Conviction Dictates your Habits!

Life is full of patterns, and some play themselves repeatedly. Hence, our daily routines happened without reminders like waking up in the morning, finishing up our chores, going to work. There are also things that we accomplish because of our physical and emotional urges. On the other hand, there are few habits that we do because of our convictions. It can be a healthy physical habit or spiritual habit. Habit is initiated by a cue, and we are more likely to notice cues that stand out. It’s easy not to practice the guitar or any musical instrument when it’s tucked away in the closet. It’s easy not to read a book when the book is safely packed in a box. It’s easy not to take your vitamins when they are out of sight in the pantry. When the cues that spark a habit are subtle or hidden, they are easy to ignore.

 

If you notice we all experience the power of obvious cues in our lives. Do you remember an instance when you buy apples or your favourite fruits from the store, put them in the rack at the bottom of the refrigerator, and forget all about them? By the time you remembered the apples would have gone bad. So, the best advice in such a case is to have a large display bowl and keep it on the dining table or at a place where the eyes can more frequently notice it. I am sure many could relate with what I am saying.

 

James Clear in His book Atomic Habits talks about redesigning the environment and making the cue for the preferred habits more obvious. For example, if you want to take your morning Medication without fail have it near your bed or near the fridge or a water container. Similarly, if you want to read your favorite book keep it in a place where your eye catches the attention.

 

There are the things known as conviction which is the powerful stimulator. That's the matter of the heart supported by your purpose to live. When you are convinced about a person whom you love no matter what, you ensure to connect and build a positive relationship. Similarly, if someone is convinced that his/her recent encounter with the spiritual truth which has touched and changed his /her life, then the person is driven by a stronger conviction to know more about it and follow a set of habits. The person decides to read the holy scriptures quite often to know the truth. But then if the Holy scriptures or scripture materials are kept on the tables the visual cue can further support his/her conviction.

 

Convictions are different than just knowing a belief system. When convictions are grounded upon truth and facts, then there are life-changing experiences that keep happening. Great conviction that can happen to anyone is on the matter of God. In the quest of knowing the truth, the story of Jesus was exposed to create a stronger conviction to know that this person on the earth was the greatest man ever lived in history. He was not man who became a God but God becoming man to be one of us, to die a human death brutally, resurrected and solved the problem of death for us forever. The hope that we all shall live forever with the commitment to believe, accept Him and follow Him is a life changing experience. Powerful convictions are encountering God's truth which automatically created an inner habit that steer your life to live with essence of truth. You can know more from the link provided.

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Deciding to Decide!

33,000 to 35,000 decisions are what an average adult takes every day. This includes what we eat, wear, drink, what to communicate and how to communicate it. Weirdly majority of our decisions are related to our existence and survival. Once our decisions ensure these two then our attention turns to gratifying our wants and desires of the heart. We achieve them using the right and wrong means to get them at all costs. If we observe carefully, we tend to take wrong decisions more easily than the right. The heart goes right into a dilemma that leads to the sin problem. C S Lewis states, “Humans are seldom either totally sincere or totally hypocritical. Their moods change, their motives are mixed and they are often themselves quite mistaken as to what their motives are.”.

Apart from God, our minds are plagued with dark sinful thoughts which tends to lead us astray (to a point that we believe wrong things of God to justify our means). Our harmful habits of addictions and overeating though seem small decisions alter our life significantly to the point of destroying us. The reality is that man is not good, not even neutral. It says in the Bible, “There is no one righteous, not even one. There is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away; all alike have become worthless. There is no one who does good not even one”. We end up becoming enemies of God, and the worst part is, it is because of our own doing. Each of us have at one point in life raised up a rebellious fist of denial toward a God they knew existed. Some are still in denial.

The life altering decision for good would be to know the true God and have fellowship with Him. It’s not the version where you follow rituals and visit religious places at your convenience. It is following a true God and having a relationship with Him. You can experience this with Jesus who promised us abundant life and eternal life if you believe Him and accept Him as your personal Savior. We can have full confidence in this fact as Jesus lived a sinless life and rose from the dead for us to experience this life in abundance.  

The spirit of God indwells human heart. You are God’s most sacred place and His treasured possession. As A W Tozer says, ‘the reason why many are still troubled, still seeking, still making little forward progress is because they haven’t yet come to the end of themselves. We’re still trying to give orders and interfering with God’s work with us.”. The moment one believes that he/she is the temple of God and allows the spirit of the Holy God, Christ Jesus to live within, his /her life is transformed. The decisions the person makes and the life the person leads becomes noteworthy and worth imitating. As Brennan manning said, “Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is the true self. Every other identity is an illusion.”.

 

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THE FOUR

Making a commitment 

 

 

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Is radical change a camouflage?

Have you come across people who have transformed in their personality? It could be that they have decided to change their habits to be more appealing to others. There are those who were deep in their addiction to smoking and alcoholism and had given up overnight. The reasons could be that they decide to modify their lifestyle or have made the decision not to hurt their loved ones anymore. There are changes that are radical and transform a person for life or some changes are just temporary.

