Calling Your Bluff

1. The fallacies we believe are building blocks of the Mental Prisons we inhabit.

2. To keep you from continually harming yourself, Jesus is willing to hurt your feelings.
Luke 9:59 Jesus said, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."

60 Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
61 Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family."
62 Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."

3. How do you think Jesus should respond to Mental Prisons we’ve constructed?
Matthew 25:23 "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!"

24 "Then the man who had received the one talent came. "Master," he said, "I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.
25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you."
26 "His master replied, "You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?
27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have
received it back with interest
30 Throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.


3 questions to reflect on:
1. Do you know of anyone who excuses behavior that hurts the people they claim to care
most about?

2. When is the last time someone accused you of making excuses? – What was your
response?

3. Did any personal Mental Prisons come to mind during this message?