The Four Questions That Change Everything

Foreign. Hey there. What if four questions could literally change everything in your life, Right? I know it sounds a little too simple, but sometimes the best solutions are often the most simple ones. Now, if you have asked Jesus into your life, you are a new creation, you're a brand new spirit. But here's the deal. You still have a soul, which is your mind, your will, and your emotions. And we need to learn how to transform what's in our head so that we can start showing up in life with all the results and all the benefits that God wants us to have. It says in His Word that we are not to forget all his benefits, that he gives us favor upon favor. But we can't access that if we don't know how to change our mind. So that's the big thing I'm talking with you today about, is how do we change our mind? We know how to change our spirit. We say yes to Jesus. It happens like that, right? You are now taken out of a kingdom of darkness, placed into this kingdom of light, brand new, spanking you. But now we still have the old programming in our mind, and sometimes we don't know how to change that. We're kind of stuck with the old mind. And we're wondering, what? Why is nothing in my life different? I said yes to Jesus. I accepted him in my heart. I made him my Savior, but nothing's showing up different in my life. It's because we haven't changed what's happening in our head. So really, saying yes to Jesus is the starting point. And learning how to transform your mind, that is the process that we go through and we will be in for the rest of our lives. If your heart is still beating, if you still have a pulse, if blood is pumping through your body and oxygen is going in and out of your lungs, then you still have some work to do. We're still. We're finding that in our lives, how to change our mind. And I'm going to show you how to do that with four simple questions today, okay? So we got to be a new you. And that happens when we start changing our mind. Now, Romans 12:2, it really kind of solidifies this whole process, and it says this. Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind so we can test and prove what God's will is. His good, pleasing, perfect will. So let's break that down for a minute. First of all, it says, don't conform to the pattern of this world. Now, how do you know you're conforming to the pattern of this world. If you don't know what the pattern of this world is like, and we know that anything that creates that hard like grind in life is the old pattern. Because Jesus came to set us free from the old law. It was called the law of sin and death, that Old Testament like, you have to make sure you're good enough, you have to make sure you don't sin. And if you sin, you got to give sacrifices. Like it was that laborious weight of trying to be good enough to fit God's standard, which we know we can't for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But Jesus provides the way for us now to be exempt from the old system and live according to the new covenant. Jesus said, I did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. So he's saying, you can't be good enough. So I'm going to be good enough and I'm going to pay my life in exchange for your spirit. So now we're renewed, right? But we can still conform to the pattern of this world. So if you've said yes to Jesus, but then nothing seems to be different, chances are you're still conforming to the pattern of this world. You're still trying to do things the old way. You're trying to be good enough, you're trying not to sin, you're trying to earn a living, you're trying to work things out of the natural realm. Now the beautiful thing about becoming a believer and receiving this new covenant through the blood of Jesus is now we don't have to live that way anymore. So everything that feels like no matter what I do is not, is not changing. I'm trying so hard. If I could just figure this thing out, no matter what I do. If you hear yourself saying that kind of stuff, chances are you're still operating by that old pattern. So we're not too conformed to the pattern of this world. But now what do we do? So if we know, oh, you know, I'm still trying. I'm still doing the same old things. I'm still trying to be good enough. I'm still trying to work things out. I'm still trying to figure it out. I'm still trying to hustle and grind and, and get that life that I want. Struggle. The Bible calls it this the yoke, okay? He says, take my yoke upon me. That's what Jesus says. Take my yoke upon you and not this hard pressing yoke, which is that old way of living, that worldly way of living. He says, take my yoke upon you. It is light. It is easy to be born. He even says it is rest, refreshment and recreation for your souls. Now think about that. Recreation for your souls. Recreate your soul. That's what we're doing here. Remember, your soul is your mind, your will, your emotions. And so what we're doing is now we put on a new yoke, which is that new covenant that we have with Jesus. So we are covenanted with God through the blood of Jesus, we have this new covenant. And in this covenant, it is light. It's easy. And what we're doing here is we're re creating our souls. So go back to Romans 12:2. It says, do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Renew. Recreate. We're taking what's in our head here, our mind or will, our emotions, the way we think, the way we believe, the way we feel. And we're changing them to so that now we can live that life that is filled and flooded with God's favor. Okay, so let me read this to you. John 1:16. Yeah. John 1:16. It says, for out of his fullness, abundance, we have all received, all had a share, and we were all supplied with one grace after another, and spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing