Let us test and examine our ways

Good morning! This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it. What a beautiful day that the Lord has given us. Let's do our best to enjoy every moment of it, and not take His blessings for granted.

I have reading and studying Lamentations 3 for the past few days. It has some wonderful truths in it. One of the truths that I want to share with you today is from Lamentations 3:40:

Lamentations 3:40 (AMP) Let us test and examine our ways, and let us return to the Lord!

(KJVR) Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD.

(MSG) Let's take a good look at the way we're living and reorder our lives under GOD.

What a powerful truth from God's Word for us today. Jeremiah the "weeping" prophet wrote Lamentations, and under the direction of the Holy Spirit, he tells us the importance of testing our ways. In fact, I listed three translations of this verse so that we get deeper meaning from it. There are five things that we need to do to make sure we are on the right pathway with God:

1. Test the way we are living
   
2. Examine the way we are living
   
3. Search the way we are living
   
4. Try the way we are living
   
5. Take a good look at the way are living
   

After taking a thorough and honest look at our spiritual life, then the Prophet tells us to "reorder our lives under God" and to return to Him. Our fast paced living has a way of causing us to drift slowly away from God. That is why it is so important to daily take a good look at our lives. I read the following story this morning:

A guy rushed into a service station one day and asked the manager if he had a pay phone. The manager nodded, "Sure, over there." The guy inserted a couple of coins, dialed and waited for an answer. Finally someone came on the line. "Uh, sir," he said in a deep voice, "could you use an honest, hard-working young man?" The station manager couldn't help overhearing the question. After a moment or two the guy said, "Oh, you already have an honest, hard-working young man? Well, okay. Thanks all the same." A broad smile stretched across his face. He hung up the phone and started back to his car, obviously elated. "Hey, just a minute," the station manager said, "I couldn't help but hear your conversation. Why are you so happy? I thought the man said he already had someone and didn't need you?" The guy smiled. "Well, you see, I am that honest, hard-working young man. I was just checking up on myself!"

How serious are we about our walk with God? If it is important to us, then we MUST examine ourselves regularly. Am I praying, reading God's Word and renewing my mind daily? Am I working hard at keeping a RIGHT SPIRIT? Am I asking God to RENEW me daily? Am I slipping in any area of my life? How about my attitude? Is it slipping? My attitude sends a signal before I've said a word. It's like traffic lights. Sometimes they flash red, which means 'stop, don't get in my way, I'm too busy to love, help, or care.' Sometimes they flash yellow, which means 'I'm touchy and out-of-sorts, I could go either way.' Sometimes they flash green, which means, 'it's go, I'm with you, you can count on me.' The Bible says, "take a good look at the way we're living, and then reorder our lives under God" What needs to be examined regularly? "Our ways!"

I love you guys, and hope you have an awesome, blessed day in the Lord! Blessings!

Pastor Rusty

MEMORY VERSE: Lamentations 3:40 (AMP) Let us test and examine our ways, and let us return to the Lord!

October: A Month of Prayer and Fasting

In last night's sermon I shared from my heart concerning the direction of our church in the next 2 months. We have a tremendous opportunity to impact our community with the gospel of Jesus Christ with our upcoming Kid's Fest, but nothing will happen if we do not pray.
With that in mind I have asked that we as a church pray and fast during the month of October.

I am asking everyone that can to take at least one day this month to fast and pray. My goal is to have each day of the month covered. Beth has a sheet in the office with available days. To have your name down, just contact her and let her know what day you will be fasting and praying.

I also passed out a Prayer Point sheet. When you pray this month, please pray over the items listed. I also have them at the end of this blog. If you lose yours, you can refer to this list or print it out again.

The verse I would like to you to commit to memory for the next few days is 2 Chronicles 7:14:
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

God's Word gives us such great promises! This scripture is one of them with an "if" condition. If we humble ourselves and pray, and if we seek His face and if we turn from our wicked ways, then He will hear from heaven, forgive our sin and heal our land.

