You Are Not a Victim to Your Thoughts
January 28, 2020
Jennie Allen
Bible teacher, founder of IF:Gathering
Today is a huge day because my new book, Get Out Of Your Head, is officially out everywhere books are sold. I'm excited, but I'm also thinking, wow, there's a lot of vulnerability in this. I am so proud and I love the work and I love the message and I know it's going to help. So I hope that you'll get it. I hope that you'll get it for friends. I hope you'll do it in community and small groups, but more than anything, I pray that God uses it to set you free.
We want you to be a part of this season of the Made For This podcast. Yes, you can listen to this season's episodes that we built for you, but the best way is to get the book and to read along with us. So we have built an incredible experience for you. You're going to be able to read the book along with the podcast, and each week we'll tell you which chapters to read. You're going to love how the podcast and the book really work together. You can go to jennieallen.com and download the book club kit. It will walk you through step-by-step what questions to ask each week, have some different resources and downloads for you to print out for your group, and just make it simple.
Be a part of this incredible journey together, and let's have minds that are more free in 2020!
Welcome to season 3 of the Made For This podcast. This season is the most important we have done to date, and I believe it will be something that sets us free. So let me tell you a little bit about what we're going to do today. I believe in the power of God to absolutely not just save our souls, but change our lives. I've seen him do this for other people, and I have seen him do this in me. And I want to tell you a story about why this project, Get Out Of Your Head, is so important to me.
If you don't know, the book just came out today. So go get the book. But let me tell you about why I wrote the book and why we're doing this podcast because I believe we are at war. I believe that the enemy is coming for us. And I'm sorry if you just clicked on this and you're like, what is this? What enemy? I am a Christian, and I believe the Bible. And the Bible is pretty clear that there is an enemy to God and there's an enemy to us. And his desire is to kill, steal, and destroy. And one of the main ways I'm watching him do that in our generation is through our minds. In John 8, it talks about the enemy, and Jesus actually describes him and says he is the father of lies--that when he speaks, he lies. And that is who he is. And so I have watched as person after person after person has believed these lies, and here's the thing, not even realize that they are lies. That's the hard part. Eventually you start to believe they're just true and you're dwelling on them and our minds are a mess. Our minds are discouraged, our minds are distracted, our minds are exhausted, and I believe there's a way out.
In fact, so many of you struggle with anxiety and depression. So many of you struggle with mental illness--or somebody that you know struggles with mental illness. And I want to address this right up front that mental illness can be a physical issue. It can be a chemical issue that needs medicine. And medicine is a gift from God, and counseling as a gift from God. But I also believe there's another component to this, and I want to start by reading this verse in 2 Corinthians 10.
For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.
- 2 Corinthians 10:3
And I want to say this because I think some of us stopped at the obvious things. We stop at the physical response, and we stop at the emotional response rather than realizing there is another thing happening. It is a spiritual war that is waging against us, and it's not a flesh.
There was a season of attack, and I'm not going to tell you everything because I want you to go read the book. But there was a season of attack that came that was quiet, that was subtle, that I barely noticed, honestly. And it came every night at 3:00 AM. And it was doubt that filled my mind, and it beat me up for month on month. And the bad part was, is I didn't even realize it was happening. I was at war with the devil in the night, and I never said it out loud. I never told anybody what was happening for 18 months.
Now fast forward, I finally do mention it to people. And the second I did, my first thought was, "Oh my gosh, I have been under spiritual attack". Duh. I mean it was obvious, but I didn't see it because I was not guarding my mind--because I did not live with this reality that the enemy could be lying to me at any minute. At any minute he could be whispering a lie to me that I thought was true and that I walked in and believed in and built thought patterns, toxic spirals around. And that's exactly what happened. Month after month of waking up in the middle of the night and the devil telling me whatever the hell he wants in the dark. There was a cost, and it was to my faith. And what a great strategic move of the enemy to go after my faith. But everything shifted, and I believe that for every single one of you, in some way, that enemy is as real to you and those lies are as real to you.
