Changing Bad Habits!

John 14:23
23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him."

Yes, living God's word is about developing good habits and developing good habits means getting rid of the bad ones.  Changing habits is not always easy but definitely possible.  There is a great deal of research implying it takes 21 days to change a habit.  This means you have to change the behavior and then practice the new behavior for 21 days before it imprints; it becomes a habit.  Some would debate the number of days arguing it takes much longer to really change behavior, but the point is that developing good habits means practicing new behavior until it becomes our new habit.  That is a challenge we as believers must face when we live for Christ.  The Holy Spirit dwells within us as our comforter and helper, helping us to achieve the seemingly impossible.  The word verifies this as it tells us we can do all things through Christ, Holy Spirt, who strengthens us.

My challenge to each of you is to take the time to think about your habits, the good and bad, and then initiate a plan to change your habits so they all align with God's purpose for your life.  Can you do it?  Are you willing?  Will you at least identify one habit you know needs to change and the purposefully plan to change that habit?  If you answered yes, then try pulling out a monthly calendar and writing at the top the habit you plan to change.  Then start each day by looking at your calendar and committing to the change and ensuring the bad habit will not take place and the good one replacing it, will.  At the end of the day, look at the calendar and draw a big red X through the day if you were successful.  Soon you should see a consistent chain of big red X's going through the calendar.  If you revert back to the bad habit, don't mark the calendar and start the next day.  Soon the pattern will let you know how you are doing; remember you are not alone in this journey for He is with you!  Just a little advice to go!

A2G: More Than Conquerors!

Romans 8: 31-39

31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?  32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.  34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written “For your sake we face death all day long we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Where are you today in Christ?  Are you living the word or still wasting time living in the weakness of your flesh.  Not an easy start to this message, but yes we need to be called out and challenged regarding our engagement of God's word; its integration into our daily living.  Too many times, I find myself conversing with believers about emotional tribulations they are experiencing reflecting the need for God's word to be integrated into their lives.  Desperation surfaces often about the same challenges, many of which are caused by the same person or persons.  Often the advice is the same, focus on God's word and understand its truth, we are more than conquerors!  His word does not return void and given that fact we must then acknowledge that the challenges we are facing are nothing more than an opportunity to conquer.

For many of us, we believe challenges our opportunities to pray for the person or persons whom responsible for those challenges, we focus on the individuals or the problems failing to focus on the opportunity.  What opportunity?  The opportunity for individual spiritual growth, the opportunity to integrate God's word into every facet of our lives, and the opportunity to learn to practice the unconditional love God demonstrates to us with those who present the greatest challenges.  We must learn how to keep our egos in check, our pride under control, our emotions from being triggered by the actions of others, our low self esteem in check, and our insecurities from overcoming our rational thinking.  The word is intended to help us grow beyond our brokenness into the conquerors God created us to be.  Our rebirth begins the recreation process and it becomes our obligation to engage God's word, the tool that will help us grow into his perfected child able to overcome life's challenges and frustrations, becoming more than conquerors.  I say yes, I am more than a conqueror!  Just a little advice to go!    

A2G: This Little Light of Mine, I'm Gonna Let It Shine!

We have all heard the lyrics of this children's bible song, but have we really considered the meaning of the words.  As Christians we all have a little light ignited within us the moment we accept Christ as our personal savior.  We are reborn moving from the darkness to the light, being renewed and transformed into his image.  

Our challenge as new believers is to grow our light, to develop into strong and responsible Christians able to shine in the darkness.  We become a light shining before all as evidenced by our actions.  Growing our light takes place as we commit to prayer, to learning and living the word, and sharing his message.  We move into the place where our light shines in the midst of the darkness.  Darkness is no longer a place to flee from but rather an opportunity to let our lives shine bright, reflecting the message of Christ.  We often pray and complain about the darkness in our lives rather than recognizing that Christ places us in the darkness so we can illuminate the path for others, a light helping them find their way to salvation.

Recently, I dealt with a situation where the person was dark and unreasonable, a person I wanted to avoid at all cost.  I prayed what most of us might think of praying, God get this person away from me.  But today as I prayed God revealed that this person was not placed in my path so I could complain about them, but rather so I could love them and shine the light of Christ.  I fell into the trap of the flesh not recognizing an opportunity to serve my Lord, and instead criticized the person rather than loving them.  I now realize my mistakes; I failed to love the least lovable and to illuminate the path to Christ.  Fortunately God is forgiving and provides opportunities for us to overcome our mistakes and carry out the work he needs us to complete.  He wants us to be the light that shines in the darkness and gives us multiple opportunities to achieve that goal.  We can shine our light on those we serve at work, our families, our friends and on the strangers we meet each day.  Let's all let our lights shine!  Just a little advice to go!

Are You A Toxic Handler, A Peacemaker?

In the world of organizations and organizational behavior we look at how people formulate an organization and how their interactions create, manipulate and establish the culture within the organization.  Churches as places of worships are organizations replicating many of the same challenges because once again, people are coming together to impact the culture of the church.  Peter J. Frost's article regarding the impact of the Toxic Handler within the organization spoke to my heart with regards to the role of the Toxic Handler within the church, and every church has at least one or more toxic handler.  Unlike author Frost, I identify this person as the Peacemaker within the church.