God, in His sovereignty, has designated that prayer is what moves His hand on our behalf. With that in mind, we cannot even begin to think of having any ministry or any activity without prayer. So, I ask each of you this month to join us as we intercede on behalf of our church and our community.

I love each of you and am so thankful for the opportunity that Dorinda and I have to be your pastors.

Rejoicing and spinning in this wonderful day,
Pastor Rusty

October Prayer Points

Please pray concerning these matters listed in an acrostic of October:

Organization of Discipleship ministries and opportunities
Community influenced to a greater degree by our church
Tithe, building pledges and offerings increased, and everyone participating
Opportunities for ministry filled by lay people (Everyone having a ministry)
Board and Pastors having direction for the proper use of our new land
Evangelism through Outreaches
Revival of souls saved, spirit-filled, sanctified, delivered, and other miracles

Five Steps to develop a RIGHT Spirit

Good morning! This is the day that that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it. My heart is full of praise and thanksgiving today. I have been trying to develop a discipline of naming one thing each day to thank God for that I have taken for granted. When you slow down enough to do that, you will be amazed at the blessings of God that you very seldom thank God for. He blesses us more than we can ever name or mention. God is SO GOOD!

I have been studying the life of King David in my personal devotion. He was a godly man, with a heart after God. However, he was very much human as well. He failed miserably when he had an adulterous affair with Bathsheba. And then, as if that weren't enough, he arranged for her husband to be killed in battle, thus adding murder to his dirty laundry list. What happened to this great, anointed man of God? How could he go from leading a nation back to God, writing numerous Psalms of praise to God, to being an adulterer and murderer? I believe the answer is found in Psalm 51:10:

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

Somehow, this man who loved God with all of his heart, who God said, "has a heart after me" about developed a WRONG SPIRIT. It can happen to any of us, if we don't guard against it.

Proverbs 4:23
Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life.

We must "keep and guard" our heart so it won't develop into a WRONG SPIRIT. We have all heard things such as: "He is just MEAN-SPIRITED" or "she has such a SWEET SPIRIT" or "I believe he has a WRONG SPIRIT." My question for each of us today is, "What kind of spirit are you known for?" Do you have a tendency to get offended rather easily? Do you see the best or worst in people? Are you known for being judgmental, or harsh? Do you have a problem saying things that you really shouldn't? If so, you probably have developed a WRONG SPIRIT and need to have your RIGHT SPIRIT renewed!

Today, I want to give you FIVE STEPS TO DEVELOP A RIGHT SPIRIT. We will use an acrostic of the word RIGHT:

Refuse to be offended (Hebrews 12:14)

Hebrews 12:14 (AMP) Strive to live in peace with everybody and pursue that consecration and holiness without which no one will [ever] see the Lord.

(BBE) Let your desire be for peace with all men, and to be made holy, without which no man may see the Lord;

(CEV) Try to live at peace with everyone! Live a clean life. If you don't, you will never see the Lord.

(ISV) Pursue peace with everyone, as well as holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.

(MSG) Work at getting along with each other and with God. Otherwise you'll never get so much as a glimpse of God.

Notice the words mentioned in these verses: strive, desire, try, pursue, and work at. Each of these words are showing the importance of REFUSING to become offended. Just about every day of your life you can become offended if you want to. You have to STRIVE and WORK at not being offended. I know of people that quit church because they have become offended. My friends, that is an attack of the enemy of your soul. Sure, you may have a RIGHT and a REASON to be offended, but YOU must choose to be above and beyond that. It is time for God's people to grow up and MATURE in the Lord. I say this with as much love as I can. Walk in the Spirit, and you will REFUSE TO BE OFFENDED. Jesus refused to be offended by those who abused Him. He is our great EXAMPLE. How do you refuse offense? By memorizing and speaking out the Word of God that I have just listed for you. Live it!

