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The Enemy Is Winning The Battle For Your Attention! — Transcript

by Nick Jones Too · 8,121 words · 1,179 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00A lot of us, we have brains that have
0:02been conditioned to believe that reading
0:05the Bible, studying the Bible, and and
0:08seeking God in that way through his word
0:10is not fulfilling from a dopamine
0:13standpoint because we get so much
0:14dopamine from our phone.
0:17How to biblically fix your attention
0:19span.
0:21We all need this.
0:22Okay?
0:24Let's watch.
0:25>> Your attention span isn't broken because
0:27you're undisciplined. It's broken
0:29because your brain is being secretly
0:31programmed hundreds of times a day to
0:32the point that even your willpower no
0:34longer works. And so in this video,
0:36after researching dozens of scriptures
0:38and scientific studies on how our brains
0:39are actually being hijacked, I'm going
0:41to reveal what's actually causing you to
0:42lose control of your mind as well as the
0:44solution that's been given to us in the
0:45Bible 2,000 years before smartphones
0:47were even invented. But first, we need
0:49to understand why most people are losing
0:51the battle for their attention way
0:52before they even realize they're being
0:54attacked. So, let me ask you a dumb
0:56question. Let's say that you own a
0:58house. And every Let's say 3 hours,
1:01somebody broke into your house and stole
1:02some of your valuables. Would you, you
1:04know, maybe do something about it? Like
1:06maybe set up security cameras, call the
1:07cops, or stay awake with a weapon in
1:09your hands? Well, the Bible tells us
1:10that this is exactly what's happening to
1:12each of us every single day with our two
1:14most viable resources, which is our time
1:16and our attention. And most people are
1:18not doing a single thing about it. And
1:20we see this reality described in two
1:21passages in the Bible. The first one is
1:23Ephesians chapter 5 verse 15 to 16. It
1:25says, "Pay careful attention then to how
1:27you walk, not as unwise people, but as
1:30wise, making the most of the time
1:32because the days are evil." So, the word
1:34time here is actually kairos in Greek.
1:36Now, there's actually two words for
1:37kairos two words for time in the Greek
1:40Bible. The first one is chronos, which
1:41is basically regular passing time.
1:43Kairos actually means an appointed time,
1:45season, or opportunity. Now, when Paul
1:47says, "The days are evil," he's also
1:49attributing an active hostile nature to
1:52time itself. So, in other words, right,
1:53what this verse is telling us is that
1:54every single moment that we are awake,
1:56there is an evil force trying to steal
1:59the time and opportunities that we are
2:00receiving from God. Now, what is this
2:02evil force? Well, 1 Peter chapter 5:8
2:04tells us this, right? So, it says, "Be
2:06sober, be vigilant because your
2:08adversary the devil walks around like a
2:10roaring lion seeking whom he he may
2:12devour." Now, basically, if you aren't
2:15constantly sober and keeping watch, the
2:17devil himself is actively and constantly
2:19looking for ways to ruin your life. And
2:21guess what? He's had like over 10,000
2:23years to figure out exactly how to do
2:24that. And this is the reality you need
2:26to wake up to if you want to have any
2:28hope of saving your attention and your
2:30time, right? Every single time that you
2:32reached for your phone, every single
2:33time that you reached for that bag of
2:34chips, every single time you opened up
2:35that tab you knew you shouldn't be
2:36looking at, those weren't accidents.
2:39Every single one of those moments was
2:40built on layers and decades of
2:43programming inside of your mind and
2:44inside of society. And the worst part is
2:46most self-help and even Christian advice
2:48on social media make you believe that
2:50all you need is a little bit more
2:51willpower, a little bit more discipline,
2:53and you'll be good. But, what we're
2:54about to see in these next steps is that
2:56this is actually the weakest weapon that
2:57you have in this war that we're
2:59fighting. Now, that being said, there is
3:01some good news, which is decades of
3:03neuroscience has gotten us to the point
3:04where we can actually identify the
3:06science behind how the enemy is
3:08hijacking our brain through things like
3:10social media and our phone addictions.
3:11But, the bad news is even though science
3:13is really good at telling us what the
3:14problem is, it's not very good at
3:16helping us solve the problem. And so,
3:17after I break down each of the weapons
3:19of the enemy both biblically and
3:20scientifically, I'm going to show you
3:21how the Bible actually allows us to
3:23overcome the limitations of science and
3:25allows us to completely regain full
3:26control of our attention and our time.
3:29So, to help you visualize what's
3:30actually going on when the enemy tries
3:31to steal our attention, imagine your
3:33mind or your brain as a fortress or a
3:36castle. Now, most people would think,
3:37"Okay, if I want to take down a
3:38fortress, I'm just going to throw a
3:40bunch of cannonballs at it. I'm going to
3:41send a bunch of soldiers at it, and
3:42eventually we're just going to break
3:43down the front door." Well,
3:44unfortunately, the devil in the Bible is
3:46called the father of lies, not the
3:48father of breaking down front doors. And
3:50so, with that said, here are the five
3:51weapons the enemy actually uses to steal
3:53our attention and our time. And the
3:55first tactic that the enemy uses is what
3:57I call bribing the gatekeeper. So,
3:58imagine you have a gatekeeper at your
4:00castle and his job is to keep enemies
4:01out and to let good people in or the
4:03good guys in. Well, now, now that he's
4:05been bribed, his job is to let the bad
4:07guys in and to keep the good guys out.
