Turn Your Cat Around

In one paragraph

Amanda Lack brought part five of the "Turn the Cat Around" series, the ongoing teaching about recalibrating your heart and life to line up with what God's word says. Rather than looking at a Bible character whose cat got turned the wrong way, she took a proactive angle: how does the cat get turned in the first place, and what can you do to stop it before it happens? The message closed with an...

Read together

1. John 8:32 opening anchor verse: the truth will set you free
2. 1 John 2:15-17 do not love the world nor the things it offers
3. Philippians 4:8 guidebook for being a good gatekeeper of what you think on
4. Genesis 3:1 the serpent's half-truth to Eve about eating the fruit
5. Revelation 12:9 Satan is the deceiver of the whole world
6. 2 Corinthians 11:14 Satan disguises himself as an angel of light
7. John 10:10 the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy
8. John 8:44 the devil is a liar and the father of lies
9. Revelation 3:15 Jesus rebukes the lukewarm, neither hot nor cold
10. Numbers 15:30 those who brazenly violate the Lord's will must be cut off
11. Isaiah 5:20-21 woe to those who call evil good and good evil
12. Matthew 24:12 sin will be rampant and the love of many will grow cold
13. Revelation 22:12-15 the cost of disobedience and who may enter the kingdom
14. Isaiah 5 God's vineyard and the removal of the hedge of protection
15. Genesis 1:27 God made us male and female in his image
16. Jeremiah 17:9 our hearts deceive us above all else
17. Colossians 3:5 kill the evil desires and animal impulses in you
18. Romans 12 do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by renewing your mind
19. 1 John 1:5-9 God is light, confess your sins and he is faithful to forgive
20. Isaiah 10:27 the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing

What was said

• Pick one area where you know your habits do not line up with what God's word says, name it plainly, and confess it to him this week rather than softening what it is.
• Find one person at Tribe you trust and tell them something the Holy Spirit has been convicting you about, so it comes into the light and loses its power.
• Run what you are letting in through your eyes and ears this week against Philippians 4:8, and cut out one thing that does not pass that test.
• When a half-truth or a rationalisation starts forming in your mind or your mouth, stop and ask the Holy Spirit whether it is fully true before you say it.
• Invite one person to the Easter celebration at the fairgrounds on April 9, especially someone who needs to hear who Jesus is.

Talk about it

1. Amanda talked about being a good gatekeeper of what we let in through our eyes, ears, and imagination. What does that look like practically in your own daily life, and where do you find it hardest to hold that line?
2. Lanisha shared that she had been believing lies about herself, including that she was not worthy and could not be healed, and that repenting of those lies was part of her healing. Have you ever thought of believing a lie about yourself as something to repent of? What shifts for you when you consider it that way?
3. Amanda drew a distinction between compromise in a human relationship, where meeting in the middle is healthy, and compromising God's standards, where it is not. Where in your own life have you caught yourself picking the scriptures that feel comfortable and quietly setting aside the ones that challenge you?
4. Several people shared stories of prayers that were not answered the way they expected, or not when they expected it. Nancy's son Jordan went through years of ear surgeries before he was healed. What has waiting on God cost you, and what has it taught you?
5. Brian closed by saying that staying in your seat and not responding to the Holy Spirit is not a neutral stance, it is a choice not to be free. What is one specific area where you sense the Holy Spirit has been nudging you to turn your cat around, and what has been stopping you from acting on that?