Welcome to Lesson Sixteen
Troubleshooting the process
One of the things that I really like about Spiritual Self Defense as opposed to other approaches to Christian transformation is this: It is troubleshootable. In other words, if it doesn’t work, you can go back and figure out why it didn’t work.
Let’s start with the video, and then we’ll dig into the reading:
If the video doesn’t show up on your screen, here’s a link so you can watch it on YouTube.
Lesson links
Questions: Pages 231-236 (selected questions)
Answers to “Check your understanding” questions
Reading
In our reading today (pages 192-196), we’ll discuss walls, dead ends, moving from emotion to memory, moving to belief, and more. (See link above.)
Questions
Check your understanding
Let’s look at these two questions. (Answers for “Check your understanding” questions are posted; see link above.)
Check your understanding pp. 231–232 question 9. What is the difference between a “dead end” and an “avoidance wall”? (see page 192+)
Check your understanding pp. 231–232 question 11. Where does transformation typically take place? (see page 195)
Group discussion
I recommend you discuss the following questions either with others who are studying with you and/or with our Facebook group (see link above).
Group discussion pp. 233–235 question 10. Explain how to get past the two types of walls you may encounter in this process. (see page 192+)
Group discussion pp. 233–235 question 11. Why is it important to feel emotion during this process? What about the person who isn’t very emotional—can they do SSD? Explain. (see page 194)
Group discussion pp. 233–235 question 12. Explain how to move from presenting circumstances to emotion to memory. (see page 195)
Group discussion pp. 233–235 question 13. Explain how to move from emotion to belief and from memory to belief. (see page 196)
Group discussion pp. 233–235 question 15. Respond to this: “Spiritual Self Defense doesn’t work. I had a session because I was feeling fear. Yes, I had this amazing truth experience with Jesus, and I felt much better afterward. But now I feel fear again.” What is going on? (see pages 182-196)
(Sometimes a single feeling—like fear—can be coming from many different lies. It’s like a plant with an elaborate root system—for the feeling to never recur, you need to get all of the roots, and that takes time. It’s a process. It’s a journey. But each time Jesus shows up and does what only He can do, things get better. An improvement is made. I should probably also say this: Sometimes we are so used to pushing all of our feelings down that when we finally start to open up with Jesus, many things that were suppressed come flooding to the surface. For a while, it may seem like things get worse before they get better. That sometimes happens—it happened to some extent with Kim and me—and if it does, no worries, just keep processing things with Jesus. In time, things will get much, much better.)
Congratulations! Lesson Sixteen complete!
In Lesson Seventeen, we discuss how to apply the Spiritual Self Defense process to sin, temptation, addiction, life-controlling issues, guilt, and sadness.
Look forward to seeing you next time!
Dwight
Reading and other links
Chapter 5
Section 5.5.G
Reading: Pages 192-196
Questions: Pages 231-236 (selected questions)
Questions? Comments? Use our private Facebook group to connect…
Links to other pages in the Spiritual Self Defense textbook
Glossary & index (pages 285-289) | Answers to “Check your understanding” questions (pages 278-284) | Table of contents (pages 3-9) | About the author (page 290) | Cover page (page 1) | Copyright page (page 2) | How this book came to be (page 11) | How to get the most from this book (page 12) | Other books to explore (page 10)
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Next step after this course? Transformational prayer ministry training!.
