new series reimagine let's pray father god we thank you for what you're doing right here in our church in our hearts and then what you doing around the world in that we get to be a part of it and god thank you for your word that is truth that is dependable that is life giving that brings hope and a new perspective if we pray today we would just rest in trust and soak in your word as we draw close to you we pray in jesus name amen i was driving home and approaching an intersection where there was a red light and i did stop two lanes they could turn to the right i was in the left hand lane and when the of stop way did turn green the car in front of me didn't move now all the cars in the right hand lane started to turn right but the in front of me didn't move and as i look forward you know the woman had entered into the intersection to a point where she couldn't see the stop light above so it was green but she was stopped and all the cars were moving to her right but she was looking to her left and she was waiting and wondering are more cars coming in waiting in trying to you know the sun was shining trying to look past the sun and into a little forward and waiting some more in a waiting so i started honking of noxious no i didn't i didn't i didn't self control right so i just waited i wouldn't interrupt her when she's creating a sermon illustration besides i mean this is wonderful but it made me think sometimes how god's perspective is different than our perspective in that god sees everything and we only see a little bit it also reminded me that our perspective is so powerful our perspective shapes the way that we respond and we act and we handle different situations so our perspective goes under the radar but it so significant and today in this reimagine series we're going to be talking about elevating your perspective a new perspective which is really finding god's perspective and we talk about the word perspective many pieces to a perspective but i'm going to highlight three components that i think are important and the first one is your thinking my thinking your thinking what we're doing with our mind is crucial as it relates to our perspective so let's turn to exit is chapter eighteen genesis and then exit is as you open up your bible if you need a bible will be glad to give you help you find a bible is well but we're an exit is chapter eighteen and it's the life of moses look at verse seven moses is about to have a guest in in law is coming over any in laws coming over to your house coming up how does that go well for moses it works out pretty well let's start in verse seven so moses went out to meet his father in law in bio down and kissed him is that how you greet your father in the mines coming in a couple weeks if this is biblical i need to pay attention to this  i don't expect that to happen they greeted each other and then they wint into the tent now verse ten jethro moses father in law said praise be to the lord who rescued you from the hand of the  pharaoh and who rescued the people from the hand of the egyptians that's right give praise to the lord not to moses jethro's a wise man now drop down to verse three this is where it gets interesting a lot of blessings are happening but here's one thing that's not quite right the next day moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people and they stood around him from morning until evening and then in verse seventeen moses says father in law replied what you are doing is not good you in these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out the way work is too heavy for you you cannot handle it alone listen now to me and i will give you some advice and may god be with you you must be the people's representative before god in bring their disputes to him teach them the decrees and laws and show them the way to live and the duties they are to perform but select capable man from among all the people men who fear god who are trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain and appoint them as officials over thousands hundreds fifties and tens and he concludes in verse twenty three if you do this in god so commands you will be able to stand the strain and all these people will go home satisfied moses listen to his father in law and did everything he said so from morning to evening what did moses do all day long listened to people's disputes and complaining in grumbling does that sound fun anyone signing up for that job description in so this is not good jethro says here's three reasons why it's not good moses you're going to be so worn out anyone here ever get burned out from doing too much and then secondly moses people are going to get tired out because they're waiting all day to get in line to meet with you and third moses you're neglecting the most important things do you ever get caught up in what appears to be urgent and what's actually most important in life so jethro is laying this out very clear and to moses credit he's well intentioned he's caring he's kind he wants to help people you can be very well intentioned in end up off track and you know what the christian thing to do is when you're well intentioned but you end up off track you need to be able to say this is not working some christians are reluctant to say that they just think well i should just be content i should just be happy at all times i just you know sometimes we need to say this is not working and that's the start of when we open up to what god has that so much better in that's when change or healing can come so jethro helps moses this is not working there was one thought moses had that was so destructive i need to do everything no one can help me have you ever believed to have thoughts i need to do everything no one can help me i'm going to more and more and more ok martha isn't that jesus talking to martha and saying look at mary she's not trying to do everything she's drawing close to me in so we put a lot of pressure on ourselves here's the principle your vision is too small if you are not getting other people involved your