Word of Encouragement for Every New Day ~ 24 May 2008

Word of Encouragement for Every New Day ~ 24 May 2008

Developing our character for battle: Practicing what you have learnt. Part of developing our character for battle is realizing that we have to practice what we learn. There is no point in reading the entire bible and yet we don’t live what it says. We are wasting our time if we are going to church just to meet friends, just to do the “good” Christian thing. The main question we have to ask ourselves is: are we practicing what we are learning? It starts by developing good habits. But in order to recognize the good from the bad, we have to implement strategies to effectively put what we learn to good use. Today, I will touch on three key strategies which in my opinion will help put what we learn to good use. Firstly, write down a list of all your bad habits. Some of us could have 3, 5, 10, or more bad habits. You probably already know your bad habits, and in order to remove that, it takes 21 days of doing the opposite of that bad habit. Secondly, take notes. Everywhere we go on a DAILY basis, God wants to talk to us. It is a matter of being attentive to His voice. One practical thing I have started doing is taking notes on my phone everywhere I go. I write notes of words God gives me to encourage me throughout the day, especially if I’m faced with a battle against the enemy. At church, I hope we can come to a point in our walk with God that we aren’t spacing out during a sermon, we aren’t sleeping, and we aren’t drifting into our own world. Here is one practical tip for us if we tend to do this: GET A JOURNAL AND TAKE NOTES. Again, God is wanting to talk to us during a sermon, and it is a matter of hearing Him clearly. Watch and see, God reveals to us so much beyond just the sermon. Finally, after finding our bad habits, and taking notes daily of what God is saying to us, the last thing we have to do is answer this question: SO WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT! When God speaks to us, what is our action plan? God tells us things at the right time, to be effective. He wont tell us to do things that will overwelm us, come on God knows who we are and what we are capable of. Today, I hope we are excited to make change in our lives to be ready for battle. Are you ready? Psalm 101:7 No one who practices deceit will dwell in my house; no one who speaks falsely will stand in my presence. Matthew 7:24 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. © May 2008 Shaun Lee. www.everynation.org.sg archive: www.shauntzen.blogspot.com