Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Week Two: Days 3-5

Day 3: It's a Woman's Prerogative to Change Her Mind.



- Ps. 34:18 - The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
- Unlike clothes we don't wear, everything from our thought closets gets worn. We put on untrue, fateful, hurtful labels. When we allow them in, we take dirty, ill-fitting words and store them in the sanctity of our minds!
- Your thought closet is designed to host the mind of Christ. That's why you can't let it become cluttered with wrong words and ill-fitting labels.
- Philippians 2:5 - Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.
- Romans 12:2 - We are not to be conformed to this world, but transformed by the renewing of our minds.
- Let's renew our minds. Let's think about the mind of Christ. Let's not conform our thinking to the world's thinking but transform our thoughts by infusing them with the truths of Scripture so they will resemble the mind of Christ.
- Unless biblical thinking fills us, any lying label will stick! Unless we tell ourselves scriptural truths, we will conform to the world through faulty thinking.
- We get diluted by tradition and polluted by pride.
- What's the point of washing your clothes if you're just going to throw them on the ground?
- God wants us to have integrity.
- Read Matthew 23:25-28 - God doesn't want us to slip into cleaning the outside of our cup and neglecting the inside.
- Titus 2:14 - He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for Himself a special people, eager to do good works.
- James 4:8 - Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
- Pray today about purifying your thought closet and renewing your mind so you will have truth on the inside and truth on the outside!


Day 4: Faulty Assumptions


- All of our thoughts are based on our assumptions, our beliefs. That's why we must have truthful assumptions.
- Faulty assumptions are not harmless accessories we take on and off. They actually become the base of our thoughts and actions. They anchor the wardrobe of our lives. That's why it's very dangerous to assume something is true when it isn't.
- When you assume something, you connect it to truth and begin thinking and believing things that you've made up!
- Our assumptions affect everything!
- Think of the story of Rachel - Genesis 30 - She wanted children and was not given children. She became jealous of Leah, her sister. She threatened to give up hope if she didn't get her way.
- To willingly allow faulty assumptions in our thought closets is risky.
- The Latin root of both asssume and presume is the same: -sume, meaning to take. Scripture warns against acting with presumption.
- Ps. 19: 13 - Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression.
- To engage in assumption is to be presumptuous. It is to take for granted that your way, your view, and your opinion are worthy of forming the foundation of your thoughts. Only God's way, view, and opinion are worthy of becoming the foundation of our thought closests.
- Presumption shows itself in me when I wrongly assume my perspective is complete but it is actually limited by my experiences and flawed by my sinful nature. The fact that I act on my presumptions implies in the depth of my heart I trust and prefer my view above God's.

Day 5: Roots and Fruits

- To understand the seen part of your life, you examine the unseen part. To understand why your life is wardrobed as it is, you must examine the contents and foundation of your thought closet.
- Faulty assumptions are roots. Wrong thinking is fruit.
- If you invite bitterness into your thought closet, you will wardrobe yourself with troublesome thoughts and destructive emotions.
- Stop and ask God to show you the bitter and sour fruit in your life.
- You and I don't simply sprout the fruits of insecurity, anger, intolerance, low self-esteem, or defensiveness without something to first feed those feelings or thoughts. Feelings and thoughts are fruits. Assumptions are roots.
- We can't will our fruits from blossoming. There is only one way to deal with bad-tasting fruit, and that is to kill the root. A fruit can't be nourished if there is no root. Rather than growing frustrated over the discouraging nature of our fruit, we can be encouraged to recognize that our fruit will die if the root dies.
- When you realize you have bad fruit, check the root. Is it a faulty assumption?
- The fruit of hypersensitivity grows from the root of pride and an unhealthy level of self-consciousness. The fruit of perfectionism springs from the root of low self-esteem or insecurity.
- The weapon of the Word kills bad roots. Just as we have talked about speaking truth to our souls and crushing lies, we do the same to our roots. We confront those assumptions with truth. Each time you taste a bitter fruit, trace the root. When you find the root to be faulty, cut it off with the sword of the Spirit.
- Your weapon is not your will or your feelings; your weapon is God's truth. When your assumptions raise themselves up against the knowledge of God, wield your sword! Cut off the root so it cannot bear fruit! Ask God to strengthen your belief in Him and equip you to do battle using His Word against the faulty assumptions in your thought closet. Confess to God truthful beliefs in prayer.

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