Getting from here to there.
It’s going to involve a threshold of transition.
And it’s going to involve a purposeful, and sometimes painful crossover.
This threshold is not imaginary.
It’s real and it’s marked with the energy of resistance.
Tangible resistance.
The kind of resistance that scares you because it feels like you’re being bullied.
And mocked.
The kind of resistance that tells you to turn back.
Who do you think you are?
Why are you trying to break free?
Anyone who has ever accomplished anything of value has been at the threshold of transition.
For some, the crossover seems effortless.
They make a decision.
They follow through.
They do the work.
They resist the resistance.
They get to the other side.
We call this mental fortitude.
We say to ourselves, “Wow. That person really puts their mind to something and gets it done.”
But is that the true story?
Do some people reach their goals, start their business, step into their calling, or grab hold of God’s promises and manifest them in their own lives without resistance?
I don’t know, but I doubt it.
I believe resistance and the fear of breaking out of whatever we’ve come to know as comfortable is universal.
We all face it.
We all have this internal battle.
“Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us.
Between the two stands Resistance.” — The War of Art
Resistance levels us. It puts us all on a common playing field.
Whether you’re putting off sobriety or putting off creating that first podcast.
Whether you’re entangled in an unhealthy relationship and choosing not to think about it right now or you’re afraid to post your testimony of healing on Facebook because you’re not sure what people will say.
Yes, some of these things will have more serious immediate repercussions, but they all bring us to this imaginary threshold where we have to ask ourselves the same internal question,
“Will today be different?
Will today be the day I make the decision that will cross me over to a new place in life?”
Resistance is tricky.
It doesn’t tell you that you’ll never do it.
It just tells you that you can wait another day.
And days become years.
I Was in Bondage
After my dad passed away I started an eight year journey of self medication.
First, I drank. After about a year I started taking Xanax. Then opiates. Then back to alcohol.
Because of the way I’m wired, I am a person who has done everything 150%.
If I was solving a problem or starting a business, 150%.
If I was spiraling out of control, 150%.
Proof positive that we’ve all been given gifts and abilities, it just depends on what we do with them.
The pendulum swings both ways.
During the months leading up to my decision to get help, I remember the resistance.
If there was ever something I battled that felt tangible, it was this.
There was one particular moment when I was standing in my kitchen and I had been wrestling with the question, “When?”
When was I going to reach out?
And to who?
How would I start this journey of recovery?
I knew nothing about addiction. I knew less about recovery.
But I was waking up.
I started actively searching for a plan but I was so mentally and emotionally fragile that it was difficult for me to recognize the battle I was in.
Until I heard it.
It wasn’t an audible voice, but it was definitely an internal one.
With total clarity I heard the words, “Get back in your bondage.”
I thought I might be going crazy, but the sentence seemed familiar, like something I had read before.
I did a Google search.
“Get back in your bondage.”
I found the sentence.
It was in the story of Pharaoh and the people he was holding captive in Egypt.
They were his prisoners and he was forcing them to live every day of their lives as slaves, making bricks from sunrise to sunset.
That was their whole existence. Bondage.
I could relate.
Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh and asked him to let the people go.
Pharaoh replied,
“Why are you distracting the people from their work? Get back to your bondage.” Exodus 5:4
That internal voice may sound different to you.
But it will still say things.
Yours may tell you it’s too hard to start. It’s better to stay where you are.
You’re too old. You’re too young. You’re just confused.
But you won’t feel content until you get past it.
I didn’t get the help I needed that day.
But that was the day I woke up to what was really going on.
I recognized I was in a battle and I finally did face and cross my personal threshold of transition.
That was six years ago. I haven’t found it necessary to take a drink or use a drug since August 29, 2014.
I have discovered that no matter what situation you are in or what decision you are trying desperately to make; the same steps are involved.
You can cross any threshold.
You can get past any amount of resistance.
You don’t have to listen to the voice of Pharaoh.
