• You In Five Years


    The habits you have today will shape who you become tomorrow.


    Galatians 6:7-9 NIV - Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.


    Real and lasting change isn’t behavior modification. It’s spiritual transformation.


    You do what you do because of what you think of you.


    1. You reap what you sow. 


    Hosea 10:13 NIV - But you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception. Because you have depended on your own strength and on your many warriors,


    2. You reap more than you sow. 


    Mark 4:20 NLT - And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”


    3. You reap after you sow.


    Our lives are the sum total of all the small decisions we make.

    We don’t judge the success of the day by the harvest we reap, but by the seeds we sow.


    Galatians 6:9 NIV - Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

  • You Didn't Win by Trying


    1 Corinthians 9:24 NLT - Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!


    Real and lasting change isn’t behavior modification. It’s spiritual transformation.


    You do what you do because of what you think of you.


       Spiritual Who

       Spiritual Why

       Spiritual What


    1 Corinthians 9:24-27 NLT - Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.


    1 Timothy 4:7-8 NLT - Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives’ tales. Instead, train yourself to be godly. “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.”


    “We are not trying to be different people, but we are training to be different people.” Dallas Willard


    Trying is an attempt to change with minimal commitment.

    Training is whole-hearted commitment to achieve a specific result.


    When you're training:

      1. You get the gear

      2. You create a game plan


    When you’re an athlete, competitor, disciple of Jesus, you're fighting for something that matters, for a vision, goal, dream, or assignment.


    1 Corinthians 9:26-27 NLT - So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.


    We’re not Trying - We’re Training!


    Based on who you want to become, how are you going to train?

  • Ruth 4:13-15 AMP - So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed is the Lord who has not left you without a redeemer (grandson, as heir) today, and may his name become famous in Israel. May he also be to you one who restores life and sustains your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.”


    Ruth 13:17 AMP - The neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “A son (grandson) has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed (worshiper). He is the father of Jesse, the father of David [the ancestor of Jesus Christ].


    1 Samuel 1:10-11 AMP - Hannah was [a]greatly distressed, and she prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish. She made a vow, saying, “O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction (suffering) of Your maidservant and remember, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life; a razor shall never touch his head.”


    1 Samuel 1:19 AMP - The family got up early the next morning, worshiped before the Lord, and returned to their home in Ramah. Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her [prayer].


    When the Lord is the problem only God can fix the problem.


    1 Samuel 2:21 AMP - And [the time came when] the Lord visited Hannah, so that she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew before the Lord.


    1 Kings 18:8-12 AMP - Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” So he set out and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks [for firewood]. He called out to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a jar, so that I may drink.” As she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.” But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar. See, I am gathering a few sticks so that I may go in and bake it for me and my son, that we may eat it [as our last meal] and die.”


    1 Kings 18:13 AMP - Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. Just make me a little bread from it first and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son.


    1 Kings 18:14 AMP - For this is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted nor shall the jar of oil be empty until the day that the Lord sends rain [again] on the face of the earth.’”


    1 Kings 18:15-16 AMP - She went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. The bowl of flour was not exhausted nor did the jar of oil become empty, in accordance with the word of the Lord which He spoke through Elijah.


    For the crisis to change they had to minister to somebody else.


    Luke 6:38 AMP - Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure - pressed down, shaken together, and running over [with no space left for more]. For with the standard of measurement you use [when you do good to others], it will be measured to you in return.”

  • Break the Cycle That’s Breaking Your Life


    One bad decision - One wrong step - One harmful habit a time.


    Judges 16:1 NIV - One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute. He went in to spend the night with her.


    Real and lasting change isn’t behavior modification but spiritual transformation.


    You do what you do because of what you think of you.


    Based on who you want to become, what one habit do you need to start?

    Based on who you want to become, what one habit do you need to break?


    James 1:21 GNT - So get rid of every filthy habit and all wicked conduct. Submit to God and accept the word that he plants in your hearts, which is able to save you.


    You cannot defeat what you do not define.


    (Good Habits) The pain is now; the payoff comes later.

