How do I get rid of these bad habits, and change my life?

How do I get rid of these bad habits and change my life? Yes, change my life forever.

Hello and welcome to the Jeshurun Ministry GB Bahamas channel. The channel that gives you information about how to navigate this troubled world victoriously.

Now, let this marinate in your spirit. Deliverance is not necessarily instantaneous when we come to Jesus Christ. It is salvation that is immediate, instantaneously. What if I told you that this message will help you finally break the cycle of those old habits that you've been struggling with for years and years? Would you believe me? Well, believe it or not, this message will teach you how to develop better habits. The battle between the flesh and the spirit can be compared to that famous analogy that says there are two wolves fighting on the inside of us. A good wolf and a bad wolf. And the one we feed, will win. Many of us have been feeding the wrong wolf. If we're struggling with bad habits, we've been feeding the bad wolf. And this message will teach us how to feed the good wolf.

Now, here are two big words that will help you feed the good wolf. Sanctification and justification. First, justification. Yes, if we have truly repented, we're instantly justified and made righteous by the blood of Jesus Christ and salvation. But this is a spiritual transformation, not a physical one. We were laden down with sins and headed to hell. But when we repented and accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and personal Savior, we were instantly justified spiritually. And if we die a moment later, we will go to heaven. But now we need to be sanctified so that we can live victoriously in this world as a new creature.

And why are many who have accepted Jesus Christ still struggling? For most of us, it would be surprising to learn that many Christians are struggling with habitual sins that discourage them, and some may even fall into depression. Others have already walked away. They no longer read their Bibles. Attendance at church is sporadic at best, if at all, and they simply never expected to be in this situation. Many want Christ, but do not want to do the work that lasting change requires of them. They expected that when they got saved, they would be instantly transformed. It would be a walk in the park, a cakewalk.

Now, sanctification, someone described it as God making us righteous through the Holy Spirit progressively over our lifetime. Sanctification, this physical transformation will not come unless we have truly repented and made a firm decision to turn from a life of sin. And the actual physical change will take time and patient endurance. The process will be made easier by daily study of the Word, prayer, and sometimes fasting may be necessary depending on the level of struggle that you're dealing with. Some habits are harder to break than others. It's as simple as that. This message will focus more on sanctification, the process of feeding the good wolf.

Father, we give You thanks and praise for Your love and mercy upon the listeners to this message. We pray that you will help them to feed the spirit rather than only feeding the flesh. Father, please show them how to feed the good wolf. Show them how to prevail. Father, we pray in Jesus name. I thank You. Amen.

My friend, please press the subscribe, like, and share buttons on this video. Help us send this word out that people everywhere will be set free from their habits. There's very valuable new information in this message. There are many Christians today who feel trapped by habits, by sins or strongholds that they cannot seem to break no matter how hard they try. And this is so because they've not put away the old man. But truly desiring to turn from their sins and putting on the new man is necessary. They've not desired real change, but instead continue with their old habits and then try to embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is an impossibility. This will not turn out well for them, unfortunately.

Only when we repent, we're given a new mindset and real change begins. And one day, Jesus Christ made a statement. It was a veiled chastising of the Pharisees and has a double meaning. He said to them, "No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made even worse, and no one puts new wine into old wine skins, or else the new wine bursts the wine skins. The wine is spilled, and the wine skins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wine skins." Mark 2:22.

When new wine is put into old wine skins, it causes the rigid inelastic skin to burst due to the pressure of the carbon dioxide produced during fermentation. And this will result in the destruction of the wine and the container and new wine is still active and fermenting even after being placed in containers. The yeast is consuming the sugars in the wine and together they produce carbon dioxide gas and alcohol. This reaction creates pressure in the container. In those days, animal skins were used for storage. Old skins are already stretched to their limit and they become stiff and brittle, unable to expand. But the new wine skin can expand without cracking or tearing and is therefore able to handle the increased pressure. Even today as wine is stored in modern barrels, wine makers use different barrels for different stages of the wine production process.

So now why did the savior use this analogy? The new wine represents the message of salvation by grace through faith introduced by Jesus Christ. The new wine skin represents a dynamic new man who is formed when the Holy Spirit comes on the inside to light a fire in our hearts making us new. The old wine skin represents the old unregenerated unsaved man, the old creature.

Now changing the old man and putting on the new. Well, Christ calls for us to put on the new man because it is difficult to change or develop new behaviors as long as we're holding on to the old mindset. And therefore, if there's no repentance, there's no change. It is as simple as that. And so, the Word of God tells us, "Anyone in Christ is a new creature. Old things have passed away and all things become new." He tells us in Ephesians 4:23, "Be continually renewed in the spirit of your mind, having a fresh, untarnished mental and spiritual attitude, and put on the new self, the regenerated and renewed nature, created in God's image, Godlike in the righteousness and holiness of the truth, living in a way that expresses to God your gratitude for your salvation." The amplified version.