and even favor upon favor and gift heaped upon gift. How bad do you want that life? Like, where you're not just like hills and valleys and ups and downs and trying to stay balanced at. And there's no such thing as balance. Like, balance means there's no growth. You really haven't growth or you haven't balance. But chances are if you're balancing, there's no movement there, right? Even when you walk, you're not balanced. You move to the right, move to the left, move to the right, move to the left. So growth doesn't always look like balance. Don't mistake those two. Okay? But who wants that kind of growth? Because God says in his word that we can have that life of grace, which is basically that. That favor that he gives us, that good life he gives us, that we don't deserve. Favor upon favor, grace upon grace, blessing upon blessing, gift upon gift. I want that kind of life. I don't want the up and down. I don't want the hills and valleys. I don't want. I tried this. You know what, what do you call it? One step forward, two steps back. I don't want that life. I want this Life. In John 1:16, that says, I can just keep leveling up. Now, how do we level up? It says here, out of his fullness, we've all received it. So it's already there for us. We can already activate it, we can already move in it, but we have to learn how to work out our salvation. Now, when the Bible says to work out our salvation, it does mean we have to work for. For our salvation. It means now that we have been saved, we can work it out in our head. We are, we now have a new spirit. But we have to learn how to change our soul and now conform to that spirit so that we can have it show up in our lives, in the physical realm. But it has to start here. That's where the process begins of that fullness of life, that. That one level upon the next level, and grace upon grace. And so we can basically break this down into four questions. But I really want you to understand, like, get a really clean understanding of what this looks like. So I want you to imagine, like when you said yes to Jesus, it is basically like you getting new hardware because the Bible says you are a new creation. The oldest passed away, no longer there. You are a brand new creature in Christ. Brand new. So it's like getting a new phone. Okay, Brand new hardware, right? But I know sometimes when my phone is like, acting up and this and I can't send things and, and files aren't loading up, and I'm like, okay, what is wrong with my phone? My husband will sometimes say, you might need to update your software. You might need to turn it off and turn it back on. Sounds so simple, right? But I'm like, oh, okay, maybe I need to do that. And sure enough, I will update the software and runs so much smoother. So this is basically what it looks like when you are learning how to renew your mind. So how are we transformed? How is our life transformed? Go back to that. Romans 12:2. How is our money transformed? How is our body, our health transformed? How are our families transformed? How is everything that we're experiencing in life? How do we get that transformation we want? By the renewing of our mind. Remember, we are recreating our soul. What that looks like is constantly updating our software. So I'm going to show you how we can do this with four simple questions. One thing I love is when we can just apply God's word. It doesn't have to be hard. Like, I know I follow a lot of pastors, a lot of theologians, a lot of people who, like, really understand the word conceptually, and I love hearing that. But sometimes I just want to know. Tell me what to do. I don't want to know all the ancient mysteries. I mean, that's. That's fascinating to me. But if it's not changing my life, I want to know what can change my life. So I want to show you these four questions because I want to make the word so, like, so practical for you that you can just immediately start seeing the results in your life. I love making the word practical in my life. So I'm going to show you these four questions, okay? The first one is. And I'm going to even teach you a little kind of a way to remember it. Actually. I'll go ahead and teach you that right now. It's called what How? What now? Can you say that with me? Come on, come on, say it out loud. What? How? What Now? These are the four questions. So the first question is, is what am I thinking? Okay, that's called metacognition. It's a fancy word that says, think about what you're thinking about. Sometimes I'll be with my husband and he'll be quiet, and I'm like, what are you thinking about? He's like, nothing. And I'm like, no, no, you're always thinking about something. Your brain is always holding a thought. Maybe you're not consciously aware of it, but your brain is always holding a thought. So I'm like, okay, what do you think he'll say? Nothing. And I'm like, no, no, really, like, look in your head. What thought was I holding? And sometimes she's like, I was actually thinking about those burgers we had the other day. And I really like the guacamole with it. Something so obscure. But our brain is always going, but we don't always ask, what are you thinking about? What thought am I holding? We just kind of let the thoughts play. And those thoughts play become things. Like thoughts have creative power in them. And once you start thinking about something, then it's. It's going to start showing up in your life. Like, I betcha he would eventually get a burger with guacamole on it. And so we have to understand, okay, if I can look in my head and know what I'm thinking about, maybe I could recreate it. Maybe I could renew it. Maybe I could work with my thoughts like I was working with Play doh. Or. Or paints or. Or, you know, any kind of medium to create something and actually create a different thought. Because