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April 30, 2013

5 Benefits of Healthy Friendships

You need healthy, Godly friendships to finish the race God has laid out for you. You benefit from healthy relationships, but you must be open to receiving the following five:

#1  Perspective

“Where there is no guidance the people fall, But in abundance of counselors there is victory.” (Proverbs 11:14 NASB) You have blind spots. I have blind spots. You and I both need people around us who love us enough to speak into our lives. Others can see things in us that we can’t see – our strengths and weaknesses.

#2  Accountability

“If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall.” (1 Corinthians 10:12 NLT) Accountability helps keep us out of trouble and maintain integrity both in public and in private. The key to being accountable to someone else is to be open and honest.

#3  Encouragement 

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#4  Strength

“Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9 NLT) Two are definitely better than one! God designed it so that when any of us is weak in any area, another is able to supply our lack.

#5  Friendship

“My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us—perfect love!” (1 John 4:11-12 MSG) God placed in each of us a deep need to be known and loved.

Do you have God-honoring friends who help spur you forward? Do your relationships help you serve the Lord?

March 20, 2013

7 Steps For Good Habits

I am not sure who originally authored the steps below. I cannot remember from whom I picked it up and I think I have altered them. I have used the ideas for several years, so by some “preacher standards” – they are mine now! The wisdom is too good not to share.

Here are seven practical steps to start, establish, and maintain good habits.

Step One: Desire

You must start with a strong desire. You must be internally motivated. External motivations don’t last. If you start only half-heartedly, you will never make it to the success point. “The desire of the righteous turns out well, but the hope of the wicked leads to wrath.” (Proverbs 11:23 HCSB)

Step Two: Decide

Begin right now! Don’t wait. Don’t procrastinate. You don’t slide into a new habit. “One of these days” never arrives. You must have a starting point. “And you must keep on while there is still a time that can be called ‘today’.” (Hebrews 3:13b CEV) It’s easier to break a bad habit today than it will be tomorrow!

Step Three: Declaration

Announce your intentions publicly. Make a covenant or resolution. The power of a vow is awesome.  “When you make a vow to the Lord your God, be prompt in fulfilling whatever you promised him.” (Deuteronomy 23:21a NLT) It is particularly powerful if you put your commitment in writing.

Step Four: Determination

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Remember, the enemy does not want you to develop habits that help you grow spiritually and make you like Christ. “They [Folks opposing Nehemiah] were just trying to intimidate us, imagining that they could discourage us and stop the work. So I continued the work with even greater determination.” (Nehemiah 6:9 NLT) Satan will do all he can to tempt you, cause you to slip, or discourage you.

Step Five: Just Do It!

Whenever you feel the slightest urge or prompting to practice this new habit – DO IT THEN! Don’t wait. Seize every opportunity to reinforce your habit. Those feelings will not last, so whenever you feel inclined to perform your new habit, do so! Jesus said, “No procrastination. No backward looks. You can’t put God’s kingdom off till tomorrow. Seize the day.” (Luke 9:62 MSG)

Step Six: Double Up

Get a partner who will support you and encourage you. Choose wisely. “Don’t be fooled: Bad friends will ruin good habits.” (1 Corinthians 15:33 ERV) Find someone who is willing to hold you accountable and check up on you especially in the early days before the habit is firmly rooted in your life.

Step Seven: Depend on God

Rely on God’s power to help you establish the habit. “And now just as you trusted Christ to save you, trust Him, too, for each day’s problems; live in vital union with Him.” (Colossians 2:6 LIVING) Pray! Yield to the Holy Spirit. Draw from God’s gracious strength. Keep going. You are walking into a good habit.

 

March 19, 2013

Simple advice for overcoming addiction or hidden sin

The Lord wants to unlock the chain of addiction binding your life. The steps below are easy to read, but will take lots of effort. This isn’t an exhaustive list but these seven steps will get you going down the right path.

#1 Honestly evaluate yourself.

Ask the Holy Spirit to shine His spotlight of conviction upon any area of your life needing freedom. Holy Spirit is good at His job; He will convict you if necessary.

#2 Admit it.

Accept personal liability. Repent! Confess your sin, repent and receive God’s forgiveness. Don’t continually beat yourself up and live with condemning guilt-feelings.  Godly sorrow prompts repentance, not shame or condemnation. Godly sorrow involves your emotions but is so much more than grief or tears.

#3 Call it by name.

Don’t rationalize your sin. Face it frankly. You don’t get out of the spiral of degradation by “wishing” it away or by redefining sin. Sin kills. Even “small” sin wrecks havoc. Don’t whitewash your issue.

#4 Take drastic measures.

Radically alter your lifestyle. Get rid of the stuff. “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.” (Romans 13:14 NASB) You don’t have to have internet access, cable tv, printed material, alcohol to “cook” with, your grandpa’s pipe – if it has a hold on you, cut it out! Don’t keep a secret stash as a backup plan in cause you backslide. Get rid of what you can’t handle.

#5 Get help.

Don’t try to walk it out alone. You haven’t conquered it yet by yourself, so quit thinking you can. Admit your struggle. Find a good accountability partner. Yes, you need to confess your sin to God and receive His forgiveness, but to overcome addiction or hidden sin you need to take the NEXT STEP of confessing to real live human being.

“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” (James 5:16 NIV) Notice the connection in James 5:16 with confession and prayer. Prayer is a vital resource. Talk to God for yourself and have others pray for you!

Find someone spiritual mature with wisdom and good common sense. Some of you need to seek out a Godly Christian counselor because your addiction is just a symptom of a deeper issue.

Brethren, if any person is overtaken in misconduct or sin of any sort, you who are spiritual [who are responsive to and controlled by the Spirit] should set him right and restore and reinstate him, without any sense of superiority and with all gentleness, keeping an attentive eye on yourself, lest you should be tempted also. (Galatians 6:1 AMP)

#6 Replace the sin with something righteous.

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:21 NASB) Do you remember the effort, time, and finances you put into your addiction? Well, put that effort, times, and finances into living your life in freedom. Make a willful choice and determination to avoid sin.

#7 Change the way you think.

Get more insight into this step from my March 15, 2013 post RENEW YOUR MIND. Pray and read the Word of God. You can’t just white-knuckle it through temptation; you need the supernatural resources including God’s Word.

  • Read the Bible DAILY. “[The Scriptures] shall be his constant companion. He must read from it everyday of his life so that he will learn to respect the Lord his God by obeying all of his commands.”   (Deuteronomy 17:19 Living)
  • Memorize Scripture that applies to your situation. “Guard my words as your most precious possession. Write them down, and also keep them deep within your heart.”  (Proverbs 7:2-3 Living)
  • Meditate upon God’s Word. “(Those) who are always meditating on His Laws … are like trees along a river bank bearing fruit … they never wither and whatever they do prospers.”  (Psalm 1:2-3 Living)

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Why all this stress on behaviour? Because, as I think you have realised, the present time is of the highest importance—it is time to wake up to reality. Every day brings God’s salvation nearer. The night is nearly over, the day has almost dawned. Let us therefore fling away the things that men do in the dark, let us arm ourselves for the fight of the day! Let us live cleanly, as in the daylight, not in the “delights” of getting drunk or playing with sex, nor yet in quarrelling or jealousies. Let us be Christ’s men from head to foot, and give no chances to the flesh to have its fling. (Romans 13:11-14 PHILLIPS)

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