08 Jan Hopes & Habits (Because you can’t have uphill hopes and downhill habits) Part 16

Posted at 14:14h in Uncategorized by

A Sunrise, a new born baby and a new year all have one thing in common…they give us a sense of renewed hope!  Once again it is January and the calendar has turned to 2019, but if we have uphill hopes and downhill habits the only thing that will change for us will be the calendar!

So what do you say…in 2019 let’s connect our uphill hopes with uphill habits!  

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).

      Four “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).  Take the faith in your heart and overpower the doubt in your head…by the words of your mouth!
  4. Take the faith in your heart and overpower the doubt in your head…by the words of your mouth!

2.] Change your “thinking”

      Three Thoughts on Thinking:

  1. If you want to change your life, you must change the way you think.
  2. Wherever you go, there you are!
  3. The worst advice you can give some people is “just be yourself!”

      “7 Ways to Think for a Change”:

  1. Think biblically (II Tim. 2:15)
  2. Think positively (Phil. 4:8)
  3. Think creatively (Mark 2:4)
  4. Think practically (Eph. 1:8)
  5. Think reasonably (Prov. 1:3)
  6. Think logically (I Cor. 14:40)
  7. Think methodically (Ps. 90:12)

This month let’s continue….

   3.] Changing your thinking changes your expecting (Ps. 62:5)

In our western culture we hear the word “hope” and we think ‘wish” or “maybe”.  However the Greek New Testament word for “hope” is “elpis”. “Elpis” denotes a confident expectation of good!

I remember 17 years ago when Anne was “expecting” with our son Johnathan.  It literally changed everything about how we prepared! We prepared a nursery for him.  We prepared toys for him. We prepared diapers for him. We prepared clothes for him. Why?  Because we were expecting.

The Bible tells us, “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, an became heir of the righteousness which is by faith” (Heb. 11:7).

Now let’s take this verse out of a Sunday school lesson setting so we can truly understand the gravity of it.  At the time Noah was preparing his ark, there had never been an ark of any kind! On top of that there had never been rain of any kind!  Yet Noah truly believed what God had said and therefore was preparing.  

Remember this:  Expectation breeds preparation!

Join us this next week as we continue our series…