thoughts become things. The thoughts we hold become the life we live. So if we're going to live a different Life, which Romans 12:2 says transformation, if we're going to be transformed and live a new life, we have to think new thoughts. And the first step to think a new thought is to think about what you're thinking about. Turn the unconscious conscious so that first thing is, what am I thinking about? So, 2nd Corinthians 10:5. I want to read this to you. Inasmuch as we refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the true knowledge of God, and we lead every thought and purpose away captive, into the obedience of Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One, what that is telling us is, and it uses this word, capture. Okay? We have to capture our thoughts, because who knows that your thoughts can run like wild animals all over the place? And before you know it, you're, like, stressed out, you're overstimulated, you're depressed. Like, this all happens when we're not consciously shaping our thoughts. So we can't, like, lead our thoughts away captive unless we can find out what we're thinking about. So it says here we refute the arguments. Think about that. Arguments, theories, reasonings, and proud and lofty things that sets itself up against the true knowledge of God. So I want you to think of these arguments and theories and reasonings and things that as the thoughts I hold in my head do, they line up with the life that God wants me to have. So, for example, okay, so we were. We were taking a ride on our boat the other day, and I'm like, oh, we didn't bring our oars. What if the engine dies? And what if we're stuck out here? Like, my brain starts to think about worst case scenario, right? And then I'm like, wait, no, that's. No, because even if we did, it would be an adventure. It would be fun, it would be whatever. So the thoughts we hold, if we're. If we're operating with a negative cognitive bias, they're going to be fear thoughts. They're going to be playing out, like, dramatic moments that we haven't even lived yet. They're going to be playing out tragedy, crisis, like, all the things we're afraid of. My son is getting ready to take his pilot exam, and he was really working on his thoughts because he was holding these thoughts of like, oh, I'm not going to pass it, I'm going to fail it, because something's going to go wrong. I'm like, well, hold up. We have to think, how are these thoughts making me feel? And these thoughts can create a fear response. And then we start to live it out. I'm like, well, do you want that result in your life? Do you want to fail your pilot test? Do you do? And he's like, no, of course not. I was like, all right, then we've got to change the thoughts, because your thoughts will become things. So it's good that you're aware that you're playing out these scenarios in your head. But now we have to figure out how to switch them around and think a different thought. So first of all, we have to be aware, what am I thinking? Okay, am I thinking something that's creating fear in me? Am I creating something that's creating dread, anxiety, overstimulation, anger? What thought am I holding right now? And it goes down to, what am I thinking? And if I can understand what I'm thinking, then it says here in the Bible that we can take it captive and pull it into the obedience of Christ. So we can take it captive. We can't take a thought captive if we can't know what it is. So that question number one, what am I thinking? Be aware of it. Now, the second question is, how does it make me feel? So go back to my son who was like, oh, I'm scared I'm going to fail this test. I'm scared I'm not going to pass it. Something's going to go wrong. How does that make you feel? Well, think about it. How would that make you feel? It would make you feel, like, nervous. It make you feel afraid. It would make you feel like a pit in your stomach thinking about it. It might cause tension in your shoulders, a tightness in your chest. So some of the thoughts that we hold, we can know if they're lining up with God's word over us, with God's design for us, or the world's designed for us when we feel how it feels. So think about what you're thinking about, and then move to number two. How does this thought make me feel? So if I'm thinking, oh, we're going out on the lake, and we don't have any oars, what if our engine dies? We can't get back. And I'm thinking, we could be stuck out there, get scared, get nervous. Oh, I see the shoreline. Don't go too far from the shore. I'm not enjoying it at all. That doesn't make me feel good. I'm not enjoying being on the lake. But then I think, you know, what if it dies. It's going to be funny. It's going to be an adventure. We're going to. We're going to make a video of it. Someone's going to come rescue us. It's going to be fun. So then I get more excited about it. Okay? I'm open to everything. I can go through it. I'll turn it into something fun. So that way I was able to change my thoughts. But I couldn't do that until I knew what I was thinking and I really examined how it made me feel. So that second question that's to assess, is this thought in line with God's design or in line with the world's design? Remember at the very beginning we talked about that old covenant of hustle and grind? And I gotta make this work out and I gotta figure it out, and it's all up to me, and it's by the sweat of my brow. And all that is the old covenant, which is called the law of sin and death. Jesus came to bring us a new covenant, which is being yoked to him so that we do what we can, he does what we can't, and out of that we can achieve the life he designed for us. And how do we know that life that he designed for us? We can go to John 10:10, which says, the enemy, which is the devil, comes to