 

People with chronic addiction justify their life-threatening habits. However, the real reason is that their heart is not at peace, and they don’t find joy and happiness in any area of life. Their life becomes a large jigsaw puzzle with different pieces mixed and matched for survival but eventually the pieces don’t fit together, making their lives an utter confusion. Their life recipe is cooked in a large pot of influence by friends, families, mainstream media, social media. Nancy Guthrie gives a perspective on why our life is gloomy, “Sometimes we wonder why we aren’t happy, why we make sinful choices, why we feel distant from God. Often, it’s because we have small thoughts of ourselves, our wants, our rights, and our accomplishments.”.

 

We have numerous resources for inspiration, like self-help books, motivational gurus, and religious places. However, these can help only so far but are not sustainable. The fact of the matter is we hardly change. We keep repeating the same mistake often, only in different newer ways. We do what we want to do and get what we want at all costs. We find new ways to get them and rationalize our actions and wants. Brad Brisco states, “Living out of the false self creates a compulsive desire to present a perfect image to the public so that everybody will admire us, and nobody will know us.”. We camouflage our sin and live comfortably as long as we keep looking good to others.

 

Charles Bukowski states, “False morality is the disease of a people who are told what to think and how to act from an early beginning.”. Therefore, true change of behavior is rare to witness. Until one is truly convicted for the need to change, all other changes are mere camouflages and shift based on circumstances. The problem of sin remains unaddressed. The Bible states, “the soul who sins shall die.”. Guilt reveals its ugly face as our sin torments our heart and mind. Our heart needs to be cleansed and purified by a true God. Only then can we find joy and happiness. Our hearts can only be at rest only by finding true forgiveness. If we fail to experience this process, we are sure to return to our sinful lifestyle quickly. Jesus has made a provision to forgive our sins when we confess to Him. He was not a mere human who was like god but a God who came in human form and died on the cross for the sins of mankind. True divine transformation can happen only with the intervention of this divine God.

 

 

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THE FOUR

Making a commitment 

 

 

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Security in Uncertainty!

 

The daunting truth that rules our day-to-day life is fear of losing certainty while being employed and in a secure position. You will notice even a person with a regular source of income is scared that at some point he/she may lose  the same. Insecurity develops not only when one is employed, but even while one is unemployed. In order to hold on to his security, compromises and adjusts himself to the good and the bad things variably.

There is nothing in this world that guarantees a 100% secured job, perfect business plan or great income generation model. All decline at some point of time. The wisest king Solomon states this life philosophy which is recorded in the Bible, "What does a person gain for all his efforts that he labors at under the sun? A generation goes and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.". Human beings are temporal, existing the earth for a very limited period and soon vanish.

There was a  period of time when I was going through serious hardships and crisis. It looked like it is never going to end. All hope of being saved was lost. And during that period of time, I leaned to put my trust on God and experience Him in a newer way. This increased my faith and love for Him. The promises Christ made came true in my difficult moments, especially when my financial commitments were overwhelming. If there is ONE single fact in support of my belief, that would be His resurrection, the validity of scripture that Jesus is resurrected and is alive. And what Jesus claimed became real to me which said, "because I live you will live also.". Historical, genealogical, and geological proofs back up this truth. I recommend “Evidence That Demands a Verdict” by Josh McDowell if you’d like to see all the evidence compiled in one place.

Hope is something that I did not find when I had a guaranteed employment but found in the lowest point of my life. The Bible states, "Your eyes saw me when I was formless; all my days were written in your book and planned before a single one of them began.". You cannot go unnoticed or you can disappear from His sight. When you trust in the Saviour you remain secure. Remember this, you did not just appear in this earth due to a chemical reaction or coincidence. You have been planned by God to appear in the times that you are currently in. Believe that you are strategically positioned. Accept Him the Lord of your life by commiting your life to Christ.  The providence of God in your life is limitless.

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THE FOUR

Making a commitment 

 

 

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The Loop of Unfinished Tasks!

 

An article I was reading revealed a fascinating fact of how our mind has the capacity to replay things. Sometimes its those songs that keep playing in loop on our mind that can move us to the point of annoyance and hard to get rid of it from our heads. The reason maybe because they have a catchy tune or rhythm, but the fact is scientific.

 

Dr. Roy Baumeister explains that if you “listen to a randomly chosen song and shut it off halfway through...the song is likely to run through your mind at odd intervals. If you get to the end of the song, the mind checks it off, so to speak. If you stop it in the middle, however, the mind treats the song as unfinished business….And that’s why this kind of ear worm is so often an awful tune rather than a pleasant one. We’re more likely to turn off the bad one in middle of the song, so it’s the one that returns to haunt us.”. 

 

However, neurologists explain that this phenomenon is not restricted only to songs but even with unfinished tasks and unfulfilled commitments in life which nag our mind. Our decisions are often changed with priorities that need our immediate attention. The trivial ones do linger in our minds, but it is those matters of the soul that have a major impact if we fail to address them completely. We may have started on some important life changing decisions but would have abandoned them halfway through. These are the ones that keep repeating in loop in our minds which cause anxiousness and restlessness.

