New Thing November

Good morning, my friend. I hope you're doing well. It is November 2nd, and I know that

normally I would come on the first of the month if we were going to do something as

kind of a theme for the whole first or for the for a whole month. I would come at you

with that on the first. But yesterday was Tuesdays with Tata and it came out. It was

scheduled ahead of time. We record this on Sundays and when I recorded it, I didn't think

about the fact that it'd be November 1st when it came out. So hit you with Tuesdays with

with Tata on November 1st,

but today I wanna tell you about something we're gonna do kind of as a theme.

For the whole month of November.

We're gonna call it New Thing November. Okay, New Thing November.

And the theme for the month is gonna come out of scripture.

There's lots of things that I do come from scripture. Isaiah 43, verse 19.

See, this is God speaking.

See, I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up. Do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

See, God says he wants to do something good. In the verse before this, in verse 18,

he says, forget the former things.

Do not dwell on the past.

He's saying, don't look back, look forward. Don't look backwards, look forward.

I'm doing something new in your life.

Now it springs up, do you not perceive it? I'm making a way in the wilderness.

Listen, friends, sometimes our lives start to feel like we're wandering through the desert.

They're dry and they're thirsty, and we're wondering why God's not coming through.

We need some water.

We need something to help us, right? If you're struggling with thought processes

and negative thinking and things that happen in your brain that you just can't seem to quite break,

or some habit or some problem in a relationship or some issue that you can't seem to put behind you,

or you've been praying forever for a breakthrough

for something, for some physical issue that you're dealing with, or for some financial problem,

or you've been praying and praying and praying and it seems like God isn't there, he's not listening,

and you're wondering why he won't do the new thing.

That you've been begging him to do or that he seems to have promised that he would do you're wondering why?

Well friend i'm always telling you you can't change your life until you change your mind today

Just for a couple of minutes. We're gonna have a little a little quiet time thought process about just being a new month

It's time for a new thing. It's time to put aside the old things It's to stop looking back and dwelling on the past and it's time to go forward and as a secondary theme. It's,

November is my favorite holiday thanksgiving.

And this year we're going to get to be with all our kids and grandkids in the same place

at the same time, which is getting harder as they get older and move around the country.

But we're grateful for that.

And so as a kind of an arching theme towards Thanksgiving Day, we're going to focus, in

my heart, I want to be focused on gratitude and the things that I can give thanks for.

And so kind of combining those two ideas, New Thing November and the idea of gratitude

and thankfulness and all of that, that's so good for your neurochemistry and so good for your heart.

To talk a little bit today about some reasons why it's smart and it's reasons

why it's helpful to have kind of a grateful heart. And then we're gonna have

a new Tommy Walker song. My friend Tommy Walker and his amazing band including

his daughter Eileen have been doing this soulful scripture song album which I

love. And so they've got a new song out called Help Us Be Kind. So maybe one of

the new things that you could focus on for November if you're having trouble

is just to try to develop a little more kindness towards other people. Sometimes

focusing on other people's needs helps you to solve some of the own issues that

are in your way. And so we're gonna have that song, Help Us Be Kind. We're gonna talk just for a few minutes about how if we learn to change our minds, God,

can change our lives. It's time for a new thing. It's a new month. It's a new day.

It's time to stop looking back. And the good news is, as Lisa always tells us.

It's time to start today. Hey, are you ready to change your life?

If the answer is yes, there's only one rule.

You have to change your mind first.

And my friend, there's a place where the neuroscience of how your mind works smashes together with faith,

and everything starts to make sense.

That place is called self brain surgery. You can learn it and it will help you become healthier,

feel better and be happier.

And the good news is you can start today.

