Seeking Wholeness Summary 3

 

What does it mean to renew our mind and how do we do it?

~~ Watch the Video ~~

This lesson contains highlights from the following lessons:

• Unchained Disciples : Mindsets That Will Change Your Life
• Unchained Disciples : Change Your Focus, Change Your Future
• Unchained Disciples : How to Renew Your Mind
• Unchained Disciples : The Christian Mindset
• Unchained Disciples : 12 Habits to Renew Your Mind

Outline:

• Introduction
• Defining Wholeness
• Growth Mindset
• Thankful Mindset
• What Are You Focusing On?
• Strongholds
• Don’t Focus on Fleshly Goals
• Read Scripture
• You Can Change

Scripture:

• Romans 12:2
• Mark 9:23
• 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
• Philipians 4:12 - 13
• Philippians 4: 8
• 2 Corinthians 10:4-5
• Romans 8:5-8
• Acts 15:10-11
• Psalms 118:8
• Deuteronomy 31:6
• 1 John 4:4
• Romans 8:1
• Romans 8:28
• Romans 8:31
• Romans 8:38-39

Introduction

Romans 12:2

2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Renewing your mind is changing the way you think

It means to view things the way that God views them

Today you will get some practical ways to renew your mind

What’s going on in your head can be more real than what’s going on in reality.

Chat GPT Definition of Renewing Your Mind

• Cognitive renewal: This focuses on keeping your mind sharp and adaptable through activities that challenge and stimulate your brain. This could involve:

• Learning new skills or hobbies
• Playing brain games
• Reading books and articles on diverse topics
• Engaging in debates or discussions on complex issues

• Mental reframing: This approach emphasizes  challenging negative thought patterns and cultivating a more positive outlook.

 Here are some techniques:

• Mindfulness: Paying close attention to your thoughts and feelings without judgment can help you identify negative biases.
• Cognitive reframing: When you catch yourself in a negative thought spiral, try to reframe the situation in a more positive or realistic light.
• Gratitude practice: Focusing on the things you're grateful for can shift your mindset towards positivity.

Renewing your mind means doing away with unhealthy thought patterns and replacing them with true, godly ones.

  – Mercy Multiplied

Defining Wholeness

Wholeness is about being _______ healthy

• spiritually
• emotionally
• mentally

Free from oppression of

• Our past
• Bad thinking
• Strongholds
• The enemy

We’re talking about

• dealing with life’s current stresses
• being healed from experiences/wounds of the past

We’re promised eternal life

• We’re also supposed to have: joy, peace, patience, and self control here on earth

Through this 3.5 year series we have identified traits that we defined as the goal for wholeness

Traits of Wholeness

• Authenticity
• Honesty
• Kindness
• Behavior not influenced by external approval / validation
• Living by values and principles
• Setting Boundaries
• Taking ownership of your responsibilities
• Living with purpose and passion
• Optimism
• Confidence
• Not losing control of your emotions
• Free from addictions
• Addressing Conflict with truth and love
• Vulnerability
• Not critical or Judgemental
• Not jealous of others
• Forgive those who have wronged you in the past
• Know that you’re worthy of receiving love
• Not afraid to fail
• Able to manage irrational fear, worry, and anxiety
• Selfless encounters with others
• Not manipulating others trying to control their actions
• You care about how others feel
• Patient
• Don’t give into peer/social pressure
• Can communicate without antagonizing others
• Recognize, manage, and take responsibility for your own thoughts and feelings
• Slow to anger
• Ability to maturely express your wants, needs and desires
• Can listen without reacting
• Can respect others without having to change them
• Can function well… Alone or with others
• Able to take responsibility for our own destiny in life
• Able to maintain a non-anxious presence in the midst of anxiety and stress
• Able to ask for what they need want or prefer clearly, directly and honestly
• Has the capacity to resolve conflict maturely
• Being led by the Spirit

Reality Filters

Perception is Reality

https://www.tiktok.com/@charismotivational/video/6904683736118349057?lang=en&sender_device=pc

• Perception is your ultimate reality even if it’s not an ultimate truth
• Your reality dictates your actions

Your perception of reality is filtered by

• Your experiences
• Your self narrative
• Your mindset
• Your focus
• Your strongholds

Growth Mindset

Mark 9:23

23 And Jesus said to him, “ ‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes.”

Growth mindset believes that qualities like intelligence, talent  and abilities can be developed through practice and effort.

The opposite, a fixed mindset believes that these qualities are fixed traits.  

• Some people have it and some don’t
• They believe they are in their position in life because of their circumstances
• Victim mentality

A growth mindset says: even though It will be difficult for me because of my circumstances, it’s still in my control

We’re not saying “you can do anything you put your mind to”

Example: someone in jail in for life can’t be an astronaut

Case Study: Children with Puzzles

Dr. Carol Dweck (currently at Stanford) did a test where she praised children in two different ways.