Step 1 – Recognize The Battleground of Your Mind
My Bible tells me “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” —Philippians 4:13
I don’t think those words would be there if we didn’t need the reminder.
And even more than a reminder, the Word of God is a weapon.
Step one is always waking up to the truth.
You will need to recognize there is a problem. There is a decision to be made.
What you aren't changing, you're choosing. Click To Tweet
Don’t consider the road ahead or set your thoughts on all the difficulties you’re going to have to face.
Just agree that there is a threshold in front of you and you’re going to need to face it and make a decision.
That’s enough.
That is progress.
Step 2 – You Can’t Do This Alone
Regardless of how strong you are, your best ideas have gotten you where you are right now.
In order to cross the threshold of transition and achieve new things we have to think new thoughts.
The Bible doesn’t say, “We can do all things.”
It says, “We can do all things through Christ who gives us strength.”
It is my belief that we need to be wrapped up with a power greater than ourselves in order to achieve true success in anything.
Our mind needs to be renewed; and my choice for that job is the One who created me.
Disclaimer: I can only share with you what I know to be true for myself and what I find in the Word, because I believe the Word is truth.
I believe God is bound by everything He says in the Word, so I search the Word like it is a contract between God and me, because it literally is.
Every obstacle I have overcome; every victory; every success story; every healing is because I have put all my trust in the One who has created me.
I have never failed when I have relied on God and His promises to bring me through a situation.
The beauty of making the decision to rely on God and believing His Word is that it fully relieves me of having to figure out the details.
If the issue seems impossible to solve, but I choose to rely on God, guess what?
It’s no longer my problem to work out.
It’s His.
We waste a lot of mental energy going over scenarios and potential roadmaps that involve exact details of HOW it will happen.
That’s none of my business.
All I have to do is know I’ve given the situation to God and understand what His Word says about the outcome.
So, let’s say you’re afraid to start that business because you don’t feel qualified or you don’t think you have the finances necessary to begin, or you are in the middle of a divorce, or you have a tarnished reputation, or whatever the case may be.
The bottom line is; don’t look at the things that make it seem impossible.
Only look at God’s promises:
God delights in the prosperity of His children. —Psalm 35:27
The blessings of the Lord make a person rich, and He adds no sorrow with it. —Proverbs 10:22
Beloved, I wish above all things that you prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers. —3 John 2
He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all; how will he not also graciously give us all things? —Romans 8:32
All those promises above are directly related to your success. God will give you good success, without all the toil and anxiety; without the constant hustle and grind. When God puts a desire in your heart to start a business or follow your calling, He will give you the next step and the next step and the next. You can rely on Him fully for creative ideas, for solutions, and for plenty of time left over to spend with your family.
That’s good success!
Step 2 is true for any threshold you need to cross.
Make the decision to rely on God and His Word; not your own understanding or the complications you see ahead.
Stay present in the now moment, and just choose God.
Step 3 – Your Identity
There is nothing that will affect the outcome of your situation like your identity.
Who do you believe that you are?
Who do you SAY you are?
What you believe about yourself holds power.
It will permeate every cell in your body.
Your identity will affect the way you think, the way you carry yourself, the next choice you make.
The Word tells us “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.”
So, whatever you truly believe about yourself is going to eventually come out of your mouth.
There is an abundance of scientific evidence that tells us that our cells are actively responding to our thoughts and our words.
Here is an excerpt from The Biochemistry of Belief, published in the US National Library of Medicine, 2009.
“The biochemistry of our body stems from our awareness.
Belief-reinforced awareness becomes our biochemistry.
Each and every tiny cell in our body is perfectly and absolutely aware of our thoughts, feelings and of course, our beliefs. There is a beautiful saying ‘Nobody grows old. When people stop growing, they become old’. If you believe you are fragile, the biochemistry of your body unquestionably obeys and manifests it. If you believe you are tough (irrespective of your weight and bone density), your body undeniably mirrors it.
