Introduction

What are the three critical keys to becoming an emotionally healthy, thriving disciple of Jesus? 

Mike and Chris begin a series called Thriving Disciples.

Hesed Network exists as a digital community committed to the creation and multiplication of emotionally healthy disciples and Christian communities.  

Week one of this teaching series will introduce three aspects of becoming an emotionally healthy, thriving disciple. The goal is to help others begin to understand and have clarity on learning how to live fully alive from the heart Jesus gave them, in the context of an emotionally healthy Christian community.  

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https://drive.google.com/file/d/13vwsMNQ9vfd632I49kIxPVB6T8MEjmbK/view?usp=sharing

Episode Transcription:

SPEAKERS

Michael Miller, Christopher Caputo

Christopher Caputo  00:00

Welcome to Hesed Network where we are people who partner with Jesus for the creation and multiplication of emotionally healthy disciples and Christian communities. Hesed, firesides are conversations designed to inspire, equip, and encourage you. My name is Chris Caputo. I'm one of the cofounders of Hesed Network. I'm joined today by my best friend and network co founder, Michael Miller.

Michael Miller  00:20

Yes. Ready to do discipleship? Love talking discipleship with you? Do some more. Yes.

Christopher Caputo  00:27

And you're not you're excited as well. Right. We cannot leave there.

Michael Miller  00:31

I am always excited.

Christopher Caputo  00:35

As we are heading into the we're knee deep in the fall season now Mike, where we live, it's finally showed up. The leads have turned they'll just start to fall off the tree a little bit in the lovely November of 2023. And, Mike, where are we going today? What are we talking about?

Michael Miller  00:51

Ooh, three critical keys to becoming emotionally healthy, thriving disciples of Jesus.

Christopher Caputo  00:58

Wow. Here we go. We're so you're getting

Michael Miller  01:01

longer sentences again.

Christopher Caputo  01:02

I know. What's that word? I've progressed, I have fallen away a little bit from the straight and narrow of short, pithy, mysterious idols. So you're just

Michael Miller  01:17

challenging me? That's all?

Christopher Caputo  01:19

Well, I, I guess, you know, I don't know. Why would people want to click it? If you put a vague thing? It's like, why would I want to watch that? So there's there's a minuses, right? I like it. Okay. All right, Mike. So three critical keys to becoming an emotionally healthy thriving disciples a very important subjects.

Michael Miller  01:38

So you're gonna set us up, though, right? You're not gonna go right for it. I know. That's not your way.

Christopher Caputo  01:42

Well, yeah, we'll do a little bit of Taylor. And we don't want to have ever come off with the impression that we have all the answers that these are the only keys. I mean, this is just what tried to make this very chewable bite size for you as a starting point, to begin to go on a journey, where if you build some of these things into your rhythm with some intentionality, it actually kind of comes back in a way we're having completely exorbitantly pours out the blessings of heaven, to the point where Mike, we're designed to flourish, we're designed to be we're ambassadors and citizens of heaven, where there is nothing but overflowing and flourishing. How do we access that on earth as it is in heaven? Well, we've discovered you and I, we're not young pups anymore, we're not. We're not on the complete back nine, but we're not on the front, the front nine, either a couple, a couple revolutions around the sun, we learn a thing or two. And we're always learning we're continuing to learn. So today, we want to talk about three things, of someone that is able to step into a lifestyle with Jesus, we like to say, with our with, you know, we are part of has said discipleship, and our co founders, but we're also we're church planters, to Mike, we have our people that we we serve and we ministered to, and we equip and we train and release them into the fullness of their destiny. And there's some trainings that we provide for them that we want to share with our audience, we want to give you guys some access to some of this because it's important, so everything God's given to us, we're to freely give it away to you. So in a sense, the three keys we're going to talk about, we're gonna talk about only one of them, kind of concentrate a little bit more on one of them today, do a bit of bit of bit of an overview, and then move into the others as we move throughout the month. So the first one, Mike, is clarity. So I'll do I'll do a little flyover and we'll come back to clarity. Clarity is basically if you think of it, if you were to put three keys to unlock the door, to moving into a thriving lifestyle with Christ, in the context of an emotionally healthy spiritual community. We believe that it's clarity is number one, and we'll talk about that. Number two is having covenants. So there's three C's, number one is clarity, number two is covenant, or covenant relationships. And then number three is your commission. The mission God has given to you from heaven to coalition means to come into an agreement to work together with Christ with the assignment he's given to you, to fulfill the destiny God has prepared for you. Before the foundation of the report long before we even born. God has a tailor made customized pathway for each one of us to step into that. And Mike, what we also come to realize is actually it's in that story, the fullness of Christ comes out to live on Earth as he is in heaven. It has to happen to the hearts through our stories through the hearts to that to the narrative that he put on our hearts, but we're not gonna go too far into that today. Mike coming back to clarity a little bit. What are some of your initial thoughts on that?

