Making Changes

Celebrate Recovery: We’re only as sick as our secrets Thanks to Rick Warren
Mount Pisgah Allen R. Hunt 5/14/06 Rom. 12.1-2

Been in a series – our hurts, habits and hangups – things that hold us back – prevent us from being who God desires – how we cope with those, overcome them
R.E.C.O.V.E.R.Y.
R: Reality (I am not God. I need help.)
E: Earnestly Believe (Hope: God exists and He has the power to help me.)
C: Commitment (Consciously choose to turn to God)
O. Openly examine and confess my faults to myself, God, and to someone I trust (Housekeeping)

Message 4: Making Changes
Voluntarily submit to every change God wants to make in my life and humbly to Him to remove my character defects
1And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice--the kind he will accept…2Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is (NLT:Rom. 12.1-2)

New TV show – Total Mind Makeover
Not hosted by Tom Cruise although he could
Hosted by God
He want to completely change the way you think – change your mind totally
Conform your behavior and pattern to Him rather than to the world
Like a jigsaw puzzle – pattern you use to put it together
God has a pattern for your life – looks like Jesus (VISUAL?)
World has a pattern for your life – looks like chaos and disorder (VISUAL?)

But have to be honest
Change is hard – as one friend says, “Change is hard. Otherwise we would all be skinny, every marriage would be strong, and no one would smoke.”
Change is hard and that is why God is the focus of this step
His change, submit to Him - -Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think
I. Where do my character defects come from?
A) My ¬¬chromosomes
23,000 from each parent – eye color, body shape, skin tone
Predisposition – alcohol gene – “I am made this way” – predisposition but not an excuse
Even say now there is an adultery gene – one that causes you to philander

B) My circumstances
My nurture growing up affects me – some needs met by parents, other needs not met
You may grow up with unmet needs for love, respect, security – begin looking in every circumstance to fill those – develop unhealthy habits
C) My choices
Choose a thing long enough, it eventually becomes a habit

II. Why is it so hard to change them?

A) Because I’ve had them a long time
Took years to develop this habit or hangup – it is deeply engrained – becomes a part of who you are
Simple example – our family went on a mission team to Costa Rica – 7 days in Liberia
Trying to speak Spanish – girls know some – I was trying to learn as much as I could
Got used to greeting folks in that church in Spanish
When we came back, we went on vacation for a week – that Sunday, I went to a Catholic church nearby for worship
As I was walking in, I found myself greeting everyone in Spanish
Now they were looking at me like I was an idiot – true – but I had developed a habit after one week – not deeply engrained enough to last beyond a few chuckles in my face
But imagine a habit or hangup you have had for 23 years – how deep, how hard to change

B) Because I identify with them
This is the reason I hear the most
“This is just the way I am” - we even say it as a point of pride
Friend cannot look anyone in the eye and rarely speaks to anyone – everyone who comes in contact with him feels aloof and distanced – believes he does not like them
Rather than trying to overcome that habit – his response is always, “That’s just the way I am”
“Just like me to be….”
C) Because they have a payoff
Alcoholics use alcohol because it has a payoff – numbs something, escapes something
People with violent tempers usually use that because it has a payoff – helps them get their way or releases tension within them
There is usually a reason why we have hung onto our habits and hangups – often it is the payoff – we know no other way to deal with it

D) Because Satan discourages me
Let’s be very honest – Satan likes for you to be tangled in unhealthy habits, stuck with your hangups, clinging to hurts
He will surround you with doubts – “I cannot change. This is just me”
Fear – “What will happen if I do not do this anymore.”
Satan has a strong interest in keeping you from growing forward – from moving toward God
Do not underestimate that

III. How do I cooperate with God’s change process?
Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.
But if I want to change – and I know God wants to provide that change in me
He wants to give me a total mind makeover
So I need to learn to cooperate with Him – to use His pattern rather than the world’s
And to rely on His changing me rather than anyone or anything else

