Conquering Your Warped Wall
Hi friends! (Forwarded from Becky Watson)
James 1:19-27
Listening and Doing
19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
There are times for all of us where we read the Bible or listen to a good sermon and think, “Oh, I really need to do that.” And then we go home and don’t think of it again. Or we desire to make a change in our life, but are never able to make traction.
We all have things in our Christian walk which come easy for us, others which present us a great challenge (but can be done), and then those things which are seemingly impossible for us to change about ourselves. I call those seemingly impossible things our personal “warped walls.” Conquering your warped wall doesn’t have to be impossible!
Every one of us can finally be able to overcome the obstacle in our personal pursuit of Christlikeness by following these methods of attack:
Get Focused. (Listen to God)
When you read or listen to scripture, what is God telling you to do or work on? What is your warped wall, in essence? What is the thing He’s been telling you for years but you haven’t been able to put into practice?
Make a decision to conquer it.
Get Prepared.(Commit and Plan)
You are in a spiritual battle against Satan. You have to have a plan or strategy and if you want to win your battle.
Create a Plan/Strategy – God will help you
Ask for Accountability
Get in a daily cycle of the “Four R’s:”
Remember: Each morning, remember what you are trying to do that day. Create visible reminders for yourself.
Read: Read verses on topic daily – the word needs to be “planted in you” to save you. (James 1:21)
Reflect:Each evening, reflect on how the day went, write down your day’s struggles/successes.
Revise:Determine how you can revise your plan to avoid the pitfalls you encountered.
Get Confident.(Believe God Can Change You)
Reframe your thinking/mindset to believe you can accomplish it with God’s help. He can do ANYTHING!!
See yourself as who God is helping you become. Visualize yourself changed. Shift your thinking of yourself in this area from negative to positive.
Weapons of Warfare are not physical, they are mental.
Psalm 23:7 “For as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.”
Call on God for Help and know He will help you.
Psalm 121:1-2
1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? 2 My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
Get Practice.(Go Attempt It)
Get started, day by day – following your plan and little by little you will see successes
Luke 6:46-48
46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? 47 As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. 48 They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.
Get Relentless. (Don’t ever Give Up)
Make Every Day a Fresh Start. What’s done and behind you matters less than what you choose to do today. After a pitfall, it’s your nextchoice that matters.
Satan will make it hard, expect that. Be persistent. Refuse to be discouraged.
Galatians 6:9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
You are changing little by little. Each day may not be a win, but if you don’t give up, the weeks and months will show your success.
You will be forming a habit. You will conquer it!
1 Peter 5:10 – And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
Following these methods of attack will change you. The scripture will change you as move from a life of listening and forgetting to a life of putting it into practice. A year from now, you’ll be able to look back and say, “I used to struggle with this so much and now I am able to live it out!” Lean into God and you can accomplish anything.
(Here is a link to the video I shared if you want some inspiration.)
May closeness to Jesus, willing dependence on Him, and LIFE BEYOND COMPARE be with you all as you battle and conquer your warped wall!!!
Love,
-Becky Watson