Habits

Habits are an interesting thing. I find that the more you become aware of your own habits, the more you find you need to change. In general most habits have a very strange lifespan. To stop a bad habit can take months, but to stop a good habit takes about two days. Even stranger, to start a bad habit can take as little time as five minutes (example: smoking a cigarette for the first time), but starting a good habit take conscious effort for two weeks (example: running a mile or two).

There are some habits we are prone to as people. In some cases, the habits are terrible. I know many people  in my life who have natural tendencies that ruin their lives. I have met Alcoholics, who really have no clue that they have a drinking problem. I have met people who are married that cannot seem to keep their eyes off of the opposite sex. There are some people who also can't seem to control their desire for the same sex as well. I am fully aware some of what I just wrote will offend someone, but in all cases there are very strong biblical stances against them all. In others they are wonderful inspirations that changes peoples lives. I know people who naturally have the desire to help homeless people and people in hospitals. I know others, like myself, who love to sing and dance and naturally have a habit of making the mood lighter. These habits should be cultivated.

As I have clearly mentioned before I am indeed a Christian and I would like to share a few things from the bible about habits. It is really interesting how something simple like habits can have huge amounts of scriptural guidance.

Pray
Mark 1:35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.
This verse shows that Jesus did something that most of us never find time to do. He found time to go off alone and pray. Prayer can change lives. It is when we pray alone that we commune with God and can be changed. 


Bring it to Light

Matthew 10:27 

What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs.

This verse is simply saying that if God told you that something will happen, then proclaim it. Take that idea and apply it to escaping a bad habit.

John 3:20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.
This verse is simple to understand. If you want to hide something than you wont bring it to light. If you don't want help than you hide it. The problem with this is that if you ever step in the light, even if it is about something else, your bad habits will come to light and chase after you.


New Creation

2 Corinthians 5:17 

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:The old has gone, the new is here!

The last point I want to make is that you are a new creation. You no longer are ruled by carnality, meaning that your spiritual life is now active. You don't need to give anything power over you unless you want it to rule you. With Christ as your savior, all things are possible.

No matter how you look at it, habits have a definite effect on your life. You may need to change some, and some habits you may want to cultivate. Remember God is on the side of all those who believe, as long as they function in His will. Push past the pain and you can live the life you want, bad habit free. 

Snow

Snow is a great thing. It is a signifier of winter and it is one of the most under appreciated creations of God. One of the best things about snow is that it is white. I know it seems like a common sense thing to say, but it really has a significant use for a visual explanation of sin.
Have you seen a fresh white glistening snow? In essence that is how we, human kind, were created.
Then sin came, and made the snow different colors. Have you seen yellow, brown, or red snow? That happens when the snow is contaminated by a substance after it has accumulated on the ground. You will never see a yellow snow storm. This coloration reminds me of sin because it is impossible to remove on our own. You could put more snow on top, but eventually that too will turn yellow.
It is only when the snow is melted away and new snow falls that it is clean and white again. This to me signifies salvation. The old man dies in a sense that what was once a man's personality and demeanor is now gone a passed away. After that a new creation, or a new outlook on life and way of living comes to the person. It is so radically different that you really could not tell that they are indeed the same man appearance wise, but completely different inside and mentally.
All things considered snow is beautiful and can really be helpful in explaining things here and there.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:The old has gone, the new is here!

One Day At A Time

Have you ever worried about the future, or the way things are going to turn out? I do sometimes. Especially the immediate future. It sounds strange, but I don't mind thinking of five or ten years from today because I have a plan, goals to get there, and a vision for my life. It is my immediate future, what will be happen in a week or two, or a month,or within the current year, that I find myself full of worry. I am a performer and worry about how a concert will go, and how a rehearsal will go. I am a senior and college and I worry about how my classes will end and what graduation will entail. Even my job can give me stress because soon I will need to transfer to another state and that is scary. The immediate future is just full of things that make me worry.

Today in my morning devotion, God had to remind me that I was designed by Him and that He is the reason I shouldn't worry. I am a good performer, student, and employee so things will be fine. Not only that, but I am reaching my goals and stretching out for the future. Things will work out because I am following the path given to me by God.