Michael Miller  04:54

Well, the fact that you're mentioning clarity tells me that that there's a lot of confusion or overwhelm, blindness, a lot of things that are preventing people from actually seeing who they truly are, or the things that God has for them. So that's the first thing that comes to mind when you say

Christopher Caputo  05:11

that. Yeah, and we where we kind of start, there's there's kind of there's three keys, but within within this first, a key, there's actually three parts to it. So there's three pieces to that key. And the first one we talk about, is personnel. You mentioned blindness. Well, we like to say sometimes, so often, we can get so easily offended. We have stuff that's done to us in life. If you've been a human for more than five minutes, you realize this, that the world is not perfect. And you have to learn how to steward some of that stuff. And how do we live like Christ? How do we not live in enemy mode? How do we, how do we see people through the eyes of Jesus right, actually see people through the eyes of Jesus, we're back to sight again. So well, we believe it's very important for you to have a tool or some kind of process, something that for you, where you can do some what we call self examination. So essentially, we've used the scripture where that verse talks about before you take the speck out of your brother's eye, and we point the finger, how do we take the log in the plank, or sometimes we effectually make jokes at plank ministries, like you're sitting there, like, some kind of bashing people around and you're correcting them and all that stuff. And yet, you can't even see some of the foolishness of some of that I'll speak for myself, personally, I've been self such a fool for so many decades, in areas of my life. And also Mike, there's aspects where these patterns kind of keep happening over and over over again, where there's certain areas that really break my heart, certain areas of family, certain areas of work, economics, professional business, relationships, in my marriage, relationships with my parents relate. And it's like the certain aspects of life where I don't act like myself on a regular basis, and the blessings of the Lord are not flowing freely. And I don't understand why. And all I want to do is point my finger, and I want to get upset. Now, this isn't a podcast on bitterness unnecessarily, that that could be an aspect of you could just be really frustrated, you can be really overwhelmed living in anxiety. And that's not our inheritance, Mike, we're not meant to live from that place. So I guess what we're trying to say is, is that, you know, the first part of the key to clarity is personal clarity. It's having a self examination process, where you're able to get honest with yourself, you're really as best as you can, you have some kind of way you have some kind of tool, you have some kind of thing that you're able to to like examine the evidence and to see things for what it is. Okay. And I think I'll just get any thoughts on that Mike? As

Michael Miller  07:46

forwardable? Yeah, well, I think part of what I'm hearing well, not not you didn't necessarily say it. But we know with trauma, there's the lack of good things, there's the the bad things that happened to us. And I think in those things, we can often have bitterness or offense grow, not even realize it a lot of times how deep it goes. And, and so we have to work through, you know, like, forgiveness or repentance on things where we're, it takes the blinders off in a sense, and and if we don't, we can, we can have a lot of misconceptions about things where we're not seeing things rightly, because of the offense and the bitterness. Where we were we don't have equity in our heart because we're, we're having these offenses to people in different situations, we can even have offense to certain aspects of the word where we don't even understand the word correctly, because of the things that that we're we're positioned in our heart. So that's, that's what I was thinking of, as you're speaking that.

Christopher Caputo  08:49

Yeah. And there's also the other aspect that those are more the overt actions, the better part is apart from responses of the wounds of life, how do we how do we steward those and then also, there's almost I actually was talking to a friend yesterday, he has someone that's with him in his life, and also in a work situation. And the guy just keeps kind of making the same mistakes over and over he's and he's not even aware of it. Like there's like almost like, a blindness Nicanor wareness of he doesn't even know that he doesn't know that this thing. And he doesn't see the fruits of the stuff that's being produced by the actions he's taken. And there's been multiple conversations to try to bring healthy correction discipline, where now this really can cost this person professionally in ways that's like, Oh, my God, it's heartbreaking. And he just doesn't see it. He just doesn't get it or your relationships with others where no matter are, you're in a spouse and you keep trying to tell your spouse, honey, this, I need this, this needs to happen. And the spouse and I'll speak for men, mostly because we're a little more slower to the uptake at least I'll speak for myself personally, Mike, you know, really responding to the needs of people. And I just don't get it and some of that may be trauma informed. Some of that being like I didn't get what I didn't get. So we always want to exam I'm in, we want to do a self examination, it's like we can either blame someone else. We can be kind of narcissistic in our tendencies to kind of point the fingers and be defensive. Or we can say, You know what, Lord, talk to me. We want I want it, I want to have a process when he will, I can get really honest and clear about this as best you can. All right. So that's first. Yeah. Yeah,

