Some examples of this would be; an alcoholic who keeps alcohol in his fridge; a drug user who keeps contact with sellers; a man with impure thoughts who keeps near-pornographic material hidden for a rainy day. One can't fight his appetite for doughnuts by standing outside a bakery staring at them. SOW A THOUGHT - REAP AN ACT; SOW AN ACT - REAP A HABIT; SOW A HABIT - REAP A LIFESTYLE. "Be not deceived, God is not mocked, whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap" (Galatians 6:7).

6. REPLACE BAD HABITS
      Often, at New Years time, people will make a New Years resolution. In other words, they make a promise; something like, "This year I will stop smoking." But did you know that no where in scripture are we told to break our bad habits.

     What the Bible says is that we are to replace bad habits with good ones. Whenever someone puts off a bad habit they will have a void or hole in their life that needs filled with something good to "Put on."

      Ephesians 4:22-32 and Colossians 3:8-17 give lists of things God wants us to put off and things God wants us to put on in their place. This is an excellent counseling tool. This principle will help us have a more permanent victory in problem areas we have. Replace your bad habits with good ones.

7. PRACTICE THE PRESENCE OF GOD/REMEMBER ETERNITY
      God, the Holy Spirit lives inside of believers (1 Corinthians 3:16) at all times. But many believers live their lives as if He doesn't exist. They take Him with them wherever they go and forget He is there. Sometimes God's presence is ignored for days, weeks or even months at a time. We need to practice the presence of God.

     If we consciously live our lives, realizing that God is with us in all we do, we should seek to live a lifestyle that would be pleasing to Him. Nothing we do is hidden from God. In a modern sense, our lives are being played on God's video screen and He is watching.

     One group of children painted the reference "2 Chronicles 16:9" and an eye-ball on a small stone and carried it in their pocket to remind them that God was with them. This verse says, "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth." Some of us need an eye rock!

     One day Christ will return to take all believers to live with Him. We will physically be brought into God's presence as fast as "the twinkling of an eye." Realizing that our life will be reviewed at that time and that we will give account for our actions, should motivate us to live a pure life before Him.

8. EVERY THOUGHT
      Proverbs 23:7 says,

Proverbs 23:7

"As a man thinks in his heart, so is he."

2 Corinthians 10:5 tells us that we need to take every thought captive. Some have called this the E.T. (every thought) principle. What goes into our mind will come out through our lives. We choose the kind of person we become depending on what we allow into our minds. In Philippians 4:8 what kind of things did Paul say we should spend time thinking about? "Whatsoever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtue and praise, think on these things."

      In Matthew 5 Jesus repeatedly says, "You have heard ..." and then tells of an action that the Scriptures say we should not commit (like adultery). He follows this up with, "but I say unto you" and then tells that we should not allow our minds to commit this act. With this in mind we should make a commitment like David made in Psalm 101:3 when he said, "I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes" and like Job who said "I have made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl" (Job 31:1).

by Steve Nicholes
LINKS TO . . . Other Bible Messages Genesis Esther Daniel Philippians James Complete Discipleship Topics