Take Joy: Mindset | Part 3

Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast.

We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ.

Thanks for tuning in.

Great to be with you.

Great to have you.

Welcome.

We're actually in part in a series called Take Joy.

Go ahead and just say that with me.

Take Joy.

There you go.

And we're studying this incredible passage out of Philippians, Philippians chapter 4, verses 4 through 9.

Philippians 4:4–9

In fact, I've asked you to memorize it with me.

We've had uh these cards.

If you didn't get one, you can grab one.

I think there's still a few at the connection table where we're learning how to take joy, that you don't just have to wish for joy, hope for joy, hope that one day you might like trip over it and discover it.

You can actually take joy.

We've used Dallas Willard.

He's a philosopher and was an incredible Christian writer.

He wrote this about joy.

Joy is not a passing sensation of pleasure.

It's not circumstantial, but it is a pervasive sense of well-being, that it is well with my soul.

Why?

That's infused with hope because of the goodness of God.

And it was great to sing about the goodness of God right there.

And so we've been asking this: how do you experience true, deep, lasting joy?

How do you experience that, that pervasive sense of well-being?

It is well.

And right from the outset in week one, we talked about that joy is a choice.

That's the reason the Apostle Paul says, rejoice.

It's a command.

Choose joy.

It's powerful regardless of the circumstances.

Joy is actually then also a path.

It's a way of life.

It's a way about which we go about life, and fundamentally it is found in the person of Jesus.

That joy is not the absence of suffering, but the presence of Jesus.

Week two, we wrestled with this.

How do you take joy when it feels like life has knocked the joy right out of you?

When you just feel like you've been sucker punched and you're struggling to get through it.

And the apostle Paul says, do not be anxious about anything, but by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your request to God.

And he tells us what not to do, what to do, and then there's this promise attached to it, and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

That prayer actually overpowers anxiety and worry with the very presence of God.

That there's a way to pray.

We talked about it in bringing our request in our heart with thanksgiving, that when we do that, when anxiety is knocking at the door, when worry and concern are threatening to steal our joy, he will overpower it with the presence of his peace.

Today we want to look at this.

That like, how do you cultivate joy in such a negative world?

Like, how do you cultivate it?

Like, like develop it, kind of actually help me out with the word cultivate, would you?

Like how give me some synonyms for the word cultivate.

Go ahead, yell them out to me.

Create, build.

Grow, yeah.

Nurture.

Yeah, how do we nurture joy?

I think that's a good word, nurture.

Like, like, how do we like have this?

You know, I just even as you use that word nurture, you just think about a little baby in the midst of like as parents, we're trying to nurture our kids in a world that's hostile or negative.

And and we live in such an increasingly negative world, don't we?

Like it just seems seems like the world gets negative.

Yeah.

Not a word.

More and more, doesn't it?

Like, like, have you been to the mall lately?

Have you noticed that people Christmas shopping for other people to give gifts of joy to another human are sucking the joy out of every person around them because they're so angry and aggressive, just trying to find a parking spot is unbelievable.

Like, like, here's what's interesting about uh in America, we can't agree over politics in lots of different areas.

You know the thing that Americans agree on?

One of it is the effect of social media that it's actually making us more angrier as a society.

Just the majority of Americans believe it's actually not beneficial to us.

We live in a world that just it just seems to have gotten more negative, doesn't it?

It, you know, whether it's social media, whether it's the news, uh, or just simply co-workers.

How do we begin to cultivate or nurture or develop in a world that feels like it's just pulling you downward with this perspective?

And today the sermon title is called Mindset.

Go ahead and say that with me.

Mindset.

Mindset.

And mindset is simply this a fixed state of mind, uh, mental attitude or inclination.

And actually, you would be surprised, the Bible, specifically the New Testament, in particular, the Apostle Paul talks a lot, incredibly, about the mind and our mindset.

In fact, there's some things that the Apostle Paul would pin, you know, roughly 2,000 years ago, that then when we look at the research today, it'd be like as if he was writing from some scientific journals the effect and the power of our mind.

