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TIM LOST HIS JOB
Part 3
ANXIETY…DESTROYED
TRANSFORMATION…HOW?
A CALL TO ACTION
We are all called to “make disciples” (Matthew 28:19). Most of us think about making disciples as taking someone to a bible study or church, or better yet, telling someone what to do or what NOT to do…which seems to backfire more times than not. In this FINAL INSTALLMENT using the Lives Transforming Worksheets (you can download them below), we will go after the HOW in a way that gives you a tool for your life transformation and helps you move toward others. As you see God working and you join Him, you'll have another tool to meet with individuals or small groups of people to facilitate spiritual growth and Truth discovery. If you haven’t already downloaded the Lives Transforming Worksheets you can download them now.
DOWNLOAD WORKSHEETS HERE
“Tim, last week we discussed a difficult situation you are going through and your assignment was to identify the Enemy’s deception in your thinking.”
“Yes, last week was a real eye opener. I never realized how easy it is to be deceived. But I finished changing my thoughts by getting rid of the deception and here’s what I came up with…”
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“That is awesome! And it looks like your belief in your ‘Original Thought’ has decreased significantly.”
“Yes, in fact, the ‘Original Thought’ doesn’t make much sense anymore.”
“Exactly…and as you decrease your belief in the deception, what is happening to your feelings?
“My anxiety is starting to decrease.”
“Exactly! Remember, the Fruit of the Spirit (the result of God’s Truth) is peace, joy, freedom, etc. NOT anxiety and strife. So as you start believing what is True, the anxiety will go away.”
“Ok, but I still believe my original thought 50%. My anxiety is not completely gone.”
“You are correct, Tim. We aren’t finished yet: we have only identified the deceptions. NOW…we will go after Truth.
“How?”
“I’ll show you.”
“Tim, identifying the Enemy’s deception is critical in untwisting our thoughts. Once the deceptions are identified it becomes much easier to identify Truth. Scripture tells us that God transforms us when we “Renew Our Minds,” but the Enemy is never stops trying to get us to believe his LIES!”
“Ok, so if I’m feeling overwhelmed with anxiety about my job then I know I’m believing a LIE. Anxiety doesn’t come from God.”
“Exactly. But before moving on go ahead and rewrite the ‘Original Thought’ you identified.”
“My thought was, ‘I’ll never find a job and without a job I’m a worthless loser.’ So, how do I know what LIE I am believing?”
“Here is one way. Listed below are some very common Enemy-driven LIES. Do any of these apply to your thought? If so, put a check by the ones that apply.”
“Ok, no problem.”
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“Wow, a number of these apply to my thought. It’s amazing the ENEMY LIES that are underneath my thoughts. I feel a little sick just reading them,” Tim explained.
“I agree. The Enemy used these LIES to do his best to put me in misery for years!”
“Is this a complete list of all the LIES?”
“Absolutely not! These are a few from the Worksheet, but there are plenty more. The ones on the Worksheet are just some very common LIES that we tend to believe.”
“So now what?”
“Just like you did with the deceptions, simply replace the LIE you are believing with a statement that is True…you can use the verses to help if you want.”
“Yeah, I have a feeling scripture is where a lot of Truth can be found.”
“Yep. So let’s try one…which one do you want to attack first.”
“How about the first one. It’s easy for me to believe that my value and worth as a person depends on my intelligence and status (at my age I’ve given up on my looksJ). But connecting my intelligence and status with my value as a person is the reason I think I’m worthless without a job.”
“That’s a very natural response to losing a job.”
“Natural…maybe, but it sure has done a number on my emotional life. So now do I just go the 1 John verse in The Message to find the Truth?”
“You could, but you don’t have to. There are plenty of verses you can apply to this LIE. For instance, Colossians 2:10 tells us that ‘in Him we have already been made complete’ (NASB)…so why do we think getting a job is going to make us better? Is a job going to make us more complete?”
“Yeah! I remember a verse in Romans around verse 23 that says, ‘out of sheer generosity He put us in right standing with Himself (The Message).’”
“Exactly! We are already in right standing with God! Do you think getting a job can make you better than being in right standing with God? Somehow this job will make you more valuable?”
“Ok, yeah, I think I’m getting this. Plus I’m feeling better! Let’s do another one.”
LET’S DO ANOTHER ONE
“Which one do you want to do next?”
“How about the one about my inferiority to others making me defective or worthless. This one is definitely behind my original thought. In fact, the other day I was at church and the sermon had something to do with, ‘if I don’t work then I don’t deserve to eat’ or something like that. So I figured that people who were working had to be better than me.”
“Well, I’ll assume that sermon wasn’t in the same context as we are talking about. However, let’s go after another verse.”
“You mean Galatians 5:25 from the worksheet?”
“Sure, you can use that one…”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah…but I can use others too.”
“Exactly!”
“Ok, what does Galatians 5:25 say?”
“It says, ‘since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original.’”
“Wow, so God works in all of us in different ways…because each of us is an original. So it really doesn’t make any sense to feel like someone else is better or worse just because the way God is working in my life is different than someone else. We are all different, we are all original.”
“Yes. Tim, do you think God is in this job predicament with you?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Can you see what’s True now?”
“Yes. Amazing. It feels like a load has been lifted off my back.”
“That’s called FREEDOM, Tim. Freedom from anxiety and shame.”
“I’ve always read that verse about the Truth setting us Free but until now I really never understood it. I guess because I’d never experienced it.”
“Go ahead and complete the rest of the worksheet if you want.”
“Sure,” Tim replied.
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“Looks good to me!”
“Now what?”
“I usually summarize my Truth Statements so I have Truth to drench my mind with EVERY DAY. In other words…I renew my mind! Oh, yeah, and don’t forget to write down how much you believe the Truth statements and write down how much you still believe the ‘Original Thought’ you were thinking that made you feel miserable. You try it…”
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“Ok, I did it. How’s that?”
“It depends,” I replied.
“On what?” Tim asked.
“Do you still believe your thought?”
“No, it sounds kind of ridiculous now.”
“And what’s happening to your anxiety?”
“It’s almost gone!”
“Awesome.”
“Will it come back?” Tim asked.
“Absolutely! That’s why we are urged to renew our minds. Renewing is a continuous process, not a point in time.”
“That makes sense. Derek, is this how you coach individuals?”
“When I coach individuals I don’t always use the Worksheets. BUT… I’m always looking to discover Truth. These worksheets are NOT a system or a method. They are simply tools that help you discover Truth. These Lives Transforming worksheets have been helpful to me and many other people, so I wanted to share them with you.”
“That makes sense. Thank you. I was really tired of living in the tyranny of my anxiety. I’m looking forward to demolishing these lies and continuing this freedom I have today.”
You can access worksheets at
www.livestransforming.com
any time you like 
Thinking about it,
Derek
P.S. As always I want to thank all the people involved in the Lives Transforming newsletters and message. For those of you that don’t know, the stories that are told are ALL based on real life, true stories of Lives Transforming!
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