4:09Now, in neuroscience, we actually have a
4:10name for this gatekeeper and it's called
4:11the reticular activating system or the
4:13RAS for short. So, just like a
4:15gatekeeper, think of your RAS like an
4:17importance filter for your brain. Now,
4:19when it comes to your brain, importance
4:20is determined by how much reward your
4:22brain associates with a certain activity
4:24and that importance is marked by how
4:26much dopamine is released when you do
4:28that activity. So, something like video
4:30games or scrolling through your phone is
4:31going to release a lot more dopamine as
4:33opposed to something like reading the
4:34Bible or working on a project. And since
4:36your RAS is trained to filter for the
4:38highest dopamine rewards, eventually
4:39your attention is only going to lock
4:41onto the things that generate the
4:42highest stimulation. And so, this is
4:44why, even when you put down your phone
4:46after scrolling for hours and try to be
4:47productive, your brain immediately
4:49shifts its attention to think about
4:50something like, you know, what snack do
4:51I want to eat or what TV show do I want
4:53to watch. Now, what does the Bible say
4:54about this? Well, unsurprisingly, it
4:56tells us pretty much the same thing,
4:57right? Romans chapter 8:5 says, "Those
5:00who live according to the flesh have
5:02their minds set on what the flesh
5:03desires. But those who live in
5:05accordance with the spirit have their
5:06minds set on what the spirit desires."
5:08And then Titus 1:15 says, "To the pure,
5:11all things are pure. But to those who
5:12are corrupted, nothing is pure. In fact,
5:14both their minds and consciences are
5:16corrupted." So, in other words, every
5:19time we give into our flesh, what these
5:20verses are saying is that it actually
5:21causes our minds to desire the things of
5:23the flesh even more until our minds
5:26become corrupted to the point that they
5:27no longer do what we want it to do. So,
5:29essentially, here's what the Bible and
5:30neuroscience are telling us, which is
5:32your brain has an input filter or an
5:33attention filter that can be completely
5:35hijacked by the enemy. And once it is
5:37hijacked, you can't willpower your way
5:39out of it because now your brain has
5:40already been programmed and corrupted to
5:42the point that it desires everything of
5:44that is the opposite of what you truly
5:45want.
5:46So, that's just level one. Now, let's
5:48move on to the second weapon that the
5:49enemy likes to use. So, once the enemy
5:51has bribed the gatekeeper, they can now
5:53take it one step further, which is
5:54instead of spending all this time and
5:56energy and effort on, you know,
5:57filtering out all the good guys and only
5:59letting in the bad guys, the gatekeeper
6:01can just leave the gate open. And so, as
6:03you can imagine, once they do that, it
6:05doesn't matter how well trained your
6:06soldiers are, how disciplined they are,
6:08when the enemy is just flooding into the
6:10city 24/7. This concept is actually
6:12called the process model of
6:13self-control. And what it tells us is
6:15that self-control failure doesn't
6:17actually happen at the willpower or
6:18thinking level. It actually happens
6:20earlier or one step above, which is at
6:22the attention level. And basically how
6:24it works is once your attention, right,
6:26has locked onto a reward cue, something
6:27like a notification, a video thumbnail,
6:30or a bag of chips,
6:32your body's already reacting and
6:34releasing all these chemicals of
6:35motivation and desire and behavior or
6:38action before you can even start
6:39thinking about whether to do that thing
6:41or not. In other words, by the time your
6:42willpower even kicks in, the battle's
6:44already like 80% lost. Now, what does
6:46the Bible tell us about this? Well,
6:47James chapter 1, verse 14 to 15
6:49basically talks about this, right? It
6:50says, "But each one is tempted when he
6:53is drawn away by his own desires and
6:55enticed. Then, when desire has
6:57conceived, it gives birth to sin, and
6:59sin, when it is full grown, brings forth
7:00death." So, the one thing that's really
7:02important here is the order of events,
7:04right? The order of events here is
7:06written that man is first drawn away by
7:08his desires and then gets enticed or
7:11tempted, right? So, this clearly tells
7:13us that our desires, right, the programs
7:14in our brain that release all these
7:16motivation chemicals and behaviors
7:18activate before our mind even starts to
7:20get enticed, meaning we're already
7:21fighting a losing battle before we even
7:23get the chance to think. And so, the
7:25biggest mistake that people make here is
7:27that they try to fight the battle of
7:28self-control at the level of their mind.
7:30But by then, it's already too late
7:31because your brain has been programmed
7:33thousands of times, tens of thousands of
7:34times to automatically fire a behavior
7:37program the moment that the trigger hits
7:38you. Now, so far, we've covered what
7:40happens when we deal with things outside
7:42of the wall or at the wall. But, what
7:44happens when the enemy is now fully
7:45inside? Well, what if I told you that
7:47instead of going around killing a bunch
7:48of your people, the enemy instead
7:50decides to set up or build a gambling
7:52house or casino in the middle of your
7:54city?
