Psalm 49 - No Need to Fear

Death eludes no one. We may not enjoy thinking about death, but unless we grasp its reality, we will fail at life.

Psalm 49 does well to help us fight off fear of the triumph of bad fortune. The rich and poor alike will someday no longer physically exist on the earth. The smart and stupid alike will face the grave. The beautiful and not so beautiful will see the same fate. The foolish fail to recognize the futility of earthly gains in wealth, power, pleasure, and prestige, but the wise surrender to God’s supreme authority.

We do not have to fear even the tyrants who are bent on destruction   They too will soon pass. We also do not have to fear the loss of beauty, position, and reputation, when our trust is in God Almighty. He is our protection and provision. Our heavenly Father looks out for us far better than we can even look out for ourselves. The Psalmist puts it this way,

“So why should I fear in bad times,
    hemmed in by enemy malice,
Shoved around by bullies,
    demeaned by the arrogant rich?

Really! There’s no such thing as self-rescue,
    pulling yourself up by your bootstraps.
The cost of rescue is beyond our means,
    and even then it doesn’t guarantee

Life forever, or insurance
    against the Black Hole.”  (Psalm 49:3-9: The Message)

 

There is One who came to rescue. Jesus is our Refuge. Jesus conquered sin and death, and now lives to bring us into eternal safety.  “But me? God snatches me from the clutch of death, he reaches down and grabs me” (Psalm 49:15; The Message). The Bible shows us that Jesus conquered death once and for all. When we trust in Jesus for our salvation from this earthly mess, death no longer has its hold on us. We can live in the security of Father’s house, eternally, starting right now.  To find out more about how Jesus did this, read 1 Corinthians 15:50-57. 

            A phrase repeated throughout the Bible is “fear not.”  Jesus himself often spoke this command to his closest disciples. When God is near, we have nothing to fear. When Jesus is Refuge, our security is huge. When Holy Spirit is leading, on green grass we are feeding. Faith drives out fear. Let faith arise. Faith arrives, and fear disappears, the more we focus on the heavenly in place of the earthly things.  

When it looks like the grave may be the end of it all, we do well to heed Christ’s words recorded by Luke, “straighten up, and lift your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28). Because God is near, there is no need to fear. If we are surrendered to him, we are secure in Refuge.

by Ed Hersh, Blue Rock BnB Healing Ministry

Cognitive Distortion

    There are a number of deficiencies, discrepancies, disconnections, and discombobulations in our thinking processes that field of psychology refers to as cognitive distortions. A cognitive distortion is a thought that is not based in reality. Thoughts not based in reality create false assumptions, mis=perceptions, and inaccurate beliefs.  False beliefs and lie-based thinking can take many forms.

 

    Our thoughts are powerful things. What we choose to allow ourselves to think about determines our feelings and behaviors that influence future outcomes. Have you ever been fooled by an optical illusion? Sometimes what we “see” isn’t the reality, but only a superficial representation. In a similar way that optical illusions misshape our visual perceptions, we can develop mind illusions that can mis-shape our mental perceptions. We can sometimes develop subconscious patterns of thinking that do not match up with reality. Our brain can fool us into thinking something that is not actually true. When untrue or twisted thoughts are repeated, they form inaccurate, unhealthy, or even dangerous patterns  

 

Examples:

· All-or-nothing thinking – Everything is thought of in terms of black or white extremes. It omits balanced perspectives. Thinking goes like, “I won’t go to the doctor for help to treat my sickness, because all doctors are bad.”

· Over-generalizing  - One negative experience or interaction is overlaid onto the entire relationship or situation. Thinking is, “John/ Jane doesn’t love me,” when their spouse does something by accident that irritates them  Or, it could involve jumping to conclusions by thinking about quitting a job after a boss corrects a small detail for improvement.

· Minimizing or magnifying – Making too light of good things and dwelling on bad things to much. This could be thinking of yourself as unworthy of a compliment someone gives you (after a job well done), or falling apart emotionally when someone says something bad about you.

· Mind reading – This is assuming something negative about a person or situation without a confirmation of truth. This might look like assuming a friend is ignoring you at a party, without finding out why they are preoccupied for a legitimate reason.

· Disaster predicting – Fortune telling of events toward the negative. This is about thinking in worst case scenarios like concern for losing a job following an excellent review. Or it could be worrying about losing a close friend over a small disagreement.

· Catastrophizing – This is the proverbial “making a mountain out of a mole hill.” A small mistake becomes an insurmountable problem.

· Emotional reasoning - This amounts to feeling being allowed to rule, feelings leading over facts, or grossly confusing feelings for thoughts. This may explain how  a person abandons a relationship with a friend or family member because they didn’t “feel heard,” or “feel understood.” It may also explain abandonment of a successful job or business venture simply because it didn’t “feel right.”