Inspect your HEART daily (Psalm 139:23-24)
Psalm 139:23-24
Investigate my life, O God, find out everything about me; Cross-examine and test me, get a clear picture of what I'm about; (24) See for yourself whether I've done anything wrong-- then guide me on the road to eternal life.

Psalm 139:23-24 Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! (24) And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Ask God, as David did in the above verses, to search your heart daily. When the Holy Spirit points out something that is wrong in your heart and spirit, don't make excuses for it, CONFESS IT and REPENT of it. Then move on!

God's Attitude towards people (Phil. 2:1-11)

Philippians 2:1-11 If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care-- (2) then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. (3) Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. (4) Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. (5) Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. (6) He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. (7) Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! (8) Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death--and the worst kind of death at that: a crucifixion. (9) Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, (10) so that all created beings in heaven and on earth--even those long ago dead and buried--will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, (11) and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.

Don't expect people to serve you, you make up your mind to serve them. BELIEVE THE BEST in people, even if you don't personally like them. Ask God to help you here, "Lord I want to see _________ the way that you see him/her"

Hide God's Word in your HEART (Psalm 119:11)

Psalm 119:11 (AMP) Your word have I laid up in my heart, that I might not sin against You.

(CEV) I treasure your word above all else; it keeps me from sinning against you.

(ESV) I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

(KJVR) Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

(MSG) I've banked your promises in the vault of my heart so I won't sin myself bankrupt.

When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, three different times He said, "It is written…" He quoted the Word of God that he had HID (by memorization) in His HEART. If Jesus saw the need to overcome temptation and the devil through memorizing and quoting God's Word, I believe I need to make that a priority in my life as well. To help us do that, I will be putting a memory verse every day at the end of my blog for each of us to remember together!

Tongue SPIRIT controlled (James 1:19)

James 1:19 (AMP) Understand [this], my beloved brethren. Let every man be quick to hear [a ready listener], slow to speak, slow to take offense and to get angry.

(GNB) Remember this, my dear friends! Everyone must be quick to listen, but slow to speak and slow to become angry.

(KJVR) Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:

(MSG) Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear.

One of the most sobering verses in the Bible:

James 1:26 (AMP) If anyone thinks himself to be religious (piously observant of the external duties of his faith) and does not bridle his tongue but deludes his own heart, this person's religious service is worthless (futile, barren).

(CEV) If you think you are being religious, but can't control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and everything you do is useless.

(KJVR) If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.

(MSG) Anyone who sets himself up as "religious" by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air.

According to James 1:26, if I don't allow God to help me TAME my tongue, then my RELIGION is useless, worthless and empty. I don't want to stand before God in this condition, so I better ask God to help me SHUT MY MOUTH at times. I believe that we could all use some help in this area. Help me Jesus!

I love you guys, and pray that we develop a RIGHT SPIRIT to replace a WRONG SPIRIT that I may have developed in my: marriage, work, family, friends, or church. With God's help, He can RENEW a right spirit within me! Blessings!

Pastor Rusty

Today's verse to "hide in my heart":

Psalm 51:10-12 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. 12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with
thy free spirit.

Seven Ways to praise God

Good morning! This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it. I am so thankful for the great day we had yesterday at First Assembly. God challenged, changed, and refreshed His people. He is a good God who is worthy to be praised.

In today's blog, I would like to give a brief review of the message that I preached in our services yesterday entitled, "Seven Ways to Praise God."

Let's start off thinking about the Children of Israel. They were a people who lived in a continual state of God's supernatural provision. This provision was tangible, for they could see these blessings every day with their own eyes.

Let's assume that the Israelites numbered about 3,000,000 people, which is what many Bible scholars estimate. In that case, do you know how much manna was needed to feed the children of Israel in the wilderness? One scholar has estimated that they needed 4,500 tons of manna every day! If this is true, and if you take into account that God fed His people every day for 40 years, this means 65,700,000 tons of manna supernaturally appeared on the ground over a period of forty years!

