Choosing a life of pioneering is fun to say the least, and as I’ve started this journey with God he has done a work within me, as he always will. I’m learning that choosing to pack up my bags and embrace the process of pioneering takes a renewed mind. I must be willing to think the thoughts of heaven by seeking God for guidance, learn from the ways of Jesus, and meditate on scripture.
As someone who is actively pursuing the dream of combining missions and business, my perspective matters, my thoughts matter. See, our thoughts lead our life. What we think becomes our beliefs, our beliefs become our habits, and our habits form our life. I share this with you, not to deviate from missions or business but to show you that without a renewed mind I actually can’t pursue God’s dream for me. Without embracing the very thing he’s spoken about, I no longer walk in alignment with him.
In this season of learning to renew my mind, the Lord has been speaking to me through the story of Moses. Moses, when he was met with the fiery angel of God, worshiped the Lord greatly, but after YHWH (God) declared identity over Moses, told him that He would be with him, and gave him his assignment, he retreated into insecurity. His thoughts about himself, where he was with God, and the grandeur of this assignment didn’t align with what God had said to him. Despite this, God saw Moses’ integral heart and his ability to submit and learn. God knew that if he continued to reveal himself to Moses, that he would soon come into full alignment.
The really interesting part about Moses is not that I relate to his thoughts, but that God trusted him with a dream of leading out captives, of taking on an initiative, an assignment that would change the course of history. Now I’m not saying I’m Moses, but sometimes I can feel just like he did. I can look at what God has put before and think “im not good enough” or “why me?” Sometimes I’ll even compare myself to my peers and think to myself that what they’re doing is greater, but God called me!
This revelation is truly where everything changes. God has been revealing to me the power of dreaming with him and the power of thinking. At my home church Valley Creek we are adamant about our minds being renewed (Romans 12:2) and I’ve learned that a renewed mind is powerful. When I choose to embrace the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16) and renew my thoughts I begin to take on his thoughts and dreams for my identity and purpose, seeing that he is with me in everything. Of course I still have those moments of wanting more opportunities and questioning what I’m doing but it’s in those moments that I’m reminded that God chose me. I also get to choose each day to start my morning with scripture so that what God says will always be first in my life.
In all of this talk, the one thing I want to share about missions and business is this. When our minds are renewed and we focus on the good of others and the glory of God, we see business as a means to serve and not to capitalize, and missions as a calling, not just an interest. God wants us to align our minds with him so that we can join him in spreading his kingdom!
So, I want to encourage you with this, if God said do it, then do it. Renew your mind about it! Our feelings or personal doubts can’t trump God’s calling. When we choose to look to God and to scripture we see what is actually happening, our perspective changes and we recognize that there is work in the spiritual, not just in the things we see by sight.
Now I must ask, are you ready to renew your mind and PIONEER YOUR JOURNEY?
The Lectio Bible, best used for mediation | Spiritual Practices to engage a renewed mind
You can buy your own Lectio Bible here. I highly recommend this Bible, I use it daily to meditate and or read larger portions of scripture at a time.
You can also access more graphics for spiritual formation at valleycreek.plus.