1. They told the first group “you did really good you must be really smart”. - fixed
2. They told the second “you did really good you must’ve tried really hard“. - growth

They then asked the kids if they wanted to do an easy puzzle or a hard one next.

• “Smart” kids chose easy puzzle.
• “Hard working” kids chose the hard puzzle to challenge themselves

They gave all the children extremely hard puzzles to solve.

After that they gave all the children puzzles of the original difficulty.

The fixed mindset children did worse than they originally did  and the growth mindset children did better.

They then asked the children to report their scores at the end

• The fixed mindset children lied three times as much.

Fixed Mindset Experiment Explanation

https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkx8NYMj_EN8JM2PQ2oiL_qAoa0zIEA1u5g?si=IuX9h1z29qO0vuzj

Growth Mindset

• Embrace challenges as opportunities to learn
• Self image is not tied to your external success
• Not afraid to fail
• Effort is the path to intelligence, growth and mastery
• Celebrates their friends' success
• Criticism is a source of information

Fixed Mindset

• Says, “I am the way I am…”
• See themselves as victims
• Always concerned about image
• Take the easy route
• In order to avoid failing, they avoid challenges or quit
• Negative feedback is seen as an insult
• Feel threatened when their friends succeed
• Always have excuses

This is an approach to life

Across many areas:

• Fitness
• Finances
• Education

The Impact of Mastery

Once you master something it becomes easier to master other things.

Example: Engineering Major

• I know how to study
• The Bible

Example: athletes succeed

• Practice and discipline

Exercise: Make a Positive Change to Your World

Focus on your surroundings: both physical and psychological. Pay attention to things that bother you and that you wish you could fix.  

Ask yourself these three questions

1. Is it bothering me?
2. Is it something I can fix?
3. Would I be willing to fix it?

If the answer to any of those questions is no then look elsewhere and search for something else that bothers you.  

Search for something that you can fix right now and you would fix

• And fix it
• Do this every day  

Improve Your Life

Ask yourself what you could do to make life better.  But don’t dictate yourself what better has to be.

Examples:

• Clock/watch is wrong
• Smoke detector beeping
• Folding your laundry
• Maybe it’s reading a bible verse
• a stack of papers on your desk
• a sock that’s been on the floor for three days
• a squeaky cabinet door
• Telling your neighbor about Jesus

Not

• Global warming
• Politician

Let the task of the day announce themselves for your contemplation.  

Reward Yourself

Offer yourself a reward to make the change.  

Do that small thing and make sure you get that reward even if you feel silly about it.  

Outcome

The goal was to get you in the mindset that your actions can change things

Thankful Mindset

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

16 Rejoice always; 17 pray without ceasing; 18 in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

We are not told to give thanks for everything, but we’re told to give thanks in everything.  

• when things go wrong give thanks.
• Not for the thing that went wrong.
• But in the midst of it find something to be thankful for.

Gratitude is about being grateful for what you already have.

• Don’t take everything for granted.  
• Don’t focus on what you don’t have.

What does it look like to give thanks when things go wrong?

Worldly Criteria

Some people are unhappy because they are trying to live up to what society says they should have or should be.

• They are seeking the goals of the world.
• With social media we are always seeing what other people have and we want it.
• We want to be doing what they are doing.
• We want a happy family life that they portray.

Contentment

Philipians 4:12 - 13

 12 I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering. 13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

The best place in life is to be grateful for what you have and feel blessed but to also be striving for a goal

Solution:  The Practice of Gratitude

• Count your blessings before you go to sleep
• Pay attention to the good things that are happening to you throughout the day
• Start a list of the things you’re grateful for and add 5 every day

Attitude of gratitude

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3kh9kwoETS/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

What Are You Focusing On?

There are a lot of things happening in the world that we don’t notice

Example: buying a car

Dealing With Complexity

11M bits of information per second

Our conscience attention can process 60 bits per second

How do you deal with the overwhelming complexity of the world?

You focus on

• your concerns
• your goals/desires
• Your obstacles

The price you pay for focus is blindness to everything else.

Examples

• Feel where your feet Are touching the ground
• Child doing something dangerous on other side of room
• Someone says your name in the conversation next to you at a crowded party

If you start aiming for something different your mind will start presenting you new information.

Example: look for brown

• white

Examples:

• Racism
• Sexism
• Negative things a politician did
• Demons
• God

Don’t Focus on the What You Don’t Want

We tell ourselves we’re focused on having something or being something when in reality we might be focused on not having the thing or not being the thing.  

Self Fulfilling

Will show what you believe is true

• The more proof you see.
• The stronger your belief that it is true.
• The stronger your belief is the more likely that you’ll tell yourself it’s true.

Self Talk

Self talk > belief > truth

• “I’m not confident”
• “I can’t lose weight”
• “I’m always late”
• “I always find good parking”

You Get What You Expect

If you focus on positive things your brain (Reticular Activating System) will start to show you things that prove it to be true.

