chore: autopublish 2024-12-27T02:43:39Z

src/en/ss/2025-01-cq/01/01.md

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+---
+title:  Gone Off Track
+date:  28/12/2024
+---
+
+#### inTro
+
+**Read This Week’s Passage: Romans
+12:1–3**
+
+**Gone Off Track**
+
+The world today thirsts for true peace, joy, and love. Far too many suffer silently through pain, loneliness, fear, and sadness, without hope or healing. When emotional wounds deepen or remain unaddressed, a person can slip into a state of depression or face other mental challenges. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), one in eight people live with a mental health disorder (2022, www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-disorders). When a person’s mental condition spirals out of control, it can lead to various forms of self-harm or suicide. Every year, 703,000 people globally are lost to suicide, which is the fourth leading cause of death in young adults ages 15–29 (WHO, 2023, www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/suicide). For every suicide, dozens more are attempted.
+
+These statistics are especially pertinent to young adults, who are disproportionally impacted by mental health challenges. Surveys from nearly half a million internet users from 64 countries indicate that young adults (ages 18–24) are three to four times as likely to struggle with their mental health as their parent’s generation (Global Mind Project, 2022, https://mentalstateoftheworld.report). As we look at the world, and maybe even at our own lives, we realize something must change. We made a wrong turn somewhere, and it’s time we get back on track.
+
+These statistics result from an intentional attempt by the enemy of souls to hijack the mind. While today’s industries seek to control the mind through modern technology and media as well as fast food and junk food (this has been well documented), something bigger is at work behind the scenes. In the book of Job, at a universal meeting with God, Satan was asked where he had come from, and his reply was, “from going to and fro on the earth” (Job 1:7). Behind the scenes, an adversary is at work, seeking to take control of the human mind. However, we need to resolve not to conform to the thinking and conditions of this world. God is waiting with eager desire for us to turn toward Him and allow Him to transform us by the renewing of the mind.
+
+***Please note that this Bible study guide is intended for spiritual guidance only and should not be considered a substitute for professional mental health treatment.***
+
+As we study together the next thirteen weeks, we encourage readers to become familiar with other helpful resources that address mental health challenges. Two great places to begin are Youth Alive and Reminded:
+
+Youth Alive (youthaliveportal.org/mentalhealth)
+
+Reminded (reminded.org)
+
+#### inScribe
+
+Write out Romans 12:1–3 from the translation of your choice. You may also rewrite the passage in your own words, or outline or mind-map the passage.
+
+` `

src/en/ss/2025-01-cq/01/02.md

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+---
+title:  Behind the Scenes
+date:  29/12/2024
+---
+
+#### inGest
+
+The apostle Paul’s inspired letter to the church in Rome provides a glimpse of God’s longing for believers to experience a renewing of the mind (Rom. 12:2). The mind is where we form ideas and goals, acquire knowledge, solve problems, answer questions, and make decisions. Solomon aptly summarizes the importance of the mind by saying, “for everything you do flows from it” (Prov. 4:23, NIV). Renewing the mind means replacing old thought patterns, attitudes, and motives with new ones. Renewing broken minds involves overcoming fears, letting go of bitterness, and finding purpose and hope.
+
+Such a renewal changes the way we view ourselves and others. Paul describes the humble attitude of a renewed mind in Romans 12:3, telling believers not to think of themselves “more highly than [they] ought to think, but to think soberly.” Paul was not only speaking of literal soberness, but as a metaphorical description of a spiritual state of being. While a sober mind is sharp and alert, an intoxicated mind is numbed, causing dizziness, weakness, paralysis, memory loss, and sometimes loss of consciousness. Drunkenness distorts people’s perceptions of themselves and their surroundings, making it difficult to walk and drive safely. Intoxication, whether physical or spiritual, severely impairs the ability to think properly. Spiritual sobriety involves keeping our minds healthy and responsive.
+
+Peter, a disciple of Jesus, warned believers to think soberly so they could resist the enemy’s advances. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet. 5:8). Speaking especially to believers in the last days, Peter wrote that “the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers” (1 Pet. 4:7). The enemy’s goal is to render our thinking ineffective. He knows his time is running out, he’s angry, and he’s making every effort to destroy us (Rev. 12:12). Early church teachers equipped believers to discern the enemy’s strategies so that they weren’t surprised by his attacks or “ignorant of his devices” (2 Cor. 2:11). Believers today should also be alert to the enemy’s strategies to hijack our minds and scramble our thinking.
+
+Peter was speaking from personal experience. On the night he betrayed Jesus, didn’t His Master encourage him to be vigilant (Matt. 26:40, 41)? Didn’t Christ warn him that if his spiritual life were unguarded, he would deny Him (Luke 22:31–34)? Peter’s lack of spiritual self-awareness led him to neglect prayer, and as a result, he cursed Jesus and later wept over his failures (Matt. 26:74, 75). He neglected to listen to his Savior’s counsel to be aware of how Satan was attempting to ruin his life. Later, Peter realized his need for Christ, repented, was restored in his relationship with Jesus, and became a great preacher of salvation.
+
+Journal:
+
+`Memorize your favorite verse from Romans 12:1–3. Write it out multiple times to help with memorization.`
+
+`What are three things a person can do to experience a renewing of the mind?`
+
+`List some ways Satan has held the minds of humanity captive. How has Satan held your mind captive?`
+
+` `

