the thoughts will your.
Speaker DIn coaching, we talk about the fact that your thoughts impact how you feel, and how you feel determines the behavior and the actions that you take.
Speaker DAnd we're often concentrating on behavior management, trying to change behavior.
Speaker DWhereas we need to go back and think about the thoughts, the beliefs, the imaginations that we have dwelt on, because that's what's informing the way that we are behaving, the actions that we're taking.
Speaker DSo when you think about somebody trying to lose weight, they're just trying to count calories, Whereas they need to think of the value, how they see themselves, maybe the traumas that they've dealt with in the past where they felt rejected.
Speaker DSo they need to go back and examine some of their belief systems about who they think they are, their identity.
Speaker DAnd that's the power of our thoughts, our imagination.
Speaker DAnd it is, you know, you're attracting what you believe.
Speaker DSo fear Job talks about the thing that I feared has come upon me.
Speaker DIt's like an electromagnetic attraction.
Speaker DSo whether it's good or bad, we need to be careful how we think.
Speaker DAnd I think that people often think they don't have control over their thoughts.
Speaker DThat's just a lie of the enemy.
Speaker DWe do.
Speaker DWe can't control what we think.
Speaker DWe need to replace thoughts.
Speaker DWe need to be intentional and we need to be disciplined, but we can very much control how we think.
Speaker DYou know, if I tell you, think about a white dog, think about a white, fierce dog.
Speaker DYou know, you've got an image in your head, and the only way to take that image out is to think about something else.
Speaker DA fluffy kitten.
Speaker DSo thinking on the word of God is how we are going to be renewed in our minds.
Speaker DWe're going to, according to Second Corinthians, we are pulling down those imaginations and all the thoughts that are in opposition to the Word of God.
Speaker DAnd it just means that we are being intentional.
Speaker DIt means that if we know this doesn't align with the Word of God, we're going to take it, pull it down, and replace it with what the truth of the Word says.
Speaker DBecause it's when we know the truth that we are made free.
Speaker DAnd it's a really powerful way to live.
Speaker DAnd you know, what I realize is that many secular people are understanding the power of this in a way that some Christians haven't.
Speaker DAnd there's a story that I come to again and again in numbers 13.
Speaker DThere are 12 spies in the Bible who go out to see, to spy out the promised land that God said that he gave to them.
Speaker DAnd 10 of the spies came back.
Speaker DYou know, this is bearing in mind that they've had 400 years of slavery mindset, thinking of themselves as slaves.
Speaker DTheir mothers and their fathers were slaves and their grandfathers.
Speaker DSo there's a lot of that slave mentality that's filtered down to these 10 spies.
Speaker DBut they came back and they said, you know, we can't take the land because they're giants on it.
Speaker DAnd we are like grasshoppers in our own sight, and in the sight of the giants.
Speaker DAnd, you know, there were two spies, Joshua and Caleb, who said, we are well able to take the land.
Speaker DBut what I keep coming back to is that that slavery mentality, that mindset, kept them out of the promise because God said he had given them the land.
Speaker DAnd that's just how much a mindset can keep you out of what you have been given.
Speaker DAnd we have all the promises of God.
Speaker DBut if we don't renew our minds, if we don't change our mindsets, we are kept out of these promises and we are unable to see.
Speaker DSo mindset and perspective are the really important things that we need, because with the right mindset, you will see what God wants you to see.
Speaker DYou will see the land.
Speaker DYou will be able to behold the land that God said he had given to you.
Speaker DAnd so it's really important that we develop, we are intentional about developing that mindset that will help us see the land and possess the land that God gave us.
Speaker ASo good.
Speaker AOh my gosh.
Speaker BYeah, thank you for bringing up that.
Speaker AThat scripture in that example because it's, it's definitely powerful.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker AAnd one of the so many things that you brought up.
Speaker ABut you know, I think sometimes when we have repeat patterns in our lives, things that are happening in our lives, it's easy to point out that it's our workplace or it's our co worker or whatever the thing might be.
Speaker ABut if we actually take a little time to do some self reflection, assess, right.