When you believe you are depressed (more precisely, when you become consciously aware of ‘being depressed’), you stamp the raw data received through your sense organs, with a judgment – that is your personal view – and physically become the ‘interpretation’ as you internalize it.”
This is nothing new. The Bible backs this up with, “As a man thinks, so is he.” —Proverbs 23:7
Whether I’m talking to someone about walking in healing or planning out a new business I know that everything begins with what that person believes about themselves.
The Word of God promises that “We can do all things through Christ who gives us strength.”
The Word of God also promises, “As a man thinks, so is he.”
So, on the one hand, God has already provided you with all the authority, blessing and power to accomplish all things but, wait. . . pump the breaks. God also knows that we are only limited by our own mind, our own belief system. As a man thinks, so is he.
If this is true (and it is) then Step 3, understanding and solidifying our identity is critical.
How do we do this?
Understanding Your Current Mindset
We all hold limiting belief systems. We don’t always know they are there, until we make a conscious effort to monitor our negative reactions, thinking and words.
Ask God to help you.
I’m not going to pretend to understand the why or how of every limiting belief you carry.
Some are tied to traumatic events. Pain from past experiences can attempt to hold you captive at the threshold because the fear, the anxiety, the inability to move forward is very real and emotional.
If this is true for you, go back to Step 2 and recognize again that you need God to heal and untangle you from all the hidden reasons why you feel stuck and paralyzed.
God wants you free.
God wants you to prosper in your mind, body and spirit.
He wants you to prosper emotionally just as much as financially.
God is concerned with healing the whole person; past and present.
Be willing to accept this healing. It’s already been provided for you through Jesus.
Healing is often part of the process of getting from here to there.
It’s part of your threshold crossover, and that’s good news.
In order to understand our current mindset, we don’t have to dissect all of our emotions.
We just have to recognize when we think or say things about ourselves that aren’t in line with what God says about us.
Phrases like, “Nothing works out for me.”
“This is just how it is for me.”
“Good things don’t happen to me.”
“Life will always be hard for me.”
“I don’t get the breaks other people do.”
If you are saying those things about yourself, you are basically speaking out your future.
Remember, your whole body responds to your thoughts and words. Your cells get to work to line up with whatever you believe about yourself. Once you recognize you’re thoughts and words need healing, your next step is to renew your mind.
Renewing Your Mind
The Word tells us to renew our mind. This is a two step process.
In simplest terms it involves recognizing and kicking out old, limiting, negative belief systems and replacing them with who God says we are and what He says we can accomplish.
Remember, every promise you find in the Word is literally a contract between you and your Creator.
God is bound by His Word.
Recognizing and kicking negative thoughts out takes some work.
We have to actually monitor our thoughts. We have to think about what we’re thinking about.
And when thoughts that sound like, “I just can’t do this,” or “I’ve failed so many times before,” come up we have to be the bouncer of our own brain.
The Word tells us in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 that we do have the power over our thoughts,
“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 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.”
Let’s break that down:
For the weapons of our warfare (that war that’s going on for control of your thoughts)
are not carnal (carnal literally means “of the 5 senses.” That tells us we shouldn’t look at what we can see or hear as evidence of what is truth. We only look at what the Word says)
but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds (strongholds are fortresses used in battle, so these negative thoughts left unchecked will attempt to set up and camp out in your brain)
casting down arguments (an argument implies logical reasoning or forming opinions not based on the truth of the Word)
and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God (any reasoning thought that tries to tell you that God’s promises are somehow not for you)
bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. (this shows us that it’s our job to round up the negative thoughts and kick them out)
When you take thoughts captive and refuse to think them, dismissing them from your mind, you have to replace them with new thoughts or they will just return. You’re used to thinking a certain way so unless you feed your brain with the Word, it will be easy to go back to thinking the same negative way you always have.
