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Revelation Within On the Go!
Revelation Within equips people with life-giving, grace-infused mind renewal tools to deepen their intimacy with Jesus so that counterfeit comforts (like overeating) lose their allure, and the joy and hope of Jesus fills their lives, satisfying their souls.
In our podcast we talk about mind renewal, tips and tricks for getting and staying free from counterfeit comforts like overeating (over-scrolling, over-drinking, over-anythinging...)
We began as Thin Within in 1975, a pioneer in intuitive, mindful eating back when diets were in their hey day! Thin Within has taught people how to tune in to their body's natural signals of hunger and satisfaction, remaining present with their meals and delighting in tastes and textures--and the Lord!
In the 1980s, Thin Within became a Christian ministry, showing people that the emptiness that they have felt and often filled with food that their bodies don't require, was really placed in there to be filled full with God through Jesus. He wants to set us free from all strongholds!
We rebranded our ministry and our podcast in 2023 to Revelation Within.
Join us!
Visit us in the Rev Within Collective, our online community, as well! (https://revelationwithin.com/collective/)
Find our listing of classes at https://revelationwithin.com
Revelation Within On the Go!
Learning Mind Renewal From Scripture
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Your thoughts can feel like a runaway train when you’re tired, hurting, misunderstood, or overwhelmed and the “I’m fine” script doesn’t touch what’s really going on. We sit down together to talk about Christian mind renewal as a real-life practice, not a surface-level pep talk. For us, renewing the mind means choosing God’s thoughts on purpose so our hearts can breathe again and our emotions can settle into truth.
We share the two anchors we return to again and again: who God is and who we are according to what he says. That focus turns “mind of Christ” from a phrase into a lived experience, especially when our default thoughts want to pull us toward fear, shame, comparison, or despair. We also unpack why honesty matters so much in spiritual growth and why God can handle the full, unfiltered version of what we feel.
Then we walk through biblical examples of renewing the mind in Scripture, including Psalm 42 and Psalm 43 where the psalmist talks directly to his own soul: “Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him.” We bring it down to street level with simple mind renewal tools like “Lord, your blank surrounds me” and “Lord, I love…,” and we spend time with Lamentations 3, turning “Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope” into a practical pattern you can use today.
If you want emotional healing, a stronger biblical mindset, and a faith practice that meets you in the middle of real life, press play. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs hope, and leave a review so more people can find the show.
Learn more about our Revelation Within Community: https://www.revelationwithin.org
Welcome And Mind Renewal Basics
SPEAKER_01Hi, and welcome to our podcast, Revelation Within on the Go. I'm Heidi Bilesma Epherson, one of your hosts, and the owner and lead coach of Revelation Within.
SPEAKER_00And I'm Christina Motley, your other host, also a Revelation Within coach, and Heidi's partner in all things Revelation Within. We are so happy to invite you to join us for this episode of Revelation Within. Yay! So good to have you here today. Come on in. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01What is your favorite topic, Christina?
SPEAKER_00Oh my gosh. I love, love, love, love to talk about mind renewal.
SPEAKER_01I knew you'd say that. It's my favorite topic too. I love it because it has changed my life so much. And I love it because it lifts my spirits so much. So it doesn't just change my life, it changes my moment, my now. And it does.
SPEAKER_00Yes. I love it too. I love it too. Heidi, you were the first one that ever taught me what this really is. I had heard about mind renewal in the Bible before, and I thought, I know what this is. And even if I thought I was doing it, it wasn't, there was no change. There was no transformation. What was happening with that? I really didn't know what it was, even though I had been a Christian for so many years, and I really didn't know how to weave it with the Lord into my life.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And that's not uncommon. I love it. Yes.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's not uncommon at all. And typically when we speak about mind renewal at Revelation Within, we're talking about what are God's thoughts about something? Yes. We want to think his thoughts intentionally. As Christina often says, I get to choose what I'm going to think about. And so we want to get in the habit of thinking intentionally about whatever it is that we're thinking about. Another way of thinking about it is God says in 1 Corinthians 2 that we have the mind of Christ. And I like to think of it as that's the mind I want to think with is that mind of Christ. And so we thought today it might be kind of fun and helpful and supportive and meaningful. And all those good words. All of those. To have a look at some examples of people in the Bible who are renewing their minds, or we think they're renewing their minds. We think they're being intentional to think God's thoughts. Yes. And that way maybe we'll have a better idea of what it might look like in our lives.
