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.Philippians 4:8
We had been healed and delivered by the final words of Jesus from the cross, “It is finished,” so we knew there was significance in last words. We understood that enormous effort goes into choosing the right words to say goodbye, finish a letter, conclude a speech, or summarize a presentation. Final words are important. They leave a lasting impact and have far reaching effects.
What began with the word finally, impacted us so deeply, we were never the same.
Our cognitive distortions and faulty thought patterns were measured against the 8 descriptive words in Philippians 4:8. With these eight guardrails in place, we could choose which thoughts to keep and which ones to set aside. Using the acronym, PREPLANT, we could check ourselves regularly throughout the day to make sure the thoughts running through our heads lined up with at least one on the list.
PURE – RIGHT – EXCELLENT PRAISEWORTHY – LOVELY – ADMIRABLE NOBLE – TRUE
If a thought did not meet the criteria, it was deemed unhealthy and carried the potential to make us sick. We could not level up until we let go of the thoughts that didn’t measure up.
As we leveled up in our new normal, we had to adopt the same type of mindset with our life choices as we did for driving on muddy country roads. Our decisions and actions needed to be precisely calibrated in order to achieve the results we wanted. Just as it would be foolish to see how close to the ditch we could drive without sliding off the road, it was also foolish to see how close we could get to temptation without giving in.
In our leveled-up position, we learned that every action started with a choice. And every choice carried an equal and opposite result. In other words, every choice carried both a yes and a no decision.
If we said yes to sobriety, we said no to the chaos and destruction we once lived. And visa-versa. If we said yes to a drink or drug, we said no to hope and sanity. When we said yes to thinking out our choices, we said no to making the same dumb decisions over and over, expecting different results.
To level-up, we had to accept our own responsibility for the choices and events of our lives. We had to realize that our decisions, even in little things, mattered. Whether it was getting a good deal on a laptop we suspected was stolen, or working the system to get benefits we didn’t really qualify for, every decision set off a chain reaction of negative results and consequences.
We evaluated some of our individual experiences and shared them with the group.
One member who had been an addiction to porn, shared his decision-making process when it came to watching television. He knew which shows would trigger lustful thoughts, so he simply chose not to watch them. He chose instead to watch sports, cooking shows, and educational programs like Nova. He said yes to living free from his addiction which meant he said no to shows that triggered him. Each time he made that choice, he placed himself into a position of freedom. He continues to pursue his destiny using the wisdom God has given. He has leveled up into a mature, godly man who demonstrates great leadership skills.
Another member of the group shared about self-esteem issues. From childhood, he had been trying to cope with the confusion of trauma, unaware of what to call it. He struggled with feelings of unworthiness and was unable to feel a sense of value. That all changed when he made the choice to learn about trauma and its effects. He chose to develop a relationship with Jesus, his Healer. He made a choice to forgive and move away from the pain. Because he said yes to openness, and no to suffering in silence, he now operates in a position of power and serves as an advocate for others. He has the wisdom of God and the heart of a servant.
Another member shared about his past life of uncontrollable rage. He spoke about feeling as if he had no choice when it overtook him. His experience with rage was like driving on a slippery, muddy road at full speed, headed straight for the ditch, and unable to stop. It was hard for us to believe he had ever struggled with rage. This was a man who carried the joy of the Lord on his face. His smile was contagious, his demeanor was gracious, and he radiated positive energy whenever he walked into the room. He often spoke of love and forgiveness as if it were his lifeline. He had made a conscious choice to forgive whenever he was wronged. He refused to carry a grudge, but instead, chose to walk in love. He said no to rage and yes to compassion. Forgiveness and joy were no longer second nature to him; they were his new normal.
But God, can you really live here on earth with people? Not even the highest of heavens can hold you.
You see the expansive nature of God as you gaze into the night sky. When surrounded by the wonders of the universe, you stand in awe of the Maker’s design.
You love to examine the night sky. You are are captivated by the phases of the moon and the marching constellations as they glide across the atmosphere.