It's unbelievable.

It's almost, it's almost as if God created us and knew what we needed and how we functioned from the very beginning and pinned it and put it all the way in print a long time ago.

And so I want to talk about our mindset and how that affects and how we cultivate joy.

And before we dive into the Apostle Paul's words, which are incredible, I mean, what he just pins are amazing.

I want to just help you see a little bit of some of the best research on the power of our thinking today and the power of our mindsets.

Uh, did you know that complaining rewires your brain?

I heard an uh-oh.

That's good.

Oh boy, that one hurt.

Uh complaining rewires your brain, because we don't complain anymore, do we?

Repeated complaining rewires your brain to make future complaining more likely.

Over time, you find it easier to be negative than to be positive, regardless of what's happening around you.

Listen up, complaining becomes your default behavior, which changes how people perceive you.

Scientists like to describe this process as neurons that fire together, wire together.

It literally rewires your brain.

Research from Stanford University has shown that complaining shrinks the hippocampus, an area in the brain that's critical to problem solving and intelligent thought.

When you complain, your body releases the stress hormone cortisol.

Cortisol shifts you into fight or flight mode, directing oxygen, blood, and energy away from everything but the symptoms that are essential to immediate survival.

One effect of cortisol, for example, is to raise your blood pressure and blood sugar so that you'd be prepared either to escape or defend yourself.

The power of the mind, complaining, actually begins to rewire and reshape your brain.

Did you know that negativity sticks like velcro in your brain?

It sticks like velcro.

Dr.

Rick Hanson says this that the brain is like velcro for negative experiences, but Teflon for positive ones.

He says that at least two regions of the brain, the amygdala and the medial prefrontal cortex, work harder when processing criticism and can keep the brain from doing much else.

Listen up.

Positive experiences have to be held in our awareness for more than 12 seconds in order for the transfer from short-term to long-term memory.

And it takes, on average, roughly five to ten positive experiences to counteract one negative experience.

The power of the brain and our thoughts, complaining rewires it, negativity.

It just sticks like Velcro to our brain.

And you know what?

We talked about this one a little bit last week as well.

Did you know that gratitude reduces stress and improves your mood?

Gratitude reduces the stress hormone cortisol by 23%.

Yes, they can quantify it.

Research conducted at the University of California, Davis, found that people who work daily to cultivate an attitude of gratitude experienced improved mood and energy and substantially less anxiety due to lower cortisol levels.

And finally, all right, complaining?

Negativity, gratitude, your attitude is highly contagious.

And nobody needed me to read anything about that.

We all have experienced that from someone walking in and they're in a bad mood, and all of a sudden it changes the atmosphere, doesn't it?

Human beings are social and engage in what's called neuronal mirroring.

We unconsciously mimic the moods of those around us.

Research shows negative perspectives are far more contagious than positive ones.

In fact, your attitude is one of, if not the most contagious thing about you, and which you bring wherever you go.

The power of your mind.

And so, how do we cultivate joy?

The apostle Paul says this.

Finally, brothers and sisters.

After I've said all these things, rejoice always in the Lord.

Don't be anxious.

He's given us, he's gonna wrap it up here.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things.

I think it's fascinating that the Apostle Paul didn't tell you to stop thinking about negative things.

He wasn't like, you know, whatever's false, don't think about that.

Whatever's ugly, he didn't go in on any of that.

He actually says, He it's as if God already knew the science, because he did, about our brains and our negative bias and where we lean towards.

He says, no, no, no, shift that thinking.

What is true, what is noble, what is right, whatever's pure.

Let's define these words for you.

What is true, it means consistent or corresponding to reality in accordance with facts, genuine, real, versus things that are deceptive, illusions that promise peace and happiness.

You know, one of the things in the concerning trend that I see today, and I think it's been in every day, is we're way more fascinated and way more enamored with what we think about things than what God thinks about things.

We're way more focused and elevate our thoughts, our feelings, our perspective, or or or what's culturally, politically acceptable than what God says about things.

