Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Lies/ Teling Ourselves the Truth: Truth #5, #6



Telling Ourselves the Truth


Last week we learned that pain is good.. this week we will seek to embrace the truth that….

The Truth #5 & 6:   There is no gain without pain. And..
                 :   You don’t ‘have to’ do anything!

Truth #5 There is no gain without pain.

“One cannot get through life without pain.” ~Bernie Siegel

Hometown newspaper article

Review last week…
check engine light
Fire Alarm story (check back.. there will be a separate blog for this story - a portion is in the audio)

A.      There are no quick-fix solutions
B.      It takes some painful effort

ef·fort

1.
exertion of physical or mental power:
an earnest or strenuous attempt:
something done by exertion or hard work
the amount of exertion expended for a specified purpose

If we want anything to be easy, we have to work hard.
1.    If we want a quiz to be easy, we have to study hard.
2.    If we want a couple of hours on the tennis court to be easy, we have to train hard.
3.    If we want our marriages/ relationships to be easy, we have to work diligently on them and ourselves
4.    If we want life to be easy, we have to put our ALL into it, painfully so.



Truth #6:   You don’t ‘have to’ do anything!

“People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. ~George Bernard Shaw

WRITE IT DOWN!   A ‘have to’ attitude toward life makes you a bitter victim while a ‘choose to’ attitude makes you a healthy victor!

-         You always have a choice

Deuteronomy 30:19
This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live

-         The only way out is to see options & accept responsibility

Joshua 24:15
But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

Walking through an example:

Event – asked to _______ family event
“have to”?
Response
New self-talk: don’t have to say ‘yes’
Peace


Evaluating our Thought Closet

Philippians 4:8

New International Version (NIV)
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
The Message (MSG)
 8-9Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies. 

Remember the game ‘I spy’? 
This will be a fun way for you to remember to keep your thought closet full of the things that God wants you to dwell on..
I spy something true.  Example: I spy something true because I can embrace God’s promise to give me strength no matter how tired I am.
I spy something honorable..     
This exercise will help you become mindful of the things that are valued by God and…the Holy Spirit will enable you to see if you will ask..

I spy something right, pure, lovely, of good report, excellent…

If we will make an effort to do this with the leadership of the Spirit, we will be trading our destructive, self-defeating thoughts for His thoughts – the things that are worthy of being in our thought closet.

Telling Ourselves the Truth # 5 & 6
Group Work

Do the pain; get the gain! 

1.    Discuss quick-fix solutions you see that are prevalent in ‘the church’ today.  Your life?
2.    Share about a process of change you have been in and the effort it has taken to see growth & change.
3.    What is God’s response to our avoidance of pain?
4.    Discuss a scenario that most of us would interpret as a ‘have to’ and walk it through the exercise. 
5.    What is your hesitancy in embracing the ‘choose to’ attitude rather than the ‘have to’ attitude?
6.    What are the things that you dwell on the most in your thought closet?  Your needs, your body, your plans, insecurities, fears, pride, your future, family, your rights, your failures, needs, your past, your situation(s)?   Pray for each other that you will be able to apply and practice Phil 4:8 this week.

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