SPEAKER_00So well, I mean, I think about my own thoughts and I think about my default. If I am not being intentional, like you just said, what's going on in my brain? It is not good. It's not pretty. No, I mean, there's criticism and there's fear and there's all kinds of stuff that wow. I mean, just imagine for a minute what would it feel like more and more and more to be thinking God's thoughts instead of those old awful default, oh, it is awesome. I mean, I want to do it more and more. It's so life-giving. Oh, it is brings so much peace and joy. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01It's funny because people I know, some of whom aren't necessarily believers yet, and and some who are believers but don't um practice renewing your minds, at least not super abundantly actively. Um, I just want to say you've got to renew your mind. You'll love it. You really will. Um because it's true, it's true. It is life-giving. God transforms us when we renew our minds, which is what many of us want is to be transformed, especially in those areas that feel so impossible to us.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you know, they feel like these big walls, these big roadblocks, these big mountains, and it's like, what where's the transformation? Like, where is that, Lord? Oh, it's about my thoughts. Wow, that just is literally mind-blowing.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_01So, in case you haven't heard, we at Revelation Within have well over a hundred different ways to renew our minds.
Two Anchors Who God Is
SPEAKER_01Yes, all of those tools have two things as their focus. What's one of them, Christina?
SPEAKER_00Who is God?
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Who is God? What does he do? What is he, who, what's, what is his character? Yes, who is God? And you know, many of us might think, oh, but I already know the answer to that.
SPEAKER_01And you may, you may, and you may. That's not the point of mind renewal, though. It's what am I dwelling on? Yes. Am I dwelling on his character? Am I telling myself to think on the beauty of who God is and what he's like and what he does for people?
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_01Oh my goodness, that changes things. What's the second one?
SPEAKER_00The second one is, who am I?
SPEAKER_01According to what he says.
SPEAKER_00Yes. And again, you might say, Well, I think I know that too. But what about thinking those thoughts every day? What about dwelling on those, like you said, Heidi, and really soaking in the truth of who I am, not because of myself, but because of what God has done. It is life-changing for my heart, for my soul, for my mind to think on who God made me to be, who I am because of him, and who I am because of his work on the cross, that I am redeemed, I am set free, I am chosen. The list goes on and on, and it's all from scripture. It is amazing what happens to my heart and my thoughts when I'm intentionally soaking in that truth.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, definitely.
Psalm 42 Talking To Your Soul
SPEAKER_01So we're gonna start with one of my favorite psalms. Great! Yeah, it's Psalm 42. And um, I just want to share a little background. Matthew Henry, in his commentary on Psalm 42, suggests that the author is probably David, and that's kind of assumed. It isn't conclusive, but it may have been penned by David during Saul's persecution of him or Absalom, David's sons, his rebellion. So Matthew Henry writes that David was driven from the sanctuary of God and cut off from the privilege of joining him publicly with the people when he wrote this Psalm 42. So I'm just gonna read part of it and then we're gonna talk about it. These things I remember, this is David speaking, he's remembering. Do you ever remember? These things I remember as I pour out my soul, how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the mighty one, with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng. Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my savior and my God. Verse six of Psalm 42 says, My soul is downcast within me. Therefore, therefore, I will remember you, Lord, from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon, from Mount Mizar, deep calls to deep, in the roar of your waterfalls, all your waves and breakers have swept over me. By day, the Lord directs his love. At night, his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life. I say to God, my rock, why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy? My bones suffer mortal agony, as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, Where is your God? And then David even answers himself, Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my savior and my God. One of the things I love about this is David just lets it all out. He sure does. Yeah, and he does in many of the psalms. But he's remembering. I remember when I used to. Have you ever thought of a time maybe in your history where you went to church and things were one way and they're very different from that now? I definitely oh yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And sometimes memory can be used in a not so positive way. But if you think about the blessings of a previous time, why not celebrate that? God gave that to us then, even if we wish for it again now. Um, but what is so awesome is like David, we can then speak to our own souls and say, Hey, soul, hello. Why are you downcast, soul? Yeah, it's the same Lord, it's the same God. Why are you so disturbed inside of you? What is the antidote to that? Putting my hope in God and knowing this, this is something that I think is so helpful. This may sound silly. I know I will praise him again. Maybe right now isn't that moment, although I can choose to with an act of my will.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_01But I know my heart will be buying into it again in no time. I will be all in again. Um, and that's kind of what he says to himself in Psalm 42, verse 5. For I will yet praise him, my savior and my God. Um, and he's just honest, he's so honest. I'm downcast, um, and therefore I'm gonna remember the Lord. Um, I just I love that. By day, the Lord directs his love. At night, his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life. Have you ever had a song going through your head all night long? Let me wake up. Yes, I have too, and I think that's like a a fulfillment of this of this verse. It's a promise that his song is with me even in the middle of the night, and it can be as a prayer um to him, even when I am struggling with praying at all.