I was then reminded of my life verse. I call it my life verse because it is the grouping of verses that I want to strive to live my life by. When I am not around, or have finally passed away I want people to say something about me that is similar to these verses. Having a life verse/verses/passage is a very good thing. If you are goal oriented, it gives you a life long goal to take steps toward. If you are emotionally motivated it gives you something to care deep down about and can give you a deep charge of joy when you get closer to becoming like it. It doesn't have to be something like turning water to wine, or striving to do the humanly impossible. It should be a simple verse, something so simple that it seems like it should be easy, and yet so profound that it is almost impossible to achieve. A verse to carry you through a lifetime.

My Life Verse(s):
Proverbs 3:5-7 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understandings. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your path straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes, but fear the Lord and shun evil.


For me this verse has taken me so many places. Trusting God is hard because sometimes He doesn't make sense. Being a performer I want to take full credit for my performance, but without God I'd be no where. He has really made my path straight. He lead me to a college, where I met my wife and where I could get the tools I will need when I start to become a professional performer and need to take firm moral stands. He has allowed my to trip a little on the last one and He has shown me great blessings when I obey the last part. There are things that seem ok and right to do by people's standards, but they are nothing that will be helpful in the long run. I found myself displeased and depressed when I did not head the last verse. When I did follow it and stand up for what I felt God had said was right in His word and/or His personal instructions to me, I saw great growth as a person and as a man in Christ.

All of this can be summed up in a single phrase. Plans are great, goals are important, and visions will take you far through life, but what counts most is taking life and living it one day at a time.

Swinging Out Of Control

Have you ever felt like you are stuck on a pendulum? One day you swing forward, you make the right decisions, exercise, eat right, say the right things, and you have a great attitude on life.  Then the next day you go back to doing what feels right, sitting around, eating whatever is laying around (if you eat at all), and you become the most sour person around. This is all due to the same problem. The problem of being unbalanced in life.


So how do we become off balance. Sometimes it is because we allow people to tell us who we are instead of discovering it for ourselves. Other times it is because our perception of reality becomes shattered by the simple facts and truths about the reality around us. Some people experienced pain in the past and are just trying to find a way to coupe. Still others allow their ambition to turn to obsession and no matter what goal they achieve they will always crave more.


So how do we become balanced again? I am Christian and I believe whole-heartedly that the Word of God has the answers to all of life's situations and that if we believe in God and the words written in his book that we can overcome great obstacles. It is my belief that Jesus is the true answer for everything and has the power to change lives in any magnitude if we will simple believe in him. Here is a list of things that I have felt lead to examine in my life to help me overcome being off balanced.


Contentment
To be content is to be satisfied with everything that comes our way in life. It doesn't always mean being happy, or being sad. It simply means that whatever comes our way we simply except it for what it is and do not complain about its arrival. To put it simply it is to not worry and freak out about losing a job, but rather excepting it as a job lost and going from there. The idea cuts the extreme emotional crisis altogether in most cases.

Philippians 4:11-13 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Moderation

Moderation is the concept of doing things just enough. To be put simply it is to have one soda and then drink water for the rest of the day instead of drinking soda all day. 

Philippians 4:5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.

Discipline

Discipline is a very much hated word, but it is the best cure for almost everything. It is the idea of training yourself to do, or not do a task. It is like going for a run every day for ten minutes. You may want to quit, but if you keep doing it, you'll reap the benefits.

Proverbs 12:1-3 Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but whoever hates correction is stupid. Good people obtain favor from the LORD, but he condemns those who devise wicked schemes. No one can be established through wickedness, but the righteous cannot be uprooted.

Seek Peace

This is a type of combined topic. Seek implies looking for diligently without ceasing. Peace is not having any type of quarrel, or struggle between people, and sometimes objects. So the idea I am suggesting here is to look for peace in every situation. It may be backing down from a fight that would only increase your ego, or accepting a compliment you feel you don't deserve, but it will keep you in balance. 

1 Peter 3:10-12 For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."

Finding balance in an unbalanced world is hard, but if you believe that God will help you and pray, He will. Now it is time to stop swinging back and forth and to for once be in the center of who you want to be!