Habits: Apply Rinse Repeat Part 4

hallelujah everybody say habits somebody say what matters most what matters most it's the small things that no one sees that result in the big things everyone wants everybody see that on the screen it's the small things that nobody sees that result in the big things everybody wants nobody's seen you this morning get up just you and the lord and pray nobody said there was no audience there was no fanfare there was nobody and really probably encouraging to get matter of fact you may have got up out of the bed and you just say oh lord i wish i could sleep a little longer just being transparent but something got you out of that bed this morning and something took you to your secret place of prayer may have been a chair may have been a living room maybe it may have been a beside your bed maybe been on your back porch wherever it was but i'm coming to tell you it was the what some people will call a small thing that nobody sees that will result in big things that eventually everyone will want if you believe that say amen

number two successful people do consistently say consistently what other people do occasionally successful people do you got to say it and believe it consistently say it with me consistently what other people do occasionally being faithful to the house of god being faithful in your tying talent and treasure being an effective witness you don't do that occasionally you do that consistently to become successful being a prayer warrior i said this last wednesday you just don't wake up one day and say you know what i'm going to be a prayer warrior and just on that first day man i'm a prayer no no no it takes consistent prayer day after day week after week one month after month you become a warrior a prayer warrior so if you want to be successful in living for god you want to be successful in your workplace you want to be successful whatever it is in life if you're going to be successful what you do consistently will produce the success that you so desire

number three i said this last week this is just a brief summarization we don't rise to the level of our goals everybody say goals we fall to the level of our systems show me your goals and i by your systems will tell you if you're going to reach your goals because systems trump goals every time every time whatever it is in life living for god i have a goal i'm gonna you name it i'm gonna pray every morning at six o'clock what's your system you better set an alarm at 5 45 or 5 30. don't depend on your flesh to get you up well i'm just going to trust my flesh and i'm just going to trust my instinct and i'm going to get up well you you're going to oversleep well i'm going to be i'm going to be an effect i'm going to be a soul winner what's your system i'm going to try to invite one person every day to the house of god i'm going to try to try to get a bible study i'm going to try to show the love of god every day to somebody that i do not know that's a system and you know what's going to happen eventually you're going to reach that goal of being a soul winner i hope this makes sense because let me let let's go to the the four point we are what we repeatedly do you want to know why you're in where you are right now this whatever that season of life is you want to know why you're successful you want to know why we are what we repeatedly do we are what we repeatedly do so i've covered most of all of this over the last three weeks and tonight

apply rinse and repeat part four everybody say discipline how many in here would say that you are not highly disciplined no show of hands you may say you're not highly disciplined at all but that's not true we are all very disciplined if you're taking notes this would be worth writing down you know what you're disciplined in what's important to you i learned this wise statement many years ago from my pastor at the time he said people do what people want to do that'll preach all by itself right there i'm just teaching tonight people do what people want to do i have never forgotten that statement i've seen it be true in personal life in business life and even in our church people do what they want to do if you want to do it you'll be disciplined enough to do it it'll happen because you want to do it you want to come to church because you want to come to church you're at church there ain't enough excuses in the book that's going to keep you from the house of god if you want to be here if you want to live for god i don't come here we say it all the time come hell or high water there's no devil in hell going to keep you from living for god if you want to live for god you've got to become disciplined in your relationship with him and a mental fortitude this is what i'm going to do i do what i want to do we used to sing this song i choose to be a christian brother edwin i choose to be like him nobody's making me do it this is how i want to live and then this it goes this way you decide for you i decide for me it's it's a choice that we make but it revolves around discipline have you ever met someone who is constantly complaining no show of hands you're having a bad day theirs is worse you're sick they're worse your head hurts oh my back hurts i know none of you are like we compete for attention because we want to be the one who's in worse shape than the one you're talking i know that have you ever said i'm just not in good shape i just you know maybe you're not in good shape maybe you're you're fighting a spirit of laziness maybe you eat too much i know none of us in here have ever been guilty of that and i ask you are they disciplined is a constant complainer disciplined yes they're just not disciplined in the right things but you are disciplined to sleep in your discipline lord i'm it's not many in this room ever miss a meal can i get an amen can i get an amen it's getting deep in here but i'm going to keep trodden on through we make time for what we want to make time for