7:55Now, why would they do that? Because now
7:57the most exciting thing for your
7:59soldiers isn't going to war or defending
8:01the families, it's winning or losing
8:03money at the gambling house every Friday
8:05night. So, now the enemy doesn't even
8:06have to waste time or resources fighting
8:08against you because you don't even want
8:10to go to battle. And this here is
8:11probably one of the worst and most
8:14dangerous weapons that the enemy has
8:16when it comes to our brains. And that is
8:18the weapon of novelty and
8:20unpredictability. Now, one study I
8:21really want to point to that really
8:22highlights the problem with this is in
8:242003, right, neuroscientists at
8:26Cambridge were observing the dopamine
8:28neurons, or basically the motivation
8:29circuits, in monkeys and they found
8:31something pretty disturbing, which is
8:33when a reward was uncertain, in this
8:34case there was a 50/50 chance of the
8:36reward happening for the monkeys, the
8:38monkeys' dopamine neurons, their
8:39motivation levels, actually fired at
8:41their maximum levels. So, what this
8:44means is that the greatest stimulation
8:45for our brains happens when we're
8:46actually uncertain of the reward, which
8:49is exactly what happens when you're
8:50scrolling through your phone through all
8:51these different videos, not sure whether
8:52you're actually going to enjoy it or
8:54not. But, here's what made the study
8:55even crazier, which is when the monkey
8:57started waiting for the next reward,
8:59their dopamine neurons actually stayed
9:01elevated the entire time they were
9:03waiting. In other words, right, the
9:04brain was basically stuck in this
9:06zombie-like anticipating craving state
9:08even when they weren't receiving the
9:10reward. And this is the reason why it
9:11feels almost impossible to put down your
9:13phone even when the videos aren't
9:15entertaining anymore, right, because
9:16you're constantly waiting for that next
9:17hit, not sure when the next one's going
9:19to come. Now, the Bible doesn't talk a
9:20whole lot about gambling, but there is
9:22one place where we see something similar
9:23happening, which is actually in Numbers
9:25chapter 11 verse 4 to 6. So, this is
9:27when Israel was in the wilderness and
9:29they had just come out of Egypt, they're
9:30going through the the desert and
9:31they're, you know, waiting to get to the
9:32promised land. Now, even though God was
9:35providing them this manna, like this
9:36heavenly bread raining from the sky
9:38every day to eat, they the people
9:40actually started complaining that they
9:41missed the things like the fish, the
9:43cucumbers, the melons, the leeks
9:44>> This part is probably one of my favorite
9:47parts right here. This was crazy. When I
9:49was sitting cuz I was watching this in
9:50the car
9:52um at my daughter's soccer practice cuz
9:54she was like playing with some of her
9:55friends after practice and I was just in
9:57the car watching this video. And um
10:00when he said this, I had never actually
10:02interpreted or realized what was
10:05happening in this moment.
10:08>> the onions, the garlic, all these
10:10delicious foods that they had when they
10:11were slaves in Egypt. Now, how is this
10:14relevant to what we're talking about?
10:15Because even though the people back in
10:17the day before they left Egypt were
10:18getting beaten and oppressed as slaves
10:20every single day, they still preferred
10:23the novelty and uncertainty of eating
10:25delicious foods sometimes compared to
10:27being able to eat decent food every
10:29single day, even when that food was
10:31literally from heaven. And this is how
10:33addicting novelty and uncertainty are to
10:35our brains, right? And this is why it
10:36can be so hard to kick a phone
10:37addiction. Now, I know this is kind of
10:39getting worse and worse by the minute,
10:40but I promise we're going to come up for
10:41air at the end of this and everything is
10:43going to be fine at the end of this
10:44video. But for now, just stick with me
10:46because there are still two more key
10:47vulnerabilities that the enemy uses to
10:49hijack our attention spans and our
10:51minds. So, imagine now that while the
10:53enemy is taking over your castle, he
10:54starts replacing all of your commanders
10:57in your army and replacing all the
10:59training manuals for your soldiers that
11:00they follow in their training. So,
11:02imagine now, right? Instead of being
11:04trained to attack and defend every
11:06single time the enemy attacks us, all
11:07your soldiers are now being trained to
11:09surrender the moment that the enemy
11:10invades. Now, I know this sounds pretty
11:12stupid, but this is actually more or
11:13less what's happening inside your brain
11:15when you get to the stage of addiction
11:17and self-control. And specifically, the
11:18part of the brain we're going to look at
11:19here is what's called the basal ganglia.
11:21Or this is really just a part of your
11:23brain that stores your habits. Now, I
11:25talk a lot on my channel about things
11:26like neuroplasticity and how your brain
11:28can be trained to build or tear down new
11:31or old neural pathways or patterns. But,
11:33the problem is while the basal ganglia
11:35is also affected by neuroplasticity,
11:37it's actually much harder to get rid of
11:39old patterns in this specific part of
11:41your brain. Or in other words, once
11:42something gets stored as a habit, like
11:43for example, checking your phone every
11:45time you get bored, it becomes much,
11:47much harder to get rid of it as a
11:48physical habit permanently. And this is
11:50why many addictions can come back after
11:52several years of being free from them.
11:53And unsurprisingly, we actually see this
11:55reality reflected in the Bible as well.
11:57Right? So, Jeremiah 13:23 says, "Can an
11:59Ethiopian change his skin or a leopard
12:01his spots? Neither can you do good who
12:04are accustomed to doing evil." And in
12:06Romans chapter 7 verse 19 to 20, which
12:07is a really famous verse that Paul that
12:09a lot of people quote from Paul, it
12:10says, "For I do not do the good I want
12:12to do, but the evil I do not want to do,
12:15this I keep on doing." Now, if I do what
12:17I do not want to do, it is no longer I
12:19who do it, but it is the sin living in
12:21me that does it. Now, obviously, Paul is
12:23not just talking about his basal ganglia
12:25here, right? He's also talking about the
12:26power of sin that lives inside his
12:28flesh. But, both of these verses make
12:30one thing very clear, which is that even
12:32when we desire in our conscious thinking
12:34minds to change, right? If our bodies
12:36are accustomed to doing sin, if we're
12:37accustomed to doing bad habits, it
12:39becomes much harder to change our
12:40behavior to the point that it even
12:41overpowers our conscious mind a lot of
12:43the time. Now, before we get to the
12:44solution of all this, there's actually
12:46one more weakness that we have to cover
12:47that the enemy loves to attack. And this
12:49last weakness is actually what makes it
12:51nearly impossible for us to escape the
12:52enemy's attacks and traps if we aren't
12:55aware of what's going on underneath the
12:56surface. So, now imagine that instead of
12:58working full-time shifts to defend your
12:59castle, all your soldiers are now
13:01sitting around doing nothing. So, what
13:03are they going to do? Obviously, go to
13:05the casino. Now, in neuroscience, the
13:07concept that I'm referring to is what's
13:08called the default mode network or the
13:10DMN, right? And this is basically the
13:11part of your brain that it becomes more
13:13active whenever your mind isn't focused
13:15on anything specific or certain task.
