SESSION 8 - CONDITIONED HEART
GROUP VIDEO
Today we discussed the importance of transparency!
SESSION 8 - GROUP VIDEO
Watch 10-20 minutes of a GROUP video teaching, that correlates with the full Workshop semester topics.
GROUP CONVERSATION GUIDE
WHY DO
YOU DO
WHAT YOU DO?
SOMETHING HAPPENED
AT THE HEART LEVEL
THAT ALTERED GOD’S DESIGN
IN THIS SESSION
WE WANT TO HAVE
A GREATER UNDERSTANDING
OF WHAT THE HEART IS.
1. IT ALL BEGINS IN THE HEART
- PROVERBS 4:23 NKJV Keep your HEART, with all diligence, for out of it spring the ISSUES OF LIFE.
EVERYTHING WE DO
COMES FROM THE HEART.
THE HEART
MUST BE GUARDED…
FROM SOMETHING.
2. WE BELIEVE WITH THE HEART (CORE BELIEFS)
- ROMANS 10:9-10 NKJV …that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and BELIEVE in your HEART that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the HEART one BELIEVES unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
THE HEART HAS BELIEFS,
EMOTIONAL BELIEFS.
WHAT YOU EMOTIONALLY BELIEVE
WILL CONSUME THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS,
DRIVING YOU TO BEHAVIORS.
WE ARE TO BELIEVE TRUTH WITH OUR EMOTIONS,
NOT JUST WITH A RATIONAL ASSENT.
3A. WE THINK WITH THE HEART (CONSUMING THOUGHTS)
- PROVERBS 23:7 NKJV For as he THINKS in his HEART, so [is] he.
- HEBREWS 4:12 NKJV For the word of God [is] …a discerner of the THOUGHTS and INTENTS of the HEART.
THOUGHTS THAT ARE MERELY RATIONAL
WILL NEVER CHANGE YOUR LIFE,
EVEN IF THOSE THOUGHTS ARE ALIGNED WITH TRUTH.
3B. WE EMOTE FROM THE HEART (CONSUMING EMOTIONS)
- PSALM 37:4 NKJV Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the DESIRES of your HEART.
- JAMES 1:14-15 NKJV But each one is TEMPTED when he is drawn away by his own DESIRES and enticed. 15 Then, when DESIRE has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
SIN IS ANYTHING WE DO
THAT WILL DESTROY US!
WHEN WE ACT OUTSIDE
OF OUR GOD-DESIGN
WE ACT FROM A DISORDER!
SIN’S ULTIMATE END
IS TO ERODE OUR CAPACITY
FOR INTIMACY!
A HARD HEART IS A HEART
THAT IS EMOTIONALLY REPRESSED!
4. WE BEHAVE FROM THE HEART (COMPULSIVE BEHAVIOR)
- MARK 7:21-23 NKJV [JESUS SAID] "For from within, out of the HEART of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and DEFILE a man."
COMPULSIVE BEHAVIOR
REFERS TO BOTH
HEALTHY AND UNHEALTHY BEHAVIORS.
GOD DESIGNED US
TO LIVE COMPELLED LIVES
TOWARDS HIS PURPOSES.
WHAT IS THE HEART?
- The HEART is the SPIRIT and SOUL of a person.
- The SPIRIT is perfect, once restored through Salvation.
- The SOUL is made up of the mind, will and emotions. [Sometimes in the Bible the SOUL references the entire make up of a person; spirit, soul and body.]
THE LIMBIC SYSTEM OF THE BRAIN
CORRELATES WITH
THE BIBLICAL IDEA OF THE HEART.
THE BRAIN IS THE PHYSICAL GLOVE
THAT YOUR MIND (WHICH IS ETERNAL) DWELLS IN.
RENEWING THE MIND
NECESSITATES THE
RENEWAL OF THE EMOTIONS.
NEUROBIOLOGICALLY,
90+% OF ALL HUMAN BEHAVIOR
FIRES OFF FROM THE LIMBIC SYSTEM OF THE BRAIN.
RENEWING THE MIND
REQUIRES WE RENEW
THE LIMBIC SYSTEM OF THE BRAIN.
THE PREFRONTAL CORTEX OF BRAIN
- The executive part of the brain that regulates long-term planning, decision making, and rational interpretations.