visions too small when you don't get other people involved god highlights that principle throughout scripture jesus he demonstrated that for us over and over again getting more people involved more people involved here comes the three here comes the twelve here comes the seventy two it's just more people involved so jethro comes up with a better plan in it's my philosophy in leadership that the better plan should always prevail sometimes big shots you know in corporations you know they're not open to the better plan because they're in charge they're going to get their way the better plan wherever it comes or if you're in law has a better plan bless your in law and then you implement a better plan so they implement the better plan in that one destructive thought that moses had i have to do everything that was a destructive thought and ralph waldo emerson said as a man thinks all during the day that's what he becomes so one little thought for moses i do everything that's when he becomes burned out in the people are frustrated jim byrnes added by the way their thoughts are so powerful there's a story of a man who got locked into a refrigerated unit it was an accident he got locked in and he just assumed my body can't hold with this temperature and he wrote out a note you know that he was going to die and the next morning he did die and when they studied his body they said there's no way the temperatures were like about fifty degrees there's no way he died from the temperatures but he thought the soon thought he would die in so that played in again some mystery there but our thoughts are so what we believe the scripture says is so important what do you believe in  how does that play out in your life so new thoughts jethro gives moses god's thoughts it's this set up higher courts and lower courts great system find trustworthy capable reliable leaders who fear god great idea moses focus on two things the most important cases in teaching people the word of the lord that's where you stay put moses that's the sweet zone in so moses is taking all of this in and i think this is relevant to every church you know why because one thing that happens in churches is that people get a sense of gifts and call and they're passionate to serve the lord in the end up in a position where they're trying to do too much and they're doing things that are not the very best things are doing things that are good things and then because they're overdoing it then you've got a whole bunch of people just sitting around like all there's no place for me i guess my gives don't do anything here in so insearch as what happens a lot of times is you see a lot of people sitting on the sidelines thinking there's no opportunity for me here and then the other people just get in burned out and this passage speaks to that in so my you know i say it all the time to staff is that we gather need to encourage each other equip each other give each other opportunities in spur each other on so that we do it together is far is grace will go in carrying out the vision god has for us i'm convinced it's going to be together and the more people that get involved and find their sweet spot in their niche the more that the kingdom is going to be built up in that's an awesome picture so this trap right here again it gets back to the thinking that we have is far as ministry following god in our roles here is the principle healthy thinking continually identifies incorporates what god is thinking classic passage in matthew chapter  sixteen jesus explains to peter i'm going to suffer i'm going to die in then risen to life in peter steps and says never lord you're not going to die on that cross and peter then  people familiar this statement then peter hears from jesus get behind me satan in love you will stop reading there but you know what the next verse says peter you are a stumbling block to me peter's got this grand idea that jesus would not go to the cross and in jesus steps and says you're a stumbling block to me because peter you have in mind not the things of god but you have in mind the things of man and jesus lays out this distinction you can either have thoughts of man or the thoughts of god what is a culture it's of people's ways in a people's thoughts but what is god's word god's ways in god's thoughts see a lot of people kind of wonder well how can i get more of god's thoughts into this little cranium right here and that is where change happens in our life in so here at grace here you know sunday mornings every classroom every age group we are focused on god's word we have life groups all throughout the week to help in community get into god's word daily we send videos and devotions to help get into god's word because this is god pours in his thoughts his ways his priorities right here it's not like oh how would i ever know god has written it down and passed it on it's so clear so the more we take in the more our minds change where does transformation happen right in the mind right between the ears you know where is the target where is the bull's eye right between the ears romans twelve verse two do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world man's thoughts but be transformed by the renewing of your mind and then you will know gods and you'll approve in see god's good pleasing and perfect will tell you a practical thing that helps so much with our thoughts it's just one verse philippians chapter four vers eight whatever is true noble right excellent praiseworthy think about these things think about these things we make choices all day long with our thoughts and to take just one of god's thoughts and replace it with one destructive thought that's what jets will help moses to find one destructive thought that you're holding onto i can never be forgiven god never use me i'm not lovable take that one destructive thought remove it put in god's thought you know what satan tries to do say tries to twist put a law in there put something that's not right you know what god god's word jesus when he's talking to  jesus is quoting