Change Your Habits!

That you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:22-24).

Putting off and putting on are terms Paul used to describe the change in a believers life after salvation because of mind renewal. Before salvation, we’ve trained our bodies to yield to certain appetites, we’ve trained our minds to think in certain ways, and we’ve trained our emotions to act and react certain ways.

Stopping these learned behaviors is called putting off the old man with his deeds. The sin nature that produced appetites, thoughts and emotional responses has been removed by the new birth! We have become new creatures in Christ, and our daily lifestyle must be retrained to yield to this new person that we’ve become inside.

  

Developing new habits that reflect the new person that we’ve become within is called putting on the new man. This process occurs in us as we feed on the word and purpose to live a life of obedience to God.

A key to putting off and putting on is in understanding the fundamentals of how behavior changes. We can’t stop a habit by constantly refusing to act it out. That keeps the attention on the habit.

  

Habits change by being replaced. When we make the decision to renew our minds with the Word, we decide to act on what we read and meditate on in scripture. For instance you read in Ephesians 4:29 that you are to refuse to allow yourself to speak any hurtful words to or about others. You meditate and think on this scripture over and over again for a period of time. And you may find that you still slip up and say things that shouldn’t be said and you repent. Just keep that process up, and the habit of hurtful speech will be broken and replaced by a habit of blessing with your words.

 

At first, it’s hit and miss. You may take a step forward and then a step backward. The key is persistence. Just keep on meditating in the word, and acting on it by repenting when you miss it with your words, and soon you’ll be catching yourself just before you begin the tirade of negative speech.

 Putting off the old man and putting on the new man is a process that continues throughout our lives as we grow in Christ. His plan is that by the time He comes for us, we act just like Him in our thoughts, our words, and in our responses to others!

God Uses Ordinary, Simple, and Weak People!

Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence (1 Corinthians 1:25-29).

It’s not talent, skill, mental acumen, or social standing that causes God to place His anointing upon our lives. It’s faithful, obedient hearts that catch His gaze. Regardless of what “side of the tracks” we come from, there are no special privileges due to social or financial standing, or even natural abilities in the kingdom of God.

What the Father does in us and through us is all a work of His grace of which we cannot boast. He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord.

God has a purpose for you as a member of the body of Christ. That purpose is not rooted in your natural heritage or background, and does not depend on natural strengths. That purpose was programmed into you from eternity past when God planned your life.

 

Moses was a murderer with a stuttering problem at age forty and years later was called by God to lead his generation. David was a shepherd little known by his fellow man. Joseph was ridiculed by his brothers and sold as a slave and did prison time. Amos was a farmer. Elisha was called from the back of a plow to lead a nation spiritually. Peter was unstable, but used by God to lead the church after the resurrection of Jesus. Paul was one of the most educated men of his day but counted his education as a pile of trash compared to knowing Jesus.

 

When God called me, I was an awkward introvert with no plan for my life. None of us can trust who we are in the flesh, talented or unskilled. It’s the power and grace of God that make us what we are in the family of God. So we can’t boast of anything God does through us. We’re merely the pipeline for the glory of God to be revealed to our generation through the good news of the gospel.

Don’t allow who you are naturally, good or bad, strong or weak, keep you from the glorious things that the Father has called you to do. You’re His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has planned for you to fulfill. Don’t look at yourself or you’ll get discouraged; don’t look at others or you’ll envy and compare; but look unto Jesus. He’s the beginning and ending of all you are and all He’s called you to do.

Get Rid of Wrong Thinking!

So get rid of all uncleanness and the rampant outgrowth of wickedness, and in a humble (gentle, modest) spirit receive and welcome the Word which implanted and rooted [in your hearts] contains the power to save your souls (James 1:21 – Amplified)

 

The Holy Spirit working with the Word can change elements of your personality! When I first came to Jesus, I was obsessed with inferiority, rejection, fear, phobias, and basic insecurity.

 

As a result of many childhood traumas from friends and acquaintances, I learned that you just couldn’t trust people in general, and that the best policy is to stay away from them as much as possible.