In the middle of this project, in fact it was even before the project began, I was walking outside. It was a beautiful day, and I was all by myself, and I was praying for our generation. I pray for individuals, but I also pray for our generation. I always think about us getting to heaven together and I think about all the people I lead, and the people the church is leading right now around the world, and I just want us to do so well in our time. I want our time to matter. And as I was praying about our generation, God brought to mind these enemies that are attacking our generation uniquely. And I wrote them down. I pulled over on the side of the track I was walking on, and I typed them up. And it was seven things that I saw coming for our generation. And we're going to talk about these seven things. The book lays each one out in greater detail than we can do on this podcast, but we're going to talk about these seven things that I see coming for us. And I'm telling you, it's everything from cynicism to noise to victimhood. There's a plethora of things coming for us. But I think in our generation we're looking at some unique things that have plagued our minds and that has robbed us of the effectiveness that we could have for the kingdom of God.
I'm going to give you a lot of science this season because in my studies of the brain, you cannot deny the power of God and the thing he built in our minds when you read the science of it. It all backs up the Bible. It's crazy. All of these truths that the Bible says like take every thought captive, that we have power over our thoughts, all of these truths, they are spelled out in science. It's true. We can change our minds. And I want to read to you the rest of this verse in 2 Corinthians 10.
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.
- 2 Corinthians 10:4
Guys, in these verses, the author of Corinthians, who's Paul, is saying, we have power to destroy strongholds. So many of you are stuck in strongholds. That's why this matters so much. It's not because of the little bitty lie about your identity or about your worth. It's because that lie over time adds up.
And so back to the science part, 80% of our thoughts are negative. 95% of our thoughts, you thought them yesterday--they're repetitive. And so we're thinking repetitive, negative thoughts every day of our life. And guess what those build? Strongholds. They actually change our brains. They change our chemistry. Our physical brains change.
Now, yes, I believe in medicine and counseling. No, I do not think you can just change your thoughts and all of a sudden be out of mental illness. But I absolutely believe that in disciplining and training our thoughts that it can eventually, over time change our minds. That's science. Not just for those of us that believe in science, but those of us that believe in God. He says that our warfare is not of the flesh, it is of the spirit and that we have divine power to destroy strongholds. If you know the Lord Jesus Christ, and if you don't, I hope by the end of the season you will, something about knowing the Lord Jesus Christ and believing in the power of the gifts and the power and authority he's given us--we have the power to destroy strongholds.
Now authority, that is something that I didn't realize that I had most of my life. I was a victim to my mind, and I didn't understand that God had given me authority over my thoughts, and I could change them. Let me fast forward to my story today. Last night, I woke up at 4:00 AM. But let me tell you what I do now when I wake up. I do not let the enemy have an inch. I don't let him have a second of my mind. I notice it now. I see when I start to spiral or think negative thoughts about God, about my life, and I interrupt it and I say no. I mean, y'all, I've gotten all charismatic in my bedroom. Like I'm waving my arms and am like, "get out of here!" I know what I'm up against, and I'm clear about it, and I speak with authority over because of the power of God that I know is real and strong enough to destroy it. And guys, I am free. I wake up at 4:00 AM, and I'm no longer under the bondage that I was under for 18 months. I am free, and I believe you can be, too.
We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God
- 2 Corinthians 10:5
That's what was happening. Lofty opinions were being raised up against the knowledge of God, and every lie that you have believed, every fear that you have had, every worry and anxiety that you have had--these are all opinions raised up against the knowledge of God. Because if our knowledge of God was full and complete, guess what? He's not a God of fear. We would never fear. Fear is not of God. It is of the devil, and every lie that we give an inch, it will take a mile. It will take a mile.
For some of you, it has taken years. It has taken so much of your life. Some of you, you're here, you're like limping into this podcast, and you are praying for hope. Some of you are teetering on that edge of giving up your faith. And I just want to say I'm here to fight for you. There is an enemy and he is fighting for you, but I am here because God loves you and because he also is fighting for you. There are opinions raised up every day in our minds against the knowledge of God, and our God says that we have the power to destroy them, to destroy strongholds. And guess what? He says how. Paul says next:
We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ
- 2 Corinthians 10:5
That's how we change our minds. Romans says it this way: Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by what? How do we change? All of us want to change. How do we change? And Roman says, by the renewal of our minds. Guys, this is the crux of our lives. Our minds are the crux of how we will live, who we will love, what we will do with our lives. Our minds hold the power and the key to our lives.