Michael Miller  10:18

I'll just say real quickly to that there's a scripture that comes to mind that will actually help you get clarity to what you're talking about here. Yeah. Because I found this. I was just loving going into this this morning as Second Timothy two, and it's 24 through 26. And it says, and a servant of Lord must not must not quarrel. So there's an aspect of what we were just talking about. But be gentle to all able to teach patient in humility, correcting those who are in opposition. And then this is where it gets really good. It's all good. But this is where I was a key of interest, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth. So there's got to be something that we're dealing with in the heart to be led further into truth. And that they may come to their senses. So I was looking at that for for come to their senses. And an aspect of that word is recover self. Like, like gaining your true identity because of your heart changing and escape the snare of the devil. So there's the confusion that he's been creating in us because of these, these connections we've had with the wrong things. Having been taken captive by him to do his will. So I think some of that will play out and some of the things we're

Christopher Caputo  11:39

talking about. Yeah, actually, it says it's a wonderful prelude to the three parts to the clarity stuff with a thriving disciple. Number one, there aren't they tried to be as honest with themselves about the condition of their heart. And things don't always go the way as much as they try. We try our best, we fall short. Let's get honest about it. Let's examine it. But that's not enough. Mike, this here's what we cover, we go on to part two, where is the narrative and story of Jesus in that situation? So in other words, the key See, we've been in inner healing ministries, and we're like, Okay, we're gonna heal the memories, we're gonna this trauma, God's gonna heal trauma, really, if we're to boil it down on a simple, simple, simple concept. If you're not pay attention, if you're watching this right now, once you really hear me on this, God does not heal our memories. What he does is he completes the memory. It's the narrative. It's like you read a story in the article, and they leave out one little detail at the end, that would change the whole context of the rest of the story. When Jesus's narrative gets into the end of that narrative of that self examination of that situation that you are continuing to kind of spin and on a regular basis, well, you know what? The problem, Mike, is that when we end up getting in trouble, or we don't know how to do something, because we don't know, or we're dull, or we're just asleep, or we don't get it? Well, it's like we can't see we can't find the menu. Well, Emanuel, the name means God with us. Where was Jesus? In these situations present or past that we need our shepherds voice? We need to hear the tender voice of our beautiful Jesus, to be able to speak, to give us clarity, to be able to say, oh, that's where you were, you weren't absent. You weren't missing. You weren't there all sadistic hoping that all this torturous stuff would happen to me? Or why didn't you interfere with and allow these things to happen? He brings like total, so you get the facts when you're doing it yourself, just the facts. But here you get truth. All the data and the facts lead to the truth. And the truth is what matters the most. Because that's the most important narrative narrative here. So the second part, Mike, and I'll let you kind of respond to that. Number one, we're discovering as best we can by being as honest and humble and transparent. Number two, Jesus, what are you saying to me in that situation? Because I, you are my rock. It's your word that matters the most. And I need to stand on it. Talk to me. What do you think and like?

Michael Miller  14:08

Well, I'm thinking of like, My sheep hear my voice. So yeah, like, that's important. But but I've also worked, spent a lot of time with people who are hearing other voices as well, which gets the confusion going, right. And then there's some condemnation that's coming in there. They're trying to discern these things. It's all the more important that we have trusted people around us that can help us see things a little differently can speak truth to us and, and validate us in what we're feeling and begin to bring bring us into our true self. So yeah, that just came to mind there.

Christopher Caputo  14:41

And that will actually hit next week more. That's part of the the second part of the process of covenant relationships, right that we have a more of Jesus through people. Absolutely no question about it.