It is in this upward glance that you gain perspective. When you look at the sky, the purpose for your earthbound existence become clear.
It excites you to realize that you have been offered a divine destiny by the Creator of the Universe.
As you look at the vast expanse, you are in awe that God calls each star by name. This offers you great comfort, for it reveals how intimately and personally the Creator values what He has made.
It is in this realization that you find security. Your Maker designed you for a specific purpose.
And just like the stars, you light up when He calls your name.
But they who join themselves to the Lord become spiritually one with Him.
Your physical body is aging, but your spirit is timeless and eternal.
Because of your connection to Jesus and the power of His resurrection, you have become one with Him. The Spirit of Christ lives in you and lifts you to new levels of enlightenment.
Springing up with Living Water, your spirit rushes like a river, creating the current which propels your physical form to each new assignment from God.
In union with the Spirit of Christ, you are able to generate supernatural energy.
This effect infuses the atmosphere surrounding you with a positive charge. This is why you are known as one who lights up the room wherever you go.
In this way, you are living inside-out, using the power produced by the Spirit to transform your human experience into an eternal, supernatural adventure.
If our car was falling apart, we took it to a mechanic. If our house was falling apart, we called a handyman. If our grades were falling apart, we hired a tutor. But where could we go when our lives were falling apart? What should we do when things were unraveling at a rapid pace and we didn’t know what to do?
If we failed to cultivate fertile soil for the seeds of faith to grow in our minds, hearts, and spirits prior to an upcoming crisis, we found ourselves in a panic. We experienced fear and uncertainty. We felt like our lives were out of control.
However, if we shifted our focus away from the crisis at hand, we found that our connection with God transformed from textbook theology into a powerful manifestation of His presence.
Getting through a crisis successfully is a process. It begins with a foundation of the knowledge of God, the belief in Jesus Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit guiding us toward solutions rather than panic, anxiety, and fear.
When leveling up, we learn the value of a disciplined mind during crisis. We practice making conscious decisions to redirect our thoughts away from anxiety. We train ourselves to run to God for a solution. It takes effort and practice to make this our go-to move. It doesn’t come naturally at first, so we sometimes spend a lot of time cycling through stages of anxiety, obsession, fear and what-ifs, evaluating all possible outcomes before we finally remember where to find our relief.
We come to believe that the common phrase, ‘Hope for the best and plan for the worst,’ is a faithless, pitiful position, to take.
Therefore, in our leveled up status, we practice a new expression:
‘Hope for the best and plan for divine intervention.’
As we opened our minds to sacred text, the revolution began.
We discovered new parameters for our belief system.
I Corinthians 2:16 stated, “We understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ,” so we released our mental constraints and became aware of our new understanding.
2 Corinthians 5:17 told us that“Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” Therefore, we resisted the temptation to dwell on the past. We had become a new creation in Christ, so there was no past to lament.
We believed that our feelings were fickle and could not be the focal point of our attention. We did not regard our feelings as a reliable source of information. The Word of God became our compass, and we only said of ourselves what we would say of Christ. We professed that we were in Christ and have inherited the privilege to participate in a life of His perfection. We were the righteousness of God, even when we felt like we had failed. The cross inverted all our wrongs and made them right. Thus, the rightness of Jesus outweighed the wrongness of our misdeeds.
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We began to thank God for His provision, even when we felt needy.
We praised God for deliverance, even while feeling imprisoned by the past:
The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 2 Corinthians 3:17
We believed God for His righteousness, even when we felt wrong.
We believed in ourselves as new creations, even when we felt damaged.
We stopped living in regret, even when we felt as if we should.
We no longer identified with who we were, but rather, we identified ourselves as who we became at the moment, we received our tetelestai revelation. We had come to know love which we had never known before. We had received a personal pardon from the King of Kings and according to Ephesians 3:19, we were becoming filled with the fullness of God, which was gradually squeezing out our tendency to be full of ourselves.