· Consuming regrets – Dominated by would’a, could’a, should’a scenarios.  Focused on stories in the past for which nothing can profit the future. This is staying stuck on past event (perhaps an accident that could have seemingly been avoided) which steals vision and hope for the future.

· Victim – Thoughts creating a victim mindset. This can develop into oversensitivity in feelings of impoverishment, underprivilege, or being part of an oppressed class of people. Common losses in life are turned into one of two extremes; inward to perpetual self-pity, or outward toward aggression (eg. when an abused person becomes an abuser).

· Labeling – Stereotyping is common expression of this distortion. This is unnecessarily categorizing another person (or yourself) by singling out an unwelcomed characteristic. You then overlay your assumptions and perceptions onto interactions with other people (or yourself) to “confirm” negative traits like unintelligent, awkward, disrespectful, or unloving.

· Personalizing – This is taking things personal without an objective reason. This is when you take on too much responsibility for another person’s negative reaction(s).

· Projecting – This is transferring thoughts from memories of negative experiences in the past. It may present in things like difficulties relating to a person of the opposite sex because of repeated ill-treatment by people of that sex in earlier years.

· Over-spiritualizing – This is when God is used as a rationalization for something inconsistent with the Bible or common sense of morality. It may look like “God told me __x__” being used to justify something others may find disagreeable. Yes God speaks, but people’s mental processing sometimes distorts God’s speech.

· Trauma-related – Irrational thinking may sometimes accompany the initial impact of a traumatic event. The initial distortion is normal, as it reflects the brain’s function in trying to suddenly deal with “abnormal” circumstances. But much later, getting stuck in the grieving process of the loss in tragedy, it may become a problem. This could be unintentional unawareness of a state of denial for example, or an intentional remaining stuck as part of a victim role.

· Defying logic – This is a sort of “catch all” for twisted thoughts not fitting in categories above. It may also be irrational thinking for the sake of being wreckless or contrarian can become dangerous. This may include vindictive thoughts or thoughts meant to harm themselves or someone else.

 

Thinking patterns create outcomes of behavior and habits for an individual’s interacting with other people. Distorted thinking may shape a person’s expectations for other people to think and see their world, to match their own distortions. Instead of healthy differentiation, they seek to control. They think everyone should think with the same distortions, and agree with them in the same distorted conclusions they have drawn. They impose a distortion(s) on others’ minds. For example, this happens when a third party is involved, and a person distorts (misinterprets) the failure of  Friend A’s failure to say hello as disrespectful when they entered a room, and then gets mad at Friend B who doesn’t agree that disrespect was shown by Friend A’s actions (irregardless of the fact that Friend A had an emergency situation to deal with).

Another example of how a person can impose distorted thinking on another, is with mind reading. This can occur when a person takes offense at a relatively small unintentional action from a friend or family member, and then expects the “offender” should have known that would have hurt them. Refusing to reconcile (try to make things right) without the perceived offense being recognized and confessed to, without the distorter thinker telling them what caused the offense, is an irrational expectation.  Most conflict in relationships is caused by one or both parties’ distorted thinking.  

     Cognitive distortion is a huge topic, and more than can be discussed here.  I recently encountered two books each devoting a chapter to the topic, for reading more about cognitive distortions.  One Is Frank Viola’s Hang On, Let Go: What to Do When Your Dreams Are Shattered and Life Is Falling Apart, and the other is Debra Fileta’s Are You Really OK?.

A common thread running through these distortions is overthinking. Getting too much into the mind, and not acknowledging the heart, leads to cognitive constipation. Knowing the “why,” and knowing the right things is not enough. However,  “distorted knowing” (believing the wrong things) can be even more destructive. This condition can contribute to a wall (barrier) that keeps the heart from being able to receive truth.  Cognitive distortions are usually the raw material for bitterness and condemning judgments. They happen frequently. and sometimes so automatically, we rarely notice until we intentionally trace the “fruit” (behavior) to the “root” (thinking and feeling). The way to combat these distortions of healthy thinking is to focus on truth. Getting to the root of things and focusing on truth are topics I address in other articles.