Michael Miller  14:50

I was jumping ahead again,

Christopher Caputo  14:52

I know it's okay. We actually had in our pregame warmups, we talked about that a little do that. We're working on our process with that which is great that you're so sighted, right? And at the same time, Mike so part one self gets into the truth as best you can by yourself. Number two, just go find truth in his name is Jesus in that situation? And then once you have that as best as you can, now sometimes like people maybe watch this Well, Chris, it's in the Word of God, yes, we're talking about the scriptures. But we're also talking about the rhema word of God, we're talking about a Holy Spirit, who was our counselor, when He ascended to heaven, he said, I'm going to send a helper to you, a counselor, a comforter, who reveal all things of me, who will be the spirit of truth. So that is who we're talking about, ladies and gentlemen, there's lots of resources reach out to us at support. At Hesed discipleship network.com, there are a number of ministries that actually do a really good job training in this however, we just want to be clear, Mike, that it's important to have Jesus come into that narrative to complete it, which brings healing, and clarity. Whoo. Okay, so good. Next, finally. So as we're kind of winding this thing down a little bit. The third part of this is when we are stuck back here and we keep spinning round and round. There's all these consequences and negative things that keep happening. And we're not we don't know where the voice of Jesus is whose truth guess what, there's this this person called the devil who's a liar, right? And sometimes he and what happens is when we hit when we get influenced by things other than Jesus, it can be our own thoughts, which is sometimes can be pretty scary unto itself in certain areas. But what if the sound of the enemy sounds like our voice to and it's comes in a whisper and then we start to agree with it. And then we start making more agreements and we need something to hold on to make that make sense in the flesh, that can ward off pain and trauma that can we can try and muscle through some things in a way that's not really quite biblical. It's not really in alignment with the the plumb line of heaven of righteousness. And I'm not saying you're filthy, Rotten Scoundrels going to hell, because you're a rotten senator. That's not we're saying, the blood of Christ covers us. We are attached to him. He loves us, but the enemy doesn't play fair. He's a HUD winker, he kills, steals, destroys Mike and those things where we have certain aspects, certain fruits, certain rhythms, certain things that continue to happen over and over again, there may be something else to it, Mike, we also take say this too, usually multi generationally, there may have been decisions and choices made from long time ago from our ancestors, and they entered into some besetting sins, Mike, and I know in a scientific community with with canned stuff getting passed on medical history, alcoholism, addiction, like all this stuff, that's not good because we live in a fallen world can get passed on by the choices that our forefathers have made. Okay? And we call it generational bondage. We call it something that the enemy he's he's, he's, he seen our great, great, great, great grandfather do the same thing hundreds of years ago. He's like, Oh, this is easy. I'm gonna a little bait out there, I'm going to get Mike and Chris the trip into that, to to get out of alignment with God's will in their life of that area. And then I get a chance to pounce on them. Because he's a liar. He's a lion looking to devour. And of course, we're on our own. We're not in some kind of community, normally, when we're dealing with stuff, so it's the animal that's off of the beaten path by himself that the lion can that's that's where the lions surround and kill those those animals that are on their own. They just surround them and swallow them up. So. So Mike, they're also I guess what I'm saying they want to hear from you. There needs to be some protocol in your life, there needs to be some process where you're able to tear up the legal agreements. You didn't mean to do this. Maybe you were a child, and you didn't know any better. And the question you asked was, well, where's God and all of this, because if he loved me, he would have done XYZ. So normally, what we'll do is we'll turn to someone else or ourselves, to get the power to work through this stuff, and it's not from heaven, Mike, that's a problem. And some of you watching this, that may be a scary thought, I'm telling you, but I'm telling you, the enemy is a good attorney. He knows the laws. And he knows when he can have access to you, because of the doorways that we open up because it's happened for generations. Mike, what do you think of Mike? Laying a whole lot of stuff there? This is new.

Michael Miller  19:18

Well, what you just said is one of those keys right? When When, when he's after us to steal, kill and destroy it. The hardest part is when we don't know what he's doing. We can't see it. But, but like, I think of David who asked the Lord to search out his heart, right? Like, like, when we do that when we're willing, he'll shine the light on these things so that we so they're exposed so we can work through them. And that's where we begin to see so much healing happened. Because because we're I mean, that was one of the things that David had a heart after God, right. Like if we have that and we're willing to be looked at and searched out. But God's willing to just like, help us get rid of all these hidden things that we're unaware of. And that's that's the key, though. I think that of what I was hearing you say,

Christopher Caputo  20:11

Yeah, we're not going to diagnose King David. I mean, like, God, we know what he said about him, right? But like, right, I would imagine, I'm just gonna speculate like, he grew up, he was rejected as a boy. And then he had a family and marriage and his marriages weren't going to grade and God knows and the pressure of running XYZ, is that, you know, he was listening to something, and someone that led him to do some things that was in play there. I mean, I totally because he used to minister to Saul and the evil spirits would leave so even back then, this was a reality, Mike. But anyway, we're not going to talk about King David today. But I guess what we're trying to say is, is that, you know, someone who's, but anyway, I guess the hidden and David's response and repentance, and and freedom that happened for him was he, but also, the New Testament has a lot to say about spiritual warfare has a lot to say a war is not against flesh and blood but against principalities, rulers, authorities, in Wicked and heavenly places. Okay, so our battle, there's a real live battle here. But here's the thing, like you mentioned that we need to kind of shine a light where the enemy hides out in the darkness. And we can tell by the patterns, right, and even Jesus who speaks to us reveals truth, that there are forces in play that are assigned to us that we got to be really aware of and open our eyes to this reality. My goes into three phases of the first key. So have a process to check your heart exam and to get to the truth. Yeah, go and talk to Jesus who is truth that can complete that narrative to find healing, and then know how to resist. So here's our verse for the day on that. Resist, draw near to God, He will draw near to resist the devil and he will flee. That means you put up a stop and you say, No, get away. I'm out of here. Father, Jesus, I need you now. Come to me and bring wholeness and Shalom to my heart. So Mike, with that, we're gonna give you the last word on that.

Michael Miller  22:04

No, that's awesome. That's a great ending right there. I love that. Love you, buddy. Love you too.