Tetelestai Recovery – Finding Total Recovery in the Words of Christ, “It is Finished!”
Although our spirits were reborn and our bodies were clean from mood altering substances, our minds were contaminated with cognitive distortions. Our thought processes had become corroded with bitterness and disappointment. The original shine of innocence had been dulled by the storms of rage and the heat of humiliation. Our minds were splattered with the dirt and grime of the past. The good memories were cluttered with grief over what we ruined or what we lost. The bad memories made us cringe and flooded us with waves of nausea. Our heads were filled with regrets, resentments, and realities that we wished we could change.
Our minds, once fresh and innocent, had gradually become a gurgling caldron of foul emotions, which continued to bubble up at the worst possible times. Most of us couldn’t even remember what a fresh, clean mind was, nor could we identify exactly when we lost ours. Clever coping mechanisms had served their purposes for a time, but we were tired of being covered in the dirt and grime of resentment, guilt, failure, fear, intimidation, and regret.
Our minds needed to be scrubbed clean if we were ever going to have the confidence and clarity to move into our destiny. So, we looked for answers in our Sacred Text…
Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Matthew 6:13
Knowing that evil comes in many forms, you trust the Spirit to guide your intuition.
Maintaining a firm sense of right and wrong, you reject the evil presence of hatred and prejudice. You shun pride and arrogance. You see through deception and prefer to surround yourself with people who are true.
You avoid paths that lead to drama and chaos. Your sense of self is deeply rooted in your desire to do the right thing. You live by a set of standards which are aligned with God’s will and your own personal integrity.
Without judgment, repulsion, or excuse, you simply detach yourself from people who exhibit little concern for the pain they cause, or the negative impact they have on their fellow humans.
You do not join in with others who belittle or diminish another’s worth. You remove yourself from environments which are darkened by oppression, hate, prejudice, and intolerance.
Evil offends you deeply. You don’t understand why people are so brutal to each other. In times of conflict, you seek God’s protection, so you don’t fall prey to this temptation yourself.
In quiet times, as you vent to God in heartfelt prayers, He hears and understands. The evil that grieves you, is the evil that grieves Him too.
The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!” Judges 6:12
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You have extraordinary vision. You are able to detect the presence of angelic beings.
You have been given a special ability to see things of great significance that hold deep spiritual value.
You have Kingdom vision and catch glimpses of angels. You watch for miracles, and find them often.
You witness angelic rescue missions, both for yourself and for others. You watch as captives are liberated and destinies are discovered.
You see angels in places where no one else would think to look. You see them surrounding grocery store clerks and school children. You see angels in hospital waiting rooms and homeless shelters.
You see their light, even when you feel surrounded by darkness. You are confident that the illumination provided by angels will always appear to guide and protect your path.
You know that they have appeared in some of your darkest hours.
You have no doubt they will always be there beside you, even though your vision of them may sometimes become obscured by conflict, anxiety, or confusion.
Angels have always been in your peripheral view. From early childhood, you have sensed their presence and seen them in many forms.
Sometimes they are obvious in appearance as celestial beings, but other times they show up in more subtle forms; as helpful strangers or loyal pets.
We know that our emotions can be a powerful force that affects us, body, mind, and soul. We also know that Jesus has made a way to escape being controlled by our feelings, which can range from pesky to obsessive or even frightening.
We are told in the Word that we have been made the righteousness of God in Christ. This flies in the face of feelings which indicate something is wrong with us. Our feelings are no match for the Word of God. If the Creator of the universe says we are righteous, then our emotions have no right to dispute it.
We have been made right by the blood of Christ which was donated as a divine transfusion to heal us from the inside out. The emotions we feel, the sounds we hear, the words we say, and the images we see, must all defer to the words of our King who has decreed tetelestai over all that is wrong with us.
Tetelestai Recovery – Finding Total Recovery in the Words of Christ, “It is Finished!”
Finding Total Recovery in the Words of Christ, "It is Finished!" 