Speaker AIf we write down some of these patterns, we start and we, and we pray on it.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker AWe reflect on it, we go to the word.
Speaker AWhat we sometimes see is that the challenge might be that we have a spot in our heart that's been hardened or we have something from our past.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker AA trauma, a hurt, some idea that is keeping us stuck on this pattern.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker ALike my coworker's so irritating or nobody listens to me at work or.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker ABut if we find that there's patterns that are on repeat, but we're the common denominator, sometimes that's when.
Speaker ABut if we don't actually take the time to do an inventory, we will miss it for a long time.
Speaker AI have talked to so many people, obviously, I'm sure I've had those as well for myself.
Speaker ABut it's not until you say, hold up, like why do I keep thinking like I never get the job or I never get the opportunity?
Speaker AOne, it can be a self fulfilling prophecy, Right?
Speaker AKind of.
Speaker AYou alluded to that.
Speaker ABut two, we have to see what is my role in this.
Speaker AAnd it can just be that you have the same idea or feeling about somebody.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker ABecause we have to change our thought.
Speaker ALike maybe somebody does irritate you at work, but what's the good that you can see in them, right?
Speaker AWhere can you switch, like you said, the thoughts about them, that maybe they operate differently in the world than you do, but that doesn't make them, you know, less valuable.
Speaker AIt just might make them different.
Speaker AOr maybe they have struggles that you don't know about, you know, so, you know, I would just say that definitely.
Speaker AOf course, go to the word, see what the word says.
Speaker AReplace your thoughts with that.
Speaker ABut also look at where do you have those stories on repeat?
Speaker AWhat are the patterns?
Speaker AAnd ask yourself, is there anything else true?
Speaker ALike can I replace this with some different truth?
Speaker AJust like whether you worked at your work, I mean, people listening, whether you stay at home with your children, whether you worked full time, whether you did a little of both.
Speaker ASo many women tell themselves something about their situation like, oh, I could have been a better mom if.
Speaker AOr I feel guilty because I was gone some.
Speaker AOr.
Speaker ABut we can replace that with something very different because that's not what God's telling us.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker AWe are putting guilt on ourselves.
Speaker ABut really we could say, but is that true?
Speaker ACan you prove that?
Speaker AActually it's not true?
Speaker AMeaning I'm actually a really good mom.
Speaker AI'm there for my kids when they need me.
Speaker ADo you see what I'm saying?
Speaker ASo so many times we get caught on one idea instead of looking at the whole picture of a mother, us as a mother or us as a spouse or whatever it might be.
Speaker AAnd I think we have to be really careful about that as well.
Speaker DYeah, I think awareness is really powerful because that's almost 50% of the solution.
Speaker DAnd when we are aware of our repeat cycles, that's really an opportunity for reflection.
Speaker DIt's an opportunity to say, okay, Lord, what are you teaching me through this?
Speaker DBut so going back to that story of the ten spies, the giants are not the external things.
Speaker DIt's not your irritating coworker.
Speaker DThe giants are your thoughts about your irritating coworker.
Speaker DAnd really that's what we're needing to do to pull down.
Speaker DThat's what we're needing to bring into alignment with what the Word says.
Speaker DAnd coming into a place of rest and knowing your true identity in Christ, the fact that he has given you everything that you need for life and godliness, that's really the place, that's the starting point really in being able to deal with the external.
Speaker DBecause you may never change your co worker, you may never change.
Speaker DYou can't change your children.
Speaker DAnd so it's finding the grace and the peace and the fruit of the Spirit to be able to deal with and walk through whatever season in life that you are going through.
Speaker DNot from the outside, but from the inside out, really.
Speaker DAnd that's the power of the gospel, is that God has provided grace for us in Christ.
Speaker DYeah, so, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker ASo beautiful.
Speaker ASo what about.
Speaker AI mean, you even.
Speaker AI know you.
Speaker AI mean the Bible says this, but you talk about it on your site.
Speaker ABut that even us being told to repent actually has to do with our thoughts.
Speaker ASo what would you share with us about that?
Speaker DYeah, you know, in Revelation, Jesus is talking to the churches, the seven churches, and he says, constantly repent.
