The 4G Life – Part 1

Story Time

General Sherman

Michigan Sequoia

What’s In a Promise?

Psalm 92:12-15

The atonement is the means by which God reconciled humans to himself.

The atonement is a sacrificial process that uses blood to repair the breach between God and humanity.

People in the Word of Faith community believe that the blessing of the atonement is not only forgiveness, but also healing, protection, provision and .

And the key to sustaining faith in God’s atoning power is to focus on God’s more than on life’s problems.

Emotional Intelligence

People in the Word of Faith community consider to be part of life’s problems.

This is because emotions are inconsistent and elevate feelings over .

As a consequence, people in the Word of Faith community tend to

• emotion.
• emotion.
• emotion.
• emotion.
• emotion.

However, the Bible never presents emotion itself to be an enemy.

On the contrary, expression of the full range of emotion is a healthy part of the human experience.

• Ecclesiastes 3:1
• Ecclesiastes 3:4

Emotions need to be experienced, but because they are subjective, they also need to be .

• When we emotions, they contribute to what makes life meaningful.
• When we evaluate emotions, they provide helpful information about our personal growth and .

Proverbs 4:23

You guard your heart for this reason: if what goes into your heart is healthy, what comes out of it will too.

When you guard your heart, you are screening what is on its way into it, but also what is in there already.

Emotions are indicators of what is going on in our hearts.

Emotions are almost always attached to words.

Sometimes those words are verbalized

• Matthew 15:18.
• Matthew 12:34

Even if those words are not communicated externally, they are always communicated internally.

• Matthew 15:19

There is a contemporary term for what we speak to ourselves internally: .

“ is your internal dialogue. It’s influenced by your subconscious mind, and it reveals your thoughts, beliefs, questions, and ideas.” (Healthline.com)

Emotions provide an of your self-talk.

You can work from your emotions to identify your self-talk.

The most important word in this reflective process is “why”.

Psalm 42:1-5

Four Key Investigative Questions:

1. What am I feeling?
2. Why am I feeling this way?
3. What are the words that are feeding this emotion?
4. Where did belief in those words come from?

These questions help you identify competing commitments.

A competing commitment is a hidden commitment that competes with a desire.

• The stated desire is what we think is our true commitment.
• The competing commitment is what actually drives our behavior.

© Joshua D. Smith, Ph.D., 2021