 

When I came to Jesus I began to devour the Word of God, and learned that God’s Word is more true than my feelings and personal perceptions. I began to speak God’s Word out loud, positively affirming what God says I have and what He says I am.

Nothing seemed to changed for a while, but as I persisted after months and months I noticed that the basic pessimism that ruled me most of my life began to give way to a new confidence that came from the Word. The inferiority, the rejection, the fear, the phobias, the insecurity began to be replaced with boldness and confidence.

  

An added ingredient in the change in me is that over time, I came to know that the Father loved me no matter what I’ve done. And I began to take time to  talk to Him about things that bothered me, hurts that I had experienced, and perceptions in life that I knew were distorted by my personal hurts.

I would take time to pray in the spirit and pour my heart out to the Father and I found that as I did, He began to minister His love to my spirit, and to nurture the emotional wounds created in my soul from incidents in my past.

 

He saved my soul! He restored my mind and emotions! He brushed away the hurt and pain, and replaced it with a joy and confidence that came from knowing that He is for me in life’s fight.

  

Take time each day to build the Word into your spirit through meditation and to  confess verbally what God says about you. Take time to pour out your heart to Him and to pray in the spirit. You’ll find the enormous power of the Word of God lifting you from personal insecurities to a new boldness and confidence rooted in the love of God and in who you are in Christ Jesus!

It's a day to let the holiness of God be seen in us!

Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God (2 Corinthians 7:1).

So you must live as God's obedient children. Don't slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn't know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, "You must be holy because I am holy" (1 Peter 1:14-16).   

This is a day to cleanse ourselves. To be the salt and the light we’re called to be, we must look and act different than the world. In Exodus 33 Moses told the Lord that it was His presence that made the Israelites different from the heathen nations surrounding them. In Acts 4 people notice that Peter and John had been with Jesus. They acted differently than their cultural norm.

  

Salt is a purifying agent, a preserving agent, and a taste enhancing agent. If salt loses these properties isn’t much good for any purpose. As we walk in holiness, we change the atmosphere wherever we go, bringing purity, keeping the world from being completely corrupt, and we enhance the quality of life!

  

Light provides life. Without the light of the sun we light could not exist on earth.  Darkness produces death.  Darkness recedes when light appears. The Greater One is in you! But that light within is no brighter than the holiness that we walk in.

Our power is in our purity and holiness. We lose our power when we compromise. And our world desperately needs to see the light and experience the salt of godliness!

I’m reminded of Smith Wigglesworth, who walked with the Father so closely that when he sat on a train with others, conviction would permeate them. His consecration to holiness produced tangible power that affected people when they were in his presence!

Make a choice today to refuse to compromise with the world and the flesh. Wash yourself daily with the water of the Word to keep the impurities out. Guard your eyes, your ears, and your thoughts.  Keep your fellowship intimate by spending time alone with the Father every day. Remember, you become like the people you hang around! Be a bearer of the Presence!

 

Pray In The Spirit!

So too the Holy Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance.  And He who searches the hearts of men knows what is in the mind of the Holy Spirit [what His intent is], because the Spirit intercedes and pleads [before God] in behalf of the saints according to and in harmony with God's will (Romans 8:26-27).

  

Praying is the spirit, in other tongues, is such an effective means of prayer! Think about all of the incredible benefits you gain by spending time with your Father praying in your heavenly language.

  

Praying in the spirit gives us the ability to pray unlimited prayers about any subject and any person worldwide! It takes us out of the finite and places us in the infinite. It takes us out of the realm of reason and places us in the realm where God knows, understands, and sees all! We literally pray the perfect will of God when we take time to pray in tongues.

  

Many times you’re praying about future events in your life when you pray in tongues. Romans 8:28 reveals that all things work together for a pattern of good to those who love God and are called to His purposes. Things work out for good in your life if you’re a person given to spiritual praying.

  

Praying in the spirit helps us pray about the most important things. 1 Corinthians 14:2 calls them secret truth and hidden things that are not obvious to the understanding (Amplified). Family, friends, business, government, ministry, relationships, finances, the list goes on as to areas covered by this kind of praying.

  

Praying in the spirit builds up your spirit. It brings edification, rest, and power to the human spirit. Think of it, this is the rest with which the weary rest (Isaiah 28:12). I work hard often to the point of weariness mentally and physically. But after a season of praying in the spirit comes a sense of refreshment from the inside.

  

None of these things I’ve mentioned are attached to feelings. Most of the time your mind will tell you praying in tongues is a waste. But nothing could be further from the truth! It’s the best way to pray!

 

I encourage you to take at least an hour each day to pray in the spirit. Over time it will lift you into the purposes of God for your life and bring blessing to everything around you.

God's Loving Discipline

nd you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? (Hebrews 12:5-7). Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law (Psalm 94:12).

  

God is the most wonderful Father! He loves us enough to discipline us. I loved my four children enough to discipline them when they were young. They needed the correction that only a parent can give. MY goal as a parent is that by the time my children are out from under my care that they are guided by a conscience tender towards God from within.

God disciplines us for our profit, so that we will become just like Him in holiness. But contrary to religious ideas, God does not chasten with sickness and disease, accidents, poverty, and a host of hurtful things. God is not an abusive parent. We’d send law enforcement after a parent caught breaking a child’s arm or leg to teach him a lesson! But many accuse God of being a child abuser when they say he disciplines us with all these hurtful things.

God disciplines us with His Word. When we get out of line, the Holy Spirit deals with us and removes His peace. He reminds us again and again of the promises of God, and draws us to the Father through the Word. A believer out of line with the Word is under the discipline of the Father. Over and over, the Word challenges, and His presence within woos away from the hurtful thoughts or actions that will bring ruin. Everywhere the disciplined believer turns, he’s reminded of what God says and why He says it.

A believer who doesn’t receive the discipline of the Word is in danger of hardening his conscience toward God, and is in a place where the enemy can deceive. Be careful not to violate conscience. When you do, repent immediately. A believe who will not listen to the Word and to the voice of conscience is eventually left to reap the consequences of his wrong choices.

  

God said to Israel, Choose today whom you will serve, life or death, blessing or cursing. The Father wants us to choose life through obedience to the Word, so that His blessing can be ours to enjoy.

  

Choose to yield to the discipline of the Father’s Word today. He’s training us in right living, and is pleased when we choose the discipline of His Word. He wants you to have His best!

 

Follow Hosea's Advise: Break Up Your Fallow Ground!

Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, till He comes and rains righteousness on you (Hosea 10:12).

 

Fallow ground is unproductive, untilled ground. When I was young my dad bought some land in the “country” and built a house there. There were fields of various kinds of produce surrounding my house. One field sat unplowed for a long time. The government paid the farmer to allow it to lie “fallow.”

The ground in this unplowed field had a thin crust over it that made it difficult for water to permeate. When it rained, the water simply ran off into the lowest place. Weeds grew in abundance there.

 

I noticed that when the farmers would plant crops in an adjoining field, some of the seed would be thrown over into this “fallow” field. They never germinated because the ground was so hard. The seed just lay on top of the soil and produced nothing.

 

Jesus mentioned four types of heart soil where the seed of the Word is planted. In Mark 4 He mentioned wayside, stony, thorny, and good ground. Fallow ground is much like the wayside, stony, and thorny ground.

 

Hosea was encouraging Israel to break up their fallow ground or to allow the Word to penetrate their hearts. And it is wise for us to check up on the condition of the soil of our hearts, and make sure that our ground is not “fallow.”

 

Sin in all its varying forms, unforgiveness, pride, worldliness, self-centeredness, and refusing to walk in love are a few ways that our heart soil can become fallow. The word just won’t produce fruit under these conditions. And the Holy Spirit’s voice is easily “muffled,” just like water rolling off fallow ground!