When we're wrestling, like what is true?

What is like really, really true about you and about the world around you?

Where we begin to go, okay, what if God is the author of life and he did write a book and he actually knows and understands how you were made up, so he could pin something a couple thousand years ago that the best science today actually begins to just uncover as being right and true.

And you begin to go, you know what, I'm gonna base my life on this instead of adjusting this to my life.

Where we begin to go, whatever's true, and God, I believe your word is true and good, and speaking life to me.

Whatever's noble that's worthy of respect inspires all.

Things that lift my mind from the cheap and tawdri to that which is noble and good and of moral worth.

Like, think on this, dwell on this.

Is it noble?

Is it worthy of respect?

Whatever's right, just, fair, equitable, that which conforms to the character of God, doing what's right even when it's tempted.

Like, like, like, are my thoughts moving in the direction of what's fair and what's just alignment with the character of God?

Whatever's pure, this is having the characteristic of moral purity.

This Greek word is where we get our word holy from, free from defilement and thought, word and deed, morally uncontained.

Like, like, are my thoughts right now gravitating toward that's what is pure and holy or lovely?

I love this word.

Winsome, beautiful, pleasing, amiable, attractive.

It pictures those things that call forth a response of love and warmth within us versus bitterness, criticism, and vengeance.

Whatever's admirable, of good repute, commendable.

The word literally means fair speaking, and it came to this understanding of things which are fit for God to hear.

Like, like the thoughts and the things that are in my mind, would would I dare utter them in the presence of God?

Is it like fit for God to hear versus ugly, false, or impure words?

Like, do I allow my mind to gravitate, to dwell?

And and when when it says think on such things, that that word there, it's the um Greek word legisomite, and it's like like literally ponder, dwell, sit with.

It's in this tense, uh, it's in the passive or in the middle tense, uh, where it's a command for us to think on it, and it's a command upon which where what you're doing, the activity is impacting you.

It's where as you're doing it, it is having a reciprocated impact on you.

You're allowing that activity to change and to shape you.

Where you go, I'm gonna allow my mind and my thoughts to gravitate and to move and to think.

I'm gonna focus my attention and my thoughts on what is good and true and noble and right because we live in a world of negativity, and negativity sticks like Velcro to our brain, and the more we complain, the more easy it is to do it, and then it infacts our gratitude and our attitude.

And here's what the Apostle Paul's saying Join.

It's a daily decision of the mind.

Fundamentally, ultimately, one of the most important things you do every single day is what do you allow to get into your mind?

What do you allow your mind to dwell on?

Where do you allow your thoughts to go?

Joy and taking joy in a negative world is like it's a decision.

We get to decide what goes into our brain is a daily decision of the mind.

And so let me just give you out of this just a few practical applications.

How you can take joy in such a negative world around you.

The first thing we need to do is we actually need to pay attention to what has our attention.

Pay attention to what has your attention.

A lot of times we don't even recognize what has our attention, what we're dwelling on.

If I had to ask you, like, like what have you been dwelling on and thinking on?

And some of you are like, well, I know what I've been dwelling on.

I got this massive work project coming up, or I know I, you know, it's finals week for a lot of our college students right now, and your high school students are going into finals coming up.

Like, I'm thinking on school and what's happening there, or there's, you know, there's a relational rift.

I'm struggling with what's going on.

I have this issue with a coworker.

And pay attention to what has your attention because it brings life or death.

In fact, the apostle Paul says it this way in Romans 8, verse 8 Those who live according to the flesh have their mindset on what the flesh desires, but those who live according to the spirit, they have their mind set on what the spirit desires.

Romans 8:8

Now notice the mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the spirit is life and peace.

There is a direction of our mind that brings death, that brings anxiety, that that brings a heartache and pain.

There's a direction of our mind that brings life and peace.

Pay attention to what has your attention.

And by the way, if you're wrestling with what has your attention, just do this for me real quick.

Open up, pull out your phone.

