11 Dec Hopes & Habits (Because you can’t have uphill hopes and downhill habits) Part 14

Posted at 15:32h in Uncategorized by

My definition for “discipline” is “simply deciding between what you want now versus what you want more.”  We want to get in shape but we want that donut now.  We want to have a closer walk with God but we want to get on social media now.  We want to have a better marriage but we are too busy watching our favorite TV show now.  

So many of us have uphill hopes but downhill habits.  This series is designed specifically to help you connect your uphill hopes with uphill habits.   Let’s review and then continue our series!

Over the last number of months we have shared with you “8 Habit Helpers”:

    1. Hope is not a strategy (Heb. 6:19).  
    2. The things we do and the things we should do don’t always line up (Rom. 7:19).
    3. The two greatest gaps in life are “wanting and having” and “knowing and doing”.  If you’ll close the second gap, the first gap will automatically close.
    4. We are what we repeatedly do.  
    5. We form our habits then our habits form us.
    6. Always point your saying, sowing and serving in the same direction.
    7. Always point your mouth, money and ministry in the same direction.  Again, this is the same principle as #6 but said in a little different way.
    8. Habit will take you further than desire.

Then we shared with you “3 Different Dynamics”:

  1. Renew your hope (Prov. 13:12).
  2. Repent from your past (Rom. 2:4).
  3. Redefine your habits (Heb. 5:13-14).

Then we finally shared with you “Four Biblical Habits” that will radically change your life:

   1.) Focus on firsts (Matt. 6:33).

Four “First” Facets:

  1. What you do first reveals who you are.
  2. Whatever you prize you will prioritize.
  3. Whatever you put first you set up to meet your needs.
  4. First things have power

Then we shared Three “First” Formulas:

  1. Give God the first of your month…scheduling and budgeting
  2. Give God the first of your week…worshipping and resting
  3. Give God the first of your day…studying and praying

Then we discussed “Three Alignment Aspects”:

  1. If God is simply on your list, your life will be misaligned.  If God is at the top of your list, your life will be aligned.
  2. God models what He expects.  He put us first by going first.
  3. Expect the rest to be blessed.

    2.)Foster new thoughts (Rom. 12:2).

“Two Change Challenges”:

  1. God-given change is both possible and profitable.
  2. God-given change creates better “normals”.

Then we shared “Seven Channels of Change”:

         1.] Change your “saying” (James 3:3-4).  

4 “Saying” Superlatives:

  1. Don’t use your words to describe your life…use your words to design your life.
  2. Don’t speak what you experience…speak what you expect.
  3. You can’t out-think the devil but you sure can out-speak him (see Matt. 4:1-11).  
  4. Take the faith in your heart and overpower the doubt in your head…by the words of your mouth!

Now let’s continue…allow me to share with you Three Thoughts on Thinking:

        1.  If you want to change your life, you must change the way you think.

In II Samuel 9, you find King David looking for any relative of his deceased friend Jonathan.  Jonathan was his closest friend and he and David made covenant together. David was a man of honor and worked to revere the covenant he made with his dear friend.  One of David’s servants brought up the fact that Mephibosheth, a relative of Jonathan’s, was still alive. David immediately ordered Mephibosheth to be brought to the palace.

Mephibosheth was both poor and crippled and when he came to the palace, David informed him that all that was in the palace now belonged to him.  Mephibosheth responded from his identity and in essence declared that he was an unworthy dog not deserving of any of the king’s blessings.

If you go back into II Samuel 4 you will find the origin of Mephibosheth’s difficulties.  When he was but an infant he was being attended to by a nurse. One tragic day the nurse got the news that both Saul (Mephibosheth’s grandfather) and Jonathan (Mephibosheth’s father) had been killed.  The nurse was understandably afraid and in haste began to run from the house and accidently dropped Mephibosheth. He was crippled from that moment on!

As a minister for over 34 years, I have watched that happened to so many people.  When they are young, someone drops/hurts them and they become crippled in their thinking from that moment on.  You can bring them to entirely new “palace” conditions but their “crippled” identity will always cause them to have an “unworthy dog” syndrome and thus abort the king’s blessings in their life.

Let me give you an example that I’ve seen over the years.  I watch couples get hurt, go through divorce, but never renew and revamp their thinking on the inside (see Romans 12:2).  They now get a new wife, a new job, live in a new house in a new city, but end up going through divorce again because of old thinking!

Jesus our King has brought you up to the “table” of His blessings but in order to receive it…you must change how you think!