Get Out of Your Head OBS Week 1 — Spiraling Out

We are at war with the enemy. This is how he comes for us… He comes for us with lies that we have believed for way too long! ~ Jennie Allen

Memory Verse:

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a Cross. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in Heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. —Philippians 2:5-11 ESV

Welcome, friends, to the Get Out of Your Head Online Bible Study with our friend and teacher, Jennie Allen.

My name is Laurie McClure, and I’m the editor at FaithGateway and one of your OBS team leaders. If you haven’t done a study with us before, let me introduce myself. I’m a Bible study nerd from a long line of Bible study nerds, pastors, preachers, and Bible hooligans who would probably be in prison if it weren’t for Jesus. My happy place is the beach. I grew up on the Pacific, and now that I’m an Atlantic girl, I cannot get over the turtles on the beach. I have five kids and my home is filled with furry babies.

Have you met Jennie Allen yet? If not, you will love her. Jennie’s a writer, teacher, wife, mom, and the founder of If: Gathering. She’s a radical Jesus lover, a truth speaker, and a vision caster. The woman teaches with passion and authority! Jennie and her husband, Zac, have four great kids and live in Dallas.

So, are you ready?

I’m not going to bury the lead. Spoiler alert: Jesus is the answer to the spinning. He is. I’ve experienced this time and time again because the enemy loves to come after me, especially in the dark of night.

Friends, we are at war with our minds. Life is hard and we can get very tired and scared. But in these six weeks we’re going to learn that we can interrupt spirals. We have a choice.

How we think is how we will live.

Knocked down or getting back up.
Listening to lies or speaking God’s Word back to them.
Focusing on our hardships or fixing our eyes on Jesus.
Hopeless or hope-filled.
Defeated or still in the fight.

One of the reasons I love the story of Paul is that he was actively, intentionally obedient to God and his story still went so “wrong”. I think we can all relate in some ways. We’re Jesus people here. We’re following Him and loving Him and seeking to do His will, and yet… He takes us down some twisty curves, blind alleys, and steep declines that can rattle and unnerve the best of us. Cause us to spin out. Freak out. Question. Doubt. Fear. Sink.

Paul sets the tone for us. With trust and praise.

What we’re going to talk about here… It’s more than some brain hack, or trick that you can play on yourself, or practices, or principles. It’s a deep rewiring and renewing of our mind. It’s a centering on the person of Jesus Christ. ~ Jennie

This is advanced Christianity, friends. If we decide to go all in with Jesus, we’re going to face some intense spiraling. But in Him, the mental spinning, fears, and freak outs don’t get the victory.

If we’re going to do anything that’s worthwhile in this life, then we’re going to have to walk in a power that is not of our own. A power that we’ve been given because of Jesus Christ. And, we have to get a hold of this thing between our ears. ~ Jennie

You are not a victim to your thoughts. You have authority and power, God-given power, over your thoughts! ~ Jennie

What we think about matters. What we think about God matters. What thoughts we agree with in our spirit matters. Don’t give up the fight. We must get out of our heads and take Jesus for His word and focus on Him.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. — Romans 12:2

This week in your study:

1. Watch the video for session one on our study home page and take notes in your study guide on pages 9-16 but DON’T GO AWAY just yet! Hang out for the conversation with our OBS community afterward!
2. Grab your Bible and enjoy your personal study this week on pages 17-29.
3. Join the conversations about the study and get to know fellow participants in our private Facebook group.

Scriptures this Week

1 Corinthians 2:16
Philippians 2:5-11
Romans 12:2
2 Corinthians 10:5
Acts 16:6-7
Acts 16:9-10
Psalm 139:8

Prayer for the Week

Jesus, we love You. We trust You. We believe in You. We want our hearts, spirits, and minds to be wholly focused on You. Not our worries and troubles and not our fears and doubts. Help us not to spiral out mentally and emotionally. Help us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds as we trust in You. We love You, Jesus. Amen.

*Jennie spoke about the help that medication and counseling can bring to those struggling with mental illness so here’s a brief word about anti-depressants and anxiety medication: My friends, sometimes our brains do not work the way they should. Believe me, we want them to, but sometimes they don’t. Some people cannot see clearly and so they wear corrective lenses. Some people have irregular heart rhythms and so they take medication to live longer. Some people have chemical irregularities in their brains and so they adjust those problems with medication. Some people, me included, have gone through seasons or even their whole lives (God bless you, warrior friends!) with medical depression and/or anxiety and so they take medication to live. Please, be gentle and loving with those of us who may already feel “less than” because we need a doctor’s help to cope. Praise Jesus for hearing aids, leg braces, orthodontics, and prosthetics… and praise Him that sometimes our imperfections (which don’t define us!) can be helped by those God created to be physicians. That’s a good thing any way you look at it. ~LM