    (Bad habits) The payoff is now; the pain comes later.


    4 hours a day x 365 days a year = 1,460 hours a year

    1,460 hours x 60 years = 87,600 hours

    87,600 hours / 24-hour day = 3,650 days or 10 years


    Remove the cue.


    Proverbs 4:14-15 NIV - Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evildoers. Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn from it and go on your way.


    5 Most Common Cues:

     * Places

     * Times

     * Moods

     * Moments

     * People


    Proverbs 13:20 NIV - Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.


    Interrupt the action.


    Why resist a temptation in the future if you have the power to eliminate it today?


    The habits you have today will shape who you become tomorrow.


    Do you like the direction your habits are taking you?


    Hope for your habits


    When you are weak - His power is made perfect. His power is greater than your patterns. 


    There’s no habit too bad For God’s healing power to help you break!

  • Holy Habits


    Hope alone won’t change your life. Habits will.


    Most of what you normally do isn’t the result of hope, but the result of habits.


    Over 40% of the actions you do daily are not the result of decisions, but the result of habits.


    God often does big things through small habits.


    Daniel 6:5 NIV - Finally these men said, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.”


    Daniel 6:10 NIV - Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.


    Never underestimate how God can start something big through one small habit.


    Real and lasting change isn’t behavior modification. It’s spiritual transformation.


    You do what you do because of what you think of you.


    Based on who you want to become, what’s one habit you need to start?


    Say Yes to Kids!

    • One note or text of appreciation a day.
    • Make your bed first thing.
    • Bible Plan together.
    • Eliminate soft drinks.
    • Attend church every week.

    Hebrews 10:25 BSB - Let us not neglect meeting together, as some have made a habit, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.


    How to Create a New Habit


    1. Make it obvious

         If you want to change what you do, change your cues.

    2. Make it easy

         I will do ___________ after I ____________.


    1 Timothy 4:8 NLT - “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.”


    Zechariah 4:10 NLT - Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand.”


    Never underestimate how God can start something big through one small habit.

  • Why Do You Do What You Do?

    • You feel obligated.
    • You want to.
    • You want to be accepted.

    You do what you do because of what you think of you.


    Proverbs 23:7 NKJV - For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.


    • What type of person am I?
    • What kind of situation is this?
    • What does someone like me do in a situation like this?


    If you want to change what you do, change what you think of you.


    John 8:44-45 NLT - For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. So when I tell the truth, you just naturally don’t believe me!


    Your distorted identity starts to sabotage your success.

    Your distorted identity creates destructive habits.

    Your destructive habits reinforce your distorted identity.


    A Christ-centered identity leads to Christ-honoring habits.

    Christ-honoring habits reinforce a Christ-centered identity.


    James 21:37 NIV - Each day Jesus was teaching at the temple, and each evening he went out to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives,


    Luke 22:39 NASB - And He came out and went, as was His habit, to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples also followed Him.


    Instead of focusing on what you want to do, decide who you want to become.


    “Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become. No single instance will transform your beliefs, but as the votes build up, so does the evidence of your new identity.” James Clear


    Ephesians 4:21-24 NLT - Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God - truly righteous and holy.

  • When You're Sick of Being Stuck


    The vast majority of us quit our resolutions by the second Friday of January.


    Romans 7:15 NLT - I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.


    Romans 7:19 NLT - I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.


    Romans 7:24 NLT - Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?


    Real change isn’t behavior modification. Real change is spiritual transformation.


    Romans 7:24-25 NLT - Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.


    God, then me. God, not me. God through me.


    1 Corinthians 15:9-10 NIV - For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them - yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.


    The grace that saves you is also the grace that changes you.


    Your spiritual “why” is God’s purpose for you. 

    Your spiritual “how” is God’s power through you.


    Zechariah 4:6 NIV - So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.


    I am disciplined. Christ in me is stronger than the wrong desires in me.


    If you change your behavior but don’t change your heart, the behavior will come back.


    You’re trying to meet a need or relieve a hurt with something besides God’s grace.


    2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT - Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.