scripture here's god's word here's god's word here's god's word so sum it up when it comes to our thoughts we can't control that first thought that pops in there all right thoughts are just flying all the time right but there's two things we decide with our thoughts and it's this number one what do you do well on in number two what do you believe what do you believe and what do you do well on in jesus says there's man's thoughts and there's god's thoughts in moses replacing one of the destructive thoughts is going to change the entire community it's powerful when you think about perspective and your thoughts so there's a start that's one area i said there's three area today and the second area relating to our perspective is your feelings and for this let's turn to second samuel chapter ten second samuel chapter ten and i'm going to read through this story kind of tucked away in this book but  so telling so insightful into relationships and feelings so verse one in the course of time the king of the ammonites died and his son hanan succeeded him as king david thought i will show as his father showed kindness to me so david sent a delegation to express his sympathy to hanan concerning his father and one understanding so far they hash the king has died hand in the new sending men to you to express sympathy hasn't david sent them to you to explore the city inspired out overthrow it so hanan sees david's men shaved off half of each man's beard and cut off their garments at the middle of the good iest maximus and in sent them away that's a specific biological term i think it's maybe in the latin when david was told about this he sent messengers to meet the man for they were greatly humiliated and then the king said stay at jericho till your beards have grown and then come back now when the emanates realize that they have become a stench in david's nostrils they hired twenty so with that david's going to send a delegation kindness sympathy how do they take it assumptions are so important in life right i mean what's actually happening here what perceived to be happening here in so here comes you know gives sympathy kindness but instead i would just say it's a very emotional time for hannah imagine if your dad just died right so there's a lot of sadness don't hear that feelings are bad feelings are bad sadness is part of our mourning you're not less spiritual when you're sad so there should be sadness dad has died there should be some mourning is well but now feeling start to drift into fear and they say this feels like espionage this feels like spies who want to kill us and fear starts to build so there is sadness there's maybe some anger there's fear involved in all this is building up in it leads to the question how do you manage your feelings what's your approach how do your feelings relate to your perspective here's three things i think that are helpful in managing our feelings the first one is to look at a fact check in say what is really true have you ever been worked up over something and then you found out later oh you didn't need to be worked up at all like all that was based on something that wasn't even true so do a fact check and see ok what's actually true here the second thing say ok is this an appropriate level is this an appropriate level of you've been around people who get huge reactions over little things in so that ability to say is an appropriate level for the reaction that i'm bringing in the feelings that i'm bringing in the third piece is this ok how should i respond in a positive way whenever there is an intense wave of feelings we have a lot of options and how we want to respond so what would be a positive response to this feeling the bible says in your anger do not sin this is something that i just described it is lifelong you know in our stage in parenting right now with our kids i would say it's relevant in my life ok so they can start to describe i feel angry i feel sad ok very good now what did you just do what did you just say what are some other options what could you have that how could you handle that feeling and trying to get kids to like stop recognize how they're feeling think about their options into something positive is massive in their development and it's really big in marriage and it's really big in families to be able to have that skill a little bit of self regulation let the holy spirit lead you through those emotions and then how those affect relationships so here's a principle wisdom includes calming down before making big decisions and statements wisdom includes calming down before you hit the send button before you hit the post button  maybe running it by a loved one maybe sleeping on it maybe praying on it thanks for watching our program today and i want to let you know about our web site activate life dot org you can send us your prayer requests we are honored to pray for you we also have daily devotions and other resources you can sign up for and if you want to support us financially you can do that through the web site now we'll get back to the teaching as we get into god's word together i want to step back and ask a question like what do you bring when it comes to faith what do you bring into the place you live in to your family what do you bring what do you bring into your life group what do you bring into the church what do you bring into the community what kind of faith are you bringing into all those different places because folks there are different cultures of faith in different environments of faith and what happens kelly jesus many saw as hometown there was a culture an environment  unbelief these ten created a culture of unbelief and a lack of faith joshua and caleb a culture of faith there's different cultures what you bring is really important what's the culture where you live in your family when it comes to faith what's the culture what do you bring what do you bring these stories in the bible they're not just stories to learn about joshua and caleb they relate to our lives what do you bring to the church what do you bring to the