13:17And the way it works is the moment that
13:18your brain doesn't have anything to do,
13:20it doesn't actually rest, right? Our
13:22brain never actually stops working, it
13:23just looks for different things to do.
13:25So, in this case, our mind starts
13:27drifting, right? We start thinking
13:28about, you know, different things in the
13:29past, our regrets, all the things that
13:31we're worried about, you know, in the
13:32future, different worst-case scenarios,
13:34or we just start comparing ourselves to
13:36other people. And because nobody likes
13:37to sit through those, you know,
13:38uncomfortable thoughts and emotions, our
13:40brain immediately looks for a way to
13:41escape those feelings, which is, you
13:43know, almost always reaching for your
13:44phone. And so, this is why even when we
13:46have something as short as like a
13:475-second break in the middle of our day,
13:49right? For example, uh waiting in line
13:51or stopped at a traffic light or just
13:53being stuck while we're working, like
13:54having a minute on the block, we
13:55immediately pull out our phones without
13:57even thinking twice. And of course, the
13:58Bible also warned us about this problem
14:00thousands of years ago. And the most
14:02clear warning of this is in 1 Timothy
14:03chapter 5 verse 13, right? It says,
14:05"They get into the habit of being idle
14:08and going about from house to house. And
14:09not only do they become idlers, but also
14:12busybodies who talk nonsense, saying
14:14things they ought not to." So, Paul here
14:16is literally warning that when we become
14:18idle, when we don't have something to
14:19focus on, we end up doing we end up
14:21doing stupid things and we also end up
14:23saying stupid things. Now, the other
14:25verse that I really want to focus on is
14:262 Samuel chapter 11 verse 1 and 2, which
14:28is one of the most famous uh stories in
14:30the Bible for those of you who actually
14:32read the Bible. So,
14:33it says, "In the spring, when kings
14:35march out to war, David sent Joab with
14:38his officers and all Israel. They
14:40destroyed the Ammonites and besieged
14:41Rabbah. But, David remained in
14:44Jerusalem. Now, one evening, David got
14:46up from his bed and strolled around on
14:48the roof of the palace. From the roof,
14:50he saw a woman bathing, a very beautiful
14:53woman." So, you can probably imagine at
14:55this point how the story goes, right?
14:56This is right before David saw
14:57Bathsheba, which is the woman, you know,
14:59who was bathing, and he slept with her,
15:01and he, you know, turns out that she was
15:03actually married, and the guy that she
15:05was married to was actually one of
15:06David's closest men, and he decided to
15:08have that man killed. So, not the best
15:11um sequence of decisions, right? But,
15:13notice what the Bible points out first,
15:14which is that David was supposed to be
15:17at war. During these, you know, in this
15:19time, kings were supposed to go to war
15:21with their people. But, instead, David
15:23was chilling at home. He was idle. And
15:25so, all the enemy needed was that one
15:27idle moment to cause David to commit one
15:29of the worst sins of his entire life,
15:30and really the entire Bible, right? And
15:32this is how the enemy pulls you back in
15:34even when you're just peacefully minding
15:36your own business. Because since your
15:37mind always needs something to focus on,
15:38right? All the enemy needs to do is
15:40plant one fear, one regret, one worry
15:43when you're, you know, basically caught
15:44off guard or when you're idle. And the
15:45moment you get pushed into fear, into
15:47worry, into anxiety, into depression, or
15:49despair, your brain is going to
15:51immediately detect a threat and is going
15:53to retrigger one of the habit loops that
15:54we looked at earlier, right? For
15:55example, you know, you feel bad, you
15:57pull out your phone, you scroll for 2
15:58hours, and then you feel even more bad,
16:00and the cycle continues. And this is why
16:02so many people stay stuck in these
16:03cycles of addiction, of self-sabotage,
16:06of anxiety and depression, because
16:08they're constantly retriggering the same
16:09programs over and over again. So, at
16:11this point, I think you can start to see
16:13why willpower doesn't really do anything
16:15for us, right? Because you can keep
16:16yelling at your soldiers all you want to
16:18defend the castle, but if half of your
16:20soldiers don't even belong to your
16:21kingdom, the other half are busy
16:23gambling, and are trained to surrender
16:24before the enemy even starts to attack,
16:26yeah, good luck with that. Now, of
16:27course, I promised at the beginning of
16:29this video that God has already given us
16:31every solution that we need to these
16:32problems in the Bible. So, now, it is
16:34time for me to fulfill that promise. And
16:36the first place we're going to start is
16:37our friends, the reticular activating
16:39system, or the RAS, right? So, if you
16:41recall, the RAS is your brain's
16:43importance filter. And that filter got
16:45trained on what you repeatedly fed your
16:47brain for years. But, that also means
16:49that your brain can be retrained in the
16:51same way. And the Bible actually has a
16:53name for this concept, which is called
16:54renewing the mind. And one of the most
16:56famous verses on this is Romans chapter
16:5812, verse 2, right? It says, "Do not be
16:59conformed to this age, but be
17:01transformed by the renewing of your
17:03mind, so that you may discern what is
17:05the good, pleasing, and perfect will of
17:07God." Now, how exactly does this
17:09transformation happen? Well, 2
17:11Corinthians chapter 3, verse 18 actually
17:12tells us, right? It says, "But, we all
17:14with unveiled face beholding as in a
17:16mirror the glory of the Lord, are being
17:18transformed into the same image from
17:20glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of
17:22the Lord. So, the word transformed here
17:24is actually the same word transformed in
17:26Romans chapter 12:2. If you just heard
17:28me say that and you're like, I have no
17:29idea what that means or I have no idea
17:31how to do that, I actually made an
17:32entire video breaking down how what the
17:34Bible actually says about renewing the
17:36mind and how to do it biblically. And
17:38I'm going to link that in the
17:39description below. But for now, just
17:40understand that renewing the mind is not
17:42just about reading the Bible for hours
17:44every single day and memorizing a bunch
17:45of verses, although you should do those
17:47things, right? But it's also about
17:49spending time with God in His presence
17:50and actually letting Him be the one to
17:52transform you, just like it says in 2
17:54Corinthians chapter 3:18.