 

Breaking up “fallow” ground involves allowing the Father through the Word and the Holy Spirit to show us areas of disobedience, confessing it, and forsaking it. Repentance plows the soil of the human heart and allows the Word to germinate.

 

If you’ve noticed “weeds” growing in your life, sins that easily ensnare you, or if you notice a hardness in your attitude towards others, let me encourage you to take Hosea’s advice and do some spiritual plowing. The results will be that the seed of the Word will more easily germinate in you and produce a harvest of right living.  

Walk in Faith Today!

All things are possible to him who believes; All things are possible with God; This is the victory that overcomes the world-our faith; Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one; Fight the good fight of faith; But without faith it is impossible to please Him; The just shall live by faith; As you have believed, so let it be to you; Daughter, your faith has made you well; Be it unto you according to your faith.

The above references point to the importance of faith. And the key to faith is believing that right now (not some time in the future) I receive what the Father has promised me in the Word. Faith believes, says, and acts as though God’s Word is true right now! Hope is continually looking for the manifestation of an answer, while faith stands and acts as though the answer has come. So if I’m looking for a manifestation to prove an answer, then I’m still in hope and not faith, and I will not receive what God promised!

 

When you’re actually standing in real Bible faith, there is an inward excitement. That’s because you know that the Father has honored His Word to you, not because of any physical or circumstantial change, but simply because He said it! Joy is a byproduct of faith. Faith does not have the foreboding, gut wrenching thought that says what if it doesn’t work? The only possibility that faith sees is the answer! When thoughts of doubt come, faith pushes them away and refuses to speak them. And in return faith speaks out loud what it believes to counteract the thought of doubt.

Faith calls those things that be not as though they were. Faith looks beyond the seen and felt, and speaks what it believes. And faith also acts what it believes. In Romans 4, Abraham looked beyond his 100 year old body and beyond his wife’s 90 year old body. He looked beyond his present circumstance and chose to keep his attention fixed on God’s promise to him.

 

He remained in faith in spite of the looming circumstances by praising God for honoring His Word. His praise life moved his faith and kept him from looking at the wrong thing. He just kept looking at God’s Word to him and praising Him for doing what He said!

Act your faith today. Look beyond the present circumstance. Imitate the faith of Abraham and praise God for honoring His Word, even when nothing seems to be changing. Faith works! God honors His Word when really believed. All things are possible to you today. Don’t quit. Choose to look beyond and believe you receive!

How to Keep Yourself Encouraged When Life is Tough

And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God (1 Samuel 30:6).

 

David and his men came home from a battle to find their wives and children missing, and their city burned. His men blamed him for what happened and wanted to stone him. Even his friends and best buddies turned against him. But David found a way to keep himself strong. He encouraged himself in the Lord!

When hardship is pressing, and the test is of long duration, you must find a way to keep yourself encouraged and not lose strength. I’ve used David’s example many times when pressed. I’ve learned to encourage myself. And here’s how.

 

I forced myself to praise God, not because I feel like it, but because I know that praise brings the manifestation of God’s power into my situation. Israel won battles without lifting a sword by putting the praise team on the front line! Praise brings God’s presence, where there is fullness of joy. Joy produces strength.

 

One other thing I do is to remind myself of times in my past when the Lord has answered prayer and delivered me from a difficult situation.

Many years ago I endured a severe test while pioneering the church in a small city in South Carolina. Nothing was going my way. I was challenged from all sides. To deal with the pressure, I would take long walks alone and praise God for honoring His Word. Then I would remind myself of all the times that the Lord has answered prayer and had helped me in my past. I would start with the beginning of my walk with God and go from their, sometimes speaking aloud of the Lord’s mercy that had manifested in my life time after time.

 

By the time I was finished, time after time I found new zeal and fresh strength. The Lord did not bring me this far to let me down now! This exercise enabled me to press through the hard place to victory.

Read about how David encouraged himself in Psalm 42, and go and encourage yourself in the Lord today!