src/en/ss/2025-01-cq/01/03.md

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+---
+title:  Restoring God’s Image
+date:  30/12/2024
+---
+
+#### inTerpret
+
+Have you ever wished you could go back in time and just be a carefree, innocent little kid again? God has similar wishes for your life. God created people to reflect His image in their personalities and characters. In the book Education, Ellen White comments, “When Adam came from the Creator’s hand, he bore, in his physical, mental, and spiritual nature, a likeness to his Maker. ‘God created man in His own image’ (Genesis 1:27), and it was His purpose that the longer man lived the more fully he should reveal this image—the more fully reflect the glory of the Creator” ([1903], 15). After sin corrupted humanity’s nature, God’s aim became the restoration of His image in His children. God’s original design cannot be restored unless we allow Him to reset our thinking and renew our minds. The new mind becomes a reality as we learn to “have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16). When we accept Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, we become a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17), seeking Him daily and aspiring to grow in Him by engaging in prayer, reading the Word, and seeking to be like Him (obedience). Through the power of the Holy Spirit, our thought processes will become one with His. His desires will become our desires, and we will think and act like Jesus.
+
+The great news is that transformation is possible with the help of the Holy Spirit. As Ellen White says, “to restore in man the image of his Maker, to bring him back to the perfection in which he was created, to promote the development of body, mind, and soul, that the divine purpose in his creation might be realized—this was to be the work of redemption. This is the object of education, the great object of life” (Education, 15, 16). Redemption aims to restore and develop the human to reflect the likeness of the Divine! This takes place as we consistently behold “as in a mirror the glory of the Lord” so that we can be “transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:18). We must surrender our lives to the Holy Spirit daily, sometimes moment by moment, so that He can transform our lives.
+
+No matter how broken our thinking or damaged our emotions, God offers us His Holy Spirit to rebuild, restore, and renew us from the inside out. God is big enough to handle all our baggage, wounds, fears, and sensitivities. No mental or emotional mountain is so big that God is unable to help and heal. It should be noted that the brain is not detached from the body; the brain is part of the body. Like other physical illnesses, some mental conditions may not be healed in this life. And yet in every case, God’s grace is sufficient.
+
+Journal:
+
+`What questions emerge after studying this passage? What parts are difficult?`
+
+`What other principles and conclusions do you find?`
+
+`What do you want God to do with your mind?`
+
+` `