Thanks Lisa. Hey so glad to have you listening today. I'm Dr. Lee Warren and I

live in Nebraska in the United States of America with my incredible wife Lisa, my,

father-in-law Tata, and the super pups Harvey and Lewis. I'm a neurosurgeon and,

an author and I'm here to help you harness neuroscience, the power of your,

brain, faith, the power of your spirit, and good old common sense to help you lead,

a healthier, better, happier life. Listen friend, you can't change your life until

you change your mind and I'm here to help you learn the art of self brain

surgery to get it done. If you like the show, please subscribe so you never miss

an episode and tell your friends about it. If you tell two or three friends this

podcast was helpful to you, imagine how much good we can all do around the world

together. I'm Dr. Lee Warren and I'm here to help you change your mind so you can

change your life. Let's get after it.

All right, so I'm sitting here having a cup of coffee drinking.

Folgers, that's just a simple it's not a like fancy coffee, but it's my favorite. I have this cup here in my,

Little ceramic coffee mug that stays warm that Lisa got me. It's pretty cool

If you haven't ever seen the ember coffee mugs, it's pretty cool. This is not a product that I'm not sponsored by them

But we use these ember coffee mugs that stay they keep your coffee hot while you're drinking it. So it's pretty cool

Anyway, check out ember coffee mugs,

Okay, let's go to our theme verse for November. It's new thing November Isaiah 43,

Let's start in 18, forget the former things, do not dwell on the past.

See, I am doing a new thing.

Now it springs up, do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness

and streams in the wasteland.

Listen, I've been thinking a lot about this and for the last few days since Lisa and I talked about it

and decided we were gonna do this new thing in November and I realized one of the reasons that,

well let me back up a step first.

I read a book that I'm trying to get the author, I'm trying to get ahold of his people

to get the author on the podcast at some point.

Pete Gregg, G-R-I-E-G, is a British guy and he wrote this incredible book called God on Mute.

God on Mute, like if you push the mute button. And God on Mute is about these times

when it seems like our prayers aren't answered, when it seems like God is quiet,

when there's something going on in our life and God just doesn't seem to be present in the moment.

And he uses the example of the Holy Week, Thursday and then Good Friday,

and then there's Silent Saturday.

There's this Saturday when everything seems lost and the Savior is in the tomb

and everybody thinks that the battle is over and that we lost and God's quiet.

He doesn't do anything that day. He doesn't say anything that day.

He doesn't show up and answer prayers. Why did this happen, God?

What's gonna happen, God? What now, God? He doesn't answer.

But then Sunday, everything gets better, right? The Savior rises and all is not lost after all.

And it seemed, the whole day Saturday, It seemed like everything was wrong.

But the fact is, God was just working behind the scenes and he was preparing for this big thing that was coming

once Christ was gonna be resurrected and our sins were gonna be left in the grave, right?

So anyway, this great book by Pete Gregg, God on Mute, it just points out that sometimes when God is quiet,

it's not because he's not listening, it's because he's doing something and it's not time yet.

It's just time to wait, right? So it dawned on me as we were talking about this new thing,

November idea, it dawned on me that God won't do something new in your life.

Until you stop doing the old stuff in your life that's holding you back. You

think about this, like sometimes we forget that sin and bad attitudes and

holding on to high places, as Tata talked about, so sometimes holding on to

something that God says no to will keep us from getting something that God wants to say yes to.

We keep dabbling in in our flesh and we want to have God and something else.

We want to have a little bit of this and Jesus. And he says, no, he says, wait, just forget about the past.

And let me do this new thing for you. Keep you keep doing your own thing.

And it feels you feel thirsty and you keep doing your own thing and you feel hungry.

And you won't let me make a way for you.

You won't get let me make a stream in the desert of living water that will really fill

you up and quench your thirst and fill your hunger.

Who just stop and do a new thing.

But God won't do the new thing until you get rid of the old thing.

So maybe part of the new thing in November could be that you search out your heart

and find some things that have been in your way.

Like Hebrews 12 says, cast off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles

and let us run with perseverance the race marked out before us, right?

So sometimes the race is hard because we're holding onto things

that are slowing us down and holding back.

So think through some things, maybe write some things down. Is there some habit that you have that's holding you back?

