Overview:

All dysfunction is sin related.  There was no dysfunction in the world until sin entered first.  Sin
begins with deception.  The serpent came to Eve, and deceived her.  She fell for it, and the
rest ... is history.  Sin produces a multitude of lies in our lives, even when we are the innocent
victims of it.  Lies ... any lies ... produce bondage.  God's Word says that truth sets us free.  
Therefore, if freedom is the goal, the object to obtaining that goal is to discover the lies,
misunderstandings and half truths that we have been believing.  We must eliminate them from
our thought processes, and replace them with the truth.




All knowledge is gained information brought in through one or more of our five senses ...
touch, taste, sight, hearing and/or smelling.  This information is then "stored" in our minds, and
collected & gathered together, and it becomes the basis for our system and pattern of beliefs.

What it is that we have come to believe then affects our emotions.  However, not all the
information that enters our minds is true and right.  Some information is wrong.  And the
problem with that comes in at the emotional level.  Our emotions don't know the difference
between right and wrong, good and bad information. Our emotions simply react to whatever
information is fed to them.

These "reactors," our emotions, then directly affect our actions.  So it follows, then, that in
order to change our actions, we must work backwards to our thought processes ... to what we
have been thinking and what we have come to believe.  Replacing the misunderstandings, lies
and half truths that we have been believing with the truth will set us free.
Our Thought Processes:

When we accept Jesus as Savior, we are born again.  We are new creatures in Christ.  Our
spirit is born anew, but into this new relationship with Jesus, we carry a lot of old "baggage" ...
old hurts, unresolved issues, old thought patterns and habits that now need to be changed,
etc.  Did you know that there can be a distinct difference between truth and reality?  It is vital
to know and understand that truth is not subjective.  Truth does not change because of how
one or another views it.  Reality can change, and is subject to how one views it.  Truth is not.  
Truth is what it is, no matter how one or another views it.




No one chooses to believe a lie.  We may know something is wrong, and still do or say it
anyway.  We may feel something and know that it's the wrong way to feel, but choose not to
change it.  But what we believe, we think is right.  To us, that's how it is!

Change begins with realizing that something is wrong ... recognizing and acknowledging our
need before God.  We would recognize something is wrong in our belief system and pattern of
thinking, when we notice unGodly actions, wrong emotions and/or inappropriate thoughts.

Once we recognize this, the next step is the desire to change that wrong thing.  This desire is
not necessarily an automatic thing.  Sometimes it must be cultivated, trained and/or disciplined
... just like any other habit.    





Knowing Truth:

God's Word ... the Bible ... IS truth.  God is not a man that He could lie.  Every word of the Bible
is, therefore, truth.  God tells us in His Word that we must be "renewed in the spirit of your
mind," and "be transformed by the renewing of your mind."  But how do we do this?

By taking every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ.  It is not that we deny the
presence of the wrong thought or pattern of thinking ... but it IS that we just refuse to give it
"place" in our lives.  We just say "NO!" to it, just as we would say no to any other wrong that we
are tempted by.  Then we replace that wrong thought with truth from the Word of God.

For example:  if we were feeling lonely, we could look up Hebrews 13: 5, which tells us that
God will never leave us nor forsake us.  We may feel lonely, but the truth is that we are not
alone!  If we were feeling defeated, we could look up I John 4: 4, which tells us "greater is He
that is in us than he that is in the world."




Replace that negative thought with truth from the Word of God.  And think on those things.  
Meditate on truth, because what we meditate on is magnified in our lives.

It's an awesome power that God gave us ... that of the power of choice.  We have the power to
choose to believe truth, and let that truth change us.  Or, we can deny it and remain as we
were.
Acting On Truth:

Once truth is known, we must then act on it.  If change is to become a reality in our lives, we
must respond to truth.  Faith without works is dead.  Eliminate the lies and misunderstandings
that have been defeating us, and replace them with the truth.  Make a conscious choice ... a
decision through the power of our will ... to change what is wrong.

Then we must act on that choice.  We must act on that thing which we now know to be the
truth, or else we will remain the same as before.  (Keep touching a hot stove and you will keep
getting burned.  Change your actions ... stop touching the hot stove ... and you will stop
getting burned!)

Look to the Bible for truth.  Look to the Holy Spirit for grace and power to act upon that truth ...
thereby changing your life!!
Scripture References:

John 8: 32                         I Corinthians 3: 2          Numbers 13: 28 - 33
Romans 3: 23                    John 5: 1 - 9                  James 4: 2
John 8: 32                         Ephesians 4: 3              Romans 12: 2
II Corinthians 10: 5          Hebrews 13: 5                I John 4: 4
Philippians 4: 6                James 2: 17                    Luke 15: 11 - 24
Philippians 4: 13              Romans 8: 37                 
Walking Toward The Light ... Lessons In Discipleship
Making It Real
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