so what is discipline let me ask you that let me get myself out of this hole what is discipline church discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most if you if you don't get anything else i've said so far if you'll get this one principle it's going to radically change your life you're going to start thinking different beginning today because we are so programmed for the here and the now what i want it now i want gratification now i want instantaneous success now but discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most every one of you are successful in at least one of these things in your life your marriage your kids your business your finances your health your hobbies you're good at one of those you may not be good at all of but if i could say you are at least successful in one of those and you can add i put etc in my notes because i you you may be good at something that i didn't mention but if you look at the area that you would consider yourself successful in you will find consistent disciplines but the opposite is true any area of your life that you're not succeeding in you have disciplines as well they're just not right disciplines have you ever asked yourself must be very transparent why am i so inconsistent in certain areas i'm good at abc but i struggle with xyz why am i so that there's some inconsistencies in all of our lives now all of our lives but

romans 7 15 and and i like it in the new living translation and i hope you may see this but it you read it in the king james i'll read it in the new living i don't really understand myself for i want to do what is right but i don't do it instead i do what i hate i want to do what is right but i can't i want to do what is good but i don't i don't want to do what is wrong but i do it anyway but if i do what i don't want to do i am not really the one doing wrong it is sin living in me that does it verse 24 oh what a miserable person i am who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death verse 25 thank god the answer is in jesus christ our lord that's what the word said who can deliver us jesus christ our lord and with the help of the lord anyone can change i'm going to say that again because some of you you need to get you need to get some faith for some people that god's getting ready to bring into the house of god anybody can change if you want to change you can put the necessary effort into making sure that change occurs hallelujah it's hard to help someone when they really don't want help somebody say amen it's kind of like leading a camel to water you can't make him drink such is life until we get honest with who we are and who we have become help will remain on pause for you but the moment you and i realize this is not who i want to be known for this is not the person i want my children to have as a role model in their life this is not who i want my spouse to live with each and every day a fresh revelation happens inside of us and we realize this christ in me is stronger than the wrong appetites in me i said the holy ghost inside of you that holy ghost that you've been baptized with if you've got it it's the power under god under salvation the power of god under salvation and the holy ghost in you leads you to what you want most over what you want now hallelujah with the lord on your side with the spirit leading and guiding you something can begin happening inside of you and it's called training to win what matters most paul said i would do good but evil is present i want to do good but evil is present verse 21 don't you realize

first corinthians 9 24-25 don't you realize that in a race everyone runs say everybody but only one gets the prize so run to win the king james says so run that you may obtain all athletes are disciplined in their training so they do it to win a prize that will fade away but we do it for an eternal prize i love the way the king james said and every man that striveth for the mastery is temperant in all things now they do it to obtain a corruptable crown but we an incorruptible crown never forget this is a race that we are running such as it was in corinth it was called the ismian games i-s-t-h-m-i-a-n is men games it was a big race it was much patriotic pride associated with it and all athletes are disciplined in their training 10 long months of special training strict diet no wine no junk food endured cold and the heat now when he talked about this into the corinthian church the corinthians would have been very aware and very into what is known as these particular games this was a race that bore for them patriotic pride this was like the olympics for them where if you could win this you could represent your community with dignity and tremendous pride and so here's what he said to them in verse 24 and 25 speaking into his culture that he loved the race and the games that they strived and achieved to win he said don't you realize that in a race everyone runs but only one gets the prize then he said a statement which this phrase was the most common statement made again and again to the athletes who were selected for the 10-month training camp and these athletes would be selected for the 10 months they would train and they would say to them so do what and he said run to win run to win everybody say it with me run to win he would say it to them so run to when all athletes are disciplined that's our word they were disciplined in their training they were disciplined in their diet they were disciplined in their habits because they had one goal in mind they were to run to win they did it to win a prize according to the wise writer paul that would fade away but we run for an eternal prize we run for an incorruptible prize he said all athletes are disciplined they're going to run to win in other words you're not running to place you are running to a maximum out you're running to max out the call of god on your life you're running to win you're not running for the bronze you're running for the gold what are you running for i'm running from the gravel and one day this gravel is gonna turn to gold one day we're gonna leave this whole earth and one day we're gonna reach our eternal destination and we are running to win if you're running the win say amen all athletes are disciplined in their training i've said it i'm going to say it again they would have been known it would have soon been discovered if they had not trained they would have known that these athletes chosen for 10-month training they knew they would go to the gymnasium which believe it or not the gymnasium was a prominent piece of architecture in this culture where people would go to work out they would enter into a very strict diet where they were allowed no alcohol whatsoever no junk food and they were fed only that which would build their body for 10 months they would be exposed to extreme temperatures both hot and cold and their body would learn to perform perform in any condition they were disciplined they were disciplined somebody say discipline they were disciplined their body to run to win in fact they were so into this race i know this sounds crazy maybe a little crude but it's been recorded they would run and they would actually strip their clothes off and run naked so that there would be no piece of clothing that would hinder them from running faster thank god we're not into that today somebody's saying man but that's what they would do run to win