Are you smoking? Are you drinking too much? Are you doing something that's hurting your physical body

and you're wondering why you can't get in shape? Or you're, I see it all the time with patients

that got a back problem, they need a spinal fusion.

And we say, well, you gotta quit smoking first because you're not gonna fuse

and therefore the insurance company's not gonna pay for your surgery and they show up for surgery

and we do a nicotine test and they still have nicotine and we have to send them home.

They can't have the surgery that they need until they get rid of the thing that's hindering

them. You have to cast it off, right?

So maybe, let's use the example of alcohol, for example. Maybe you're drinking and it's hindering your life, it's keeping you from sleeping well,

it's making you gain weight, it's costing you money, it's hurting your relationships,

it's damaging your heart, it's causing osteoporosis, or whatever it is.

You've got this problem with alcohol and you need to get rid of it.

Maybe it's just a minor issue.

It's a big issue. But instead of holding on to it and wondering why God's not

coming through, maybe this is no-sip November for you. Maybe it's no-alcohol November, right?

Maybe if you are anxious and stressed and worried and you can't you won't stop.

Tossing things over in your mind and looking back. Maybe it's no sweat November

Maybe you need to stop sweating stuff that's been hurting you in the past and focus hard on something that God wants to do in

The future maybe it's time to set that stuff aside Maybe if you have a problem with overspending and you're wondering why God isn't coming through financially for you

You need to go through and find all the places that you have automatically subscribed to something that are siphoning off your money

maybe you need to rethink some of the choices you're making around what

you wear and what you spend and what you drive and how much you know stuff you

buy maybe you need to disable one-click shopping on Amazon and make a deal with

yourself that that for no spend November you're going to think and pray through

every purchase you make instead of automating them maybe you're going to not hit one click anymore maybe you're gonna make yourself have to go to the

shopping cart and put your credit card number in and do all that stuff so you

you have a little bit of space in there

to think about what you're spending

instead of making it so easy, right?

It's so easy if you automate your spending, you make a one-click purchase thing,

or you put your credit card number in a website so you don't have to reenter it every time,

then it becomes super easy to just spend that money.

But if that's a problem for you, maybe instead of praying and praying and praying

that God will give you a financial breakthrough this month, maybe he's already saying,

dude, friend, stop spending so much, and then you'll have more,

and I'll give you the breakthrough by you just following the principles I've already laid out for you.

Maybe you don't need a miracle, maybe you just need to stop doing silly things, right?

Or maybe he does want to give you a miracle, but he reminds you of the parable where he said,

if you're not faithful with small things, you won't be faithful with big things.

So I can't give you big things until you get yourself squared away, right?

So maybe no spend November is relevant for you.

Maybe you're irritated easily and you're kind of mean to your spouse or maybe you're kind

of nitpicky and you're frustrated with one part of your life so you're taking it out

on your kids or you're kicking the dog or you're being grumpy at work.

Maybe you need to learn to be more kind.

Maybe if you focus on the needs of others that you would have an easier time being more

kind and that'll clear out some space in your brain and make you feel a little bit happier

and give you room to work on the things that are really causing your trouble inside.

Maybe it's it's no grouch November. Maybe maybe maybe you just need to be a little more kind

We're gonna have Tommy Walker play that song for us in a few minutes.

Okay, and then in a few days and in a few weeks, we're gonna get to Thanksgiving and at Thanksgiving

We're gonna spend one day the whole year,

Acting like we're thankful and for many of us it just turns into a big party or a big meal

We eat too much and all that

But it ought to be a time where you can really reflect and maybe make a decision

that you're going to change your whole life to be more grateful. And I found a

great blog. There's a website called lisaappello.com. It's a woman, Lisa Appello. I don't know much about her. She's a recent widow, a single mom to

seven children, and she just has a great kind of grateful blog. I'm not sure when

she wrote this. There's not a date on the article, but it's a good article called

The Power of Gratitude, 12 Benefits of Giving God Thanks. I'll include it. She

just put some scriptures down about why it's good to give thanks, and one of them

is gratitude glorifies God.

