Living Above The Level of Mediocrity

Hey guys, welcome to the Sunday edition of Living Above the Level of Mediocrity Considering the quick progression of staffs that's taken place in my Hive blog over the last week I'd say this is an apropos topic, now We're gonna look at It Starts in Your Mind and this will also deal with spiritual aspects,

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Soaring never just happens It's a result of strong mental effort, thinking clearly, courageously, and even confidently No one ever oozed their way out of mediocrity like a slug, I know who models a high level of excellence has won the battle of the mind and taken the right thoughts captive The risks notwithstanding these individuals have chosen to fill the role of an active pen flowing with ink rather than a passive blotter that only sits and soaks up what others do, They've decided to get personally involved with life rather than sit back frowning, watching life dwindle or trickle and ultimately stagnate I hope that's not you.
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So let's jump to We Become What We Think I'm sure it comes as no surprise to most of us that we act out precisely what we think In other words, we become what we think, Long before this familiar line found its way into Psychology 101 and hyped-up sales meetings, the Bible included it in one of its ancient scrolls—it just said it a little differently: "As a man thinks within himself, so he is." (Proverbs 23:7).

The secret of a life of excellence or living it is merely a matter of thinking thoughts of excellence right? Really, it's a matter of programming our minds with the kind of information that will set us FREE to be all that God meant us to be, free to soar And of course it will take a while and it might be painful but what a metamorphosis! (Metamorphosis—just like a caterpillar).

However, if we're Christians we should know that we have a tempter that our battle is not just physical but spiritual This may not speak to or relate to all of you and that's okay but I want you to know where I'm coming from with this Let me get to the heart of the issue Since the mind holds the secrets of soaring, the enemy of our souls has made the human mind the bullseye of his target His most insidious and strategic moves are made upon the mind By affecting the way we think he's able to keep our lives at a mediocre level,

There are a couple of extremely significant sections in the New Testament that address Satan's scheming nature but obviously for brevity's sake I won't go into too much depth. But let's look real quick at Ephesians 6:10–11: "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might Put on the full armor of God that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil." Notice "schemes of the devil" here which is from the Greek methodia (you get our English word method) The Amplified Bible captures the correct idea by rendering it "strategies of the devil" So we need to be aware of this.

Again, as I mentioned abovd "our struggle is not against flesh and blood " The other verse is 2 Corinthians 10:3–5, which is similar in focus and it states "For though we walk in the flesh we do not war according to the flesh for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ."

What descriptive language! Clearly the scenes of a battle are woven through these lines You can almost smell smoke and hear the reports of massive weapons except for one problem as we said, this isn't a war "according to the flesh" right? As we learned earlier it's a mind-oriented struggle and a warfare, not of the flesh It takes place in the invisible, intangible realm of the mind.

So here we're at the section The Battle: An Insidious Strategy Even though Paul uses military words and ideas that suggest physical combat it's imperative that we keep the right perspective Everything being described in 2 Corinthians 10:3–5 occurs right here in the mind What we find here is the strategy used against us to keep us ineffective and defeated in other words, MEDIOCRE.

Once the Lord breaks through the wall like fortress of speculations He encounters those "lofty things" remember the verse " destroying everything raised up against the knowledge of God" So, borrowing Roger von Oech's insights into what he calls "mental locks" in his creative book A Whack on the Side of the Head (wow, what a title!), he lists no less than ten statements that hold us back and keep us from soaring into new innovative realms And if you're like me you'll probably smile and chuckle by the time you get to the end of the list because we've heard most of them so much in our lives that they're kind of cast into mental concrete.

So here they are:

1. "There's one right answer."
2. "That's not logical."
3. "Follow the rules."
4. "Be practical."
5. "Avoid ambiguity."
6. "To err is wrong."
7. "Play is frivolous."
8. "That's not my area."
9. "Don't be foolish."
10. "I'm not creative."

Well, God is interested in our breaking free from such locks He realizes each "lofty thing" has dug in its heels and must be dislodged And as we often say" Old habits are hard to break" aren't they? That's kind of true For too many years, we've convinced ourselves that we lack this or we cannot do that We'll say stuff like"We shouldn't risk" or "We're sure to fail" right? Or "We ought to accept the status quo as our standard" But these programmed lofty things must be conquered.

We occasionally need a "whack on the side of our head" right? I mean, we all need correction, huh? And what's God's ultimate goal? Well, just as we read in 2 Corinthians 10:5—"to take every thought captive" When He invades those lofty areas His plan is to transform the old thoughts that defeat us into new thoughts that encourage us And He has to repattern our whole way of thinking and He is engaged in doing that continually because old habits are so hard to break right? We know that.

So can you see why those reactions you've had for dozens of years problem areas finally have some insight on your battle whether it be lust, pride, jealousy, extreme perfectionism, or a negative, critical spirit?

So how do we conquer this? Well, glad you asked To conquer mediocrity, we need a mental metamorphosis like the caterpillar The essential question isn't difficult to state How can I, as a person who's absorbed so many years of mediocre thinking, change? It is a process that will be difficult, demanding, and lengthy but I think the results will be sweet.

And if you're really serious about conquering mediocrity then Swindoll has three words to offerMemorize, Personalize, and Analyze.

1. Memorize: In order for all defeating thoughts to be invaded, conquered, and replaced by new, victorious ones, a process of reconstruction must transfer or even rebuild the old framework To be honest the best place to begin this process of mental cleansing is with the all important discipline of memorizing Scripture, You know realizing this doesn't sound very sophisticated or intellectual in this day and age but God's book is full of both powerful ammunition for dislodging negative and demoralizing thoughts and it requires aggressive action

2. Personalize Here's where the excitement intensifies As you begin the process of replacing old negative thoughts with new and encouraging ones put yourself in the pages of the Bible Start using words like I, me, my, mine as you come across meaningful statements or sections of Scripture Get the idea? That's called personalizing Scripture and it's powerful.

3. Analyze Instead of continuing to tell yourself you are little more than a helpless victim take charge As soon as you catch yourself responding negatively or defensively, think—analyze the situation Then ask yourself a few tough questions, like:

   • Why am I getting so hot and bothered by this?
   • Is there something I'm afraid of?
   • Am I reacting negatively because I have a reason—or simply because I've formed some bad habits?

Yes, these are tough questions but without such analysis we really tend to become like those around us (or get even worse) So breaking long-standing mental habits is neither easy nor quick but those who don't can erode into cranky, crotchety folks who wind up alone and miserable And I don't think we want to be there, So this is how we start to live above the level of mediocrity

folks Thanks so much for joining me today Tune in next time for It Involves Another Kingdom and please let me know if this has impacted you or got you to think differently or if you have any questions I'm here to help. Have a great weekend, guys Bye-bye!