src/en/ss/2025-01-cq/01/04.md

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+---
+title:  inSpect
+date:  31/12/2024
+---
+
+#### inSpect
+
+What relationship do the following verses have with Romans 12:1–3?
+
+`A renewed mind:Ephesians 4:22–242 Corinthians 4:16–18 2 Timothy 1:7Psalm 51:7–12`
+
+`Ephesians 4:22–24`
+
+`2 Corinthians 4:16–18`
+
+`2 Timothy 1:7`
+
+`Psalm 51:7–12`
+
+`A spiritually sober mind:Isaiah 5:20–221 Thessalonians 5:81 Peter 1:13–16`
+
+`Isaiah 5:20–22`
+
+`1 Thessalonians 5:8`
+
+`1 Peter 1:13–16`
+
+What other verses/promises come to mind in connection with the primary passage?
+
+Journal:
+
+Review your memorized verse from Romans 12:1–3.
+
+` `

src/en/ss/2025-01-cq/01/05.md

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+---
+title:  Initial Steps
+date:  01/01/2025
+---
+
+#### inVite
+
+Through the Scriptures we have considered in this lesson, Jesus invites us to experience a renewed mind through the power of the Holy Spirit. We can respond to Him today by taking three basic steps:
+
+Pray each day for the mind of Christ. Do not let your past failures define you. Allow God to reset your thinking and your impulses. Invite God to give you the mind of Christ through the presence and power of His Holy Spirit. As the apostle Paul wrote, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5). Having the mind of Christ means we think His thoughts and see His perspective. By studying the life of Jesus we learn to think the way that He thought. We become what we focus on. Surrender the mind. We give God room to work inside of us and surrender anything that stands in the way. We ask God to help us give our minds to Him and to influence and direct us. God will never force or coerce us into giving Him our hearts; we must willingly surrender them to Him. Lovingly and respectfully, we must give Him first place in our lives by placing Him on the throne of our hearts and minds. We can do this by praying the prayer of Psalm 51:10: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit [or attitude] within me.”Watch and be sober. Watching requires that we are spiritually wide awake, sober-minded, and vigilant (1 Thess. 5:6). This means maintaining a prayerful attitude where we depend on God to be alert to discern the enemy’s approaches. It’s important that we guard the avenues of the soul, that we are aware of what comes through our senses and the impact that it has on us. Faithful watchers avoid anything that would be harmful to their minds. They focus on what is true and good.
+
+It’s important to note that going through these steps doesn’t guarantee that we will immediately feel better or never fall again. God may give us immediate peace, but our minds might remain in a fog or we may still feel uncertain about trusting God. We must not let slow growth disappoint us or bring us down. Progress and recovery are not linear, and as we continue doing what’s right, in time, the feelings will follow. As we obey in faith, supernatural things take place. John shared this when he said, “Whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him” (1 John 2:5). When we step out in faith, grounded in God’s Word and empowered by the Holy Spirit, His love transforms us. He will take personal responsibility for us—we can trust Him!
+
+Journal:
+
+`Meditate on Romans 12:1–3 again and look for where Jesus is.`
+
+`Is there any obstacle preventing you from receiving the mind of Christ more fully? How can you remove the obstacle?`
+
+` `