I remember my daughter did a lot of study. She wanted to be a neuro researcher and so she basically was--all through high school and middle school. And then she would bring me all the stuff. It's part of what prompted me to do this project. And she said, "mom, what we know about the brain today, the writers of the scriptures would have said the mind every time they said the heart". So that means that a majority of the Bible is about our minds--that every time it says "heart", the seed of our emotions is found within our brains. And so when you think about our minds and our hearts and how much of scripture is about it, continually it says, "guard our heart, our mind". It says, "take captive our thoughts". This is an active process. We're not reluctantly thinking about whatever the heck we want, but we are actively fighting to believe truth, to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. He sets before us this call to single-mindedness, to complete consumption of God and his love for us, and his goodness over us. And as we fixate on him, the things of this earth grow strangely dim. That's like the old hymn that you used to sing in Sunday school. This is how we change.
being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete
-2 Corinthians 10:6
This is warfare, and Paul knows it. That's why he writes that this is warfare, and he speaks of things like destroying every lie, every opinion. Y'all, we have to take this bull by its horn, and we haven't. Candidly, we have not. We have passively allowed the devil to tell us whatever the hell he wants, and I'm sick of it. And this is going to be the end of it. You stick with me these weeks, you go get this book, you bring your friends together because it's going to take an army of people surrounding each other and saying, "we're not going to let each other believe these lies anymore". But we want to take this seriously. We've got to take this seriously.
I know some of you just tuned in, and you're like, "Oh, I wanted this to be a fun, happy podcast". Guess what? Fun and happy are on the other side of this. I'll tell you that right now. Like, I have never been more joyful. I've never been more free. I've never been more grateful. I've never been more peaceful than I have as I have done war with this part of my life. Proverbs 23:7 says this--For as a man thinketh in his heart, so he is. Y'all, this is our lives. The sum of our lives will be rooted in what it is we think about. And we never think about our thoughts. You think anywhere from 9,000 to 60,000 thoughts in a day. In a day. When was the last time you even noticed what it was that you were thinking about?
So today I want you to do something. I want you to pull out a piece of paper, and I want you to start writing down your thoughts. And I'll tell you, we're going to take you through a process if you want to go download it right now--we have an Anxious Thoughts Guide. We're going to give you a Mind Map that you can fill out and start to notice your thoughts, and you can print a bunch of copies and put them by your bed and just start to notice at night when you go to sleep. What is it that I thought about today? Notice if it's around 80% negative because this matters. This matters. Our brains are physically changing depending on what we think about you. Think about what you're grateful for--your brain shifts. You think about what you dread--your brain shifts. And we can win this war. I believe it.
I believe we are looking at more freedom in our generation than we have previously had. And I believe that that can happen in our lives, individually as we actually believe truth. And so I'm gonna fight for you to believe truth, and I cannot wait to see what God is going to do through this. I want you to be part of this community. So some of you are avid podcast listeners, and I know you're just listening to the next episode of a podcast that you'd subscribe to, but I want you to hear me. I do not want you to halfway engage with this. I want you to not miss anything. We are going to fight for you. We're going to fight for you with my words. We're going to fight for you through this book. We're going to fight for you with tools. We're going to fight for you with community. And I don't want you to miss a thing. We need people to fight for us. We need to understand what it is to have these weapons that God says have the power to destroy strongholds.
So we're going to war, y'all. Come on. Do not miss a week. Invite all your friends. I mean, you could gather in a living room, you can each get the book, and you can listen to this--almost like a Bible study. I hope that that's what this will feel like is that the book takes you through in detail what it looks like to fight this and that this would be me fighting for you in your ears as we go along. So come be a part of this whole season. Invite your friends, and let's see what God does.