And then just check on your there exactly what app you spend the most time on.

Because honestly, for many of us, not all of us in this room, most of what has our attention has something to do like this, right?

And I just closed a bunch of apps on my phone.

Right?

And you look at it, and what has your attention is whatever Instagram thing or whatever TikTok or whatever it is, and you just keep scrolling and you digest.

Isn't it amazing?

We digest so much content constantly, rarely stopping to think, how is that impacting me?

You know, the the author of Proverbs would write it this way: as a person thinks, so they become.

We are a product of our thought life, and so be very careful what you think.

Be aware of what you're thinking about.

You know, it was a number of years ago, Jenny and I did this, and we do this from time to time.

Um, we do what's called a media fast.

Uh, we were doing this, uh, we sometimes do it right at the beginning of the year.

It's kind of a nice time to kind of restart and have a reset.

Um, and so we were doing this.

This is a long time ago.

Our kids were little, and our kids love Media Fast, by the way.

They're like, oh, that's terrible.

Like, are you kidding me?

Because a media fast is, hey, we're not going to watch any TV.

Uh, we're we're not going to um, you know, be on our phones and obviously work on our computers and can't get away from that, but you're actually thoughtful about that time.

So you just don't have the mindless time of, you know, whatever Netflix or Hulu or whatever you watch or stream or you know, the apps that you're on.

And it was Jenny made this interesting thought uh statement.

I remember us, we were sitting, we were sitting, we're standing in the kitchen, and it was after like a week of this, and she made said this line to me.

She's like, you know, I hear God better.

I hear God better.

Like, like when you begin to pay attention to what has your attention, you begin to actually cut out some of those things that are just on repeat that we just mindlessly do.

Honestly, I know this time's busy.

I know this time is a hurry, I know it's crazy, but if I'm really honest, just about my own schedule and I can complain about it, I can look at the amount of time I spend on my phone that is not productive, and I would have an incredible amount of time back.

And when we drown out that noise, we can actually hear the voice of God better.

The voice of God speaking in our life.

See, joy is a daily decision of the mind, so we have to pay attention to what has our attention.

And then he is gonna go along the lines of this treat negative thoughts as an enemy.

Treat negative thoughts as an enemy.

Remember, I said the Apostle Paul didn't say, Don't think this, don't think that.

He said, I want you to think this way.

And this is the reason why in 2 Corinthians he says it this way.

Uh, next slide, there we go.

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God what's true and what's right about the world and life and all that around you, and we take captive every thought.

Well, what do you take captive?

Enemies.

You take captive enemies.

We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

We identify that thought.

Is it a good thought?

Is it a right thought?

Is it uh good, noble, true?

Is it Lovely.

Is it winsome?

And I'm gonna treat it like an enemy.

How do you treat an enemy?

You have an enemy knock on your door, say, Hey, I want to come in and hang out.

And you go, like, oh, fantastic.

Come on in.

Uh, would you like some tea?

Yeah, absolutely.

Let's sit down.

Let's have some tea.

Hey, you know what?

It was kind of wet out there.

Would you like to stay over?

Stay the night, you know, hang out.

And all of a sudden you say, Oh, you know what?

Why don't you just live here for a bit?

But we do that with our thinking.

There's thoughts and patterns of thought that you've allowed into your heart and mind that is negative and destructive, and it is from the enemy.

And instead of taking it captive, identifying and paying attention to it and bringing it unto Christ and identifying whether it's good or true or right, you just simply live with it and begin to believe that it is true.

Well, what are negative thoughts?

Well, go back and just begin to look at the list.

Well, is it true?

If it's not, it's a negative thought.

Is it noble?

Is it right?

Is it just or fair or pure?

Is it critical or complaining?

Or condescending?

Take it captive.

Anything that's not true, you begin to go, no, I am not going to allow that into my mind.

You know what's interesting is the we've talked about the big context that the Apostle Paul was writing from Rome in prison, facing his uh eventual execution, to a church in Philippi that was undergoing their own uh suffering for their following Christ.