This manna appeared so regularly, so faithfully, so "day in and day out," that after a while, the children of Israel didn't even think too much of it anymore. Supernatural provision became so commonplace among them that they forgot how supernatural it was and began to accept it as a normal, regular occurrence. During those forty years, young children were born and grew up thinking it was normal for 4,500 tons of manna to appear each morning out of thin air (see Exodus 16)! Can you imagine that? They were so used to the blessings of God; they failed to develop an attitude of gratitude. We have blessings every day that I'm afraid we take for granted. In the Old Testament of the Bible, there are seven Hebrew words that tell us how to praise God. Let's look at each of them today:

1. Towdah (towdah), it's the sacrifice - Praising God in spite the fact your world is in a vice - It's praise that pushes through the wall of all adversity - An offering that flows to heaven in our time of need. By way of application, it is apparent in the Psalms and elsewhere that it is used for thanking God for "things not yet received" as well as things already at hand.

Psalm 100:4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise (TOWDAH) Regardless of your circumstance, whether it is good or bad, God is GOOD. Praise takes our focus off of our problem and places it on our good and faithful God. This first way to praise God tells us that in EVERY situation we can and should praise God. It is sacrificial praise. But for there to be a real sacrifice, something has to die. So, when we offer this sacrifice of praise, we die to our: fears, worries, doubts, anger, offense, frustrations, aggravations, and we put our focus on God above everything else that is pulling our attention away from God. That is TOWDAH.

2. Yadah (yadah), that means to lift your hands (lift your hands) - In response to what the Lord has done throughout the land - An outward sign of what's inside for all the world to see. This is the demonstration of our love and submission to the Lord by the raising of our hands. Lifting your hands to the Lord in total submission and devotion.

Psalms 63:4 Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.

Psalm 7:17 I will praise (YADA) the LORD according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high.

Daily, we should pause long enough to lift our hands towards heaven in YADA worship. When we do, we are declaring our total submission, devotion, and surrender to God and His plans.

3. Barouch or Barak (barouch), that simply means to bow - In the awesome presence of the Lord and all His power - To just be overwhelmed' cause you hardly can believe - That you've been given favor by His Holy Majesty. It implies a continual, conscious giving place to God, bring attuned to walking in the Spirit. At times it is translated as BLESS.

Psalm 72:15 And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba: prayer also shall be made for him continually; and daily shall he be praised (BARAK).

Psalms 95:6 O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our maker.

Every day we need to make sure we offer BARAK praise to God. This is where we kneel, or bow before Him in His presence. It is amazing how this will quiet your heart in the midst of a storm.

4. Shabach (shabach), it is what we call the shout. It's praise that's given way before the answer comes about. A loud adoration, jubilation, and shout proclaiming with a loud voice the glory, triumph, mercy and love of the Lord.

Psalm 117:1 "O praise (Shabach) the Lord all ye nations: Praise (Shabach) Him all ye people."

It is the shout of faith. As the children of Israel were marching around Jericho and her walls, they were told to shout for God had given them the city. They began to shout, BEFORE the walls fell down. They shouted praise unto God before they saw the answer. That is, again, the shout of faith.

5. Zamar (zamar) Means TO SING WITH INSTRUMENTS, A SONG OF PRAISE. It also means, to touch the strings or parts of musical instruments and to make music.

Psalm 57:7 ....O God my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise (ZAMAR).

There is power in praise and worship music. I love to pray while listening to CD's of praise music. I keep it in my truck, and regularly sing while going down the road. It is amazing how godly music can lighten your heart. King Saul learned the importance of praise music when he was king. He would have a heavy, dark spirit come over him and he would call David to come before him and play on his harp music of praise to God. Listen to what would happen:

I Samuel 16:23 (MSG) After that, whenever the bad depression from God tormented Saul, David got out his harp and played. That would calm Saul down, and he would feel better as the moodiness lifted.

Yes, there is power in praise and worship. If you are battling in your mind and spirit right now, why don't you take the time to turn on some praise and worship, and begin to offer ZAMAR praise to God, and feel yourself calm down in the wonderful presence of God.