maybe that's what paul meant in hebrews 12 when he said lay aside every way everything that hinders you to run this race they do it to win a prize that will fade away but we do it for an eternal price do you know what their prize was it was a wreath of green leaves just mere days after mere days after the presentation those green leaves would turn brown those green leaves would fade in its beauty all they would have was a faint memory a faint memory of the last 10 months of rigorous training discipline vigorous exercise structure pain suffering tears but their prize was just a wreath of green leaves but they made a commitment i'm running to win i didn't join this race to come in second or come in third or come in fifth i i joined this and i disciplined myself because what i see is beyond the wreath of green leaves it's the it's what i represent it's the community it's the pride of winning the prize these games that meant so much but our prize is greater than a wreath of green leaves our prize is greater we've got eternal glory waiting on us on the other side of the sweet banks of deliverance if we could only get that in our heart to get that in our mind and yes the race stays long and yes the race is weary and yes there are many obstacles there's many mountains there's some deep valleys there's some pain there's some suffering there's some sickness there's some disease there's some lonely nights there's some bitter moments there's frustrations but if you can keep your eye on the prize if you can keep your eyes there's a gate of pearl awaiting on you there's walls of jasper there's streets of gold there's the lamb which is the light there's a river that flows i said there's a river that flows like crystal there's no more sickness there's no more disease there's no more death there's no more loss i'm talking about eternal glory is our prize i said it's our prize hallelujah there's no more darkness there's no more crying there's no more tears no no more darkness there's no more violence there's no more pain there's no more suffering its eternal glory forever with the master forever with the one who bled and died for us who one day they got a wreath of green leaves we'll get a crown but on that day we'll take that crown off and lay it at the feet of the lamb and we will begin to say holy holy holy holy holy it wasn't about me anyway it was about him it wasn't about me it was about him who bled and died and rose from the grave eternal glory eternal glory so i charged this great church this evening with the words of paul to the church at corinth you you know the church at carthage is a very carnal church go go read it for yourself and it had so much corruption in the church so much fornication so much perversion but paul's trying to get into this church trying to minister to this church and he would say these words

so i run with purpose in every step now that new living translation that's first corinthians 9 24. that may be in 26 right there verse 26 so i run with purpose in every step i'm not just shadow boxing i'm not just one beating the air i discipline in verse 27 i discipline my body like an athlete training it to do what it should for when i preach to others i myself should become a castaway we come too late in the race church i said we've come too late in the race church to quit running this race we've come too late to quit discipline our bodies we've come too late to quit and lose the purpose of every step not every other step not every other week not every other month but every day we get up there's got to be a purpose in every step i am not going to be disillusioned i am not going to be drawn away by the lust of this flesh but i discipline my body i work out my salvation with fear and trembling i dis on my discipline my body like an athlete training it to do what it should do i go back to tell you you do what you want to do you can discipline your body you can discipline your body to do what you wanted to alan oggs i believe it was alan hogg said you got to have the want to you got to have the want to hallelujah no matter what no matter what your past is no matter what you've done no matter your sin no matter your transgressions you can wake up today to the realization i can discipline my body like an athlete and i can start allowing myself to do what i should do we all must realize that we are this is something that if you can ever get it in your spirit we are not naturally disciplined in the right things we're not disciplined in the right things our fallen nature is going to gravitate sister amanda to the flesh doesn't make you lesser of a person doesn't make me less it's the human nature it's the fallen nature we're we're carnal minded but the spirit maketh alive we're carnal by name so we're going to gravitate to the i wish to goodness that my carnal man wouldn't act up i don't care how old you get you're gonna have to deal with carnality i don't care how old you get i'll even say it like i don't care how spiritual you get you've got to keep that carnal man on the altar you've got to keep that carnal man on the altar your flesh every day has got to be crucified paul said i die daily because if i don't discipline my body to the right things i'll do the wrong things by nature i'm not naturally disciplined in the right things that's why i've got to study the word that's why i got to pray that's why i've got to fast that's why i got to hear the voice of god i've got to get in his presence i've got to understand the value of the local church and understand my brothers and my sisters build up my most holy faith when we get together and we worship and praise and magnify god and discipline my body to walk not after the flesh but after the spirit you and i must choose what i want over what we must choose what i want most over what i want now what do you want most do you want a marriage in the future do you want to lose 30 pounds do you want to kick an addiction do you want to get promoted on your job do you want to get close to god again do you want your cholesterol to go down do you want to be free for pornography do you want to be out of debt come on do you know how you're going to do those things whatever it is and i may have missed something you put what do you want most what do you need to do now to have what you want most i believe that's on this what do you need to do now to have what you want most do you need to hire a trainer do you come do you need to commit to a bible devotion plan do you commit to a date night with your spouse do you need to pray with ki pray with your kids daily do you need to enroll in dave ramsey do you need to delete a few applications on your phone that's led you down a road of destruction now is krispy kreme donuts but most is to lose weight well i make a promise to you a dozen of krispy kreme doughnuts ain't gonna get you where you need to be i'm living proof the day good but that's the noun i said that's the noun it's habits it's what we he said when i see that hot sign on it that car that truck's got magnetic pool i think it wants to go in it wants to go right into the end of that dryer i need two dozen and i'll eat a half a dozen before i get home then when i get home what's who i need to lose some weight but what i wanted now trumped what i wanted most how many times does that happen we got impatient and we what we got now sister kendall we wanted it now and we lost the opportunity for what god had prepared for us and our desire for most