But the immediate context of this choosing joy actually had to do with an interpersonal conflict in the church between two ladies.

You just read a few verses earlier, you'll see it.

Isn't it interesting that some of our negative thoughts that we need to take captive are thoughts that we're thinking about other people?

And when you begin to embrace some of those thoughts of like it's a relational conflict around this time, isn't it true?

That just steals or takes away your joy, and you begin to obsess and you think about it, and you just begin to go and spiral down.

Take it captive.

Don't allow it, don't allow a story to be told that begins to affect your emotions, that then begins to shift the way you see another human, another image bearer of the God most high, take it captive.

In fact, this Philippians passage, what finally, brothers and sisters, whatever's true, noble, that passage is where we get this relational question that I've asked so many times throughout the years.

If you've been around for a long time, you've heard me say this.

It's a powerful question.

In fact, sometimes it's a great question that helps us identify some of these thoughts.

And the question is, what's the most generous explanation for their behavior?

It's a great relational question, by the way.

What's the most generous uh explanation for their behavior?

Because a negative thought, a negative bias is gonna give them the worst explanation for their behavior.

Why did they cut you off as they were driving?

Because they're jerks.

Right?

I mean, that that's where I go.

Maybe you don't go there.

I'm like, that jerk, how could they?

What were they thinking?

Well, what's the most generous explanation?

Well, maybe there's an emergency going on.

Maybe, maybe they're on their way to the hospital.

Maybe I don't know.

You're like, Ryan, they're not.

You don't know.

But here's what we do all the time is we give ourselves the most generous explanation and we give other people the worst explanation.

He says, take captive that thought because it will send you down into a spiral, and then you begin to act out those things and the stories we tell that are not true or noble, and you get worked up in it.

He says, hello.

Treat a negative thought like an enemy.

Pay attention to what has your attention, treat a negative thought like an enemy.

I am not gonna allow you in, I'm not going to sit on this, I'm not gonna dwell on it.

So then what do we need to do?

Well, change the playlist of your thought life.

Change the playlist of your thought life.

Whatever's true, whatever's noble, whatever's right.

Change the playlist.

What's on repeat in your thought life right now?

What's on repeat?

See, I think some of the negative self-talk, it had it came from uh maybe a parent, it came from maybe a something as a kid that you heard, and what's on repeat right now is I'm no good, I'm not worthy.

You begin to have these thoughts.

You're like, no, no, no, you need to change the playlist of your thought life.

Uh this last week, um, not this last week, but in the last few weeks, uh, what is it?

Uh not Pandora.

I'm a Pandora guy.

Spotify, yeah, Spotify.

Anybody a Pandora person?

Anybody?

Okay, I'm the only 2010 in here.

I got it.

No, good.

There was a few of us last service which I felt really at home.

But Spotify came out with their wrapped list, you know, like, hey, here's here's what you listen to the entire year.

Well, since I'm not a Spotify person, I I didn't get one.

Uh, and so I asked Rolman, our youth pastor, if I could use his, and he graciously obliged.

I'm not sure why, but here's his wrapped list of uh 2022.

And yes, you read that right that Mariah Carey's Fantasy was his number one song of the year, played 172 times.

In 2022, there was a total of 54,786 minutes air time.

It's more than 93% of other listeners in the United States.

We'll talk about that later.

Ron.

Uh, top songs.

Well, Mariah Fantasy, and then you have Bibbio, and then, oh well, we got Mariah again with DJ Khaled.

Awesome there.

Um, and then Lord, and then oh, the Joy King's Kaleidoscope.

We got a Christian one that uh made it on to the list.

But I love this.

Well, not necessarily this, I mean Mariah's okay right now, it's Christmas time.

You can listen to Mariah right now, okay?

But what I love is Spotify gives you, here was your playlist.

And sometimes we don't recognize the repeated thoughts that we have just come to live with and embrace and hold, and it's on repeat, and because it's on repeat and repeat, we just it becomes background noise.