Second Corinthians 4.15 says, and as God's grace reaches more and more people,

there will be great thanksgiving and God will receive more and more glory.

And then gratitude helps us to see God. James 1.16 and 17, do not be deceived,

my beloved brothers, for every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father

of the heavenly lights.

God, when you recognize that if you have something good in your life, it came from God,

that gets rid of this idea that you're responsible for making everything good happen in your own life.

And gratitude puts us squarely in God's will. 1 Thessalonians 5 18 says,

give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. God wants you to be grateful. Now why? I'm

always telling you, Jesus is the neurosurgeon of Nazareth.

He's the first self-brain surgeon and he created all of this neuroscience stuff that I'm always talking about. And the fact is we

know now without any doubt from functional imaging studies, gratitude is good for your brain chemistry. Being thankful

clears away all the toxicity and gives you clear eyes to see.

So you can make a better plan. You can be more hopeful.

You can be more diligent and more effective. You make better synapses and your brain gets healthier when you're grateful.

And that's why number four on Elisa Appello's list, gratitude brings peace.

Philippians four, by the way, is the self brain surgery chapter of the Bible.

It's going to be kind of a theme of my book on self brain surgery that I'm working on now after hope is the first dose comes out,

the next book is going to be self brain surgery.

And in Philippians 4 is the theme chapter for that whole book, but listen to what he says, Philippians 4, 6, and 7.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Listen to this. You can't be anxious and grateful at the same time.

You can't be because gratitude clears away anxiety. So understand this, what he's saying here

is not just don't be anxious but pray.

He's not just saying that, he's saying pray with thanksgiving and that will help you have peace.

Why? Think about it for just a second. If you say in your prayer and you're desperate

and you're worried and you're stressed and you can't sleep and you say,

God, please help me with this situation.

I can't deal with it anymore. I'm falling apart, everything's going wrong.

Nothing's gonna be right, the biopsy's gonna be bad, she's gonna leave, the money's gonna run out.

You're not really praying, you're just crying out all the things you're worried about, right?

What if you said, God,

This situation is really hard and I don't know what's gonna happen. The doctor's got bad news, but you know what?

You've got me through lots of things before,

and that time when my mom was sick and we prayed you came through for us and

And in in that time that this happened you came through And that time that that happened you came through and I was so thankful and god I remember that,

And I know you can do this because i've seen you do it before and i'm so thankful that you've got me this far

And i'm so grateful that you gave me that good team of doctors and i'm so thankful that you've created

modern medicine so that when I do get this diagnosis there's going to be some

options and I'm so thankful for that. And so you see what I'm saying? You take.

The command of the battlefield and that gratitude gives you something to latch

on to that leads you to hope, right? It leads you to hope again and helps you to

not be so afraid. That's why David says, I sought the Lord and He He answered me, and he saved me from everything

that made me so afraid.

That's Psalm 34.

Everything that made me so afraid, he was there.

And finally, another one is gratitude draws us to God. Luke 17, 17 through nine, Jesus asked,

where were not all ten cleansed?

Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this one?

I remember the story, Jesus healed 10 lepers, and they all ran off, so grateful,

so happy that they were cured.

But one of them stopped and turned back and came back to Jesus and said, thank you.

In Pete Gregg's book, God on Mute, he tells this story again and he says,

nine people got cured.

They got their prayers answered and they went on their way happy that they got their prayer answered.

But what'd they miss out on?

They missed out on the relationship with the healer. They focused on the miracle

and not the maker of the miracle.

And the one guy came back and he was thankful and he had both.

He had a cured body, but he also had a healed heart, and he had a relationship with the doctor who saved him.

So gratitude draws you back to God. When you're grateful, you get closer to God.

And Jesus said, rise up, your faith has made you well.

And gratitude brings contentment. First Timothy 6, six through eight,

godliness with contentment is great gain.

