Page 30 - Faith-Based Workbook 8-27-18

TOPUCU Adult Faith-Based Workbook
or behavior you were initially trying to avoid.
The power of your words is something we
are going to explore in depth during part 2
of this lesson, but for the purposes of what
we are discussing right now, suffice it to
say there are fewer things in this world that
have the creative and destructive magnitude
of words. Instead of just thinking about the
shortcomings of our ancestors, we begin
to talk about it. The negative speech is now
confirming the negative thoughts. We’ve
given the thoughts more power. Think
about this example of corrosive rust. If you
take water, salt and steel and put them in a
vacuum nothing will happen. But if you take
them out of the vacuum and expose the mix
to air you’ll have rust. The first four E’s took
place in your brain, but when you take it
from thought to “Experience” you breathe
air into that thought and create corrosive
rust in your life.
The sixth E stands for “Excuse.”
Now that you’ve decided to continue back
to that negative behavior, you begin to make
excuses for why you can’t be a finisher. You
begin to duck responsibility and blame
everything else. Your circumstances are to
blame. Your upbringing is to blame. Your
past mistakes are the reason. We say things
like, “I really have a challenge with school
work,” or, “Coach, I was going to get into
shape this off season, but I was just so
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busy,” or, “I’m just too tired to read my Bible
tonight.” Do we really need to go through
the litany of excuses we humans come up
with it? We can’t let our minds get to the
place where we are mired in excuses. It’s
just like the story of Peter we discussed in
Lesson 2. Peter could have kept walking
toward Jesus on the water, but he thought
the wind was too strong or the waves were
crashing too high and the rain was too heavy.
“…For every kind of beast and bird, of
The seventh E stands for “Enveloped.”
This means you are completely covered,
surrounded and wrapped in the excuses
you’ve created for yourself. This is the
point where change becomes very difficult
because everywhere you look, you see a
reason why you can’t achieve. Everywhere
you go, you’re reminded of why you can’t
move forward. Every time you stand up
you’re looking for the first opportunity to
sit back down.
Entrance. Entertain. Examine. Enjoy.
Experience. Excuse. Enveloped. These are
the 7 E’s that progress through our minds as
negative thoughts attempt to take hold of us.
In part 2 of this lesson we are going to delve
deeper into the 7 E’s and teach you more
tools that will allow you to take back control
of your thoughts and emotions so you can
move closer to becoming a finisher and
achieving a transformative life.
LESSON 4: PART 2
E TO THE 7 POWER
TH
There is no doubt that our words have power.
The book of James in the New Testament
speaks at length about the tongue:
reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and
has been tamed by mankind, but no human
being can tame the tongue. It is a restless
evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless
our Lord and Father, and with it we curse
people who are made in the likeness of
God.” James 3:6-8 (NIV)
The Bible is unapologetic when it comes
to warning people about the destructive
potential of words. The things we hear
and read get into our minds – that’s an
inevitable. Those words become thoughts,
and if those thoughts are negative they
can be very dangerous. In the first part of
this lesson, we discussed these dangers
and the unavoidability of negativity, but it’s
what we do with those negative thoughts
that gives them power to set us back, make
us stumble, keep us complacent or even
destroy us. We learned that entertaining and
verbalizing those negative thoughts may
seem inconsequential at first, but can lead to
the gradual deterioration of our will to make
positive change in our lives. There is a phrase
which states, “What you accept, you teach.”
If you accept negative, defeatist thoughts
you will eventually be teaching yourself how
to speak those thoughts and ultimately live
them out. But if you begin to accept positive,
victorious thoughts then you will be another
step closer to becoming the finisher you
want to be.
Lesson 4: Part 2
Proverbs 18:21 states it very plainly “Death
and life are in the power of the tongue, and
those who love it will eat its fruits.” (NIV)
It doesn’t get any plainer than that. But of
course, taming our words and thoughts and
consequently the way they affect us is much
easier said than done. So today we are going
to discuss E to the 7 Power in more depth,
th
because we believe that, along with prayer
for God’s guidance and strength, this formula
will help to push you toward your goal of
seeing total transformation.
Let’s get down to it.
Just as negative thoughts enter your mind,
so do positive thoughts. But do you entertain
“I can do it” thoughts? Do you speak positive
things to yourself? Instead of thinking, “I’ll
never finish this schoolwork,” start thinking
to yourself, “I will finish this schoolwork.”
Instead of thinking, “I’m overweight and out
of shape,” start thinking to yourself, “I will
lose weight and get in shape.” Instead of
thinking, “I’ll never get ahead in life,” start
applying the motivation formula and thinking,
“Yes, I will get ahead in life!” Start thinking,
“Yes, I can do the hard work that is necessary
to increase my odds of success!” or “I will
do the hard work that is necessary to
become a finisher!”
The first step is the entrance of the positive
thought you had in Lesson One about
breaking the bad habit you're working on
throughout this Starter Program. As we’ve
discussed, thoughts come into your mind
through hearing and reading words. Have
you written down that change you want
to see? Are you reading it daily? Are you
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