Happy New Year! Are you looking for change in your life, and something NEW from what you’ve been getting? Do you believe the famous quote from Henry Ford ?— “If you always do what you‘ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” When we find deep rooted bad habits in ourselves like selfishness, impatience, anger, control, fear, and greed we have a difficult time pulling out the roots that are buried deep within us. It’s like trying to squeeze fruit into our lives with all our might, but the sweetness and flavor are bland/tasteless because of our bad qualities.
Once we began to change and act more in alignment with the fruits of the spirit, we live and look at life differently. Change can be hard to accept whether it is in ourselves, or waiting on loved ones to change. Isolation can occur as we wait on God to make the NEW changes we would like to see in those closest to us. When we try and force someone to change we lose the battle or war. The battle is not for us to fight with anger, control or other bad characteristics that come from wanting change. The battle needs to be handed over to God to do our fighting for us.
I was recently invited to watch the movie War Room with a close friend. The movie highlights a major life storm for a couple, and the steps that were taken in the War Room to conquer and fight the battle. Just as our country fights in battle with a strategy, we too must fight for what we want in our lives. The war room is a quiet place (closet in the movie) where you list everything in your life that you would like improved. You begin to fight by writing out all the areas in your life that you would like to see change, and then combine scripture that corresponds to your request. You then write out your own specific prayer, and hang your prayers in your quiet space to pray about. My friend and I both commented on how beneficial we thought the movie could be to change and help people, and how it could be an introductory class on how to fight spiritual battles with a prayer strategy. The movie was a powerful testimony of watching a marriage saved through prayer. When you look at any difficult life situation (we all go through them) remember the fruits of the spirt, along with your prayer strategy, to create something NEW by doing something that you haven’t done before. Happy NEW Year!
Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Song: Sidewalk Prophets–Wrecking Ball —rip out your old tree