17:56Now, with that said, let's move on to
17:57the second solution that God has given
17:59us. So, earlier we mentioned that most
18:01of the battle is not lost at the
18:02willpower level, but actually at the
18:04attention level. So, if we want to stop
18:05the enemy from invading us 24/7, we have
18:08to do what I call closing the gates. And
18:10I talk about this concept multiple times
18:11throughout my videos because it really
18:13is that important. Cuz even though I've
18:14had multiple encounters with God where,
18:16you know, I received deliverance, I
18:17received healing, there were still
18:18certain addictions that didn't go away
18:20until I actually did this step. And one
18:22of my favorite verses on how to actually
18:23do this is in Proverbs chapter 4:20-27,
18:26right? So, it says, "My son, pay
18:28attention to my words. Listen closely to
18:30my sayings. Don't lose sight of them.
18:32Keep them within your heart, for they
18:33are life to those who find them and
18:34health to one's whole body. Guard your
18:36heart above all else, for it is the
18:38source of life. Don't let your mouth
18:40speak dishonestly and don't let your
18:41lips talk deviously. Let your eyes look
18:44forward. Fix your gaze straight ahead.
18:47Carefully consider the path for your
18:48feet and all your ways will be
18:50established. Don't turn to the right or
18:51to the left. Keep your feet away from
18:53evil." So, this passage, right, is
18:55telling us that every single part of
18:56your body and your life is a potential
18:58gate, is a potential access point for
19:01the enemy to attack you. And our job is
19:02to protect and close every single one.
19:05For example, right, I'm currently in a
19:06period of my life where I've had the
19:07least struggle with temptations and
19:09addictions ever, right? I haven't really
19:11engaged any of my addictions in a really
19:12long time. And the one thing that made
19:14the biggest difference for me is that I
19:16give myself zero tolerance when it comes
19:17to anything that might trigger my
19:19temptations. For example, right? I eat
19:21zero sugar and processed food. I don't
19:23watch any TV shows or movies or animes
19:25or anything like that, right? I don't
19:26look at any sexual imagery or when it
19:28does come across my eyes, I turn away as
19:29fast as possible, right? I don't listen
19:31to any music with negative influences.
19:33Now, you might hear this and say, "Hey,
19:34that's like too disciplined or too
19:35extreme." But honestly, this is the
19:36least amount of willpower that I've ever
19:38had to use when it comes to dealing with
19:39my temptations. And that's because I'm
19:41not letting the enemy into the castle to
19:42mess everything up from the inside. Now,
19:44that being said, let's talk about what
19:45to do when the enemy actually does get
19:47inside. So, one of the biggest problems
19:49that we mentioned earlier is our
19:50insatiable desire for novelty,
19:52excitement, and unpredictability or
19:54uncertainty. And so, here's the thing
19:56that most, you know, dopamine detox
19:57gurus don't really understand, which is
19:59removing all sources of novelty and
20:00stimulation is completely unsustainable
20:02long-term because we are desired God
20:04created us to seek these things. And so,
20:06the reason that most, you know, dopamine
20:07detoxes fail and why most people go back
20:09to their old patterns within a couple
20:10days or weeks is because we're still
20:12working against our human nature just
20:14the opposite direction. So, what does
20:16the Bible tell us to do instead? Well,
20:17Psalm 34:8 actually gives us the answer.
20:19It says, "Taste and see that the Lord is
20:22good." Now, what does this have to do
20:23with any of what we're talking about?
20:25Well, it's because God is someone that
20:27we can experience tangibly when we
20:30encounter him. So, instead of cutting
20:31off all sources of stimulation, we seek
20:33the highest form of novelty and
20:35stimulation, which is, of course, God
20:36himself. Like
20:38>> Dang.
20:40All right, y'all. This is the
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21:09right, this is a brother in Christ. He's
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21:23right? Back to the video.
21:26>> I can tell you firsthand, right? Before
21:27I found Christ, I pretty much checked
21:29off, you know, my novelty pleasure
21:31bucket list, right? I had six-figure
21:32business and quit my job. I traveled the
21:34world and lived in all these nice
21:35Airbnb's. I partied a bunch, did a bunch
21:37of drugs, dated different women, right?
21:39And I, you know, I drove my dream cars.