So what is a Peacemaker?  Why do we need a Peacemaker within the church?  Many would argue the leader of the church, the Pastor, should be responsible for ensuring there is peace within the church, but I believe the role pertains to those God anoints to be peacemakers which can be anyone from the Pastor down to the Custodian.  The peacemaker recognizes the importance of helping reduce the divisions commonly found in so many of our churches today.  First and foremost, he or she practices God's word ensuring they listen carefully to the issues without becoming part of the conflict and without concluding they have all the answers.  A peacemaker focuses on reading between the lines to ascertain the true cause of the pain, does not take sides even if he or she has one, and helps individuals talk through the pain.  If trusted, they can bring a level of greater understanding of the word and its application to the conflict at hand.  Peacemakers are well connected throughout the church and the various groups within the church, they have the uncanny ability to walk on the waters that divide the various groups.  Succeeding in the role of peacemaker involves a deep understanding of self, the strengths and flaws existing within self enabling us to ensure his or her strengths are a blessing to others while keeping individual flaws in check to prevent an escalation of the conflict.

There is a lot to be said about identifying the role, talents, and skills of a true peacemaker.  Each of you is challenged to search within yourselves and assess if you are one of God's peacemakers; one who has been critical to addressing conflict and creating peace.  Perhaps you simply never realized that this is a calling a gift God has given you and the importance of being more intentional in using this gift.  Are you a peacemaker, able to alleviate the toxicity existing within your church, workplace, or school?  Jesus provides us with a prayer reminding us He was a peacemaker seeking his people to be united as one body in Christ.  Here is his prayer for peace:

22"The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; 23I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. 24"Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.…
John 17: 17-24

Let us come together in one mind and one accord to celebrate being the Peacemakers where ever we are!  Just a little advice to go!

Feeling Convicted?

Have you felt convicted?  In what ways?  God uses the Holy Spirit to convict us in different ways based on the status of our walk with Him.  Conviction can expose us to the fact we are walking outside of God's will, a reminder we need to realign ourselves with God's word.  Conviction can also come in the form of reprove, a reminder of what we know to be true and the fact we are contradicting this truth by the manner in which we are behaving.  Conviction can also come in the form of convincing, convincing us to to do God's will; to take the steps to be right with the Lord.  God's conviction through the Holy Spirit serves to ensure we are reminded of His grace and love for us.  We are reminded he claimed us by the shedding of His blood and is unwilling to let us depart from Him.  In the secular world a convicted person having been found guilty is penalized but in God's world his conviction opens the door for repentance, forgiveness, and renewal.  There is no sentence, no condemnation in Christ our Lord!  Just a little advice to go!

The Simplicity of Christ!

2 Corinthians 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

There is much to be said about this scripture but today I want to focus on the last few words, "the simplicity that is in Christ".   Christ's gift of salvation was provided to us with a very simple set of instructions.

First we must understand we are all sinners, guilty of the sins of the flesh despite our every effort to love the Lord.  Romans 3:23 reveals to us that all have sinned and fall short of God's glory.  Stop trying to be perfect, stop believing that perfection is a requisite for salvation, and understand our struggle against the sins of the flesh are a natural part of our journey through this life.

Second, recognize that Christ is the son of God and that he died so you and I can have the gift of salvation through his unconditional love.  It is by his grace and not our works that we have access to salvation.  The Bible says, “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, [Jesus Christ], that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).  Jesus said, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” — a complete life full of purpose (John 10:10).

Finally, repent from your sins and seek the Lord and you will be blessed.  Luke 3:19 tells us, "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord". How awesome, all we need to do is repent to sincerely turn away, in both the mind and heart, from self to God.  A sincere turning away from that which we know is wrong to that which is righteous under God's word.  But the best part is our sincerity is rewarded with a refreshing from the Lord, a renewed feeling of oneness with God which completes us.

Yes, Christ's plan is a simple one but we often forget that important detail.  If we simply recognize him as our Lord, sincerely repent for the mistakes we make, and live within his word we have salvation.  If we practice the word then we become living proof of his immense love and compassion for others. Please remember that living for Christ is not so complicated, he made it so simple!  Just a little advice to go!

Not if, But When!

God tells us in 1 John 5:14 that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.  Not only does he hear us, but he responds.  He tell us in John 15:7, if you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.  We must learn to remove the doubt from our minds and to recognize his word as truth, it does not return void.

It is not if God will provide for your bills, but rather when he provides for your bills; not if he will heal you but when he heals you; not if you will get the promotion but when you get the promotion, and so forth.  God is only limited in responding to our prayers by our doubts and unwillingness to move from the if statement to the when statement.  If you catch yourself saying the "if" statement then stop it and move towards the "when" statement.  When God heals me, when God promotes me, when God delivers me all recognize that God will fulfill his promises for your life.

We need to learn to be patient, to trust in His will, and to remain consistent in our belief in His word.  We have not because we often ask not and often believe not.  As you believe, you shall receive.  Accept God's word as truth and His promises will come to pass in your life; not if they come to pass, but rather when they come to pass!  Just a little advice to go!