Speaker DYou know, and so it's not a word for unbelievers, it's a word for, it means metanoa.
Speaker DThat's the Greek word.
Speaker DIt's change the way you think.
Speaker DAnd there is a way of thinking, like we said, it can keep you out of the land.
Speaker DBut there is a way of thinking that is in alignment with truth.
Speaker DAnd God is inviting us to think like he does.
Speaker DHe's given us the mind of Christ.
Speaker DAnd changing the way we think is that, you know, that Romans 12 thing is being transformed by the renewing of our minds, taking each thought day by day.
Speaker DAnd really just especially if we're dealing with different challenges.
Speaker DYou know, one good way is write down what the, what does the Bible say about this?
Speaker DIf it's, if you're dealing with sickness, for instance, or relationships or issues, I don't know, money issues, write down what the Word says and what, how your belief systems, what keeps you out of that promise.
Speaker DSo if you're thinking, I never earn enough, I don't know, you know, lack is I'm always going to struggle with money.
Speaker DIt's coming into alignment with the truth that God says he will provide all your needs according to his riches and glory, that by the grace of Jesus, you know, there are scriptures for these things, Scriptures for our prosperity, scriptures for our peace, for our, you know, the salvation of our children.
Speaker DThere's so many promises in the Bible and we awareness and understanding.
Speaker DBecause I think it's ignorance, you know, the Bible says that people are perishing for lack of knowledge.
Speaker DThere's an ignorance that's keeping us out.
Speaker DSo we want to come into awareness.
Speaker DWe want to be, to seek after God and what his way of thinking is concerning these different areas in our lives.
Speaker AAbsolutely.
Speaker AAnd the more we do that, right, the more we go to Scripture, the more we are in God's Word, the more we have time with God, the more we start being transformed truly.
Speaker CRight?
Speaker AI mean, on a daily basis, if we're doing it, you know, all the time.
Speaker ABut the more that I, I mean, I'm, I'm.
Speaker AI mean, I mean, typically a positive person.
Speaker ABut that does not mean that we are free of having right, negative thoughts or mindset.
Speaker AYou know, sometimes it needs to be shifted or hearts that need to be, you know, looked at right and softened.
Speaker ABut the more when I do have a thought, right, that I know is not a thought I want to have, isn't serving me, isn't serving my faith, whatever it is.
Speaker AI mean, it can be just a fleeting thought about like you know, keep my kids safe.
Speaker ABut it's like the opposite.
Speaker AYou know, something just something creeping in.
Speaker AI literally have to stop myself and just say a little prayer and say, lord, take this from me, because I know this isn't from you, or I know this isn't serving me, or.
Speaker AAnd I just have to try to stop it.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker ASometimes I might try to then have a thought about how to replace it.
Speaker ABut the point is, is I, of course I've been able to ruminate on things before, especially during different seasons of worry about my, you know, young adult kids and different things during COVID and less because I was worried about COVID Just everything that was going on, right.
Speaker AThe, the way it made you feel.
Speaker ABut I had to, after a period of time realized, whoa, I am letting this fester or I'm letting thoughts sit here for a longer time than I realized.
Speaker AI had to really take that right to the Lord and say, I need you to take this from me.
Speaker AI need you to help this, help me with this.
Speaker ATo not focus.
Speaker AYou know, it's one thing to go read news or read a news headline, but we're not supposed to get caught up in it or stuck there, right.
Speaker AOn 24 hour news cycles.
Speaker AAnd so one, I would just say it gets easier, right?
Speaker ATo replace our thoughts with the truth.
Speaker AAnd so if that's something that you struggle with, just know that the more you do it, it's like any other muscle or working on something we get.
Speaker AIt gets a little easier.
Speaker AAnd then you brought up, let's see, when you were just saying about.
Speaker AOh goodness, now I forgot the thought.
Speaker AThat's okay.
Speaker ASo, okay, hold on.
Speaker ASorry.
Speaker DOne thing I did want to say about just our focus.
Speaker DYou know, focus is so key.
Speaker DI feel like we're constantly looking at what we don't want.
Speaker DWe're constantly looking at what we're fearing we're worried about.