steal, kill and destroy. But I have come. That's what Jesus says. I have come. That you may have life in abundance to the full till it overflows. So what kind of life does God want me to have? A life of abundance to the full. That overflow life. How does he want my health to be Overflow? How does he want my money to be overflow? How does he want my emotions to be? Joy bubbling up? Overflow. How does he want my marriage to be? Awesome, hot, sexy, Overflow. How does he want my family to be? Connected, designed to be together, compassionate, supportive, overflow. So if it's not, if this thought is not in line with that overflow life, then what do we do about that? We have to examine how it feels and then learn how to change it around. But we can't change it around until what? What are we thinking? How does it make me feel? If it makes me feel any way other than overflow, it is not a thought that I need to think right now. That's what we're not good at. That's what we have to get better at, is learning how to renew our mind. What are we doing? We are recreating our soul. Because now we're yoked to Jesus and not yoked to the world. So how do we do that? So let me give you a little strategy here. How can we really know how this thought makes me feel? Well, let's look at First John 4:18. It says this. There is no fear in love. Dread does not exist. But full grown, complete, perfect love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror. For fear brings with it the thought of punishment. And so he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love, is not yet grown into love's complete perfection. Love's complete perfection is what we're aiming for as we renew our mind, as we recreate our soul, that full expression of God's love toward us. And it says here in the, in verse 19, we love him because he first loved us. Now what came first? Us loving him or him loving us, him loving us, that came first. Why am I talking about this? Because when we understand that we have a loving father, a God that is fighting for us, a God that is cheering us on, a God that wants us to win and loves us so much, it says in the Bible that he loved us so much he gave his only begotten Son. It also says in the Bible that he who did not spare even his own son, but gave him up for us all, will he not freely give us all things? That is a loving father who's like, I will hold nothing back from you. I want to bless you. I want to bless you in the field. I want to bless you in your home. I want to bless you outside, inside, upside down. I want to bless you in every area of your life. That is the loving father way that we serve. Now the more we grow in our faith, the more we understand how to renew our mind is completely dependent upon us understanding how loved we are. Because go back to a thought, think about, okay, the test, right? Oh, this. I'm dreading it. I'm afraid I might fail. That's describing right here in First John 4:18, that thought process, it says dread and fear. It says there's no fear in love, but full grown love turns fear out of doors and expels it. So it says it drives out fear. Perfect love drives out fear. So if Corbin is there thinking about his pilot test and getting afraid, then how does that. He has to know how it feels. This feels tight. This feels scary. This feels like my heart's racing. This feels. This feels heavy on me. And now what do we do with that? We have to learn how to turn it out. How do we turn it out? We understand that God loves us. So if God loves us and he's fighting for us, do we have to be afraid of that test? No. Now, if he had not studied for it, he would be. He has absolute grounds to be afraid of it because he hasn't prepared. God calls us to a level of excellence where we do everything we can, but he does everything we can't. So if he did everything he could, he studied, he prepared for it. Now he can step to a place of peace because he can say, my God, who loves me so much, has already gone ahead of me. He's going to make it right, pass, fail whatever is going to turn out for good because God loves me so much. And when we understand that love, then we can start to change our thoughts. But we have to understand this feels scary. This feels like dread, this feels like anger. This feels like I'm trying to figure things out. Confusion. When we know that, we know that love is not playing a part in it. Because love turns fear out of doors. It expels it. It drives it out. So in that place, how can we change it? We can take the way we feel and we can put it under that filter of love. If God really loves me and he's doing everything I can't, then am I safe here? Am I okay here? It starts to take that fear and lower it. And the Bible says it drives it out. So now we have access to a different thought. Okay, and we're going to move on to that third question, which is, what can I believe? So we've done what? What am I thinking? How does it make me feel? Remember what? How. What now? So we're on number three, which is what? What can I believe? So if I don't want to believe that I could fail this and. And. And I may not pass, and I'm gonna. I'm gonna do something stupid and I'm gonna forget everything if I don't want to think that because it makes me feel afraid. And I know there's no love there. What can I believe? Knowing that God loves me and knowing that He's a good father. I know that he's fighting for me and know that I don't have to live that old, I got kind of life. I have access to this new life. What can I believe in this mind space? So let's go to Colossians 3, and I'm going to read verse 2 and 3. It says this. Set your minds and keep them set on what is above the higher things. Not on the things that are on the earth. For as far as the world is concerned, you have died. Remember, like when you became a believer, that spirit