The Transformation Choice
Notes
Transcript
Handout
We are in week 5 of Life’s Healing choices. So far we have looked at 4 choices we can make with God’s help to move towards victory in our lives.
1st choice: Reality Choice where we realize that we are not God and admit that we are powerless to control our tendency to to the wrong thing and my life is unmanageable.
1st choice: Reality Choice where we realize that we are not God and admit that we are powerless to control our tendency to to the wrong thing and my life is unmanageable.
We admit that no matter how hard we try, our we can’t stop doing the things that cause us problems.
2nd choice: Hope Choice - We earnestly believe that God exists, that I matter to Him, & that He has the power to help me recover.
2nd choice: Hope Choice - We earnestly believe that God exists, that I matter to Him, & that He has the power to help me recover.
This is where we begin to not only believe in God, but believe that just maybe he has the power to change me… to deliver me from me.
3rd Choice: Commitment Choice - We consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ’s care and control.
3rd Choice: Commitment Choice - We consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ’s care and control.
This is where we commit our lives to Jesus and become new people.
This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
We actually get a new identity. Our old self is gone and we are new in Christ.
4th choice: Housecleaning Choice - We openly examine and confess our faults to myself, to God and to someone I trust.
4th choice: Housecleaning Choice - We openly examine and confess our faults to myself, to God and to someone I trust.
This is where we make a moral inventory of our defects. What do we feel guilty about? What do we need to change in my life? We prayed and asked God to help us make a list of them.
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
Part of the 4th choice is maybe the hardest and that’s where we accept God’s forgiveness and forgive our selves.
There is nothing that God will not forgive. He forgives you instantly, freely and completely.
Today, we will learn the 5th choice we have to make.
5th choice: Transformation Choice - Voluntarily submit to every change God wants to make in my life and humbly ask him to remove my character defects.
5th choice: Transformation Choice - Voluntarily submit to every change God wants to make in my life and humbly ask him to remove my character defects.
You voluntarily allow God to make the changes that God wants you to make. Here is the beatitude for this one.
Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires; God will satisfy them fully!
God has forgiven you and now, he wants to work on your character.
God wants to transform your character into the character of Christ. God is always more interested in developing your character than he is in your comfort. Remember that.
Why is so hard to change our defects? One reason is that … We have been practicing them all of our lives. We didn’t get this way over night and we will not get out of it overnight.
Today we will learn how to allow God to begin to change your defects. All change begins in your mind or thoughts.
Your thoughts determine the way you feel and the way you feel determines the way you act.
Your thoughts determine the way you feel and the way you feel determines the way you act.
Change your brain, change your life. Dr. Daniel Amen
We have to refocus our mind if we want lasting change in our lives. And most of us, deep down want lasting change in different areas of our lives.
Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God—what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect.
If we want to change the way we live, we first have to change the way we think.
So we stop conforming and begin to allow God to transform our lives. Sounds simple and it is, it’s just not easy so we will learn a process that will help. We have to learn to Refocus.
1. Focus on changing one defect at a time.
1. Focus on changing one defect at a time.
An intelligent person aims at wise action, but a fool starts off in many directions.
Maybe you took your moral inventory and you have 50 things you need to change.
Most of us have no problems listing out what’s wrong. So, Don’t do that. Focus on one thing at a time.
Pray and ask God which defect on your list he wants you to work on first. Don’t be general, be specific. Ask Him, Which one is damaging my life the most and let God point it out to you. He will point you in the right direction.
You will not be able to tackle them all at one time, so you have to focus on one at a time. It will not work unless you do this.
2. Focus on one victory one day at a time.
2. Focus on one victory one day at a time.
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
You have to work on your life’s issues one at a time and celebrate one victory one day at a time.
I want to be patient… today.
I want to think pure thoughts.
I want to not lose my temper.
I want to be kind… today.
I will not look at what I should not look at … today.
I will not use… today.
Help me to think good thoughts about my boss… co-worker… spouse.
Just make one change for one day. Whatever it is, it takes time. Then at night you celebrate and thank God for today’s victory.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
So focus on changing one defect at at time and focus one victory one day at a time.
3. Focus on God’s power not my willpower.
3. Focus on God’s power not my willpower.
We all know willpower is not enough. It was, we all would have changed all of our defects by now. None of us like our shortcomings but will power is not enough.
How many times have we begun a diet?
How many times have we quit Smoking?
How many times have we times have we said we will be a better parent? grand parent? friend?
We cannot do it with willpower. As a matter of fact, Will power should have been called won’t power. You may make progress for a little while, but you eventually run out of your own power and fall back into your bad habits.
Can the Ethiopian change the color of his skin? or a leopard take away his spots? Nor can you who are so used to doing evil now start being good.
You cannot change on your own will power. It just will not work. You cannot do it on your own.
But there is good news. While you can’t do it on your own, God says you can do it with his help.
For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.
How many things? Everything.
You can walk away from an argument… a temptation… a situation you should not be in…
You can make it through court, meeting at work, busy week whatever you are facing with the strength from God.
So pray this. Lord, I know that I cannot change in my own power. But I am asking you to give me the power to change for the next hour… 6 hours… day. Take it away.
When we focus on God’s power and not on our own power, then…
4. Focus on good things not the bad.
4. Focus on good things not the bad.
This is important. We have to do this if we want to be happy, if we want to be free…
And now, brothers, as I close this letter, let me say this one more thing: Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely, and dwell on the fine, good things in others. Think about all you can praise God for and be glad about.
Paul tell us to focus in good things. We need to filter everything we allow into our minds through this list like we filter pollution out of our water with water filters.