6. Halell (halell), Halal is a primary Hebrew root word for praise. Our word "hallelujah" comes from this base word. It means "to be clear, to shine, to boast, show, to rave, celebrate, to rave; to celebrate.

Ps 113:1-3 Praise (halal) ye the Lord, praise (halal) o ye servants of the Lord, praise (halal) the name of the Lord.

Ps 150:1 Praise (halal) the Lord! Praise (halal) God in his sanctuary; Praise (halal) him in his mighty expanse.

This is the celebration praise. If you have repented of your sins, asked Jesus into your heart, and are developing a relationship with Him, that is something to celebrate. Every day, we should celebrate the fact that we were on our way to hell, but now I am on my way to heaven. That's good news, and that is SHOUTIN' GROUND!

7. Tehillah (tehillah), A spontaneous new song. Singing from a melody in your heart by adding words to it. Singing straight to God. This type of praise takes some time. It is where you set aside your watch, phone, schedule and just wait in God's presence. What a time of refreshing this brings into your soul.

Psalm 22:3 Yet Thou art holy, O Thou who art enthroned upon the praises (tehillah) of Israel.

My prayer is that beginning today, that we all make sure to praise God in all seven of the abovementioned ways. For God truly is deserving of all of our praise! Blessings!

Rejoicing (and spinning) in this wonderful day!

Pastor Rusty

How to Break-free from a bad habit (#5)

Good morning! This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it. What a beautiful day that the Lord has blessed us with. I love Fridays! That means some good stuff is getting pretty close: High School Football, Razorback football, and most important of all, Sunday services! I hope you will be able to attend this weekend as I plan to preach a message entitled, "Seven Ways to Praise the Lord." We will be looking at Seven Hebrews words in the Bible that teaches us about praise and worship. I look forward to meeting together with you.

We come to the last day and part of our study on breaking bad habits. Let's review.

Begin today                                                      Refuse to blame others                                                             Examine MY life                                                                     Ask Christ to take control of my life                                                                 Keep away from temptation                                                                 Focus on something better                                                                     Restore broken relationships        

Now, let's look at the last two steps.

E - ENLIST SUPPORT

God never meant for you to go through this life on your own. You get some outside help who can encourage you, who can spur you on, who can keep you motivated, keep you accountable. That's why God gave us the church. If you're going to be what God meant for you to be in life, you cannot do it alone because God did not design you to be a Lone Ranger. He meant for you to have support.

The Bible says this in Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
"Two are better off than one, because together if the one falls down the other can help him up. If someone is alone and falls, there's no one to help him."
You have to have support. That's why you keep falling in that same cycle, over and over, because you're trying to do it on your own.

At First Assembly, we have many of opportunities to give you support. In the first place, if you haven't done so already, why don't you just join us? Stop being a spectator and become a participator.
Stop being a consumer and start being a contributor. Stop being an attender and become a member. Join the church family. Get committed to Christ and His church. I encourage you, if you've been receiving spiritual food here at First Assembly and you're not a member, what are you waiting on? Then we have many Sunday School classes and departments. You need Sunday School. It is very important. Your children need Sunday School. You were meant to have people around you who, in a crisis, can hold you up. If you're serious about changing, you need support.

James 5:16
"Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed." Does anybody like this verse? If I were God I wouldn't have put this verse in the Bible. It's too hard. But since I'm not God, I guess I'm going to obey it. Because God is God and I'm not. That's what it means to be a true Christian. It means when God says something in His word, if I understand or if I don't, if it makes sense to me as a human or if it doesn't make sense, I'm going to do it. Why? Because God knows more than I do. The Bible is not a book where you read it and go, "God says this but I know better. I'm going to do this other thing because I know what will make me happy." The true Christian says, "I don't care what it says, if God says it, I'm going to do it. I'm going to obey it because He's God and I'm not."

