Isaiah 54:10 – For the mountains may move and the hills disappear, but even then my faithful love for you will remain. My covenant of blessing will never be broken,”says the Lord, who has mercy on you.

REVIEW

• We have a battle in our minds
• There is hope to rewire our brains
• Science shows us the Bible is true
• Identify your strongest thoughts
• Your life goes in the direction of your strongest thoughts
• Book – Winning The War In Your Mind

REPLACEMENT PRINCIPAL

Have you ever had negative, painful, doubt filled thoughts? You are not alone.

1 Peter 5:8-9 – Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.

• We all have to battle this war
• There is hope in the fight
• There is the ability to have renewing in the mind (Romans 12:2)
• We can stand in our faith and trust that God is working
• We have our part in that fight
• What are we supposed to do?

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 – We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.

• We don’t fight like humans fight
• We destroy argument’s, thoughts, false ideas
• We capture our rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ
• How can we capture something if we don’t know what we need to capture? How are we to know something is a lie if we don’t know what’s true?

John 8:31 – Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

• We can decide to sit passively in our thoughts and in our minds
• Or like he says in the book, “One, two, three, four, I declare a thought war.”

LET’S GET PRACTICAL

LIE: God doesn’t love me because of my sin.
TRUTH: Psalms 139:17 -How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumbered the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!

LIE: If you are full of fear, you must not be walking with Jesus.
TRUTH: 1 Peter 5:7 – Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

LET’S GET PRACTICAL – CONTINUED

LIE: You feel alone. God has left you in this place. You know this because of the storm you are in. You must have done something wrong.
TRUTH: Isaiah 43:2 – When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.

CLOSING QUESTIONS

1. Will you engage, will you confront? If you ignore the battle, you lose the battle.
2. How will you define your thoughts and actions? You cannot change what you don’t define. You need people, to fill your mind with good things, God’s presence, the Word.
3. Will you seek encouragement everyday? which means getting off the bleachers and getting in the game.
4. Do you know Christ?

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QUESTIONS TO REFLECT AND DISCUSS:

Passages to consider: Colossians 3:9-10; Romans 8:5-6; Titus 2:11-12

1. In assessing if our thoughts are true or not, have you been surprised by anything you discovered in your thought life?
2. How do you know if something is true? How do you filter false information?
3. Read Psalms 119:1-16. How does hiding God’s word in your heart help strengthen your ability to resist flawed or incorrect thinking?
4. What truth from God’s word would you like to preach to yourself more?
5. Truth and grace go hand in hand. Read John 1:14-18. Where does grace and truth come from?
6. Is it easier for you to receive grace or extend grace? Or neither? Why do you think this is true of you?
7. Do you believe there are limits to God’s grace? If so, where does He draw the line?
8. How does your confidence in God’s grace change how you think about yourself?

Homework – Read Chapter 3 of Phillipians