src/en/ss/2025-01-cq/01/06.md

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+---
+title:  Setting The Mind on Heavenly Things
+date:  02/01/2025
+---
+
+#### inSight
+
+“As a safeguard against evil, the preoccupation of the mind with good is worth more than unnumbered barriers of law and discipline” (Ellen G. White, Education [1903], 213).
+
+“No outward observances can take the place of simple faith and entire renunciation of self. But no man can empty himself of self. We can only consent for Christ to accomplish the work. Then the language of the soul will be, Lord, take my heart; for I cannot give it. It is Thy property. Keep it pure, for I cannot keep it for Thee. Save me in spite of myself, my weak, unchristlike self. Mold me, fashion me, raise me into a pure and holy atmosphere, where the rich current of Thy love can flow through my soul” (Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons [1900], 159).
+
+“By our making Christ the subject of meditation, He will become the subject of conversation; and by beholding, we will actually be changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even by the Spirit of the Lord. Man, fallen man, may be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that he can ‘prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.’ How does he prove this? By the Holy Spirit taking possession of his mind, spirit, heart, and character. Where does the proving come in? ‘We are made a spectacle to the world, and to angels, and to men’ (1 Corinthians 4:9)” (Ellen G. White, Ye Shall Receive Power [1995], 50).
+
+“He who loves Christ the most will do the greatest amount of good. There is no limit to the usefulness of one who, by putting self aside, makes room for the working of the Holy Spirit upon his heart, and lives a life wholly consecrated to God. If men will endure the necessary discipline, without complaining or fainting by the way, God will teach them hour by hour, and day by day. He longs to reveal His grace. If His people will remove the obstructions, He will pour forth the waters of salvation in abundant streams through the human channels” (Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages [1898], 250, 251).
+
+Journal:
+
+`After this week’s study, what personal applications are you convicted of in your life?`
+
+`What practical applications can you make in your school, family, workplace, or church?`
+
+`Review the memory verse. How does it apply to your life this week?`
+
+` `

src/en/ss/2025-01-cq/01/07.md

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+---
+title:  inQuire
+date:  03/01/2025
+---
+
+#### inQuire
+
+`In what ways do our minds need renewing?`
+
+`Do you find it hard for you to renew your mind? If so, why?`
+
+`What do you see as the greatest mental health challenges for young adults?`
+
+`What are the most successful strategies Satan uses to captivate and distract young minds?`
+
+`What are some regular habits and practices that can help protect the mind?`
+
+`What does it mean to have the mind of Christ? How do we receive it?`
+
+`What is the difference between the carnal mind (Rom. 8:7) and the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16)?`
+
+`How can we behold Christ in a meaningful, life-changing way?`
+
+`What does it look like for a person to fully and daily surrender their mind/heart to Christ?`
+
+`How much of renewing the mind is our work, and how much is God’s work in us?`

src/en/ss/2025-01-cq/01/info.yml

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+---
+title: "Renewing the Broken Mind"
+start_date: "28/12/2024"
+end_date: "03/01/2025"

src/en/ss/2025-01-cq/02/01.md

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+---
+title:  A Depressed Prophet
+date:  04/01/2025
+---
+
+#### inTro
+
+**Read This Week’s Passage: 1
+Kings 19**
+
+**A Depressed Prophet**
+
+Even the greatest heroes in the Bible suffered through dark periods of mental depression. The Bible is transparent about the struggles of its own heroes; it doesn’t gloss over uncomfortable details, including their mental health struggles. The prophet Elijah caught the attention of the entire nation of Israel when he gained a distinct victory over the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. His story ranks among the most important in Israel’s history, putting his name right alongside Moses’ (Matt. 17:4, 5). Elijah’s story would certainly be a little cleaner if Elijah’s greatest victory (1 Kings 18) was not immediately followed by his worst defeat when he was suddenly overcome by a crippling spirit of fear and melancholy (1 Kings 19). In one night, Elijah slid from the highest mountaintop experience of his life down to his lowest valley of depression—so low that he wished his life would end (v. 4). The Bible’s stories are messy, but it’s because of these recorded human failures that the Bible is so relatable to each one of us today.
+
+When we hit our lowest point, it’s easy to feel like God can never use us and we have nothing good to offer anyone. It’s natural to feel like all the promises of the Bible are for somebody else. However, stories like Elijah’s tell us we are not the first to fight these battles of the mind. Even the most faithful Christians and the most successful people have dealt with depression and thoughts of suicide. God was compassionate and understanding with Elijah in his weakest moments. Elijah’s story should give us all hope that God will help us climb out of our worst days too.
+
+***Please note that this Bible study guide is intended for spiritual guidance only and should not be considered a substitute for professional mental health treatment.***
+
+#### inScribe
+
+Write out 1 Kings 19 from the translation of your choice. If you’re pressed for time, write out verses 4–6. You may also rewrite the passage in your own words, or outline or mind-map the chapter.
+
+` `