Speaker DAnd actually it's a really powerful thing to be to know what you, you desire.
Speaker DYou know, God puts desires in our hearts and you know, what do I desire for my marriage, for my children?
Speaker DLook in that direction, focus on that instead.
Speaker DBecause we are creating, like we said, with our thoughts.
Speaker AYes.
Speaker DSo if you focus on what you want, the possibility of you creating what you want is more than if you are focusing on what you don't want.
Speaker DYou're trying to resist, you're trying to prevent.
Speaker DAnd you know, it's really different.
Speaker DIt's just a shift, a tiny shift because it's the other side of the same coin.
Speaker DBut you are Looking at a different direction, you're focusing on a different thing.
Speaker DSo you're.
Speaker DYou.
Speaker DThe reason you're concerned about your children is because you love them.
Speaker DAnd so if you are focused on the best outcome for them and you're focused on this is, Lord, thank you that you said in your words that you are doing this.
Speaker DYou know, you will.
Speaker DYou will teach and mentor my children.
Speaker DYou know, great will be their peace when you're focused on the good.
Speaker DAnd thank you, Lord.
Speaker DAnd it means.
Speaker DYeah, because if God says he's given us these things as a promise, then our response is to thank Him.
Speaker DSo that's really the prayer that.
Speaker DLord, thank you.
Speaker DI'm choosing to look at this from that perspective because there's.
Speaker DYou know, the thing with God is that he doesn't even consider the weaknesses or the.
Speaker DWhen he calls Abraham or Abraham at the time, he doesn't consider the barrenness.
Speaker DHe doesn't even bring it up really.
Speaker DBut he looks at his promise.
Speaker DHe looks at the land he's given you.
Speaker DHe looks at the end, he looks at.
Speaker DFrom his perspective.
Speaker DAnd it just shows you that life is spiritual.
Speaker DBut we are so caught up in the physical five senses that we forget sometimes to look from God's perspective and to focus on what he has said.
Speaker AAbsolutely.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker AI mean, we both sort of said this earlier, but yes, our thoughts create our reality, literally.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker AAnd so exactly what you just said is we need to focus on the promises.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker AHe has for us.
Speaker AWe need to focus on what he tells us to do.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker AWhich is giving prayers of thanks and gratitude continuously.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker AWithout ceasing.
Speaker AAnd so when we do that, our eyes are set on a different way of living and seeing.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker AThen, like you said, focusing on what if something bad happens?
Speaker AOr what if.
Speaker AAnd I don't mean the thought won't pass our minds, but we don't want to stay there.
Speaker CRight?
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker AAnd then something we talked about earlier, I just want to bring this up.
Speaker AI read this really powerful post by someone the other day and it was.
Speaker AIt was sort of about.
Speaker AI mean, this is specific, but that's okay.
Speaker AI just want to share it.
Speaker AYou were talking about the example you gave was if somebody's struggling financially, you know, with money or I never have enough.
Speaker AI'm worried about the bills, you know, and all this, which we understand, right?
Speaker AThe concern, but that God promises that he will take care of us in.
Speaker AIn that way, his way.
Speaker AIt might not be the way we're envisioning it, but this person explains that so often and there's examples in the Bible where we thought we didn't have enough or we didn't have anything to.
Speaker CGive or offer, right?
Speaker ASo like the loaves of bread, the example of the woman with the oil, like.
Speaker ABut then what they did, though, is they gave what they had.
Speaker AAnd his point is, we think, but it's only this.
Speaker AI, only I have nothing except this.
Speaker ABut what he says is so often when it comes to our finances is we have these, this thing.
Speaker AIt might be a physical thing, it might be an ability we have, but if we just realize that ordinary seeming thing is not ordinary in God's eyes and that it can be used to serve others, it may be able to be used to actually help you bring income in, whether you make a loaf of bread.
Speaker AAnd I mean, that wasn't what I'm talking about, the Bible.
Speaker AI mean, it was loaves of bread, feeding people.
Speaker ABut I mean, actually, let's say you're a baker, just as a hobbyist, let's say that you know how to do social media really well, but you've never thought of it as a business.