21:40All this crazy stuff that I, you know,
21:42had on my little vision board before I
21:44Well, when I was in the world. But,
21:45after my first few encounters with God,
21:47I realized that all of these things
21:48combined could not even compare to what
21:50it was like being in the presence of
21:52God. And honestly, I still feel like I'm
21:54still the biggest dopamine addict out of
21:55anybody I know. The only difference is
21:57that I get it from the best source now.
21:59Just saying. That being said, it's not
22:00just about novelty, right? We also have
22:01to address the problem of
22:02unpredictability. And Ephesians 3:20
22:04actually gives us the answer, right? It
22:06says, "Now to him who is able to do
22:08exceedingly abundantly above all that we
22:10ask or think, according to the power
22:12that works in us." So, the idea here is
22:14that when you walk with God on a daily
22:16basis, right? He always ends up
22:18exceeding your expectations. Like, for
22:19example, when God told me to start
22:21putting up videos again at the beginning
22:22of this month, which is April at the
22:23time of recording this, right? He told
22:25me that he was going to start sending me
22:26people. And so, I was like, "Okay, cool.
22:27He's going to send me like, you know, a
22:28few hundred views, few thousand views,
22:30whatever, right?" Instead, I went from
22:3210 subscribers, not 10,000, 10 1 0,
22:34right? Subscribers to over 30,000
22:36subscribers and a million views in
22:38literally 2 weeks.
22:39>> Wow.
22:40>> All because I just simply obeyed and
22:41trusted him. So, while this is more
22:43anecdotal, I can say with confidence
22:44that ever since I've completely
22:46surrendered my life to God, I have not
22:47had a single boring day in the last,
22:49really, entire year, right? Now, not all
22:51those days were easy. Not all of those
22:53days were happy, but definitely none of
22:55them were boring, which is why I keep
22:56coming back for more. Now, let's say
22:58you've been dealing with this problem
22:59for a while and at this point it feels
23:01like you have zero control over your
23:02mind, over your body, over your brain
23:04because you've been programmed so deeply
23:06with all of these bad habits. What do we
23:08do then? So, as I said earlier, right,
23:10according to neuroscience, we actually
23:11can
23:12>> You said get him on the live stream.
23:13That's actually a really good idea.
23:15That's actually a really good idea.
23:18I can reach out and I can ask him for
23:19sure.
23:20>> and completely erase old habits because
23:22they're stored in the basal ganglia and
23:24that part is really, really hard to
23:26change um even when you put new habits
23:28on top of it. However, the good news is
23:29this video is not about science. It's
23:31about the God of the universe who gives
23:33us all the cheat codes we need to do
23:34whatever he wants us to do. So, if it
23:37feels like our bodies are the ones in
23:38control and not our minds, how does the
23:40Bible tell us to overcome this problem?
23:42Well, Ephesians chapter 4:22-24 really
23:44give us a good idea, right? It says to
23:46take off your former way of life, the
23:48old self that is corrupted by deceitful
23:50desires, to be renewed in the spirit of
23:53your minds, and to put on the new self,
23:55the one created according to God's
23:57likeness and righteousness and purity of
23:59the truth. And 2 Corinthians chapter
24:015:17 is something I want to add to this.
24:03It says, "Therefore, if anyone is in
24:05Christ, he is a new creation. The old
24:08has passed away and see, the new has
24:10come." So, when we become born again in
24:13Christ, we can do something that nobody
24:15else can do, which is we can completely
24:17take off our old selves which with all
24:19of our bad habits, with all of our, you
24:21know, addictions, and we can completely
24:22put on a new self, live out a completely
24:24new reality as a new creation in Christ.
24:27Now, if you're not a Christian, you may
24:28be like, "Okay, I don't know what this
24:29guy's talking about." Now, even for some
24:31of you who are Christians, right, you
24:32may be thinking, "Okay, Ryan, I've
24:33already given my life to Christ, but,
24:35you know, I definitely don't feel like a
24:36new creation. What's up with that?"
