Breaking Free from Double Mindedness

what i want to do is i want to expose double mindedness for what it is and open your heart to the wisdom and the single-mindedness that's available for you right here right now it's not somewhere far away and it's not some complex ordeal it's rather simple but we got to confront some things to walk this journey out and it leads us to james chapter one verse five and eight there are some very simple yet incredibly profound instructions if we slow down and just take in what's being said here he first says if any of you lack wisdom now one of the things that when we lose focus we become double-minded is we lose the power of what wisdom is able to carry in a given moment or a given given situation what's wisdom wisdom in a simple definition is the ability to take knowledge and apply it in the right season in the right moment in the right timing in the right way and see many of us we want wisdom and but we're not growing in the knowledge and understanding of god in our hearts wisdom often pulls from the grid of what's within us to know the decisions to make god is saying though that he's wanting to pour this all out on you he wants to pour out understanding and pour out the wisdom the ability to know in a given moment how to make a decision and this is where double-mindedness comes in and wants to trap you and wants to block you he says this if you lack wisdom then spend 10 years going to school and taking classes and learning about wisdom and you'll get it no it doesn't say that now that's true you need to grow in the knowledge and understanding of god especially in a heart way not just a head knowledge pursuing relationship because wisdom grows out of relationship with god in fact the proverb writer said the solomon who wrote much of what we appreciate in the proverbs he gained it from his relationship with his father and his mother you see it's relationship tutelage and mentoring that helps us learn and grow in the wisdom of god but this is what god says if you lack it which all of us lack it to some degree he says just let him ask of god like man that just sounds so simple almost too simple almost too good to be true now to first address this we have to first address your specific god lens do you relate to a god who's angry judgmental do you relate to a god who's holding back do you relate to a god who leaves you hanging when you need wisdom this is very very important because your god great is going to affect what's going to come next because this is what james says he says he gives it to all liberally meaning he chooses freely to give this out okay so this is not a god who's holding back and he says he does it without reproach meaning he doesn't give you a hard time about it he doesn't make this so difficult and like here's wisdom here's wisdom oh you missed it here's wisdom oh you missed it no no that's not how he operates but you need to know the context in where god lives he says this wisdom is going to be given to you if you just ask but this is something you understand god lives in the world of faith because this is the thing you're going to have to understand i'm not holding back i'm not hiding it i'm not putting all a million conditions but you need to know i live in faith i live in the world of faith faith is the substance of things hoped for faith takes action it is single-minded living in faith is cultivating the muscle of single-mindedness one decision after another taking what god's word says growing in it and learning as we go he says when you do you're gonna have to ask in faith this is where single-mindedness comes into play and you're going to see where double-mindedness comes in he says ask in faith with no doubting so what does the doubt do the doubt takes us out of what's available because usually when we ask for wisdom there's usually a simple yet profound wisdom that's available to us but what we do in the moment we want faith to activate but then doubt takes over and so it's normal to have doubt in your life but what happens is when we feed and fuel remember in my video on focus what you focus on grows many times what we do is we live and we're just cultivating the doubt the doubt the doubt and then we go god i need wisdom when we're living a lifestyle of constant cynicism and constant doubt and constant yeah but of course when we meet wisdom and god says just be be in faith be single-minded that's what this is really saying be single-minded this is where i'm at this i'm stepping in to grow and when you do that it develops your confidence and when you build that confidence layer by layer you develop that muscle to live in the wisdom of god he's saying watch out for that doubt though because the doubt what will the doubt do the doubt will first question your your god grid is god really a good father is god really going to be here for you is god really giving you wisdom is and so that's why i do so much work with helping people to re-establish are you relating to who he is as a good father do you know him as a loving father what's the grid you carry and usually you can find out the areas of your grid that need healing when you get into trials when you get into difficult time and you need wisdom and in the same context james talked about rejoice when trials come how do we rejoice when trials come we got to know the kind of god we're relating to and many people need a reconstruction of how they even perceive god before this wisdom thing happens because they see a god with reproach who makes it hard he makes his he's a task master he's just laborious and what he puts burden and pressure and kind of like mockingly i see you can't do it because they see god in that way they don't see a god who gives gives it out liberally so he says ask in faith watch out for this doubting the doubting will question who god is and the doubting enters with one phrase what if creates a sense of uncertainty and wants you to get distracted by this alternative reality so now instead of living single-minded you're living double-minded you're entertaining two avenues and your heart and mind was not made to have two minds just one you were made to live single-minded not living with two minds right so what happens it's like playing on the pinball machine you know those those pinball machines and when you would shake the pinball machine it would do what tilt and the flippers would stop working and the ball just go and for most of you that's what happens you're walking and because of insecurity we don't know who we are we don't know who god is in this moment what we really need to do is take that step forward but we become very hesitant i remember when i was playing basketball in high school i was very nervous and and had a lot of anxiety even though i loved basketball i had a lot of pressure and i remember in practice i'd be dribbling down the court dribbling down the court and be trying to make a decision and i'd pick the ball up after dribbling and i would go to pass but i would hesitate and like maybe i should shoot i created this really bad habit and one time my coach blew the whistle and he yelled out mark you're going to be lost if you continue to hesitate shoot it pass it make a decision so what he was in what he was really bringing home there is not about should i pass or should i shoot what was the thing make a decision and people that are double-minded they don't know how to just make a decision with the best that they know right now so that place so let's say you have a 70 confidence that 30 gets attacked by doubt and uncertainty or maybe you're like 10 sure but you're struggling right whatever percentage is unsure the enemy comes in with a what if and increases doubt and increases these vulnerable