SPEAKER_00Well, and this goes so much deeper than um, I'm okay, I'm I'm all right, it'll be okay. Tomorrow will be better, I'm fine. Um, you know, that whole thing that so many of us tend to do, that's not mind renewal. It's not. No, it's kind of you're just floating on the surface and you're kind of trying to convince yourself that you're gonna be okay. That doesn't go deep enough for those longings that we have in our souls and our hearts when we're dealing with sorrow and disappointment and shame. And it just doesn't go deep enough to say those things. We need to go to God's thoughts, and they're right here in his word.
SPEAKER_01It's like when we do that, just kind of slap a happy face on it, or no, I'm fine, really, I'm fine. It's it's a denial, and and we it's not honest, you know. God can take our honesty. Yes, if you ever need to see an example of that, just flip to Psalm 88. 88 and read it from start to finish. The last line of that psalm is darkness is my closest friend.
SPEAKER_00Oh man. And I know, I know I felt that way. I know you have too, Heidi. Yeah, we all have, really. For sure. God can take it. In fact, he asks us, he's just waiting, waiting to show us compassion. He says, just come, just come as you are. Um, so what's next? Psalm
Psalm 43 Asking God For Light
SPEAKER_0043 is likely written about the same time by David as well. Um, in Psalm 43, the psalmist describes facing oppression and unjust treatment from enemies who want to hurt or kill him. So that's that's pretty difficult. That's that was a bad day. That was a really bad day. Um, there may have been false accusations, maybe there was slander, attempts to discredit the psalmist's character, which I mean, that's really a tough place to be. Um, we were just talking yesterday in one of our classes. Heidi, you mentioned being misunderstood. Oh man, that's a hard one. That's so hard. Okay, let's jump into Psalm 43. Vindicate me, my God, and plead my cause against an unfaithful nation. Rescue me from those who are deceitful and wicked. You are God, my stronghold. Why have you rejected me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy? Send me your light and your faithful care. Let them lead me, let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell. And things start turning around here. Yeah, yeah. Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the lyre. Oh God, my God, why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? And then again, turning around, put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my savior and my God. Wait, who is he talking to when he says, put your hope in God? Does someone else walk in the room? No, he's talking to his own soul. Why, my soul, are you so downcast? He's talking with his soul. Put your hope in God. He's telling his soul what to do. I love that example. I mean, that that's mind renewal right there, beginning, middle, and end.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and when when I'm feeling kind of down and out, and like I can't identify with the joy that I know I have received from renewing my mind. If I remind myself of this one thing, I will yet praise him again. I joy will come. There will be a moment in time filled with hope. It just doesn't feel like it's now. But those thoughts about that it's coming, that can change my heart right here, right now, anyway. So it's just knowing that it's coming helps me feel it a little bit more now.
SPEAKER_02Right. What are
Simple Tools For Overwhelm
SPEAKER_02some things?
SPEAKER_01Well, yeah, while we're on that topic, too, of when you're down and out and and struggling to, you know, grab a hold of some mind renewal tool or scripture or truth that is from God. What is a mind renewal tool that helps get you over that hump, Christina?
