By Caroline Boateng
The Power of Your Mind by Chris Oyakhilome, with the tag-line “…walk in divine excellence and transform your world through the power of a renewed mind,” is a call to change. In it, the author campaigns for a revolution in the thought patterns of Christians in order to have that state of thought that would be conducive to the creation of desires, opportunities and achievements.
To achieve that he champions what he terms, “mind management” or the education of the human spirit with the word of God to unearth the full potential of “mind power.”
Oyakhilome states that a person’s station in life is determined by the content and quality of his or her mind, hence the biblical prescription in Rom12:2…. “Be transformed by the renewing of your minds…”
Mind management
From the start The Power of Your Mind proposes the word of God as the foundational material in this process of mind management.
The Bible, the author explains, contains God’s “thoughts clothed in vocabulary”.
Thus, for a more productive and successful life, one’s minds has to be influenced by God’s vocabulary.
The author then deploys his expertise as a teacher by taking readers through an inspirational lesson on “Understanding the mind.”
It is in this chapter that readers get the simple rendition of the mind, get to know the capacity and capability of the mind, and learn the deep connections between the mind and the soul.
Thus, the author’s prescription, “The mind is an intangible spiritual entity and only God’s word can give the best light on it,” commands careful consideration by readers.
He succinctly details the “connection between the brain and the mind, i.e., between the inward man and the outward man”, and states “the brain is neither the mind nor the soul; it’s a physical organ of the body, while the soul and the mind are intangible.”
Oyakilome’s revelation of the nexus between the mind and brain is intriguing and convincing.
Educating the mind
In mind education, the target is the spirit, and the benefits are described by Oyakhilome as a “better and more sublime potential,” than the education of the outward man.
He proffers a refreshing ideal, that is, the education of the inward man or the human spirit, which “ultimately leads to the education of the mind. This is only achievable through receiving and meditating on the Word of God.”
The subsequent chapter, ‘Think on these things’, provides the standards by which Christians can measure their thoughts to verify if they are in sync with what God prescribes in Philippians 4:8.
Using it right
In exhortations on using the mind right, Oyakhilome shows how Christians can achieve it.
“One of the first things you must learn to do with your mind is to focus it on the right thing,” he admonishes.
The result of focusing on God and his word is God’s assurance of keeping the Christian in the “prosperity of peace,” in other words, being enveloped in an aura of prosperous peacefulness!
The author points to Christ who teaches how to focus the mind on God.
Oyakhilome then takes us to the battlefield, which is our mind.
Under constant attacks from evil and negative thoughts, Christians have the responsibility to be on the offensive, with what has been provided, the word of God, he says.
In dealing with negative thoughts and emotions, the author cautions against the unnecessary production of worry and pain, and campaigns that Christians disregard fear and failure.
In all situations he seems to point to a spiritual response of reflection and consistent confession of the word of God, rather than an emotional response, which is debilitating.
Attitudes
Oyakhilome tackles attitudes, describing them as “the disposition to act in ways determined by the mental processes of our feelings, emotions, beliefs or reasoning.”
That makes man responsible for his attitudes and the controller of the “contents and processes of the mind.”
With the Three realms of vision,the author teaches readers the three channels of vision and how they can be sharpened for clarity in all aspects of life.
He convincingly shows how God creates, from within and in quietness, offers that standard to readers to set apart time alone to meditate, imagine and recreate.
The command to see all things new is biblical, and the author urges the right association with the right congregation for the word of God to provide the right images for that!
“Your primary focus in terms of your personal training and development should be your inward man,”he finally states, and concludes by reference to his first chapters where he preaches the education of the mind.
The Power of Your Mind is written masterfully. A hallmark of the book is how the author deftly convinces with scriptures. It is available in all leading bookshops and in all Christ Embassy churches worldwide.
Reviewer’s email: caroje2000@yahoo.com
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