places then what happens is we turn to it because most people in their journey they know what wisdom is saying but they can't step into it because the doubt magnifies the uncertainty makes the uncertainty so big and they give it attention because of fear fear is underneath all our double-mindedness because fear inflames the word what if or the words what if so he says listen just don't doubt so what god is encouraging in your life is step in faith he's encouraging you take the step you don't have to do everything perfect now this is one of the key reasons why we procrastinate procrastination is this major battle that is fueled by double-mindedness what's fueling our procrastination you know what you need to do but you don't do it why usually a fear of failure because we have this pressure honest this perfectionistic pressure to get everything right and nowhere in here it is god saying you got to make all the perfect steps because wisdom is learned in the taking action i've learned in my life for years i would hesitate hesitate hesitate and have to get everything just right and get it in my mind just right and then i'll take the step then i'll make the decision when i feel good then i'll make the decision and i had to learn you can't wait for all those things to align you've got to make a single-minded decision and i found that god honors a step of faith even at times we feel we're making the best decision we know god works with us because he teaches us in the doing why because he honors faith he honors that you take a step this is the best that i know right now and i'm gonna make a decision and take a step and stop wavering as elijah said in the old testament wavering between two opinions wavering between two areas and if you find yourself in double-mindedness you're one decision from it breaking off make a decision which one should i make make a decision you see what god's saying here where our argument is the two options uh is it a or b and god goes make a decision and we go but but god you're not answering the question is it a or b make a decision because he's getting to the root god's not putting pressure on you to have a to have to live a perfect life and make every decision perfect you only make decisions on the level of your current level of knowledge wisdom and ignorance and immaturity make a decision and here's what i've learned in my life i'm gonna step out because god's gonna meet me in the doing more than he meets me in the figuring it out figuring it out debating asking a million questions asking 10 people what do you think what do you think maybe i should go to a counselor maybe i should go to this person i've learned that produces nothing but double-mindedness and this is what james says for he who doubts means you give attention to it it doesn't mean he who struggles with doubt he who's giving and feeding the doubt and for some people with obsessive tendencies man you could really feed the doubt and uncertainty doubt uncertainty and that's what you give your focus and your attention over to and he says you know what happens to that person every wave that hits and that's why we're often emotionally unstable our focus is all over the place we're so heavily distracted and we're tossed by the wind and so he says listen don't even think you're going to receive anything look what it says here for let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the lord and and some people they receive that and they get discouraged oh see never no that's not is that what he's saying he's saying that this is how important single-minded faith is and it doesn't mean you have a hundred percent certainty folks we live in this balance of certainty and uncertainty that we struggle with that we're like man i know but man i'm on my way but i make decisions by faith knowing that god will be with me and if i'm off he'll show me and i'll learn it and even in the learning he'll empower me he's not going to condemn me or shame me this broke years of disempowering patterns in my life because i what if what if what if would just derail me and i learned either shoot the ball pass it make a decision and many of you are one decision away from many things changing a key rooted decision in your life where you're saying i want wisdom god's saying it's here so just kick out the doubt kick out the fear kick out the hesitancy and make a firm decision and live in it well i'm nervous making the decision well you're breaking the fear factor in your life you're breaking the fear of failure people who are often able to break through limitations of the mind breakthrough limitations in their life in their family and their business they're they're willing to step out of the boat walk on the water and they're willing to do the learning out there you know when jesus said peter come out and walk on water he wasn't like oh let me figure this out what's the science here what he took the step and he learned in it and yes he sunk down and jesus had to pull him up but he still experienced and learned god in a personal way i can't say this enough you learn in the doing and he said don't expect you receive anything from the lord he is a double minded man unstable in all his ways so what does double mindedness produce it's one of the biggest producers of emotional spiritual relational instability because god didn't make you to be caught between two opinions all the time so what happens it's like changing gears and you're jamming the clutch and the cars just no wonder you're stressed out exhausted and even depressed and discouraged because double-mindedness wants to keep you back from what's available so being single-minded involves making a decision trusting wisdom is here god i'm asking you for wisdom so i'm making the decision the best i know in the doing your grace is available and i go okay i i need to make an adjustment here and god's grace works with you in learning and growing as and so that's why i find god works tremendously in the movement versus you just standing still and just doing nothing nothing nothing nothing hesitating hesitating god as though god's going to push you by your back and push you where you need to go this is your day to rise up and overcome so what's keeping you in double mindedness is it listening to the what if what if feeding the uncertainty fear of failure it's causing you to procrastinate insecurity that's like i don't know this is a new step for me you're one decision away from a lot of things breaking through i pray that a work of single-mindedness will open up and you'll see some freedom break through as you simply just make a decision and act on it i pray this helps your focus and helps your journey to experience more healing and freedom i'll see you in future resources now if this video was helpful for your life and your journey i want to encourage you to get a copy of this book i will not fear because it goes over the fear factor and how it influences our life and it impacts the world of double-mindedness and keeps us from single-mindedness and the wisdom that's there the fear of failure the fear of things not working out the what-ifs all those things that begin to consume us and inflame the doubt and uncertainty which begins to take over get a copy of this and use it as a new reference for overcoming every work of fear in your life and allowing faith hope and love to grow dramatically in your journey get a copy of it let me know if it helps you and encourages your journey god bless you you

Channel: Mark DeJesus

Views: 4,147

Rating: 4.9653177 out of 5

Keywords: Double Mindedness, Single Minded, Wisdom, Doubt, Uncertainty, Taking Action

Id: eGLH9n1jpOw

Length: 17min 22sec (1042 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 06 2020