Why does God say to do this? Because whatever gets your attention, gets you.
Whatever you focus on, you will eventually do.
If you are thinking angry thoughts, you will eventually act in an angry manner.
If you are thinking about food, you will eventually eat. Have you ever noticed that a lot of the food people on the TV, gain wieght?
If you are thinking sad thoughts… guess what, you will act sad.
The only way you are able to resist temptation is to change your attention; to refocus your thoughts. If you say, I am not going to think about a drink, a substance, food, sex, money… whatever… guess what? That’s exactly what you are going think about.
You have to change channel in your mind. You have to focus and think about something good, right, pure, lovely…
If you are watching a bad show on TV, you don’t go, I’m not going to watch this… You flip the channel and that’s what you have to do with your mind. You flip the mental channel. That’s how you beat temptation.
I am not talking about positive thinking. I am talking about focusing on God’s word. There are over 7 thousand of promises in the bible. So read them. Memorize them. If we could memorize 1 verse per week, God will have 52 verses at the end of the year to use to fight the devil in your mind.
Here is how this works.
If you are fighting depression or anxiety or some other strong hold. Take a 3x5 card or make one in your notes app. Write out a positive scripture and on the back, write out an application for your life with that scripture.
So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.
There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus… on the other side, write God does not condemn me for my depression… anxiety… fear… whatever your struggle is. God loves me just as much on my bad days as he does on my good days.
For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.
I can do all things through Christ who gives me the strength. Back - I can make it through this day and it’s going to be better than yesterday because I am getting stronger with God’s help.
Read them in the morning… before you go to bed and throughout the day. If you do this, you will see your depression or anxiety or whatever it is begin to lift. You may still get tired, or even discouraged from time to time, but you will not battle depression because you have reprogramed you mind.
When you do this, You train your brain to not believe what social media or the world says, but to believe what God says about you and who you are. When you retrain your brain, you change a defect in your life.
God wants to do that in your lives… maybe not with depression but with some area of your life. If you will focus on the good of what God says about you and not the bad, if will change the way you think and transform your life.
And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
5. Focus on doing good not on feeling good.
5. Focus on doing good not on feeling good.
If you want the right thing in your life, then you have to think the right thing and do the right thing. If you do the right things, your feelings will follow.
If you wait to feel like changing, you will never change. If you wait to feel like doing the right things, you will never do them. You act your way into feeling. The devil attacks your feelings.
If you don’t like someone but begin to act like you like them, your feelings will follow. It feels strange at first, but when you do the right thing over and over, eventually that begins to feel normal. Your feelings will catch up.
If I need to forgive someone, I probably don’t feel like forgiving them, but when I act on a forgiving manner, my feelings will catch up.
If you are trying to change a bad habit doing the right thing will feel abnormal. When you do the right thing over and over, your feelings will eventually follow.
Your feelings will catch up with your actions.
So focus on doing good and not on feeling good.
6. Focus on people who help me not hinder me.
6. Focus on people who help me not hinder me.
Focus on people who are helping you make the changes you need to in your life rather than people who drag you back to what you were doing.
Don’t be fooled by those who say such things, for “bad company corrupts good character.”
IOW, if you want to soar with the eagles, you cannot run with the turkeys. Look at these translations…
Do not be fooled: “Bad friends will ruin good habits.”
Don’t fool yourselves. Bad friends will destroy you.
Get the message?
If you don’t want to get stung, don’t hang around bees. Stop hanging around old friends who drag you down. You may think that they won’t but they do… every time. I have been doing this a long time, and if you do not change the people you hang out with, they will drag you down.
We have to change people, places and things.
We have to change people, places and things.
If you want to stop drinking, you do not hang out in a bar.
If you don’t want stop using, don’t hang out with people who do.
If you want to be a good parent, hang out with good parents.
If you want to be a good husband or wife, do not go out with your single friends from work. Develop couple friends.
Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.
When you have help from another person, they can help you stay on track or help you get back up and get on track when or if you fail.
You cannot grow, get well, or anything by yourself. You need to be in relationships with other Christians who are trying to go in the same direction you are wanting to go and who are willing to help you. You cannot be successful without people in your life.
You cannot change by yourself.
As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.
IOW, we need each other. You need to be in relationships that help you go the way you want to go and not in relationships that do not.
7. Focus on progress not perfection
7. Focus on progress not perfection
You may be thinking, we are in week 5 and I have been working these choices and I haven’t seen a lot of changes. Unfortunately we are a microwave society and we see people change on TV in an hour so we want to be a totally different person in one day. That doesn’t happen.
Remember, you didn’t get this way over night and you won’t get out of it over night either. You are a pro at your defects. It’s like peeling an onion. You peel it one layer at a time. That’s the way the healing process works… it takes time. So don’t worry.
The decision to follow Jesus as your Savior and Lord is a decision followed by a process.
The decision to follow Jesus as your Savior and Lord is a decision followed by a process.
So is spiritual growth, so it personal development, so is recovery from the hurts and hangs ups of our life.
And I am sure that God who began the good work within you will keep right on helping you grow in his grace until his task within you is finally finished on that day when Jesus Christ returns.
God will never give up on you. He will keep working in you. What he is working in you, you work out in your decisions.
Prayer
Help us to understand that the steps to freedom are a process where we work on one defect at a time, focusing on one victory one day at a time focusing on progress and not on perfection.
Focus on one defect at a time
Focus on one victory one day at a time.
Focus on God’s power not my will power
Focus on good things not bad.
Focus on doing good not feeling good.
Focus on people who help me not who hinder me.
Focus on progress not perfection.