God says to confess your sins to each other. Notice the rest of the verse, "Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed." I do like the healing part. I like the physical healing. I want to be physically healed. I want to be emotionally healed. I want healing in my relationships. I want healing in my spirit. I want healing socially. God says if you want the second part, you do the first part.

I know some of you have a bad habit and you need to deal with it. I know you're saying you're going to change, ask God for help, but you want to skip this step. "I'm not going to tell anybody about it. It's just going to be me and God. We'll work it all out because I don't need anybody else to break this habit." As your pastor who cares about you, I want to say this to you, "Good luck! It's not going to happen. You're not going to break free." God designed us to need each other. He didn't put this verse in the Bible by accident.

Here's what you've got to decide: Am I going to pretend I've got it all together? Or Am I going to admit that I don't have it all together so I can get it all together? As long as you pretend you've got it together, you're never going to get it all together.

E - EXTEND MYSELF TO OTHERS

1 Corinthians 1:4
"Christ helps us in all our troubles, so that we are able to help others in trouble, using the same help that we ourselves have received from God."
God never wastes a hurt. He wants to take your greatest weakness, your greatest area of failure and He wants to heal you and turn it into your ministry to help other people. Who can better help somebody who's going through the pain of divorce than somebody who went through the pain of divorce? Who can better help somebody who's addicted, than somebody who's been set free from addiction? Who can better help other issues such as -- pornography, homosexuality, infidelity -- than somebody who's been caught in that trap, and been set free? God wants to heal you and then God wants to use you. And nothing feels greater than that.

Galatians 6:1-2
"If a person is trapped in some sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, you also may be tempted. Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you fulfill the law of Christ." This says we're to carry each other's burdens. If you know somebody in your life, in your family, a friend, somebody you care about, and they're messing up their life with bad decisions, stupid decisions, or bad habits, you must care enough to confront them in love. You cannot say, "It's none of my business... That's their private life... I've just got to take care of myself..." If you care, if you want to be like Jesus, you must say, "I love you enough that I am not going to let you mess up your life and just stand by and watch you blow it from a bad habit that's killing you, from stupid decisions."

I urge you in the name of Jesus Christ, speak the truth in love, live the truth, share it with other people.

Some of you are thinking, "It's hopeless. I've tried it all. I've listened to tapes. I've been to the seminars, made the decisions, prayed. I'm just never going to change." You're wrong. You haven't tried these nine steps. And you haven't done every one of them. Let's close with God's promise.

1 Corinthians 10:13
"God keeps His promise. He will not allow you to be tempted beyond your power to resist. At the time you are tempted He will give to you the strength to endure it and so provide you with a way out." God says "I will never allow more on you than I put in you to bear it up." If you want to be free, take these steps. It starts with a decision.

As we close this study out, please pray this prayer in your mind. God will hear you. "Jesus, You know how much I'd like to change some things in my life. I've got some habits that are really causing me problems. Some of them I'm really ashamed of. You know how I've tried to change in the past. I've failed repeatedly. I can't do it on my own power. I just can't change on my own. Today, Jesus, I admit that I need Your help. I need You to be my Savior and I ask You to be my Lord. I need the power of Your Holy Spirit to change my life. I ask this in Jesus name. Amen."

I BELIEVE that you are going to be FREE in Jesus name! If you have a testimony of God's liberating power in your life, I would love for you to share it in the comment section below. It will encourage many people. I hope to see you in our services Sunday! Blessings!

Rejoicing (and spinning) in this wonderful day!

Pastor Rusty

 

 

                                                                

 

How to Break-free from a Bad Habit (#4)

Good evening everyone! It has been a whirlwind of a day, and I am just now getting around to posting my blog. I apologize for that.