I had a chiropractor who held several masters degrees in addiction treatment. She was an expert in “why we think the way we do.” She used to have a little statue of a cow in her office and she would use it to explain neural pathways.
Basically, she said, our brain is lazy. It’s looking to travel down the same, well-worn path without much effort; just like a cow.
A cow will take the same path back into the barn, even if it’s not the fastest way. The cow just walks down the same path, taking the same turns it did the day before that, and the day before that, and the day before that.
Every thought you think and feeling you feel helps build neural pathways in your brain. Neural pathways are the basis of your habits of thinking, feeling and acting. If you’d tried and failed at something a few times and you also have neural pathways that lead you to feelings connected with defeat and hopelessness (possibly from past trauma) your brain will try to take the path that tells you to abandon the goal. If these neural pathways are strong enough, you’ll probably make the inner decision to quit without even realizing it.
So, the second half of renewing our mind deals with building new neural pathways, and the best way I know to do this is with the Word of God.
Whenever I find myself entrenched in an unhealthy pattern of thought, I go to work and find all the Scriptures that work toward “turning my thinking around” or renewing my mind.
Why does it have to be the Word?
Can’t I just read positive affirmations?
Sure you can.
You can look in the mirror and say, “I’m not a quitter. I will not give up on my goal.”
But for me, that’s not enough.
If I said those words to myself I would tend to ask, “Why not? What guarantee do I have of success?”
On the other hand, if I renew my mind according to what the Word says, I will believe it, because I believe God is bound to His Word.
God tells us in Isaiah 55:10-11,
“For just as rain and snow fall from heaven and do not return without watering the earth, making it bud and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat, so My word that proceeds from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and it will prosper where I send it.”
Good enough for me! God said it. I believe it!
God also tells us that “the entrance of His Word brings forth light.” —Psalm 119:130
Also, “The word of God is alive and powerful.” —Hebrews 4:12
So, if the Word of God is alive, active, powerful, and brings light to my understanding, it is the perfect thing to use to renew my mind.
If I need to break down those neural pathways (or strongholds) of being afraid to fail and quitting I will speak these Scriptures out loud over myself.
I will write them down, stick them to my mirror and my desk. I will look at them throughout the day and meditate on them.
I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. —Philippians 4:13
For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. —2 Timothy 1:7
Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. —Jeremiah 17:7
Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. —Psalm 37:4
So do not fear, for I am with you; do no be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen and help you. —Isaiah 41:10
That’s how I renew my mind.
Those are the kind of Scriptures I declare over myself, my life, my future and my legacy (my children).
When I take this kind of action against resistance, I always win.
My Personal Threshold of Transition
I won against poverty.
I have won against sickness (countless times).
I’ve won against the plans of the enemy to take my life.
I’ve won the battle with addiction.
I’ve won against shame.
I’ve won against confusion.
I’ve won against and been delivered from fear and crippling anxiety.
God is faithful. He has already given you all the tools to make it past the threshold of transition.
He has already provided you with all the strength you will need to get to the other side of any battle you are facing.
The question is not whether God will help you.
The truth is, the tools are in your hand…what are you going to do with them?
*If you are currently facing your own personal threshold of transition, if you’re standing at the edge of change and just don’t know how to get from here to there, I suggest you read this entire article again and take notes. Come up with your own game plan for renewing your mind. Ask God to reveal your own unhealthy mindsets and to bring to your attention the things you are speaking over yourself that hold you captive.
Repent from all of this. I have prayed like this, “God, in the name of Jesus, I cancel every negative word I have spoken over myself. I choose life and choose to turn from the habits that are holding me captive. I come into agreement with your Word that tells me, I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. Put a guard over my mouth. Make me mindful of my words so they align with Your promises. Thank you, in Jesus name I pray. Amen.”
Below you will find a link to your identity in Christ.
Read these out loud over yourself, your life, your future and your children.
You are who He says you are and you can do what He says you can do!
Who am I? Identity in Christ Promises in the Bible