life group and i'm not saying you have to have it all together that's not the picture but are you wholeheartedly an underdog for a god that's ready to receive what god has in believe his word or are there other things going on and things to get right with the lord in so you add these three are thinking our feelings our faith they shape the perspective and we all bring perspectives to life and i'm going to close with two stories because i think these perspectives are true in the small things of life and the big things and here's a small thing i like to play soccer the game is now at six thirty in the morning so that just keeps getting earlier and earlier the people around here really like soccer and they're up at that hour  so i'm getting up early and what i've noticed is as we play these games you know we find different fields to play on and we were playing a game recently where it was a baseball diamond and it's a unique baseball diamond because it's turf on the infield in that it's all grass on the outfield kind of unique so two games going on at once is the only field we had the game on the turf on the infield in the game on the real grass on the field now as the game started i looked at the other team i thought ok this could be a really even game look at looking at the players and we got on the grass and the other team started to make some comments one guy said i haven't played on grass since i was a kid and another person you know young guy said i've never i never play on grass and i was feeling really old school i'm officially old school you know and in seattle i guess you don't play on grass that much and then the next guys said oh this is so slow like when you pass the ball it is so slow could you feel it building and you know what the next guy said my socks are getting wet and the next guy said yeah mine are so in this is what the other team saying it was game over a man i mean before i even started i'm going to be a close game it was six nothing like that they were walking around defeated  started you could be careful as a christian you're not walking on yeah in my socks are wet perspective defeated before the god's word doesn't say oh walk around defeated that's your calling it says here's a bigger one with perspective cory ten boom go back to world war two in corrie ten boom saw how many jews were being killed how sad it was indeed that we've got to do something perspective that we can stay passive and just watch this slaughter we've got to do something so their family opened up their home it's estimated that their family saved eight hundred people that's still a small number when you think of the holocaust but they did something we can't do everything but we can do something you know one person came up to them even a pastor came of them said do you realize that if you take in that mom and her little child you might be killed and that's why a lot of people didn't take anyone in you know what the ten boom family response was it would be an honor to die that way being on a whole different perspective and so they were thrown in to the  prison camp and they just said throw their experience in the camp it was just the sounds of hell the sounds of hell and if they were in those concentration camps they managed to get one bible in so corey and the family would open up that bible when the guards weren't around in start to share from the scripture and because it was an international audience they would share and then someone else would translate and polish and someone else would translate in russian and all the different languages and she said those were the sounds of heaven were next door it was the sounds of torture and hell and i thought what a perspective to get one bible and there's to continue to encourage those around in the middle of the battle well corey lost her dad right away in the concentration camp lost her brother her sister betsy was still alive and kept a grateful spirit grateful versus grumbling you know betsy said let's continue to think god let's think odd for his word let's thank god for each other let's thank god we're still alive and he said let's thank god for the fleas there were fleas everywhere in their barracks and even korea was like come on we're not thinking god for no fleas these four years are not a gift it's like a blood you know what she's thinking and as he said no let's thank god for the fleas and so corey is a fine god we thank you for the fleas you know what they look back on later and corey said those fleas kept the guards out because all the women that were in there the guards were coming in doing terrible things but the guards didn't want to come in because there were so many fleas wow thank god for the fleas talk about a perspective and what they went through so one of the cruellest guards who you know just tortured her family and tortured so many and so ruthless later on after the war came to jesus and you know sort of cory cory welcomed him forgave him shook his hand shook his hand perspective perspective there's so many things in life we can't control the circumstances but one thing we choose is our perspective and when i look at cory ten times life i say that's god's perspective that's god's word so whether you're on a soccer field or it's world war two or something in the middle your workplace or your family what is god's perspective in is that what you want god wants to renew our minds help us to walk through with our feelings and build up our faith so that we see life with his perspective the take home is this choose your internal condition and your approach and your perspective choose it well because it will affect every relationship and endeavor that you're a part of thanks for watching today and i want to let you know about our web site activate life that org there are so many free resources to help you grow in your faith and if you've been blessed during the teaching please send us an e mail if you want to learn more about jesus we'd love to hear from you again our web site is active a life that org and we'll see you next week