Paradigm Shift

This is a continuation of the my previous post: Paradigms. I could have made this into one blog but I try to keep them short…though I am thinking of writing a book at some point where I can go into further details about certain things.

Lets take a gander at Romans 8:28 which says

We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose. (AMP) (emphasis mine)

Many, me definitely included, tend to focus and perceive one thing going on in life. My paradigm can be paralyzed by my current perception due to the emotion I am feeling. Feeling, of course, are neutral, neither good nor bad but they point to something deeper. Emotions generally point out the roots.

I spoke to my dad a few nights ago and he gave me an eggcellent demonstration of paradigm and it goes perfectly with the above picture…get it now…eggcellent. He took an egg and turned it on its side and said you see a circle and that’s what you believe about it. The next person sees an oval and that’s what they believe about it. I though about that and I took it a step further and God sees the inside of the egg. God sees the inside or the good that comes from all things working together. Also in my previous blog I said how the Paradigms are locked into the soul and only by the spirit/Spirit can you step away and see it as it is. Last night I was talking to my wife about it and this scripture jumped into my mine which was 1 Corinthians 2:11 which says

For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man who is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.

So here we see that the spirit of a man is the part of us that can see the whole of us. This is why we must nurture and care for our spirit. I am currently reading Blessing Your Spirit by Arthur Burk and Sylvia Gunter. We nourish our bodies and souls but how many nourish their spirit? There is a difference between soul and spirit and that is clear in Scripture (see 1 Thess. 5:23, Heb. 4:12). We need to do as 2 Cor. 7:1 says

Therefore, since these [great] promises are ours, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that contaminates and defiles body and spirit, and bring [our] consecration to completeness in the [reverential] fear of God.

Our spirits can be crushed, defiled, wounded, captive, slumbering, etc. So without being nourished and healed we cannot properly see all things working together. So when I can only see the one thing happening without a proper heavenly/spirit perspective we get locked into our current emotional response because we are still in the soulish realm. I must indicate here that the soul/soulish realm is not demonic nor evil but a vehicle in which the spirit relates to the earthly realm along with the body being the agent by which we have authority on earth. Scripture even indicates that our souls should prosper (see 3 John 1:2).

The only way for our paradigms to shift is if our spirit is well enough to see all things working together. I believe our spirits are currently seated together in heavenly realms with Christ Jesus (see Eph. 2:6). We truly can see all things working together because it is possible due to the heavenly realm being outside of time where time is not relative and the eternal realm and unseen things are visible and can be relayed to our soul and walked out through our body.

So next time we see a thing happening, let us drop into our spirit to see all things working together for our good. As we are in the Spirit so let us walk after the Spirit aligning ourselves with all things working together instead of our current thing seemingly holding us back and keeping our paradigm paralyzed.

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Paradigms

In Wm. Paul Young’s book, The Shack, there is an interesting phrase

Paradigms power perception and perceptions power emotions. Most emotions are responses to perception – what you think is true about a given situation. If your perception is false, then your emotional response to it will be false too. So check your perceptions, and beyond that check the truthfulness of your paradigms – what you believe. Just because you believe something firmly doesn’t make it true. Be willing to reexamine what you believe.

How many of us question our paradigms? Do we realize how much our paradigms will filter the Scriptures we read and the situations we face? Paradigms give us an opinion on our past, response to our present, and an outlook on future possibilities.

Paradigm – a theory or a group of ideas about how something should be done, made, or thought about.

Paradigm Shift – a fundamental change in approach or underlying assumptions.

Paradigm Paralysis – the inability or refusal to see beyond the current models of thinking

Imagine a paradigm being a box with a hole it in and you are stuck in that box. It doesn’t matter the size of the box or the hole. There is only a limited viewpoint in which you can see things and you base all other things upon that one hole in that box. You could also relate this to only looking at something through a microscope or binoculars. Both are a part of the view but never the whole picture. More on this in the next post.

A more biblical word for paradigm is stronghold, which resides in the soul. The Greek is ochyrōma which means, anything on which one relies and of the arguments and reasonings by which a disputant endeavors to fortify his opinion and defend it against his opponent. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 says

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ

Paradigm = Strongholds

Our paradigms are formed by the sum of all our experiences molded by what we believe about them or what we are told to believe about them. We can usually tell what our paradigm are based upon the emotions we are feeling at the moment (I say usually because I don’t want to make a blanket statement). When I have a reaction emotionally from an external circumstance, I can then go to my perception to gauge why I feel that way and if I can discern my perception being wrong I must make a paradigm shift in order to pull down that current way of thinking. For instance, if I get in a discussion with my wife and she says something that I take wrong and get offended and feel shameful about I can then go to my perception of what she said and see, based on my paradigm, how/why I am believing a certain way about something. This is where our spirit/spirit man/inner man comes into play. Because we are three parts: spirit, soul, and body, I can, with my spirit, take what my soul is doing and look at it objectively or discerningly. Generally speaking, this can only be done if my spirit has been built up and nourished is some way. Originally we were spirit, soul, and body but after the Fall we live body, soul, and spirit until Christ came and reversed it back to the original intent of spirit, soul, and body. There are some that believe spirit and soul are the same but, according to scripture that is wrong in my opinion.

Back to my example. I, in that situation, can go along with the emotion and operate out of the reaction of my soul or I can choose to respond from my inner man who holds the complete Paradigm of God. I can stay in shame or offense easily if I’ve, first off never questioned my emotions, or my spirit is overcome with the soul. I used to, but still do sometimes, act like a defenseless animal in a cage meanwhile my spirit has opened the cage and offered freedom. What I have learned to do when I started reacting out of my soul or current paradigm is step back into my spirit and ask God to change my current paradigm or what I like to pray is, “Father God, father me in this area of my life where I have leaned on my own understanding instead of the Spirit and Your fullness and acknowledging You.” Doing this breaks me out of my box/shell/microscope/binoculars and shows me something else that is more true.

In my next post/blog/article/whatever you want to call it, I will talk about kind of the same thing…so stay tuned!