SPEAKER_00You know, it depends on where I'm at. If I am really, really overwhelmed, um, really feeling consumed, I might start with something very, very simple. Um, for example, one of my favorites right now is your blank surrounds me. So simple. So, what can I put in there? Um, I was on a walk yesterday for just 15 minutes or so with my dog, and I just needed something very quick and very simple. Lord, your love surrounds me, your compassion surrounds me. Lord, your goodness surrounds me, your loving care surrounds me, your faithfulness surrounds me. You can go on and on and on with this one. I mean, you can choose any attribute of God. Lord, your redemption surrounds me, your encouragement surrounds me, your presence. It's so easy. It's so easy. It's one of my one of my go-to's right now. Um, but we have a lot like that that are simple and quick. It's not gonna involve like a big, a big deal.
SPEAKER_01And that's a great place to start. I'm gonna share my favorite one too. When my heart is like drifting off and maybe isn't even connected to my body. I'm kidding.
SPEAKER_00I know how that feels. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Where, you know, I just really wish I felt differently than I do, but I don't have the gumption to do much anything. I can then do the Lord I love. I love Lord I because I can just grab my dog and bury my face in his big old massive furry neck and say, Lord, I love my dog. I mean, it sounds so silly, but Lord, I love my dog. Lord, I love the hugs of my husband. Lord, I love when my daughter calls me and says, Mommy, I love you, even though she's 32. She calls and says that. It's like, oh my goodness. Yes, I just love it. I love when my son gives me big bear hugs. Oh my goodness. Anyway, so Lord, I love is one of my go-to's.
SPEAKER_00Yes. Yeah, and it's so simple, so simple. And you can just start with anything around you, too. I mean, it's just it's such a good one. Right. I'm glad you mentioned that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So
Lamentations 3 Therefore I Have Hope
SPEAKER_01the next example um is in the book of Lamentations. Um, and in it, of course, if you were to read the book of Lamentations, you'd see Jeremiah is describing some very real suffering of Judah because God had given them over to their desires. If you're gonna keep wandering away from me, okay, fine. I'm gonna give you the freedom to wander away and land um in the clutches of Babylon. So Jerusalem at this point was destroyed by the Babylonian army, and it led to widespread suffering. So this isn't just personal for Jeremiah, it led to loss and devastation among all the people of Judah. Yes, and it prompted Jeremiah to express such extreme grief and sorrow, and he did it through lamentation and mourning. And the thing about this that I do love is that it's an example for us. God isn't afraid to hear our lamentations and our mourning.
unknownRight.
SPEAKER_01So all right, so true. We'll just kind of narrow in on part of it. Lamentations 3, verses 19 to 26. Um, and Jeremiah's like, I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I remember those things. I mean, you know, David remembered when he sang with the whole group of people who loved the Lord, but um Jeremiah was swept up in that that spiral, downward spiral. I remember my affliction, my wandering, my bitterness, my gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. If you were to read the other 18 verses of chapter three, yeah, it is real. I mean, he talks about kinds of awful things. Awful, awful things. But in verse 21, he says, Yet this I call to mind. So he's remembering, yes, this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope, which we've named one of our mind renewal tools after that. Yes. This I call to mind, and therefore I have hope. Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed. For his compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. He's thinking God's thoughts. I mean, so he started off just really kind of going down that rabbit hole, deep and dark and quick. Um, but he called to mind the truth, the thoughts that were in agreement with God. Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed. His compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. And then he said, He, I'm just gonna go on and read three more verses. I say to myself, the Lord is my portion, therefore, I will wait for him. That's another one of our mind renewal tools. I will, or because you are I will, or I can. Yes, the Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him. Yes, it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. Another one of our tools is it's another one. I was just gonna say, it is good. Yeah, um, I love this scripture because we see Jeremiah at his realest. He is just totally real. How well I remember the gall and the bitterness and the suffering, and the and and earlier on he'll say about how he's been chewing on gravel. And I mean, it's very dismal. Yeah, but it shows us Jeremiah stopping that downward trajectory. Merely by choosing what he will think on and renewing his mind. I love that.