24:38Well, Ephesians 4:23 tells us that we
24:39need to be renewed in the spirit of our
24:42minds, right? There is a spiritual
24:43component to our minds that we simply
24:45can't put into words and sentences,
24:47right? And until we can see ourselves
24:49and our reality from a spiritual lens
24:51and not just a worldly knowledge lens,
24:53which a lot of people try to do, we're
24:54never going to be able to move from the
24:56realm of worldly knowledge to the realm
24:58of revelation and encounter, right? And
25:00Ephesians chapter 1 actually gives us
25:02this idea, right? Verses 17 to 19, it
25:04says, "I pray that the God of our Lord
25:06Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would
25:08give you the spirit of wisdom and
25:10revelation in the knowledge of him. I
25:12pray that the eyes of your heart may be
25:14enlightened so that you may know what is
25:16the hope of his calling, what is the
25:17wealth of his glorious inheritance in
25:18the saints, and what is the immeasurable
25:20greatness of his power toward us who
25:22believe according to the mighty working
25:24of his strength." So, this tells us,
25:25right, that in order to gain true
25:27knowledge of God and everything that we
25:28have in God, we need the Holy Spirit and
25:31his spirit of wisdom and revelation to
25:32open our eyes. Now, another verse that
25:34really echoes this is 1 Corinthians
25:36chapter 2, verse 12 to 14, right? It
25:38says, "Now we have not received the
25:40spirit of the world but the spirit who
25:41comes from God, so that we may
25:43understand what has been freely given to
25:45us by God. We also speak these things
25:47not in words taught by human wisdom, but
25:50in those taught by the spirit,
25:51explaining spiritual things to spiritual
25:53people, right?" But the person without
25:55the spirit does not receive what comes
25:57from God's spirit because it is
25:58foolishness to it. He is not able to
25:59understand it since it is evaluated
26:01spiritually. So, the idea is that there
26:04are things of God that no amount of
26:06studying neuroscience and the brain is
26:08ever going to be able to teach us and
26:09help us understand. And when you try to
26:11explain something like, you know, "Hey,
26:13I'm a brand new creation and I know
26:14seated in heaven with Jesus." Someone
26:16who hasn't had their minds spiritually
26:17renewed is going to have no idea what
26:19you're saying, right? Now, what does all
26:20this have to do with breaking old
26:22habits? Well, if you believe that your
26:23identity and your reality are limited to
26:26your physical body and the physical
26:27world, you're never going to be able to
26:29access the heavenly reality that you
26:31actually don't have to live as your old
26:32self. And the way you can access the
26:34revelation of that spiritual reality is
26:36what Ephesians 1 tells us, right? Which
26:37is to pray that God gives you the
26:39revelation and wisdom you need to
26:41actually understand it. And I know for
26:42my more logical people that sounds like,
26:44you know, super impractical, but
26:45sometimes that's exactly what God's
26:46intention is, right? For you to give up
26:49your limited human wisdom, to humble
26:51yourself for a second, and to seek his
26:53wisdom instead. And I can tell you,
26:54right, some of the biggest
26:55transformations I've experienced in my
26:56life didn't come from, you know, crazy
26:58spiritual warfare, it didn't come from
26:59this fancy inner healing work, or
27:01praying these complicated prayers. Some
27:03of them came from simply me getting on
27:04my knees, right, not having eaten any
27:06food for 3 weeks, [clears throat] and
27:07crying and begging God to change me
27:09because I was so sick of who I was.
27:11And sometimes that's just what it takes.
27:13Now, let's deal with the last piece of
27:14the puzzle, which is our wandering mind
27:17or the default mode network. So, earlier
27:19we noted that idleness is one of the
27:21deadliest traps for people trying to fix
27:23their attention spans because that is
27:24the place where all of our triggers can
27:25come up inside of our mind. And
27:27neuroscience actually tells us that
27:28there are three ways to control our
27:29wandering minds, which of course we'll
27:30look at through the lens of scripture.
27:32So, the first one is physical action or
27:34intentional focus. So, the default mode
27:36network actually has an opposite system
27:37called the task-positive network or the
27:39TPN. And as the name suggests, right,
27:42whenever we engage ourselves in an
27:43active task, the DMN goes quiet and the
27:45TPN becomes active. So, let's look at
27:47how scripture tells us to do this. Well,
27:49in Philippians chapter 4, verse 8, it
27:51says, "Finally, brothers and sisters,
27:52whatever is true, whatever is honorable,
27:55whatever is just, whatever is pure,
27:56whatever is lovely, whatever is
27:57commendable, if there's any moral
27:59excellence and if there's anything
28:01praiseworthy, dwell on these things."
28:03Right, another verse that's really good
28:04is Colossians chapter 3, verse 2, right,
28:06"Set your mind on things above, not on
28:08earthly things." Now, let me go back to
28:102 Samuel chapter 11, right, we can also
28:12see very clearly that David should have
28:14been at war fulfilling his duty and not
28:16idle at home. That is one of the easiest
28:18ways to avoid being idle is do what
28:20you're supposed to do. So, the clear
28:21point from each of these verses is that
28:22either our bodies or our minds need to
28:24be engaged in something purposeful or
28:26godly so that we can avoid idleness. And
28:28here's an easy hack you can use in case
28:30you're not sure, right? So, if you don't
28:31know what you should be doing at any
28:33given time, the easiest thing you can do
28:34is pray until you get clarity. And 1
28:37Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 17
28:38actually tells us to do this exactly,
28:40right, it says, "Pray without ceasing."
28:43So, the Bible literally tells us that we
28:44should never ever be idle, and even when
28:46we're not doing anything physically, we
28:48can and should still be praying. Now,
28:50that being said, if you've ever tried to
28:51sit down and pray in the middle of the
28:52day, you know that it's it's not easy,
28:54right? Because the next problem we have
28:55to deal with is actually quieting our
28:57minds to the point where we can actually
28:59focus on our prayer in the first place.
29:01So, researchers have found that
29:02mindfulness meditation is one of the
29:04most effective ways for people to quiet
29:06their default mode network and their
29:07wandering minds. Now, a lot of people
29:09get scared when they hear the word, you
29:10know, mindfulness or meditation because
29:12they automatically attribute it to some
29:13sort of new age practice, right? But,
29:15there is a way to quiet our minds
29:17correctly, which we see in Psalm chapter
29:1946:10, which says, "Be still, and know
29:22that I am God." So, once we quiet our
29:24mind, right? Our goal is not to empty
29:26it. We should then take that space and
29:27fill it with the things and the person
29:29and the character and knowledge of God.
29:32Now, this is also one of the easiest
29:33ways to abide in God and encounter God
29:35because when you focus all your
29:36attention on him and who he is, right?