Where we brought nothing into the world and neither can we carry anything out

But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these he's saying you can learn because you are godly

You can learn to be content in whatever situation you have So if you give thanks for what you do have then god may start opening doors and giving you more,

If you look at your house and say I hate this tiny house Then you're going to get grumpy and your neurochemistry is going to get bad and god's going to say you know what?

At least you have a house You're not living in a mud hut like our son Josh did for a year in Africa when he was a pioneer Bible translators

You at least have a house, right?

And then you say God why can't I have a better house? And he's saying be thankful for the one that you do have then maybe I'll give you a better one, right?

Gratitude is the key to contentment gratitude deepens your faith Psalm 136 one give thanks to the Lord for he is good his love endures

Forever when you when you clear away that toxicity you can hold on to something good

Gratitude leads to joy, Psalm 126, one through three.

Gratitude defeats Satan's lies, Psalm 84, 11.

Gratitude guards against envy, Psalm 138, one. You can't be jealous and grateful at the same time. You can't.

Gratitude helps you live in the moment, live in the present.

Ecclesiastes 7.10 says this.

Say not, why were the former days better than these? For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.

Jesus says, God says here, it's unwise to say I was happier back then.

It's unwise to say, I had it better back then. It's unwise to say, why was it always so easy back then

and it's so hard now? The truth is it wasn't. Back then, you weren't happier.

You've weren't really better off than you are now You're just you're sort of memorializing the past because you think it's better than now, but it's really not it's not wise

He says to do that and that's why and our theme verse for this month,

He says forget the former things don't dwell in the past see I'm doing a new thing

He's trying to do something new for you my friend

But you got to get rid of the old things first and finally Lisa fellows blog says gratitude is a testimony

Psalm 105, one give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness let the whole world know what he's done

You can't be an effective witness for God if you're grumpy and ungrateful and unforgive,

Unforgiving and unkind and sad and dour and mean you're not a good witness.

It's a great little article from Lisa Pelo I'll include it so you can read her words with each of these verses and I just thought that would be a great way to

Kind of get our minds on the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. Listen God says,

Isaiah, Isaiah 43, 18 and 19, see I'm doing, oh sorry, forget the former things.

Do not dwell on the past, see I'm doing a new thing. Now it springs up, do you not perceive it?

I'm making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

Listen friend, it's a new thing, November, and in order to grasp that fully,

you gotta get old things out of your way that are holding you back.

Here's my friend Tommy Walker, let us be kind. Maybe it's no mean November for you.

Maybe, maybe this is a new thing. Be a little more kind.

Whatever it is, think about it, kind of focus on it, pray about it,

ask God to bless you with it. We're praying for you. Don't forget the prayer wall.

Got an amazing Friday conversation coming up this week. I'm so excited.

I've been working on the episode this morning.

Tomorrow we're gonna have something else fun and new for you.

But today, let's just think about new thing November.

You think about what it is that you need to help you change your life and change your mind.

And let's Tommy Walker tell us about how he can help us be kind. Ephesians 4, 32.

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other just as Christ has forgiven you.

Music.

Hey, thanks for listening. Please subscribe to the show. So you automatically get every episode and if you like the show,

You'll love my weekly letter check out my writing at dr. Lee warren. Dot substack.com. Dr

Lee warren dot substack dot com get the free newsletter every week for my best prescriptions for becoming healthier,

Feeling better and being happier through the power of faith and neuroscience smashing together via self-brain-serving. Dr

Lee warren dot substack dot com and if you need prayer go to the prayer wall at w warren md.com slash prayer

The theme music for the show is Make Us One by Tommy Walker,

graciously provided for free by the great folks over at TommyWalkerMinistries.org.

Check it out and consider supporting them, TommyWalkerMinistries.org.

Remember, you can't change your life until you change your mind,

and the good news is you can start today. I'm Dr. Lee Warren.

I'll talk to you soon. God bless you, friend. Have a great day.

Music.