Have you ever met people that were “just lucky”?

There is a book called “the luck factor“

•  people who believe they are lucky have lucky experiences

People who think they are unlucky

• Will get a dent in the car
• Lose their keys
• Lose their phone

Example: studying spiritual warfare

• Demonic activity increased

Solution: Fix Your Focus

Philippians 4: 8

8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

Defining your focus in a sense changes your reality

You will find in life whatever you focus on

The human mind will look for what’s negative by default

True and Positive

It says think about what is “true” and what is “right”

• It is not just about what makes you feel good

You can be positive and  wrong

• “heaven gained another angel“

Change Your Questions

• How is God going to bless me today?
• Who can I serve?
• What am I going to notice to improve my confidence today?
• Who’s going to show me gratitude today?  
• What can I learn at this social event?

Example: what can I get out of this sermon?

Is it Working? - New Coincidences

 When coincidences happen it’s because your brain starts to focus on these other things.  When you start to notice good coincidences happening pay attention because it means your brain is working in the right direction.  

You’ll start to notice the people you need to apologize to will start to pop up in your path.

Abishai

Strongholds

2 Corinthians 10:4-5

4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 5 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,

 

We fight against arguments.

A fortress/stronghold is a fortified  argument that has been in our heads so long that it is strong.

It’s not the sin, but it’s the argument you use to justify the sin

When Satan won the argument with Adam and Eve, he was able to manipulate their behavior.  

• “God is keeping some good things from you”

Examples:

“The bible is old and outdated”

“Men wrote the Bible, so it can’t be trusted”

“Everybody does it, so it’s not that bad”

What are the arguments you hear people say?

Patterns

The solution is to change our thought patterns.

A pattern has to do with

1. What I see
2. How I process what I see
3. How I act upon what I see

Not just what you do...but why

Repent = see it how God sees it

• Not just changed behavior

Solutions

Change what you allow to influence you

Purge negative influences

Social Media

Research shows… The more time you spend on social media the more likely you are to be depressed

• Comparison
• Dopamine

News

The more you watch the news the more like you are to be

• Angry
• Sad
• Anxious

Negative people

You might need to start turning down some invitations to hang out

Don’t just go with the flow

• Challenge their negative thoughts

“ I know you think our boss is a jerk, but you don’t know what he’s dealing with“

Don’t Focus on Fleshly Goals

• Focus on things of God

Romans 8:5-8

5 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.

6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.  

Don’t Focus on Fleshly/Carnal Desires

• Sex
• Success
• Money / Riches
• Power
• Appearance
• Weight
• Grades
• Promotions / Title
• Status
• Spouse
• Sin

Focus on spiritual things

Don’t Focus on Earning Salvation

Walking in the flesh is when I think that I can please God through my own carnal endeavors

• Doesn't just mean sinning
• Trying to earn your salvation
• My discipline to try hard and do good

If you are focused on sin you will be obsessed with it

• It will either make you self righteous or make you depressed

Pride or shame

You shouldn’t judge your Christian walk by your efforts in the flesh

You’re not

• dependent on yourself
• Impressed with yourself
• Disappointment with yourself

It is impossible to be single-mindedly focused on the flesh and please the Lord

Acts 15:10-11

10 “Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?

11 “But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.”

Read Scripture

Practical ways to read the Bible

• Schedule it
• Have a plan
• 30 day
• 90 day
• read the bible in 1 Year
• specific book of the Bible
• Pray that the Holy Spirit reveal the truth to you
• Study
• Book
• Topic
• Commentaries

Memorize Scripture

5 smooth stones

Have Memory Verses

• Replace your thought with scripture
• Encourage yourself with scripture

Psalms 118:8

8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD

Than to trust in man.

Deuteronomy 31:6

6 “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.”

1 John 4:4

 4You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

Romans 8:1

1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:28

28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

Romans 8:31

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?

Romans 8:38-39

38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

You Can Change

We can change

• We no longer say “that’s just how I am”
• We have the ability to become better
• We have the choice to change or not

We might have to  give up things that

• we value
• are currently proud of
• Know are hurting us
• didn’t know about
• we are holding against other people

We have to let them go

We can change ourselves

After we change, we can impact someone else’s life

We can have an impact on the world to make it better

We can start by paying attention to what’s in front of us

Trust that as we grow God will reveal what we need to work on next.  

• God will reveal what we can change.  
• God will guide us.

Instructor: Michael Leadon

References

Unchained Disciples : Mindsets That Will Change Your Life
Unchained Disciples : Change Your Focus, Change Your Future
Unchained Disciples : How to Renew Your Mind
Unchained Disciples : The Christian Mindset

Unchained Disciples : 12 Habits to Renew Your Mind

Overcoming negative thoughts

Ryan Visconti

Extra

Titus 1:15

To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled.

Proverbs 4:23-23

Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.