Speaker ASo the point is, it's all perspective again, because if we see that God is telling you it's right in front of you, it's right there, you just have to pay attention and see that.
Speaker BI've given you something that you can use.
Speaker AAnd I think we miss that so many times.
Speaker DThat's so good.
Speaker DIt's so true.
Speaker DI think that we despise those small things, those small beginnings, you know, the small bottle of oil that could fill the jars and jars.
Speaker DAnd it's almost like we curse what's in our hands, the two loaves and the fish.
Speaker DAnd rather than blessing, and really it's in the blessing of it that God can multiply it and it can be fruitful and, and it can feed the 5,000 and it's being attentive, I guess, really, just like you said, perspective and asking God really the small things, how can I bless somebody with this?
Speaker DRather than.
Speaker DIt's only just.
Speaker DIt's just.
Speaker AOne thing that I want to bring up is it goes back to what are we filling ourselves with?
Speaker AWhich has a lot to do with mindset and just not cluttering ourselves with things that aren't serving us.
Speaker AOf course, the word of God.
Speaker ABut for me, for instance, I love reading Christian authors because they put the Bible biblical concepts in different perspectives for me, that sometimes connect in ways that are so powerful.
Speaker AFor me, my Instagram feed is full of lots of different content, but it's so curated.
Speaker ASo I have.
Speaker AI follow so many pastors and people of faith.
Speaker AI mean, I have health things on there, too, and food, but it's like, I don't.
Speaker AI rarely go on there, and there's anything negative on my Instagram.
Speaker AAnd I'm always saving things that inspire me and lift me up in my faith, but filling myself up with those things only continues to keep me in the mindset that I want to be in and where I'm trying to go with my faith.
Speaker AAnd it just helps enrich me instead of pull me down.
Speaker ABut I think too many of us, like, years ago, I had to realize that my husband may want to watch shows that are not shows I want to watch.
Speaker AAnd years ago, I might have gone along with it, like, well, okay.
Speaker ABut now I'm like, I'll still watch some stuff.
Speaker AI'm like, yeah, it's not my favorite, but I have, like, no, there's too much gore, too much shape.
Speaker AIt doesn't serve me and it doesn't make me feel good.
Speaker AAnd, you know, everybody has different lines there.
Speaker ABut my point is, I had to realize that we don't have to, like the same things.
Speaker AAnd I can say this isn't for me because I don't.
Speaker AI have to close my eyes during, like, a third of the show.
Speaker AI'm like, I don't want to do that because it just fills me in the wrong way, you know?
Speaker AAnd it's not saying that I don't watch some stuff that other people might say, I would never watch that.
Speaker DBut.
Speaker ABut that's not really the point.
Speaker AIt's that, what are you filling yourself with?
Speaker CRight?
Speaker ADo you have people around you that are filling you up, that are speaking life and truth into you?
Speaker ADo you have.
Speaker AAnd if you don't have people in your physical life, do you have people online or people you follow you look up to, or pastors or people of faith?
Speaker AAnd so I would just say that is another really big component of renewing our minds, of shifting our mindsets and shifting our thoughts.
Speaker DYeah, we have to guard our hearts with all diligence, really.
Speaker DAnd.
Speaker DBut I'm with you.
Speaker DThere's just shows my husband watches that don't help me and my family laugh at me because they know, okay, Mom's not going to like this.
Speaker DSo when we're trying to find a movie that we can all watch together, okay, there's just a limit.
Speaker DAnd it's getting smaller and smaller over the years, but I'm with you on that.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker DYou know, we yeah, it says whatever, think about good things, whatever is true, whatever is pure.
Speaker DYeah, it's, it's our responsibility to guard our hearts.
Speaker DAnd what we're putting in, again, it goes back to that.
Speaker DThe home of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker DIs the Holy Spirit going to enjoy this with me?
Speaker DAnd, you know, I really do want him to feel at home in me and what am I putting in inside of me?
Speaker DThis, this home.
Speaker DAnd yeah, I want him to feel at home.
Speaker AYeah, absolutely.
Speaker AI love that.
