Elevation with Steven Furtick — "Same Lies New Loops"

Release Date: September 14, 2025
Host: Pastor Steven Furtick
Podcast: Elevation with Steven Furtick (iHeartPodcasts)

Episode Overview

In this episode titled "Same Lies New Loops," Pastor Steven Furtick opens a new six-week series centered on breaking the cycles of discouragement, anxiety, and untruths that keep us stuck. Drawing from Lamentations 3 and the stories of Jeremiah and Elijah, Furtick explores how the enemy’s unchanging lies trap us in mental and emotional loops, while God offers new mercies and help each day. The message calls for recognizing and rejecting the enemy’s consistent deception in favor of speaking and embracing God’s truth, even when our circumstances seem unchanged.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Stage: Shared Struggle and Scriptural Foundation

• Steven Furtick’s Connection to Listeners

  • Expresses love for the congregation, even those he hasn't met personally.
  • Introduces the thematic phrase for the next six weeks: "Same lies, new loops." (04:23)
  • Sets context with national and global hardships, highlighting a universal need for Jesus.

• Scripture Foundation: Lamentations 3

  • Jeremiah, in the aftermath of Israel’s destruction, expresses despair:

    “I have been deprived of peace. I have forgotten what prosperity is. … My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped for from the Lord. I remember my affliction and my wandering... Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope.” (06:56–07:35)

2. The Enemy’s Consistency: “Same Lies, New Loops”

• Nature of the Enemy’s Lies

  • The enemy isn’t creative; he’s simply consistent, repeating the same two core lies:
    1. It’s not enough
    2. You’re not loved
  • These lies are woven into our thoughts so seamlessly they can feel like our own. (17:27–18:38)

  “The enemy just hammers the same lies over and over again. … He’s not creative, but he’s consistent.” (14:30–14:45)

• Illustration: Personal Story of Holly

  • Furtick’s wife Holly, a "horrible liar," can't fake or hide her thoughts—and this inability to lie can also make it hard to detect lies.
  • Relates this to the listener: We must become better at identifying the lies we often mistake for truth. (12:41–13:31)

• Looping as a Mental Trap

  • The enemy exploits repetition and our honest nature so that his lies become inner monologues:

  “He’ll tell you the same thing over and over again until you can’t tell the difference between his voice and your thoughts.” (15:26–15:32)

3. The Two Big Lies

• Lie #1: “It’s Not Enough”

  • Applies to everything—time, money, peace, love, ability:

  “Every time you sin and you need to come to God … he’ll try to tell you it’s not enough.” (20:01–20:11)

• Lie #2: “You’re Not Loved”

  • Leads to striving for acceptance, approval, filling emotional or spiritual gaps with the wrong things.

  “You are not enough, never mind that Christ is enough… He put you in that family. Yes, that family. The weird family, the dysfunctional family. Every family is dysfunctional.” (21:27–22:05)

• Scarcity Loop

  • Lack leads to insecurity, which feeds the sense of not being enough or lovable—thus repeating the cycle.

4. True vs. False Loops: How to Break the Cycle

• Observation from Lamentations 3:

  • Not everything Jeremiah says is technically a lie—his situation truly was terrible—but being “stuck” focuses you on pain instead of possibility.
  • Furtick underscores that just because something is true about your situation doesn’t mean you have to stay in it. (24:32–26:19)

• Bitterness vs. Peace

  • You can't be full of peace if you are full of bitterness or replaying past hurts.

  “If I am filled with bitterness, I am going to be empty of peace.” (27:25–27:53)

• Circling the Hurt vs. Summoning the Help

  • Furtick encourages listeners to stop circling pain and instead “summon your help”—to actively call on God’s promises and presence:

  "Am I going to keep circling my hurt or am I going to summon my help? … O God, when you call Jesus, help is on the way." (33:21–33:42)

5. Change the Narrative—God Responds to Your Declaration

• Jeremiah’s Turning Point
  • The turning point in Lamentations is not when God speaks, but when Jeremiah does:

  "But in Lamentations 3, God doesn’t speak, Jeremiah does. That changed my mind life because I’m expecting him to say, my hope is gone… But God doesn't say a word. Jeremiah does. And when Jeremiah speaks, God comes." (31:14–32:01)

  • “Change what you say and you are going to speak… If you change what you say, you’ll change what you see.” (32:12–32:23)

6. Case Study: Elijah in the Cave (1 Kings 19)

• Elijah’s Loop

  • Elijah, like Jeremiah, falls into a loop of despair: "I am the only one left." (40:59–41:21)
  • God corrects Elijah with a gentle whisper, not in the dramatic showings, and provides new instructions and people to break his isolation (42:58–47:55).