 

I often tell people that life is an indivisible whole and it is holistic. We cannot address it in separate parts. For example, when our connection with God is distorted, it reflects in our physical or socio-economic areas. The world is full of cares. Hence, it becomes even more important to set our relationship with the true living God. When we fail to do this our life will be haphazard where restlessness and pain becomes a normal way of life.

Jesus claimed that He came to give abundant life that provides absolute peace and joy. There is no need to go back and forth and live with regrets. The only solution is to submit one hundred percent of your life to the Savior who has the power to forgive your sins and make you clean. He will help you live a guiltfree life. Total commitment to life is not just visiting a religious place regularly and meeting all the rituals and obligations, but it is between you and God. Finding the truth which Jesus Christ offered is the greatest accomplishment of life. 

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THE FOUR

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Stop Hurting!

 

We live in a world where on one hand is full of opportunities and on the other hand rampant with failures. Smiley faces hide heartbreaks. Hence, we need to be conscious when we encounter people that we don’t hurt them with our words and actions. This quote is a reminder of this, ‘Remember that everyone you meet is afraid of something, loves something and has lost something.’

In the book of Proverbs in the Bible the author states this poignant observation “even in laughter the heart may be sad, and joy may end in grief.”. That’s true of so many people in this world who are hurting, grieving, bereaving and lamenting in disappointment. They wish life can be different and good to them and more importantly fair to them. Philip Yancey in his book ‘Disappointment with God’ states this powerful statement which says, “we tend to think, ‘Life should be fair because God is fair.’ But God is not life. And if I confuse God with the physical reality with life by expecting constant good health for example- then I set myself up for crashing disappointment.”

The best place to find your purpose and meaning in your life is at your lowest point in life. We are tempted to conclude our story with analogies and theories. However, we need to observe that there are many good things happening for our well-being that our eyes fail to see it. One for example is our immune system which protects the body against illness and infection that bacteria, viruses, fungi or parasites can cause. It is a collection of reactions and responses that the body makes to damaged cells or infection, which is called the immune response. The sovereignty of God is beyond our comprehension. The Bible reminds this beautiful fact. He is the creator of the universe, and He does what is good. Just because we fail to see His goodness in our context and situation, it does not mean His goodness ceases to exist and has plans to harm us. Please remember His plans are always good.

Don’t give up when things don’t go your way. The Bible says, “all things work together for good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” . If this statement is still difficult to understand, it’s good to look back and see why you are in this situation today. I guarantee, you will find the pattern of the Lord in the direction of your life. Just learn to trust God and be with company who can encourage you through the process or better still someone who has seen God’s hand and leading in their disappointment. D L Moody, a great evangelist advises, “Trust in yourself and you are doomed to disappointment; trust in your friends, and they will die and leave you; trust in money, and you may have it taken from you; trust in reputations, some slanderous tongue may blast it; but trust in God, and you are never to be confounded in time or eternity.”.  Jesus is the only living Savior who went through the extreme suffering on the cross, buried  and raised from death. You have all the reasons to trust Him and cast all your burden on Him. He will surely help you and guide you.

 

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Surely Goodness and mercy shall follow all the days of my life!

 

Blessings, promises and assurances are always music to our ears as humans. In a world which is full of uncertainties, failures and disappointments these words bring hope and happiness. Things usually don’t happen as we anticipate. Therefore, we are taught to plan well, focus, use the right connections, work hard, use the right skill to achieve what we desire. Yet, it still does not guarantee 100% accomplishment.

We use religious quotes to achieve what we desire. For example, there is this famous verse in the Bible which assures us of God’s comfort, provision and supervision. This is memorized by every Christian. It’s the psalm of King David who acknowledges God’s sovereignty and starts by stating, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I have what I need.” During tough times Christians bring this verse to remembrance and recite it. But does this really make their crisis vanish automatically? It doesn’t.

We tend to use God as a spare tyre in a vehicle or as a parachute for emergencies, hoping that they will never have to use in their lifetime. We wish to live life in our terms, and brazenly demand that God aligns to it and ensure that He guarantees success. Martin Luther condemns this state of mind as an heresy. “The most damnable and pernicious heresy that has every plagued the mind of man, was the idea that somehow he could make himself good enough to deserve to live with an all-holy God!”  

It is written in the Bible “whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” We understand this more on the context of wages we receive for the work we do. But in the spiritual realm the compensation for all the mess we contribute, may not necessarily come in fixed intervals but as the Bible states  we all have to reap what we sowed. Sometimes when we are expecting good we are experiencing disappointment. God has orchestrated the whole thing in such a way that we either demonstrate our fullest commitment and experience His blessings or live in our terms. The psalmist David in the Bible, ‘Surely Goodness and mercy shall follow all the days of my life!’ will happen if we live in His terms. God is a gentleman. He never forces you to accept Him. It’s your choice. C S Lews puts it beautifully, ‘There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will  be done.”. All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek shall find. Those who know it is opened.’

 

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