SPEAKER_00So this is such a great example because we can do this very thing. I mean, you know what it's like when you feel like you're just full of emotion, you're struggling, the tears are coming, or maybe you're very angry, or whatever it is. And you go to the Lord and you say, Lord, this is wrong and this is wrong and this is wrong, and I'm upset about this, and this is like upside down. And have you left me? And where are you? And what's going on? Are you doing anything about this? I'm totally, completely upset and frustrated. And then it's like, okay, wait a minute. You know, number one, God can take it, He wants to hear it, He wants us to come to Him. And then what? And then we can follow this beautiful example. And that's why we created this mind renewal tool using these words. Yet, this I call to mind. God, you have new mercies for me every single morning. And therefore, I have hope. Or, and this I call to mind. Your faithfulness has never ended for me. It's never paused, it's never stopped, you have never failed me, and therefore I have hope. Do you want to do a couple writing?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. Um, this I call to mind. Um, and because you have always been there, you have always met my needs, I know that I can have hope now, that you will going forward. Yes. I mean, your steadfast love is steadfast, it doesn't go anywhere. You know, just reminding myself what has been true before is true now, and that gives me hope going forward. And so just because I'm not praising him spontaneously now doesn't mean I can't choose to. So this I call to mind. I know when I praise you, my heart fills up in ways that nothing else can fill it. And so I can have hope that that I will experience your fullness. Thank you, God, that that Jesus in me is my hope of glory. Because of that, I can have hope. Yes. I mean, there's just you can go anywhere with it. You really can't.
SPEAKER_00Well, and you can grab scriptures that come to mind, um, or just whatever is in your past experience, or you know, whatever truth about who God is, yet this I call to mind. You can do anything, Lord. Nothing is impossible for you. Saying those words out loud gives me hope. And then, of course, I can end that with, and therefore I have hope. They're kind of like bookends, and this I call to mind, and then you say it in the middle, and therefore I have hope. And that that has been one of my go-tos. Oh my goodness, I've used that one so many times in this past year, which has been full of challenge. And I'm just so grateful that we have this opportunity and this beautiful example. Thank you, Jeremiah. Yes, definitely. It's right here. It's it's so easy to follow this pattern and renew our minds in our own lives.
More Scripture Examples And Closing
SPEAKER_01Well, and one of the things, too, um in the Psalms, another psalmist uh does the same thing in Psalm 73, especially in verses 16, 17, and 23 to 26. He was troubled by what he was seeing going on around him, these prosperous people who ignored God. And he's like, wait a minute, this shouldn't be. Why do they have all the breaks? You know, comparing his situation to theirs. God was holding him and guiding him, and he would remain, God would remain his portion. So, you know, you can bring your comparisons honestly to God and let his presence reshape what you believe as well. Um, and I mean it's just it's fascinating to me. You know, David even said in in 1 Samuel 30 that his soul was overwhelmed. Who's felt overwhelmed before? Oh, yes.
SPEAKER_00Everybody I know. In fact, I know a lot of people right now that are very overwhelmed with life situations.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So, in any event, there are examples of people renewing their minds in scripture, which is, I just think it's beautiful. It's lovely. Um, anything else you want to say about mind renewal, Christina?
SPEAKER_00Well, I was just gonna say, as you read the word, as you, you know, hear sermons and other podcasts and devotions and all the things that you do, look for this. Look for this in what you read, in what you hear, because God has given this to us as a just an incredible gift. Look for examples of people who are renewing their mind with God's truth and what happens to them after. Um, it's there is nothing that I can do to deal with my emotions in a better way.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_00Seriously, I mean, I struggled for so many years not having any idea how to deal with my emotions. How do I deal with my anger, my frustration, my sorrow? And I ended up going to counterfeits all the time. Uh, counterfeit comforts like food, for example. There is no other way that I have found that helps me more than renewing my mind. And I love to do it with other people too. Heidi, you and I, I love renewing my mind with you, with the ladies that I coach. And I love looking for that wherever I am. It's it's a beautiful practice that I never understood, not until the last 12 years. Yay! It has changed my whole life. Yes, it has.
SPEAKER_01And now she's an amazing coach helping people renew their minds. Yeah, we both like to do that, don't we?
SPEAKER_00We both like to do that a whole lot. In fact, I'll just tell you that as we were just doing that mind renewal, Heidi and I, we had just big, huge grins on our faces. We love it, it encourages us to no end. It's that deep soul encouragement that only God can give. Oh, it's beautiful. So we are so glad that you've been here today with us. And we would love to invite you to join us for our next podcast episode of Revelation Within.