was completely renewed. The old, you died. Now the new spirit lives. So for as far as the world is concerned, you have died. And your new real life is hidden with Christ and God. So now we are. It's kind of like you are wrapped up in Jesus. So when God sees you, he just sees you, you're righteous. He doesn't see your sin, he sees your righteousness and he's pleased with you and he loves you and, and he wants to bless you. So now out of that knowledge, knowing that God loves us, knowing that how he sees us, now we can set our minds on something higher. Now I want you to, I want to show you something in this verse that is very strategic. It's kind of hidden here. It says, set your minds and keep them set on what is above, not on things on the earth. So things on the earth are like, we could get stranded down the lake, I could fail the test. Those are things on the earth, right? Things that are circumstantial. But we have to set our mind on things that are above. So if God's fighting for me and he loves me, what is possible here? Even if I get straight on the lake, it's going to work out. Even I fail my test, he's gone before me and he's going to make the next one even easier. Like that kind of thought is coming from a place where we know how loved we are. One of these key questions I love to ask people is, what does the most loved version of you believe? So when we want to believe a new thought, we can say, what would the most loved version of me believe right now? And it's always going to be something higher. Think about the world under here, the natural and the word. God's word. Way up here, the supernatural super is over. Natural super literally means above. So the supernatural is above the natural. Now, the Bible tells us that everything that we see, everything in our world, everything circumstantial, comes out of what we don't see. So when we start to leverage our power in the supernatural, and that is with our thoughts, thoughts, we're going to start seeing a different life. But we have to know how to work with our thoughts. And this verse right here, set your mind and keep it set. This is not a one and done thing. You know how when you set your thermostat, it stays there until you go back and you set it again. Well, this Is saying right here, your. Your mind is not like a thermostat. You have to set it. And then you keep it set because that thermostat can wiggle around. Like, maybe it's really hot outside at the thermostat's like, oh, it's just too hard to keep pumping this air conditioner. I'm gonna. I'm gonna just. I'm gonna increase the temperature to 78. And then you start heating up, right? Or maybe it's like, oh, it's just too cold outside. This is too much work. I'm gonna decrease it to 52. And then you start getting really cold. Okay? So your life reveals what you're thinking. Remember I said thoughts become things. So now when we understand I want to renew my mind, I'm gonna have to set it. And guess what? Five minutes from now, I may have to set it again. That is the real work we do. That is the. The work that we're gonna be doing the rest of our lives, renewing our mind so we can line it up with God's design for us. Now let's move on to that last question. Number four. Remember what, How? What? Now the fourth question is, now can I practice that now? Can I practice that? Not can I practice it later? Can I practice it tomorrow? Can I practice it once I figure this out and get out of this, like, tension and just explode on someone and have the gossip fest and just go ahead and yell at someone and have a fit? No. Now, that's the key word now. Now can I practice it? So in Ephesians 6:12 through 14, I want to read this to you. It says, for we are not wrestling with flesh and blood, contending only with physical opponents, but against the despotisms, against the powers, against the master spirits who are the world rulers of this present darkness. Wow, that sounds kind of scary. Against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly supernatural sphere. But that's true. That's what we're really wrestling with. We're not trying to wrestle the old way, figure it out and stress and worry and be angry. And that's not how we're figuring things out right now. We have to understand how we're really battling. And it is in the supernatural realm. We are battling in the spiritual realm with our thoughts. So it says, therefore, put on God's complete armor that you may be able to resist and stand your ground on the evil day of danger. And having done all the crisis demands to stand firmly in your place. Stand, therefore, hold your ground. Set your mind and keep it set. Having tightened the belt of truth around your loins and having put the breast pain of integrity, of moral rectitude and right standing with God. So that belt of truth is God's word. So here's what we do now. Can I practice that if I know I'm loved, if God's fighting for me, if his plans are always turn out for good, what can I believe right now? So, Corbin, we worked with a thought. It's like, you know what? I'm prepared. God gives me a spirit of recall. I can do this and so much more. I'm totally prepared for this. That new thought now is what he can practice. When I was out on the lakes. Like, you know what? It doesn't matter if our engine dies. It's going to be fun. It's going to be an adventure. That's a new thought. So think about this. The belt of truth is God's word. What thought can I think right now that will line up with God's design for me, with that overflow, abundant life? And now practice it. Practice it. If you have to set it and keep it set five minutes from now, practice it again. Practice holding the thought, massage it into your head. Think about how it feels and hold it. And that's how we renew our mind. Just those four questions, it'll change everything.