Speaker AOkay, so what, what, what else would you just want to share with us to encourage or uplift us about how we can transform our thoughts, our minds, or just our lives that we haven't maybe shared yet?
Speaker DWell, so like I said, mindset and vision and, you know, and vision is such a key thing with the right mindset.
Speaker DAnd I'm often reminded that you can create a blueprint for breakthrough by getting the right vision, because that vision is like a gps.
Speaker DThat will be the goal.
Speaker DIt will determine the direction that you travel and the momentum that you have.
Speaker DYou know, Jesus, not Jesus, God took Abraham out and said, you know, look at the stars.
Speaker DThat in a way for him, every time he stepped out on a starry night, he would look at the stars and remember the promises or, you know, in a sandy desert, he would remember the promises of God.
Speaker DAnd when we have that vision, it's a really important thing to do.
Speaker DAnd biblical meditation and visualization.
Speaker DYou know, elite athletes visualize.
Speaker DThey imagine themselves winning.
Speaker DThey imagine themselves doing the, you know, golfers, apparently they, they get coaches to teach them, train them how to visualize and to see a positive outcome.
Speaker DAnd that's a really powerful tool.
Speaker DOne of the things I loved about doing architecture is that visualization I would imagine when I'm working on a project, I lie in bed and I'm imagining myself walking through the house.
Speaker DYou know, I open the door, this is where the light switch is, and this is where I hang my coat, and this is where the sofa is against this wall.
Speaker DAnd I walk through.
Speaker DAnd it took me such a long time to realize that, that walkthrough, you know, you can do this with your life, you can do this with the things you value.
Speaker DAnd this is a sanctified imagination is a God given, it's a God given strategy and tool for you to picture what you desire, the right outcome.
Speaker DRather than thinking the worst, imagining the worst, we are being intentional about walking the land as far as our eyes can see and, you know, as far as our feet will tread.
Speaker DGive us what we can imagine and you know, because he says that he gives us the desires of our hearts.
Speaker DIt's not like we're just making up, I'm living in Buckingham palace, but that we're walking through the land that God has given us the purpose and the destiny that he has for us.
Speaker DAnd we're seeing it, we're picturing it.
Speaker DAnd really that's what I would invite you into as to determine and to create a blueprint for your life in accordance with God's given, the God given purpose that God has for you.
Speaker DAnd, you know, write it out.
Speaker DUse vision boards.
Speaker DI'm very big on vision boards.
Speaker DAnd writing out a vision board done with a positive intention, a positive just feeling rather than a fear or, you know, I put this on the vision board.
Speaker DIt didn't come to pass last year, right?
Speaker DBut doing it because you know that you're in the rest of God.
Speaker DGod has a plan and a purpose, and that God uses your imagination.
Speaker DGod uses these things as clues so that when you are coming through, going through your day, and actually here's an exercise for people listening.
Speaker DYou know, first thing in the morning, last thing at night, spend five minutes before you even open your eyes or close your eyes, think through your.
Speaker DIf it worked out perfectly, what would life be like?
Speaker DThink through just that.
Speaker DYou know, three days after a breakthrough that you've had, what would it be like?
Speaker DHow would you feel?
Speaker DWhat would you be wearing?
Speaker DWhat would you be saying to the people around you?
Speaker DImagine what that life would be like.
Speaker DBecause that's a really powerful way of your dream life being in your sanctified imagination coming to pass.
Speaker DThat's giving opportunity and space for it to come to pass.
Speaker AAbsolutely.
Speaker ASo true.
Speaker AAnd you know, I know you and I both talked about this in our own ways on our own platforms, but I mean, obviously, not only does the Bible reinforce that idea, but.
Speaker ABut science now, right, has caught up and is really showing that our thoughts really do impact in that visualization idea, right?
Speaker DIt.
Speaker AIt really has a lot of power because it aligns our thoughts, right, with kind of what can happen, you know, what we can move towards, you know, so.
Speaker ASo I love that.
Speaker AOkay, so I have one last question for you and then we'll wrap up.
Speaker AWhat is fueling you these days?
Speaker AIs that the.
Speaker AAs we.