    May we be honest enough with ourselves to, first, admit that our own thinking is not always free of distortions. Secondly, may we yield to an inner transformation process that intentionally thinks and acts based on truth and not falsehood. “Surely You desire integrity in the inner self, and You teach me wisdom deep within” (Psalm 51:6). The Psalmist recognizes this as wise, and part of our Creator’s desire.

by Ed Hersh, Blue Rock BnB Healing Ministry

Knowing Is Not Enough

Some things we know we should stop doing, we do.  And some things we know we should start doing, we do not do.  Having knowledge, for example, that eating processed foods and consuming sugar is bad for our health, doesn’t automatically translate into nutritious cooking and refraining from too many desserts.   Knowing the value of physical exercise doesn’t make it an intentional regular practice.  Knowing it’s wrong to slander another person doesn’t guarantee an offended person will not speak unkind words to others about their offender.   Knowing that bitterness and resentment cause destruction of body and soul, doesn’t mean we will choose to surrender condemning  judgment  and extend forgiveness for the path to freedom.  Having knowledge of right, doesn’t keep us out of wrong. 

Without going into a deep discussion of the brain science behind this truth, let’s look at a brief explanation.  Psychiatrist Timothy Jennings has some great explanations in his books,  “The God-Shaped Brain,” and “The God-Shaped Heart.”  Dr. Jennings uses computer function to  illustrate how the mind, heart, and brain operate in the human being.   As a former IT professional myself, and now as a counselor, I see the value of making these terms clear in our understanding.  Let me say too that no illustration is a perfect match to reality.  God created people.  Man created computers.  In no way am I suggesting that computer engineering comes anywhere close to God’s ways and workings.  

The human brain and the physical aspects of the nervous system are like the hardware components of the computer.  The human mind (cognitive functioning) can be likened to the software programs that run the various applications that process the data. The human heart is likened to the core operating system (OS) of the computer.   The OS is a form of software also, but it must interface with both the hardware and the application software running on top of it.  The heart (operating system) of a person is essential to the integrity of function of the whole person.  Without the operating system between the hardware and the applications, each could not function. 

To illustrate a bit further,  the mind can be thought of as our willpower, intellect, consciousness, senses, and sensory feelings.   The heart can be thought of as the personal spirit, deeper feelings and emotions,  creativity, curiosity, imagination, intuition, masculinity or femininity, spontaneity, gifts, and talents.   Our heart is our core identity.  Our heart defines who we are as a person.  Our heart performs the operations connecting the physical bodily systems with the mind’s cognitive interpretations of the external world. The external world environment is the data. The data spring from environmental conditions, flow through the mind into the heart, and on to memory storage in the brain.  The data stored in memory also flow the other direction out of the brain, through the heart and mind and become forms of interactions with the external environment.  These exchanges create the reality of our world.  Our speech and actions are a direct result of our thinking and memory processing. 

One of the reasons the teachings of Jesus focused on the heart is to help people understand that their internal condition determines their speech and behavior.  In fact, he pointed out on many occasions. how mere knowledge of the law (rules), without a compassionate heart, actually keeps people in physical and spiritual poverty.  An example of this is when he healed people on the Sabbath (see Luke 13:10-17).  

Mark’s gospel records the words of Jesus, “Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him,  because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and []is eliminated?” (Thus He declared all foods clean)  And He was saying, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man.  For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, []fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries,  deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, [envy, slander, []pride and foolishness.  All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man” (Mark 7:18-23).   Luke’s gospel also makes the point good things also originate in the heart.  “The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart”  (Luke 6:45).

The writer of Proverbs says, “As in water face reflects face, so a man’s heart reveals the man’ (Proverbs 27:19).  The data coming out of a computer merely reveals what was put in and how it was processed.  So to the speech and actions of a person reveals their background, core beliefs, and world view.  A person’s life experiences from day one are the data going in.   How the person responds to his world in the present is determined by the sum total of past experiences (ie. previous processing by the mind and heart).  Hence, the processing we do in our heart, both determines who we are, and who we are becoming.    That’s why the Proverb says, “Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23).  For more on guarding the heart see my article http://authoredhersh.blogspot.com/2020/08/guard-your-heart.html .  

A person may be super intelligent, or be trained in the best schools and practices, and still engage in behaviors that destroy his life.  I see this pattern in my counseling many times.  A person cannot kick a bad habit or addiction with mere  knowledge of its destructive power. 

God created man with a heart that reflected his Creator to perfection.  The Creator’s image has a unique stamp in every individual’s heart since the beginning of time.  That is the good part of a person’s heart.  But with the first man, Adam and Eve, the virus of sin introduced a bad part into the heart.  The virus implanted a stamp that also broke the heart of every individual since the beginning of time.  Our fractured hearts must reckon not only with the good, but also the bad parts as well.  All sorts of data processing failures make us vulnerable to bad data going in (believing lies), and bad data coming out (false assumptions, corrupted opinions, bad decisions, and condemning judgments).  This brokenness is automatic and only has one reliable solution.  