We have been looking at nine steps to break a bad habit in your life. We are using an acrostic of the word BREAK-FREE. So far this week we have covered:

Begin today Refuse to blame others Examine MY life Ask Christ to take control of my life Keep away from temptation Focus on something better

Let's look at the next two steps:

R - RESTORE BROKEN RELATIONSHIPS

What does that have to do with my bad habits? Everything. Our bad habits always affect those around us. Especially those closest to us. What I do, my habits, don't just hurt me. They hurt other people.

There's a phrase you hear a lot today in the media: "What I do in my private life, doesn't effect my public performance." There's a spiritual, Greek word for that -- bologna! It's not true. Your character does influence everything you do. What I do privately does influence me publicly.

Let's say you hired a tutor for your children. The tutor said, "I want you to know that privately I'm a pedophile and a molester, but it will not affect my public performance." You'd have some questions. If you hired an accountant and he said, "Privately, my hobby is lying, cheating and stealing. But it doesn't affect my public performance as an accountant." That's crazy!

Your bad habits and my bad habits do hurt the people around us. We cause grief to others and we cause guilt to ourselves. Anything that's out of control in your life is hurting other people.

Romans 12:18, "As far as your responsibility goes, live at peace with everyone." He's saying, as far as your responsibility goes, have all the bridges restored and relationships rebuilt. Live at peace with everybody. Usually this involves clearing up unresolved issues. It may take some time. You make a list of the people you've hurt with your bad habits -- either intentionally or unintentionally -- and you go to those people and you ask forgiveness and make amends. You ask them to help you. Make restitution where possible. Maybe some of you need to go back to a former spouse and say, "I never really did admit this, but I need to admit I was a major part of this break-up and here are the reasons why. I'm sorry and I want to ask you to forgive me." That doesn't mean you're getting back together. You may have already re-married. But it does mean you're cleaning up the past.

Why would you do anything that difficult?

This step in the nine steps is the most difficult step. None of us want to admit that my problem caused you pain. It's humbling and that's the idea. The Bible says that God resists the proud but He gives grace to the humble. Grace is the power to change. You don't get grace by being proud. You get it by being humble.

Why should you go back to the people that you've hurt with your habits and ask them to forgive you? Because a clear conscious is absolutely essential for lasting change. I'm not talking about if you want to change for three months or six months or a year. I'm talking about permanent change in your lifestyle and your life for the rest of your life. You've got to take this step. Say, "God, I admit it," and then you go to the people and say, "I admit it."

There is a law of human behavior called The Law of Diminishing Intent. You may have never heard that term. It means that as time passes, our best intentions fade. We get in a very predictable cycle of phases:

• Phase one is desperation.
  I've got to change! It's the point where you become so upset with something in your life that you go "Enough is enough! I'm not living like this anymore. I'm changing. I've got to change!" Desperation.
  
• Phase two is determination.
  I'm going to change! You make the decision. You sign the commitment card. You do whatever it takes. I'm going to change! You step across the line.
  
• Phase three is effort. That's where you, out of sheer human will power start going, "I'm changing!" And by sheer human will power you do start changing yourself. You start making the changes in your life. That lasts three months, four months, a little longer. But it's not going to last forever. Will power runs out.
  
• Phase four is pride. That's where you start thinking, "I've got this thing licked. It wasn't that hard. Look at what I'm doing. I'm having victory here. I've got it licked." The Bible says "Pride comes before destruction". Inevitably you fall. "Let him who stands take heed lest he fall."
  

So then we start the cycle all over again. We wait until things get so bad and we says, "I have got to change" -- Desperation. Then Determination: "I'm going to change!" Effort: "I am changing." Pride: "Look at me! I'm doing it!" Then you fall.

When you do this five or six times then you start feeling ashamed. You don't even want to talk to God about it any more. You've stumbled so many times, you're embarrassed, you're ashamed and you think, "I'm going to give up!" How do you break that cycle? Why don't you tell God right now that you are tired of the way you are, and that you truly DESIRE to change? He will give you the strength, and He will bring people into your life to help you. That will be where we start tomorrow! Blessings!

Rejoicing (and spinning) in this wonderful day!

Pastor Rusty