come on esau come on esau i won't now i i want a little soup now i want to be gratified i'm hungry now but we're willing to give away the birthright what we need the most the favor the blessing the power of god oh i feel the holy ghost don't let your now don't let the now crucify what god has for you and your future don't let the now rob you of your future i can tell you poor decisions of the now have caused men and women many nights of misery we lay there at night god i wonder what it would have been like i wonder where my life would be had i not i wonder you know what those moments happen from time to time we all have been there anybody want to say amen i wonder what would have happened if i'd have gone this way and not went this way what would have happened if i'd have surrendered it you know at a younger age and not waited till later in life to surrender my life to god we all have those moments where now caused us caused us to miss out on some of our most i want to help somebody and encourage you

your thoughts matter maybe some things have happened in your past you have to deal with them every day your thoughts matter the enemy will use your thought patterns the enemy will even use your past to annihilate any hope for a brighter future he'll breathe thoughts of condemnation and oh years have gone by i've missed this opportunity i missed this i've done that now i gotta listen to your pastor tonight your thoughts matter your life will always move in that direction show me or tell me your thoughts and i'll show you where you're going to eventually end up if your thoughts don't change because as a man thinketh so is he that's the book that's why we've got to do what the word says we've got to cast down imaginations we've got to cast down those thoughts that would rise up against us that would cause and make us want to i'm unworthy to preach the gospel i'm unworthy to do anything productive in there i'm unworthy to be used by god i'm unworthy to be a good husband i'm unworthy to be a good wife i'm unworthy to be a good father i'm unworthy to be a good mother i've done so many things wrong and the enemy just has a playdate in your mind and all of the all of the regrets that you've had in your life and your mind spins out of control from the time you get up to the time you go to bed and it's a cycle vicious cycle like a merry-go-round but here your pastor tonight

