Are You Fit for the Fight?
An 8-day Devotional to Overcoming Fear and Living Courageously.
DEVO DAY 2 | Invite God Into Everything
“Fear is imagining your future without God in it.”
The last time you wrote with pen and paper, which hand did you choose to write with?
When I ask this question, 100% of the time the answer is the dominant hand, a default choice we don’t think about. Guess what else is on a default setting all day long?
“The average person has 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts per day. Of those thousands of thoughts, 80% are negative and 95% are exactly the same repetitive thoughts as the day before.”
Your life will move in the direction of your most dominant thoughts.
Most of our fears are reinforced by negative thinking on repeat!
To be fit for the fight, we must be lions who see from the same lens God sees from. How can one be successful at a life without aligning with the Master Designer of this whole thing? We wouldn’t think about buying a car and using it differently than how the designer created it to function. Used incorrectly, the car will malfunction over time.
Catch yourself in the act.
If you will commit to “catching yourself in the act” of a negative thought that your Designer doesn’t align with, that’s the first critical step. Then, you must change the way you think — to God’s way of thinking and doing things! Watch how life takes on a different direction, a better one!
Let’s look at God’s playbook on how thoughts affect us and what to do about it:
God told us we would BE what we think about:
“As he thinks in his heart, so is he.”
God tells us to CAPTURE every thought that is in rebellion to God’s way of doing things:
“We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.”
God tells us to RENEW our minds in order to transform our lives:
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
You will most likely think about each area of life like you always have unless you intentionally renew your mind.
Inspiration is not enough.
We might read a bible scripture and be completely inspired by it, but until it becomes our dominant thought (our default thought) it won’t produce change, transformation or blessing in our life.
I’ll state it this way, “Your life will not necessarily move in the direction of your best thoughts or your most biblical thoughts.” Having a wise thought that has the potential of changing your life is one thing. Making it your dominant thought is quite another. But that’s where we’re headed!
Fear is attached to a cycle of negative thoughts in a specific area.
Just like your electronic devices have a default mode for specific functions, you have a default belief system for how you earn money, spend money, give money, treat people who are unkind to you, respond to an upset family member and how you pursue, or don’t pursue, good health… just to name a few.
Many of these thoughts became ingrained in us as children, taught to us by the culture we grew up in, or conclusions we’ve come to through life experiences. Trauma can also heavily impact our thoughts and even change our once dominant thoughts from hopeful to fearful. Trauma has the ability to talk us out of a hopeful future if left untouched by God, His word, and a caring community.
Do you have fear around money? Check your default belief system about God and money.
Do you have fear around relationships? Check your default belief system about God and relationships.
Do you have fear around your future? Check your default belief system about God and your future.
Example: If you believe that God doesn’t empower you to gain wealth and he wants you to work for every last penny without any of his help, then don’t be surprised if that’s exactly what you experience.
Remember, your life will move in the direction of your most dominant thoughts.
“Fear is present when we believe God isn’t.”
To overcome fear, we must invite the presence of God into every single area of our lives. This is what day two of our Fit for the Fight devotional is all about! Where we perceive God is indifferent, absent or angry at us, we will have fear. Invite him into everything - this means his word and his spirit get to change the way we think!
INSTRUCTIONS FOR DAY TWO - 5 Steps to Demolish Fearful Thinking
1. Discover your default (dominant) thoughts.
I’m going to give you a word and I want you to respond with the very first word that comes to your mind. It’s important that you don’t overthink this. What word comes to mind first when you hear:
Money _________________
Marriage ________________
Future __________________
Health __________________
Love ___________________
Choose one of these areas of your life (maybe one we didn’t list) that you realize could be much more victorious than it is right now. Where could you use some improvement, thereby enhancing the results of life in that area? It may help to answer the question, “What is the current negative emotion you are experiencing?”
2. Identify the root of the fear.
Ask the Holy Spirit to give you a memory or reveal the root that is attached to the negative emotion. When were you impacted to think negatively in this area? Was it a trauma you watched your family endure? Was it a personal trauma? Was it normal everyday thinking in your family? Was there someone who pulled you down in that area? (As this comes up you may need to forgive some people. See Devotional Day one if needed!)
For example, I realized that I was not dreaming big with God to the degree I used to. I asked the Holy Spirit what the root was and he immediately showed me a picture of when our business had a sudden and unexpected collapse. This is when I backed away from the edge of big dreams to avoid disappointment.
3. Confess the truth to God.
Radical truth telling and repentance is required to exchange the low level thought (the lie) for the more godly thought (the truth.) In my situation, I came before God and said, “I stopped trusting you and stepped out of childlike faith. I did this to protect my heart from disappointment. I’m sorry God for trying to protect my heart when you are my shield, my protector. I want to dream with you!”
4. Define the new thought.
This is where the word of God comes in. The word will tell you the absolute truth about everything! Web search “bible scriptures about (your topic)” and read every verse that comes up.
5. Make the new thought your dominant thought with BELIEF CARDS.
You’ve most likely had the old thought (that was taking you in a wrong direction) for decades. Does it stand to reason that you will need to work diligently to renew your mind, and that perhaps it will take consistent effort to change your dominant thought in this area?
****WARNING****
This is the step that most people don’t do because it requires work. But it’s the one that actually transforms your life! Don’t skip it!
Write out as many of the scriptures you found on 3 x 5 notecards (I call them BELIEF CARDS) and on the back of each card, write an affirmation statement that reinforces the new thought you are going after. I recommend a minimum of 10 cards for a specific area you have decided to renew your mind.
Example
Front Side of the Notecard:
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” Ephesians 3:20, NIV
Back Side of the Notecard:
Dreaming big with God is fun.
Read the stack of cards aloud three times a day for 30 days…. or longer if that’s what it takes.
You may not believe it fully for several days or weeks. But I can promise you that it will become dominant with intentional focus, repetition, and meditation on the new thought throughout the day.
Imagine me standing in front of you again with a notepad and pen. Now, imagine you have intentionally placed your dominant hand behind your back and you are practicing several times a day to write with your non-dominant hand. This is what we are doing with your BELIEF CARDS and it can eventually become HOW YOU THINK ALL THE TIME WHICH WILL PRODUCE GREAT FRUIT IN THAT AREA!
Look at what Alexander the Great said he was afraid of:
“I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep;
I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.”
To lead and live as a lion, our thoughts must align with our victorious King, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah!