The solution is Jesus Christ.   Jesus is the only way to fix the inherently broken parts of  our hearts.    He came to earth about 2,000 years ago to reveal God in the form of a human.   Believing in Jesus begins a re-programming of our operating system. Our hearts are made new (2 Corinthians 5:17).  As we surrender and assimilate to the re-coding in our heart, our mind is renewed (see Romans 12:1-2) to respond to life more in keeping with our original design.  In our original whole condition, we live in the Truth (God’s reality).   The more we can operate in truth (in sync with original design), the more free we are to become the person we were created to be.  

However, merely knowing about the virus, and knowing that Jesus removes it, remains as data in a memory bank unless further action is taken.  Question--Why is knowing the truth not enough?  Answer--Because knowing doesn’t automatically translate into obedience.  Faith in Christ is demonstrated by practicing Christ’s teaching (truth), not merely understanding the concepts. 

God is a personal God, not a concept.  Truth is found through relationship (with God), not religion (about God).   Jesus makes this clear in the following two verses.  “Jesus told the people who had faith in him, “If you keep on obeying what I have said, you truly are my disciples.  You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free“ (John 8:31-32; CSV).   Many people quote the second verse without the conditional first verse, and their interpretation becomes the exact opposite of the truth.  Increasing knowledge of concepts of Christ’s teaching, without fully engaging the practice of the concepts, is a little like trying to run an app designed for an Android device, on an Apple device.   The software may be designed to perfection, but if it isn’t run on the OS it’s designed for, it is practically worthless. 

            I could share many examples from my own life and the lives of those I’ve ministered to, where not following God’s instructions (not applying Christ’s teaching) has caused great loss.  A miracle by definition, is a supernatural intervention.  If we choose to rely on our strength and willpower (natural realm), we can miss the everyday miracles (supernatural realm) God desires for us to participate in. 

In my own life, I have been forced to reckon with this through limited physical eye sight.  Due to an injury at birth, both optic nerves were damaged to the extent of legal blindness.  A major limitation is not seeing well enough to obtain a driver’s license.  This puts me in situations of need for transportation.  Print material, signage, videos, and other visual content are often inaccessible, so alternative formats are necessary to obtain information.  I have learned that God’s provision may come in an unexpected means of travel or in computer software that enlarges the screen for readability.  Sometimes too, by allowing drivers to give me a ride, they share in God’s blessing for helping someone in need.  If I were to demand from God 20/20 (normal) eyesight, I would miss opportunities for God to meet my needs in unconventional, and often miraculous ways.  The loss created by damaged vision is overcome by believing and applying the truth that “my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19; NASB).     

Jesus performed many physical healings when he was on earth, and still does today as well.  The ones recorded in the Bible almost always have a spiritual application associated with them.  One of my personal favorites is in John 9 where Jesus restored a blind man’s sight and then exclaimed, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind”  (John 9:39; NASB).  Again, God’s reality is not born out of what we know and see, but through becoming “blind” to what we know and see, so that we can see into a spiritual reality.  Knowing is not enough.  In fact, knowing may create “blindness” to knowing more. of what we should be seeing.

The miracle of forgiveness is another example of applying Christ’s teaching to know the truth that sets one free.   True forgiveness occurs in the heart as defined by Jesus (see  Matthew 18:35).  Also see the article Big Debt Forgiven at:  http://authoredhersh.blogspot.com/2017/04/big-debt-forgiven.html

As noted above, sin implanted a virus in the heart that can only be removed through the salvation power of Jesus.  Our natural tendency to hold bitterness, resentment, and blame causes sin at the heart level, not just with our actions.  This is evidenced by the verses quoted above from Mark 7:18-23.  Since sin is at the heart level, repentance must be at the heart level.  Repenting of the ill-gotten attitudes, assumptions, decisions, conclusions, and condemning judgments that caused our sinful reactions, releases the miracle to be possible.   Surrendering to God the right to be Judge puts the heart in position to once again operate as originally designed.  Forgiving from the heart is not a decision based on mental faculties (knowledge) alone, but includes decision to cooperate with God’s decisions for justice in the offensive situation. 

Applying Christ’s teaching to everything we experience in life keeps us in the truth.  Seeing God in truth, seeing ourselves in truth, and seeing other people in truth keeps our immune system strong.  A healthy immune system is the best way to stay free of the virus of sin that would aim to keep us sick.  Again, building and guarding our spiritual immune system is vital. Time alone in God’s presence is similar to running a good anti-virus software protection for the computer’s core functions.   Keeping to regular times of rest and soul downtime also serve like an intentional “reboot,” to clear the clogs and unnecessary background processing. 

When things are not going well, instead of trying to figure out what is going wrong, it is far better to focus on applying God’s instructions and ways of operation more closely.  The Bible is the best source.  Also see other articles on this blog site on transformation from the inside out.  

 

by Ed Hersh, Blue Rock BnB Healing Ministry