I know that 54,000 of those minutes was just background noise as Roland was going about his life, and I do the same thing, and yet we don't recognize that background noise is shaping us.

Let me ask you, if you had to come up with your top five thoughts that are on repeat, what would they be?

In fact, this week, maybe even today, maybe in this moment, would you write that down?

Would you go, oh, that's that thought?

You just begin to go, that is the thought.

Where do you need to change the playlist of your life?

The Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 12, verse 2, would say it this way: Do not conform to the pattern of this world.

Romans 12:2

Don't be molded, don't be pressed in.

Don't allow the world to have its shaping influence, the negative pull on you.

How do you cultivate joy?

Don't be conformed.

Instead, be transformed.

Again, this uh verb here is in the passive again.

It's allow yourself to be transformed.

How?

By the renewing of your mind.

What you put into your mind actually forms and transforms who you are for good or for ill.

Then your life will be able to test and improve what God's will is, his good, pleasing, and perfect will.

There's a reason that I talked to us about memorizing this scripture, and it wasn't just because, oh, that's a nice thing to do or that's a church thing to do, because what you put into your mind, what you memorize and what you meditate on will shape you.

It will transform you.

What's the playlist for you?

Well, how do we begin to change it?

I I just want to give you one simple way that I've changed it.

It's a tool that is so cheap and yet so powerful.

It's three by five cards.

And I just have a bunch of these.

I brought two and I just begin to review them.

I just, I mean, every morning, I just pull them out.

It's part of my rhythm, and just begin to review them.

You know, it's interesting.

Uh, the reason we don't say don't do these sort of things, or the Apostle Paul said, don't think about those sort of things, instead of do this, is there's something intrinsic about us as humans is called, we have a this um a it's called target fixation.

Is whatever you focus on, you naturally gravitate towards.

And that's why, like, they don't tell pilots, don't hit the mountains, because they're gonna more likely hit the mountains if they're focused on not hitting the mountains.

And we do this driving in all sorts of ways.

See, when you just begin to change the playlist and change your thought and begin to focus on this, you naturally begin to start to gravitate towards and begin to move in that direction.

Simple tool, three by five cards.

Here's one that a mentor of mine, a quote that actually Dallas Willard said to him, that's been wrecking me, and I'm going, I want to figure out how to gravitate towards this.

You must arrange your days so that you are experiencing deep contentment, joy, and confidence in your everyday life with God.

I'm like, man.

We're gonna talk more about that in the new year.

You must arrange your days so that you're experiencing deep contentment and joy, deep contentment, joy, and confidence in your everyday life with God.

I just begin to review that, reset daily.

Uh Colossians chapter 3 is a chapter that I'm working on memorizing right now, just getting it in my heart and mind.

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

And so I have half of the chapter on my three by five card here, but it says, since then you've been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Then it goes on, set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

Why?

For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

And when Christ appears, who is your life, you also will appear with him in glory.

I'm like, I want to get God's word into my heart and into my mind, and I'm just gonna have it on repeat on loop.

It's really not that hard, and it doesn't cost you a lot.

What's the playlist?

What's on repeat?

How do you cultivate joy?

You gotta pay attention to what has your attention.

You gotta treat negative thoughts as an enemy.

I am not letting you have a seat at the table in my mind.

I need to change the playlist.

How about you?

What's your playlist?

This week.

Would you splurge on some three by five cards?

I know, it's crazy.

I mean, it might cost you a buck twenty-five.

Only thing that didn't get hit with inflation was three by five cards.

And you just start to review them.

And you'll begin to see this shift slowly of your heart, of your mind, of your thoughts.

God, thanks for my friends.

Thanks for this time.

Thank you for your grace in our lives.

God, I just ask right now, as your word is so clear and so powerful, and it's so helpful.

So helpful.

Would you give us the unction to get just some three by five cards and start getting your word in our heart and mind to change the playlist of our lives.

In Jesus' name, amen.

We hope you are blessed by this message.

Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded.

And hey, we'd love to connect with you.

Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.com slash card.