Psalm 42 – New Living Translation

As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. (2) I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before him? (3) Day and night I have only tears for food, while my enemies continually taunt me, saying, "Where is this God of yours?" (4) My heart is breaking as I remember how it used to be: I walked among the crowds of worshipers, leading a great procession to the house of God, singing for joy and giving thanks amid the sound of a great celebration! (5) Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again— my Savior and (6) my God! Now I am deeply discouraged, but I will remember you— even from distant Mount Hermon, the source of the Jordan, from the land of Mount Mizar. (7) I hear the tumult of the raging seas as your waves and surging tides sweep over me. (8) But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing his songs, praying to God who gives me life. (9) "O God my rock," I cry, "Why have you forgotten me? Why must I wander around in grief, oppressed by my enemies?" (10) Their taunts break my bones. They scoff, "Where is this God of yours?" (11) Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again— my Savior and my God!

 

First Love

"But I have this complaint against you. You don't love me or each other as you did at first! (Revelation 2:4)

  

Do I love Him now as much as I did when I was first born again and Spirit-Filled? Is His Word as exciting to me as it was when I first met Him?

  

First love is a condition of the heart, and must be guarded against the erosions of busyness and deadlines that must be met. Dietrich Bonheoffer said, be aware of the barrenness of a busy life. Life with Jesus will always be first of all a heart contact, and that means taking time to know Him.

That’s not performance, just like romance is not performance. Romance is a heart thing between two people. They want to be with each other. They want the companionship. They crave intimacy with the one they love.

There is a pure romance of the heart that each believer should foster with Jesus.  Forced time alone, clock watching during prayer, hurriedly reading the Word because of the deadlines of life can quench first love. Heart relationship takes time, lots of time. Listening, gazing, and absorbing the other person’s thoughts and feelings are keys to romance.

In Philippians 3 Paul mentioned that he counted all things as mere refuse to the goal of being intimate with Jesus. His reputation, his education, his social standing, his expertise created by his excellent education, all of these meant nothing in the light of knowing Jesus and the Father intimately. We must ask ourselves, do I feel this way? Is anything in my life more important than knowing Jesus and having a heart intimacy with Him through prayer and the Word?

It’s a good thing to examine ourselves. As the Greek philosopher said centuries ago, an un-examined life is not worth living.Take some time today to examine life priorities. Make sure that first love is still there with Jesus and the Father. Eternity rewards heartfelt actions.

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The Word Will Produce Stability in Your Life

In a world of increasing instability, we have a rock upon which to stand! Jesus said that practicing the Word is like building your house on rock instead of shifting sand. When difficulties come, you’ll be unmoved!

The more Word you practice, the stronger the foundation of your life will be. All weakness is the results of our leaving the Word in some way. The strength, the life, the wisdom, the rest, the grace, and the power of the Word of God will sustain you in life’s most arduous circumstances.

I had been a believer for just a few years when a spiritual leader rocked my world. He said some things to me in a private meeting that were untrue but very hurtful. The impact on my life was severe. I was only 20 years old, and his words affected my mental and emotional equilibrium.

Day after day his hurtful words ravaged my mind. The enemy used them to bring great condemnation and discouragement. I felt hopeless, alone, and abandoned.

But I was not without help. I decided to ignore my feelings and these aberrant thoughts that ceaselessly attacked my mind. I would spend the entire day forcing a scripture to revolve over and over in my mind. I chose to believe God’s Word over man’s Word. And after a period of time, I regained my mental and emotional balance, and found peace again.

This experience taught me the power of the Word in my life, and how the Word can bring stability. Since then, I have given the Word room in my thoughts and in my life every day. And the stability of the Word has rooted itself into who I am and what I do.

Regardless of how tough the circumstance may be that you’re facing, choose to act on God’s Word. Say it aloud. Let it roll over and over in your mind. Refuse to let your emotions rule you. The Father will provided you with needed wisdom, and the Word will produce freedom and liberty. You’ll come through the hard place. And you’ll know that God’s Word produces results.

Give room in your thought life today for the Word to dwell in you richly, and you’ll find the Father’s stability and strength for every situation!