29:38You tend to, you know, get closer to
29:39him, you tend to understand him more,
29:40and he will draw closer to you, as it
29:42says in James chapter 4:8, right? It
29:44says, "Draw near to God, and he will
29:46draw near to you." Now, even with us,
29:48right? There's still one more problem we
29:49have to deal with, which I'm sure many
29:51of you are familiar with, which is the
29:52intrusive thoughts. So, one of the
29:54biggest problems I see people struggle
29:55with when dealing with intrusive
29:56thoughts is that they don't actually
29:58recognize which thoughts or voices are
30:00actually true or which ones they should
30:02listen to. And the best way to deal with
30:04this, according to both scripture and
30:05science, is preparation, right? So, 2
30:07Corinthians chapter 10:4-5 says, "Since
30:10the weapons of our warfare are not of
30:12the flesh, but are powerful through God
30:13for the demolition of strongholds, we
30:15demolish arguments and every proud thing
30:18that is raised up against the knowledge
30:19of God, and we take every thought
30:20captive to obey Christ." So, one of the
30:23key spiritual weapons the Bible talks
30:24about is found in Ephesians chapter 6,
30:26which is the sword of the spirit, which
30:28is the word of God, right? And this
30:30makes a lot of sense, right? If we don't
30:31know what the truth is, we can't tell
30:33whether a thought is a lie or not. But,
30:35if we are prepared and we know the word
30:37of God really well, right? We can
30:38actually start recognizing when
30:40something is a lie, and we can take
30:41those thoughts captive, like it tells us
30:43in 2 Corinthians chapter 10. So, I know
30:45I've covered a lot here, right? And for
30:46those of you feeling overwhelmed, don't
30:47try to do all this at once, right? A lot
30:49of the solutions that I've covered here
30:50are things that I've personally spent
30:52weeks and months trying to learn and
30:53implement myself, and this video is just
30:55meant to give you a starting point that
30:56you can return to in the future. Now, if
30:58you want to go in-depth on any of the
30:59topics I covered in this video, I
31:01actually do have a free community which
31:02I'll link below where I do deep dives
31:04every week on this kind of stuff, and I
31:05also have a bunch of free resources that
31:07you can use inside of there. So, you can
31:09check that out below. Otherwise, if your
31:11goal is to get started on implementing
31:12this stuff right away, I highly
31:14recommend starting with understanding
31:15what the Bible actually says about this
31:17thing called renewing the mind, because
31:19that's going to be the foundation of
31:20everything we've covered in this video.
31:22And I have a full video breaking that
31:23down over here.
31:24>> Man.
31:26That was excellent.
31:28I literally I just stumbled across him
31:30on on YouTube, and I saw the title, and
31:33I think it's a very common thing that
31:34we're all dealing with is our attention
31:36span. And it's like, bro,
31:38this phone has
31:40has unlocked so many incredible things
31:42for all of us, but at the same time,
31:45there is a great level of burden and
31:49evilness that we have all been exposed
31:51to, temptation that we've all been
31:52exposed to.
31:53And then from the standpoint of
31:55understanding that like, yo,
31:57there's actually a scientific
32:00understanding and reasoning that we can
32:02point back to, cuz a lot of people like
32:03to say like, oh, science disproves the
32:06Bible. That's actually not the case.
32:08That's actually not the case. If you
32:09actually sit down and read what the
32:11Bible is saying, it's actually pointing
32:14to a lot of the principles that are
32:16found
32:17from a scientific standpoint, right? So,
32:19God is saying like, yo, use those
32:21resources, use that understanding of how
32:25the brain works in order to, you know,
32:28help you get right and and focus on the
32:30things of of Christ, right?
32:34Science proves, yeah.
32:36That's what I'm saying. Um but yeah,
32:38like I said, man, um
32:41finding that balance in this day and age
32:43is very difficult
32:45for all of us. Finding that balance of
32:48when to shut the phone off, finding that
32:50balance of is this beneficial? Is this
32:52edifying? Is this productive? Or am I
32:54just using this as an opportunity to
32:57distract myself from what I know that I
32:59need to be doing ultimately.
33:01A lot of us, we have brains that have
33:02been conditioned to believe that reading
33:06the Bible, studying the Bible, and and
33:08seeking God in that way through his word
33:11is not fulfilling from a dopamine
33:14standpoint because we get so much
33:15dopamine from our phone.
33:18Right?
33:18And so to have a practical understanding
33:21and like a
33:23like it just a a deeper revelation of
33:25like, yo,
33:27this is a very common experience. This
33:29is shared. This has been spoken about in
33:30scriptures how however many thousands of
33:33years ago,
33:34it does bring me a lot of comfort, and I
33:36think it should bring you a lot of
33:37comfort as well. Um that was a great
33:39video.
33:40All right, y'all, real quick, two
33:42things. I just got off a live stream.
33:44You missed it. I don't know what's going
33:45on. I'm saying I'm saying like, "Hey,
33:47pull up to the stream. Come hang out.
33:49Let's have a good time." And
33:52a lot of you people are pulling up, but
33:53you specifically, and you know who you
33:55are, for some reason, you don't want to
33:56pull up to the stream. It's okay. It's
33:58all good. But listen, we have a Discord.
34:01We have a brand new community. And this
34:04is for the individuals that want a place
34:07to fellowship, that [music] want a place
34:09to have conversations about God, get to
34:13know other like-minded believers,
34:15and also, it's a place where we could
34:18connect a little more. I don't want to
34:20say personally. I don't want to make it
34:21weird like that, but you know, I be in
34:23the Discord. We be hanging out. We be
34:25chatting. We be sharing memes. We be
34:27having a good time. We talk about a lot
34:29of different stuff. Biblical
34:30conversations. All all all types of
34:33stuff.
34:34Long story short,
34:36I think you would enjoy it, okay? So, if
34:39you want to join the community, I'll
34:40link it down below. Join Discord, and
34:43[music] um hopefully I'll see you in
34:45there. All right? I'm out, y'all.
34:49>> [music]

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