Speaker AOr in the middle or towards the end of August, like, what's just fueling.
Speaker BYou up right now?
Speaker DI also listen to a lot of podcasts and I just love to hear different perspectives on the Word of God.
Speaker DI think I'm understanding more and More in a new way.
Speaker DIt sounds very strange to say the gospel, the new creation realities that we have in Christ and the finished work on the cross, that's, I think, for a long time.
Speaker DI've been in a mainstream church for Most of my 35 years as a Christian, but there are just some truths that I never understood before.
Speaker DThat when Jesus said it is finished, it means that he took sin and the consequences of sin away and that we get to live in Him.
Speaker DI think sometimes we're seeing ourselves out of him, but actually he is the ultimate dream home.
Speaker DAnd when we know him as a habitation rather than just a place we visit once in a while, visitation, you know, when we see him as our dream home, life is very different.
Speaker DThere's a freedom that comes knowing that we're spiritual beings seated together with Christ and that, you know, the things that people struggle with and challenges.
Speaker DHe's already provided a way out and the gaps are on our side.
Speaker DHe's already done them.
Speaker DSo it's really working out okay.
Speaker DIf there's a gap in my understanding of my prosperity or my peace or then I need to work out how to fill that gap.
Speaker DThat's really what's fueling me is just, wow, there's so much more richness to the Gospel than I think I have really understood in the past.
Speaker AYeah, absolutely.
Speaker AThat's amazing.
Speaker AI love that.
Speaker AOkay, so tell us, how can people learn more about your series and how you work with them and all of that good stuff?
Speaker DMy website has most of my information.
Speaker DIt's thehomeworks.net and there are links to the YouTube channel and there are some freebies.
Speaker DI have a devotional on there that talks about desire and really allowing God to shift your focus and mindset.
Speaker DAnd that's a really helpful one, which is a free devotional.
Speaker DAnd there just other bits and pieces that I work on are on there.
Speaker DBut thank you very much.
Speaker DIt's been really interesting chatting with you.
Speaker AThank you so much for joining me, for sharing so much, you know, biblical ideas and how we can tie that and how it's tied together with our mindset, our thoughts, transformation, and how looking at these things, knowing, you know, having a vision for our lives, it helps us get clear and helps us really step into everything God has.
Speaker BSo thank you for joining me.
Speaker DThank you so much, Kristen.
Speaker DGod bless.
Speaker AAs I wrap up today's episode, I.
Speaker BWanted to share scripture with you.
Speaker BAnd then just a quote, the scripture is Philippians 4.
Speaker B7, and it says, and the peace of God which passes all understanding should shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus, right?
Speaker BWe are promised peace, the fruit of the Spirit.
Speaker BAnd when we go to him, our hearts and minds have peace.
Speaker BOur hearts and minds are clear, right?
Speaker BThey're not confused.
Speaker BAnd we aren't stuck in negative thought patterns.
Speaker BAnd so just remember that.
Speaker BJust pray on Scripture.
Speaker BWrite down scripture where you see it.
Speaker BThat'll remind you of his promises to renew our minds by focusing on things that are good and worthy.
Speaker BAnd then I also like what someone said it was.
Speaker BIt's me.
Speaker BAwe.
Speaker BAnd she says, how often do I like these ducks, settle for the comforting crumbs of this world and forget I have a perfect home that's far better than I can ever imagine.
Speaker BSo once again, that that quote just reminded me of what I talked about with Titi about we just need to remember that we are homes for God, right?
Speaker BLike he is in us.
Speaker BAnd we have to ask ourselves, are we.
Speaker ADo we have closed doors?
Speaker BDo we have doors that we don't let God in?
Speaker BOr parts of us?
Speaker BIn other words, are we setting our sights on heaven, on what God has for us and not the world?
Speaker BAnd so that's really the question.
Speaker ASo I hope you have a wonderful.
Speaker BAnd blessed rest of your week and I'll see you back here in a couple days.
Speaker AThanks again for listening to the show and if you enjoyed today's episode, we would love it if you could take a minute to leave a rating and review on Apple podcast because it helps.
Speaker BOur show get discovered by more people.