there is a thing called discipline there is a thing called habits there's a thing called the spoken word that you can begin to speak from your mouth not mine but your mouth and you can begin to declare there's power in my tongue there's power in my voice and i can speak my way out of this dilemma i can speak words of life or death the decision is mine if you want life you can live you've just got to change your words if you want life you want a bright future change your words because when you change your words your thoughts will align your mind will align and you'll begin to start believing i'm coming out of this i'm going to be happy i'm going to i will be married i will have a spouse i will be fulfilled i will have a relationship with my children i will get a job i will preach i will be used to i've got to start speaking words i've got to speak life over me not death change life change the life you're living by changing the words somebody shout amen somebody shout run to win run to win with purpose in every step instead of condemnation you get out of that bed tomorrow morning and you say i'm gonna win today i'm gonna win today paul i'm going to think myself happy i'm going to talk my way out of this i'm going to work my way out of this i'm going to discipline my way out of this discipline my body to do what it should do discipline in my mind to not dwell on what it shouldn't but i'm disciplining my mind to dwell on what it should dwell on discipline my spirit to desire what it should desire the university of duke did a study forty percent of all of our actions are done let me say it like this forty percent of all of our actions are not done by decision making but by habit forty percent of what you do every day you didn't make a decision one you did it by habit what that tells me when you rise in the morning nearly half of your day will be determined by the patterns you've either intentionally created or passively allowed the path to being a better individual being a better leader being a better husband being a better wife being a better coworker being a better father being a better mother is paved with the asphalt of the habits we develop unfortunately most people are intentional about those habits they're developing our schedules let me see unfortunately most people are not intentional about the habits they're developing our schedules our workloads our co-workers our environments often dictate our lives our patterns and we end up leading reactively instead of proactively we're on the defense instead of the offense we're reaction instead of proactive we must develop habits that create consistency in our life what do you want to be known for ask yourself what do you want to be known for whatever it is i want to be the best at whatever it is i want to be known for this whatever your profession i want to be the best worker at boeing i want to be the best piana tuner in the area i want to be the best banker i want to be the best adjuster and they don't want to call anybody but me i want to be the best brick mason in north alabama i want to be the best ceo in any hospital chain i want to be the best painter in north alabama and i've just named a few and nobody intentionally left office just as it came do you know how you're going to do to be that you must develop habits that create consistency that would cause someone to say you need an adjuster i got the man you need a painter i got them you know how that's going to happen by what you repeatedly do you leave a bad name in the in the area that's going to get out it don't take but one bad experience for your name to get ruined i am what i repeatedly do if i want to be the best at something if i want this church to be the best you know what we're going to do we're going to be the best at everything we do from the parking lot to the altar from the altar to departments and from departments back out the door in our social lives we've got to be the best and strive to be the best repeatedly not have one sunday good and one sunday we drop the ball come on come on somebody hallelujah because you don't know who's going to show up you don't know who's going to come drive by i've been looking at this i've been watching this church you don't ever know when that's going to happen but if we repeatedly do what develops a reputation of consistency in our neighborhoods in our community in your jobs you know what's going to happen now one day it's going to click that's the church i'm going to that's the church i'm going to with the help of the lord with the help of the lord you can choose most over now you can choose most over now you know i know our our students are not here maybe they'll go back and watch us but this is for somebody that's why the word of god teaches us don't be unequally yoked don't don't it's easy to go out and find somebody but satisfy the now when god's got the rest of your life to choose from the rest of your life to focus on most over now i look at so many characters in the bible that chose the noun they had to reap the benefits of it they chose the now samson being one of them and i've used him in illustration earlier he just couldn't discipline himself he could not discipline himself but daniel could people right wrong or indifferent people do notice people will look small things make big differences maybe you maybe you're new living for god maybe you've made some drastic changes and nobody's noticed yet you keep living for god you're gonna wake up one day much like the butterfly the caterpillar evolving into the butterfly small things one day you're flying high again you're stride your stride is encouraged you're living for god you're doing but oh nobody nobody saw you in the cocoon of prayer nobody saw you fasting but all those small things produced a big difference in your life and in those around you

i close with this small things make a big difference yes but i'm encouraging you celebrate every victory maybe it's one day maybe it's one week maybe it's one month one year five years seven years celebrate your victories i've been i've been faithful to the house of god for one week you celebrate i've been clean from alcohol and drugs for one month you know what there ought to be a party of celebration because you disciplined yourself with the help of god not to lean to the carnal nature that would easily drift backwards but you disciplined yourself not for now gratification but for something more and what you want and desire most i'm big on this celebrate every victory living for god is process don't get discouraged in the process the process the process is what will produce something victorious the process is what's going to transport you from here to there

stand to your feet stand to your feet lord i am what i repeatedly do what do you want most church i want to run to win i don't want to begin this race and become a castaway become a has been simply because i couldn't discipline my flesh i couldn't discipline my desires i couldn't discipline my thoughts i couldn't discipline my words because if i can get my thoughts disciplined get my words disciplined get my body disciplined i can run and win this race but i've got to start i've got to start prioritizing now versus most now versus most my kids are watching my community's watching my work is watching my parents are watching but greater than all of those my god is watching may run this race every step with purpose every day i get up there's purpose every day i rise there's purpose father in the name of jesus god these are not just words that i felt you drop into my spirit lord i've meditated upon these all day all week and god there's somebody here there's somebody here struggling there's someone here in the race and they're weary they're weary and the temptation is to quit the temptation is to throw in the towel but tonight i speak courage into every heart i speak courage into every heart may the heart of an eagle rise may we soar to higher heights may we do things that in the natural seem impossible but we will rise to the occasion and become we will become what you've designed for us to become our habits and what we repeatedly do will produce a character that i believe that you will one day be pleased with and we will hear you say well done thou good and faithful servant

if you've received the word of the lord tonight would you just give him a hand clap of praise i love you tonight god i love you