  “Can you let God come to you a different way and not think he left you?” (43:52–44:19)

• Choosing a New Loop

  • God’s instruction is to “go back the way you came”—to step out of the cave, out of the loop, and connect anew to purpose and people.

7. The Greater Battle: Revelation, the Testimony, and the Blood

• Victory Over the Dragon

  • Furtick ties in the cosmic battle described in Revelation 12, where "the accuser, that ancient serpent" is cast down.

  “God has been creating longer than [the enemy] has been lying. God is better at his job than the enemy is at his.” (50:12–50:27)

• Application:

  • Our triumph is secured by “the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony.” (51:06–51:25)

8. A Practical Example: “A Beautiful Mind” Parallel

• Cites the film’s protagonist, John Nash, who learns to manage intrusive voices by choosing not to listen—a metaphor for ignoring the enemy’s persistent lies (51:38–53:12).

9. Call to Salvation & New Beginnings

• Furtick leads a salvation prayer for those who feel trapped by lies of “not enough” or “not loved,” inviting listeners to embrace a new identity in Christ and join the journey toward new loops. (53:48–56:00)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Same lies, new loops. His mercies are new every morning. So are the devil’s temptations.” — Steven Furtick [08:17]
• “If you look at your life, [the enemy] says the same things to you over and over again. He’s not creative, but he’s consistent.” — Steven Furtick [15:21]
• "The problem with the things Jeremiah was saying in Lamentations, Chapter three [is] none of them were outright lies… but just because they're true of you does not mean you have to be trapped in them for the rest of your life." [25:57]
• “If you can ever find the lie he is telling you, you can flow in the truth God has given you.” — Steven Furtick [16:10]
• “Am I going to keep circling my hurt or am I going to summon my help? O God, when you call Jesus, help is on the way.” — Steven Furtick [33:21–33:42]
• "God has been creating longer than [the enemy] has been lying. God is better at his job than the enemy is at his." — Steven Furtick [50:12]
• “This I call to my mind. Therefore I have hope.” — Lamentations 3:21 [07:35]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [04:23] — Introduction of series theme: “Same lies, new loops.”
• [06:56–07:35] — Reading and application of Lamentations 3.
• [14:30–15:32] — Discussion on the enemy’s lack of creativity and consistency in lies.
• [17:27–18:38] — Furtick lists the two foundational lies: “It’s not enough” and “You’re not loved.”
• [24:32–26:19] — Explanation of not being trapped in old truths.
• [27:25–27:53] — Full of bitterness means empty of peace.
• [33:21–33:42] — Breakthrough moment: “Circling your hurt” vs. “summoning your help.”
• [31:14–32:23] — Jeremiah’s shift: changing self-talk to change perspective and outcomes.
• [39:53–47:55] — Elijah’s cave, the “only one left” lie, and God’s gentle whisper/change of direction.
• [51:06–51:25] — Victory is by “the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony.”
• [53:48–56:00] — Closing prayer and invitation to Christ.

Tone & Original Language

Pastor Furtick’s delivery is highly energetic, personal, and contemporary, blending humor (as seen in his family anecdotes) with biblically-rooted teaching. The message is honest about pain and struggle, yet unflinchingly hopeful—challenging listeners to take practical action by changing self-talk and actively embracing God’s truth amid hardship.

Closing Challenge

Furtick closes by emphasizing the communal journey toward freedom from toxic mental loops, promising that future messages in the series will equip listeners for further breakthrough. He encourages listeners to “tune back in next week” for more tools and revelations, leaving them with hope and practical steps for the week ahead.

Summary prepared for those seeking insight and transformation, whether or not they’ve heard the episode.