Breaking Up With a Bad Habit
Power Thought
I am content and emotionally stable
I must admit, my first thought when I read this was "Who, me?" Unfortunately, I have more emotions than that leopard has spots! I love the fact that the spots equate to the leopard's success. We can use that visual to to readjust our emotions and become content and emotionally stable by focusing on Him
The Break Up
Like Leanne, like all of us, I still have so much work to do on myself. The question is, how far am I, are we willing to go, what are we willing to sacrifice to get there? No one ever promised it would be easy but it will definitely be worth it! In order to succeed we must stop following things that temporarily make us feel good physically or emotionally. We can overcome, we can do all things through Christ. Jesus came to undo the works of the devil, to set us free and give us a life we can enjoy. He is our strength, we don't have to do it on our own!
Believe
How do we think? How do we talk to ourselves? Are we being negative? Defeated before we even begin? We need to change our perspective and strengthen our belief. God does care and we need to believe that, to own that. We need to believe God's Word more than we believe how we feel. We need to believe we are free. Our thoughts fuel our actions. Our attitudes affect our progress. Believing is God's formula for success. We don't want to be stuck in that same rut for the next 25 miles or the next 25 years, do we?
What Provokes Us
Understanding what triggers our bad habits and replacing the trigger with something better is important. If we don't know why we react as we do, we don't know what to avoid or what to change. Understanding our habits helps us eliminate those that are bad, replacing them with ones that glorify Him.
Lip.ll.l.lllln
Focus
Guilty! I often catch myself focusing on my circumstances. Thankfully I am getting quicker at returning my focus to my Heavenly Father but it is still a struggle. Peter walked on water until he shift his focus from Jesus. Mark 10:27 says "Everything is possible WITH God". It is all a matter of where we keep our hearts focused. And I can not focus on multiple things and do them well. I've proved that by trying to do multiple OBS at one time. I don't do any of them well. I am stretched to thin and pulled into many directions. Then I become discouraged and feel defeated. I need to focus on one thing, one study, one habit at a time and do it well. That way I stay positive and keep my heart focused on my Redeemer, the author of my strength.
Get Out of That Rut
Stuck in a rut. Why do we get stuck in a rut? Better yet, why do we stay stuck? We have the ultimate power within us. Yet we are still stuck.."If we don't pay the price for freedom, we will end up paying the price for bondage." Is that what we want? Our bad habits have consequences. Have we truly considered those consequences? As Joyce says " we need a backbone, not a wishbone. It is not about how we feel, it is about what God says." Quoting Kelley "The turmoil of our past or the circumstances of our future do not have to set the bar for how we live our lives today"
Thought
The more we "know" God's truth, the more satan will try to convince us it isn't true, that we don't know anything at all. Instead of letting his doubts consume us, we need to stay focused on God. God could change our circumstances in the blink of an eye but often times He chooses to use those circumstances to change us instead. Keeping our focus on Him, we will "know" what God is trying to change in us. Graham Cooke says that God needs us to face up to His love. His love is present in every circumstance and as we need to draw strength from His love, keep our hearts focused on His love. Hanging on to old patterns, negative thoughts and bad habits keeps them fresh in our minds. We need to see past our circumstances, our bad habits. They have no place in a life committed to the God of new beginnings.
Heavenly Father, I thank you for each of these women. keep their hearts focused on You and do not let them become distracted, discouraged or defeated by their circumstances. Show them they are not weak but Your strength dwells in each one. Remind them that You do care about each one of them, that they are precious, they are honored and You love them. In the precious name of Jesus I ask this. Amen
Heavenly Father, I thank you for each of these women. keep their hearts focused on You and do not let them become distracted, discouraged or defeated by their circumstances. Show them they are not weak but Your strength dwells in each one. Remind them that You do care about each one of them, that they are precious, they are honored and You love them. In the precious name of Jesus I ask this. Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment