Question True or False? "The eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the ear filled with hearing."

Question • True or False? • "The eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the ear filled with hearing." • Try, moreover, to turn your heart from the love of things visible and bring yourself to things invisible. • For they who follow their own evil passions stain their consciences and lose the grace of God.

This Week Lesson Plan • Examine the imperative that we deal with our defense mechanisms. • Attempt to understand that the key to living a life that honors God is a life that is lived consciously.

This Week Lesson Plan • Explore the conscious steps which lead one to act in ways that harmonize with the Spirit • Attend to the voice of the Spirit of Christ who desires our complete sanctification as we apply these ideas to our heart

I. Dealing With Defenses • If Christ is truly the life of the believer, then the true self and the full expression of the true self can only be found as one yields and abides in the love of Christ fully and completely. Eph 3:16-17 • That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, KJV

I. Dealing With Defenses • The love of Christ in the mature believer ought to be so compelling that one is totally dominated by the Lord with nothing left of the self. In such case, the will is absolutely free, Christ is exalted, and God is glorified.Eph 3:17-19 • That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. KJV

I. Dealing With Defenses • Defense mechanisms are the work of the flesh; they indicate absorption with self, they demonstrate that one has departed from the flow of grace. They are the hallmark of the unhealthy soul and thus, imposes a limit on free will.

I. Dealing With Defenses • Another reason that defense mechanisms are self-defeating is that they keep our eyes on the problem, and off of the solution which is provided only by our resting in Christ.Matt 14:29-31 • And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? KJV

I. Dealing With Defenses • Relying on defense mechanisms for protection is actually rooted in a distrust of God. It is saying within the heart that God can’t or won’t protect me, so I must protect myself. In so doing the believer acts as if he is autonomous. • Defense mechanisms also keep us from entering into situations that God has designed specifically for us to build our character and by which He will ensure our sanctification.Heb 5:8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; KJV

I. Dealing With Defenses • It is vital for us to accept personal responsibility for our own ungodly and hateful internal reactions for what was done to us. When prompted by the Holy Spirit, if we choose to dodge that responsibility, then healing of the wound will not take place.

I. Dealing With Defenses • The first step is to recognize when defense mechanisms are in operation. In order to recognize their presence, we must stay consciously alert to our thoughts and actions and to examine ourselves ruthlessly. Ps 139:23-24 • Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. KJV

I. Dealing With Defenses • Once we recognize that defense mechanisms are in operation we must actively choose to realign our hearts and minds with the grace of God. This is an exercise of the conscious free will and yields a love of righteousness and truth. Ps 119:127-128 • Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold. Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way. KJV

I. Dealing With Defenses • This is a step that is often not taken because in order to take it, one must abandon his self-interest and trust in Christ to complete His healing process. This is a decision to make ones self-available for healing. Mark 9:23-24 • Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. KJV

I. Dealing With Defenses • Overcoming defense mechanisms is a matter of our sanctification. Ultimately, this task deals with the central mystery of the believer’s existence; the question of who we are and why we remain on the earth.

II. Consciousness • It is easier to remain conscious of who I was in my former self than to remain conscious of who I am, presently, in Christ. This is due in part, to the fact that I have a hard copy of my past stored in memory.1 Cor6:1 • 1 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. KJV

II. Consciousness • On the other hand, who I am in Christ is still a work in progress. I do not know experientially what it means to live Christ. I see through a glass darkly, and very little in my past experience can help to guide me into what I am potentially.1 Cor 13:9-12 • For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. KJV

II. Consciousness • For this reason, there is nothing that automatically happens to keep me in the center of the river of grace that flows continually and is available to me. If there is any part that the believer plays to keep himself in the center of grace, it would have to be conscious discernment. Heb 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. NIV • One is either conscious of his internal state or unconscious of it. Being conscious of one's internal thought processes renders one able to choose what flows from that conscious state.

II. Consciousness • Being unconscious of one's internal state renders one unable to exercise self-control over whatever flows from that state of unconsciousness. • While we have every reason to believe that unconscious thoughts, attitudes and motives exist within the soul at any one moment, there is little that one can do to overcome or control that which may exist below the level of consciousness.

II. Consciousness • The old sin nature exists, Scripture affirms that and experience also bears it out. While the believer may be influenced by that old sin nature the task before him is to walk according to the Spirit, which is a conscious choice. Gal 5:16 • This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. KJV

II. Consciousness • When a believer is afflicted, tempted, and tormented by evil thoughts, he then realizes clearly that his greatest need is God, without Whom he can do no good. This is the juncture at which man chooses whom he will serve.Rom 6:19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. KJV • Scripture tells us that our conscious choices are a matter of life and death.Deut 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: KJV

III. Choosing Life • Choosing is not a mystical or unknowable mystery, it is a conscious act of the will, a will that is shaped and directed in moment by moment experience. • Augustine believed that it is the nature of mankind to need consciously to tap into the presence of God within the human soul in order to understand as fully as possible what it most truly means to be human. How do we tap into the presence of God? • The key is to be alert to what is happening in your own mind as you encounter experience: people, situations, trials, temptations, thoughts, emotions, etc. and then to discern whether your response reflects flesh or spirit.

Contrast Between Flesh & Spirit

III. Choosing Life • Allacts of the will begin in the mind (soul). They often occur within a blink of an eye and our comprehension of them is often very murky and incomplete. • 1. Perceptions • a. What I see, hear, touch taste, smell

III. Choosing Life • 2. Interpretations • Thoughts about those perceptions. This is a key step • The way you define a problem necessarily dictates your response to it • There is always a self-talk dialogue (a voice that plays inside your head) that accompanies a defense mechanism: “Don’t go there.” “Not again.” “You aren’t going to do that to me.” ”That is too scary or it is too hurtful.” • Interpret from God’s point of view • Interpret from a carnal point of view

III. Choosing Life • 3. Emotions elicited • Identify that feelings have arisen within. • Name the emotional responses: anger, fear, bitterness, resentment, hostility unforgiveness, rebellion against God, hurt, anxiety, depression, panic

III. Choosing Life • 4. Motives/goals • Speculate as to the purpose served by strong emotional experiences – Strong feelings are indicators that demand our attention, they direct us to focus on them and begin to untangle their sometimes hidden message for us. • What is the self-attempting to achieve with this eruption? This is often stated within the self as a need.

III. Choosing Life • Intention formation • This is the point where you have resolved to do something. It is an “I will” statement. • Action planning and choice • How you will carry out the planned action and when you will do it. • 7.Performance • What you do with all the previous six steps.

IV. Application • We do not have the option of ignoring that which the Holy Spirit brings to our conscious mind because our sanctification is at stake. Christ will complete the work. • Do you love righteousness? Is your will truly free? Are you loving God with your whole heart, soul, and mind? • What is the Holy Spirit prompting you to bring to Christ for His healing?

Question True or False? "The eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the ear filled with hearing."