1. Focus on changing one defect at a time.
An intelligent person aims at wise action, but a fool starts off in many directions. (Prov. 17.24)
When Marines took Pacific Islands in WW2 – they did not attack all islands at same time
Took one island at a time – secured that island – did what necessary – then moved on to the next one
Surest way to fail at making changes is to wake up on January 1 and say today I am giving up caffeine, going on a diet, stop losing my temper, quit worrying, and I think I will quit cussing while I am at it
Try to change everything at once – will not succeed
Ask God to show you the one habit or hangup that is causing the most damage to you or your life – then ask Him to help change that in you – one, one

2. Focus on victory one day at a time.
Give us this day our daily bread. (Matt. 6.11)
Don’t worry about tomorrow, each day has troubles enough of its own. (Matt. 6.34)
I taught intro NT Greek for a semester to juniors and seniors at a college
First day I shared what we were going to cover that semester – alphabet, basic words and sentence structures, read some of the easiest passages like letters of John- ambitious for one semester
One student very dismayed – that was it? _ “I thought I would be able to read Greek if I took this class.”
Looking for a microwave experience – change does not occur instantaneously
Notice the prayer of Jesus – Our daily bread – not give us enough bread for a month, for the year, for the rest of our lives – today
Don’t worry about tomorrow – today
Make progress today
3. Focus on God’s power, not willpower.
Can a leopard take away his spots? Nor can you who are used to doing evil now start being good.
(Jer. 12.23 TLB)
BUT
I can master anything with the help of Christ who gives me strength. (Phlp. 4.13 JB)
If your willpower worked, you would already be changed, right?
So clearly we need more power than that – Phlp 4.13
Gonna lean on you, Lord
Gonna see results because it is your power rather than my own – Ortega?

4. Focus on what I want, not what I don’t want.
Fix your thought on what is true and good and right. Think about things that are pure…think about all you can praise God for and be glad about…. (Phlp 4.8 TLB)
If I have an issue with pornography, it is not a good idea for me to sit in front of the TV, with the channel on something provocative, and say, “I am not gonna watch this, I am not gonna watch this, I am not gonna watch this”
Need to redirect my mind to something else – focus on what you want
Fellow shared with me about growing tulips – knows folks that tulips are their passion
Have a greenhouse, everything in it is geared at growing tulips
They do not allow anything related to sunflowers, dandelions, Bermuda grass in there – completely focused on tulips
Simple point – focused – entirely focused on what they want – tulips
Train your spirit and mind to do the same thing – thoughts, emotions, urges occur – Nope, I am growing tulips – only faith, only hope, only love, only godly things allowed here – tulips – nothing else – train to refocus, redirect
Scriptures at end of notes today – helpful to do just that
Learn places of Scripture like Phlp 4.8 that can redirect, refocus you on to things you want – tulips
5. Focus on doing good, not feeling good.
If you are guided by the Spirit you will be in no danger of yielding to self-indulgence. (Gal. 5.16 JB)
Someone asked John Wesley how they could become a Christian
Start acting like one – more you act like one, the more you will become one
Same true for changes God wants to make in you – start acting on them
Act your way there – keep dong the right things, and pretty soon the feeling will follow

6. Focus on people who help me, not who hinder me.
As iron sharpens iron, so people can improve each other. (Prov. 27.1: NCV)
Hear me: You cannot do this on your own
Change is hard work – you need help – best way to get that help is to be a part of a group
Either a group of folks trying to make the same change you are – CR on Tuesday nights is an example, AA is another
Or a group of believers who will surround you with prayer, encouragement, and accountability – SS class, men’s group, Bible study, acct. partner
Penny – LIVE

7. Focus on progress, not perfection
God who began the good work within you will keep right on helping you grow in his grace until his task with you is finally finished… (Phlp. 1.6)
My favorite mantra – growing impatient – progress – one day at a time
God is pleased – cooperating with Him today – He walks alongside me
He is up to something good, something grand
He will not quit until He is finished