LIMBIC SYSTEM OF THE BRAIN
- THALAMUS is a large structure deep in the center of the brain that relays info to and from the outside world and your cerebral cortex
- AMYGDALA is an almond-shaped structure in the temporal lobes involved in emotions and fear responses
- HIPPOCAMPUS is a seahorse-shaped structure that helps memories move into long-term storage
- HYPOTHALAMUS is the size of a pearl and controls brain chemicals that make you hungry, sexual, sleepy, exhilarated, angry, or unhappy
- OLFACTORY CORTEX is our sense of smell, which connects to emotional and memory centers
WHAT ARE WE TO GUARD THE HEART FROM? WHAT HAPPENED TO THE HEART?
- HEBREWS 12:14-15 NKJV Pursue PEACE with all [people], …looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any ROOT of BITTERNESS SPRINGING UP cause TROUBLE, and by this many become DEFILED;
- MARK 7:21-23 NKJV [JESUS SAID] "For from within, out of the HEART of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and DEFILE a man."
- PEACE – Wholeness, nothing broken, nothing missing, at one again – antithesis of broken, content, complete, prospering
- ROOT – a shoot or offspring
- BITTERNESS – a harsh, disagreeable experience causing emotional pain or distress, compelling the wounds to shame, self-deprecation and outward smoldering resentment.
- SPRINGING - To beget, bring forth, produce, be born, to spring up, to grow, to shoot forth, spring up
- UP - The trouble/bitterness is at the surface ready to be released outward
- TROUBLE – Excite, annoy, disturb
- DEFILE – Dye with another color; to stain, pollute or contaminate.
WE GUARD OUR HEART
FROM BITTER EXPERIENCES.
WE MUST REPROCESS
OUR BITTER MEMORIES
TO LIVE AS WE WERE DESIGNED
IN THE IMAGE OF GOD.
WHERE DO OUR BITTER GRIEVANCES COME FROM?
- ADAM’S SIN – Sin we inherited wounded me.
- MY SIN – Sin I committed wounded me.
- OTHER’S SIN – Sin that was perpetrated on me wounded me.
GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Take a few moments to discuss your answers to these questions with the Group.
ICE BREAKER
If you were to describe yourself as a flavor, what would your flavor be? Why?
MY MEMOIR STORIES
IMPORTANT: If the Group would like to continue telling one Memoir Story per week until they are completed, that might allow for a more congruent transition. Please be sensitive to the Science of Freedom content and discussion. It is important that our people are exposed to the possibilities in their potential that this content will provide. Please take no more than 20-25 minutes for the Memoir to leave time for the rest of the content below.
QUESTIONS
- Name a time when your heart was hardened towards someone or something.
- Name a time when your heart was softened, made tender, towards someone or something.
- What are the emotional characteristics of a hardened heart? What are the emotional characteristics of a soft heart?
- Since your heart (and identity) is related to how you interpret the world around you (i.e. God, ourselves, others and environments), how have emotions informed your interpretations?
- How have your emotions influenced your interpretations of God, Self, and Others? Have your emotions skewed your interpretations, or even hardened you, to God, Self, and Others? If so, how?
SESSION 8 - WRAP UP VIDEO #2
This is a 5-10 minute video for MOVING FORWARD, GOING DEEPER, use of worksheets and periodic church-wide announcements.
MOVE FORWARD
Receive the challenge to “MOVE FORWARD” by applying what was learned this week.
SUGGESTIONS:
1. MEMOIR STORY - If you haven't told your MEMOIR STORY, continue preparing to tell your story to the rest of the Group over the next several weeks.
2. PRAY FOR GROUP MEMBER - Pray for at least one person in the Group. Try to identify someone who hasn't been prayed for, or given an encouraging Scripture. Don't worry about feeling inadequate as a prayer. No one feels like they are professional prayers, at least not when they look into eyes of the Almighty God. Praying the Scriptures over people is the best way to learn how to pray effectively. Simply find a Scripture, put the person's name in the text, and pray those words out loud. Then ask the Lord to help you think of things to say to Him about them that would help their lives.
3. ASK FOR A SCRIPTURE WORD - Ask God to give you a Scripture to give them to encourage, comfort and edify them. You can Google search "God's Promises" and find a plethora of appropriate texts. Look for one that seems to give you a spark of energy as you think about the person you have been praying for.
4. DELIVER THE WORD TO THEM - Then send them an email, text or phone call to encourage them. This is how the Holy Spirit works in our lives. As you practice these movements you will expand your own capacity with God, all while giving people much needed hope and strength.
GOING DEEPER
Encouragement to engage the FULL WORKSHOP SEMESTER experience. While this is not required, nor is the Group discussions connected to the full workshop, it is an option for everyone.
PRAYER / DISMISS GROUP
Prayer time with the Group.