Changing the way we Think...

Metanonia -Shifting the thoughts of our heart

Galatians 3:1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? 4 Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?

7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

Hebrews 12:2 ESV

looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Three internal obstacles to right believing:

Our overall mindset

how our “mind is set” is incredibly powerful. Most importantly, it impacts how we give and receive love, especially in our relationship with a Holy God. Sinful (missing the mark) thinking ALWAYS benefits evil. Think about that…John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

Three mindset obstacles

Negativity-we are inundated with discouraging and disappointing news daily.

Entitlement-I owe it to myself to _____.

Course Change Temptations-while running the difficult miles, we can begin to daydream of easier paths. We begin to flirt with alternative pathways. “Maybe i would be better off if I _______.” 9 times out of 10 this is not the Holy Spirit but a spirit of compromise and quitting.

Our response is to throw off these entanglements.

How to overcome:

1. Refix your eyes

Fix your eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith Hebrews 12:2

We are always in need of His vision, a vision that reveals the truth and magnitude of who He really is. This inevitably results in an overwhelming response of worship and love.

Hebrews 12:3 ESV

Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

2. Shut down unhealthy soundtracks

I read a quote this week from theologian Dallas Willard, “The ultimate freedom we have as human beings is the power to select what we will allow our minds to dwell upon.”

2 Corinthians 10:5 “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,”

Ephesians 3:19–21 ESV

and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Prayerfully and powerfully begin to change the pattern of thinking . Washing your mind with the reading of His Word. Renew your mind with meditating on His Word. Find a smooth stone of His Word to meditate on and to release towards the Goliath in your mind.

3. Ask yourself

What mindsets are holding me back?

How can I refix my focus more firmly on Jesus? (have I released my confession of faith? Have I not held the rudder well?)

What internal voices are speaking louder than the Word of God?

Acts 3:19 (ESV)

Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.