So what can you do? Here are some of the changes that we need to make in order to be able to do this. The first step is to admit that the struggle is real. Yes. By breaking the power of denial and secrecy from over us. Many Christians suffer in silence. Friend, struggling in silence, never admitting that they have a problem. They need to change lanes, which is essentially moving away from trying to fix the problem alone and surrendering their habit completely to God. Focusing not only on trying to stop the bad habit but on building a greater desire for God's presence in their life which will help them say no to sin.

However, it is difficult to put on this new man because the brain is lazy and prefers old familiar habits which already have been established neural pathways in the brain and these habits require very little effort. The brain loves to operate automatically. There's also a fear of change and when results are not immediate, the brain may go back to the old familiar ways and habits. These habits may be harmful to us, but at least they are comfortable and familiar to us. And very often, new converts are unprepared for the challenges that come with walking in Christ.

Now, no real repentance means that the old man is still there. When repentance is not complete, the struggle to change is even harder. Here are four steps to bring change.

Number one, we need to replace old habits with new habits like reading the Bible, attending prayer and Bible study, doing good work, hanging out with real born again believers in Christ.

Secondly, we need to change people, places, and things. Change our environment, change the crowd we hang with, and change our toys. It means turning away from old hideouts that led us into sin. Delete games from your phone, get rid of that chatbot, etc., etc. Initially, spending more time at home studying God's Word and meditating on it. Cutting away from social media may be necessary.

Thirdly, be prepared to fight discouragement by taking small steps. Oftentimes people are discouraged because changing bad habits, especially difficult ones like drugs and alcohol, seem like such a mammoth task. In this case, we encourage them to make small steps. The only way to live this life effectively is to take life one day at a time, one chunk at a time.

Number four, look out for things that trigger your habit. And there are many things that can trigger a habit. Things like having a bad day, loneliness, disappointment, watching sensual and sexual things on your cell phone or TV. And this is the biggest trigger today.

Number five, we must be patient as our brain learns to do new things. Bringing change involves turning the brain around and establishing what is called new neural pathways. And this will take patience, time, persistence.

Now this is what has been happening to you. At the center of our struggles with bad habits is a chemical messenger in the brain called a neurotransmitter called dopamine. 48 years after this hormone was first made in the lab, a Swedish pharmacologist named Carlson discovered that dopamine was responsible for regulating our every conscious movement and he was awarded a Nobel Prize for it in 2000. Dopamine drives our motivation. It controls our movements, rewards our behavior.

So what is the problem? Well, the problem is that it is a feel good brain juice that rewards bad behavior more generously than it rewards good behavior. It is so effective at giving rewards to bad behavior that it is released in the brain not just when you get the reward but when you anticipate it.

The effect of dopamine is evidence that we live in a fallen world where it is more natural to do evil than it is to do good. And this is why Christ needed to die to lift us up in this fallen world and to one day lift us out of it completely. He died to set us free from the bondage of sin. In this fallen world, there is no need for an institution of higher learning to teach us how to do wicked things. We all automatically have a degree in this. We learn quickly because the brain provides automatic rewards for negative behaviors like dishonesty, selfishness, anger, you name it, by giving us a rush, a temporary thrill, a stress relief or a shortcut to getting what we want.

And so there's a habit loop that makes you go around and round in circles. Soon what is called this habit loop is formed with a trigger which causes an action and then our brain rewards us with a shot of dopamine, the feel-good juice. And we go around and around in circles behaving badly to get a shot of this dopamine which makes us feel good and motivates us to behave badly again in order to get another shot of it.

Here's how a habit works and it makes you a slave doing the same old same old useless thing that enslaves you. A man called Charles Duhigg said that there is a Cue-Routine Reward loop. This means there's a trigger which causes a behavior. Then there's a reward and when you are rewarded, the reward feels good and acts like another trigger which causes you to do your habit thing all over again and you get another reward etc. etc., and you go around and around in circles not being able to shake your habit. The trigger could be a location, a person, a group of friends, the time of day, a stressful feeling, whatever. The routine is your habit. The reward is a burst of dopamine or the satisfaction you get from your brain.

Now, can we use the dopamine effect to help us change? I thought you'd never ask, "What about doing good things? Will the brain reward us for this?" You bet. Good habits such as exercise, doing good deeds, saving, completing projects, praying, studying God's Word, going to church can also cause the brain to produce dopamine. But it is not automatic at first. We have to make up our minds to do good things. It is intentional. Evil is automatic. Good, healthy habits have to be developed. Patience and faith will be required because good habits often are rewarded with a more moderate rewarding and longer term feeling.

Good habits require conscious effort. Therefore, at first and it does not always provide immediate tangible dopamine rewards. However, over time with repeated good actions like kindness, generosity, the brain will create a neural pathway to reward good behavior. In other words, it will form a positive loop so that the brain is able and capable of rewiring itself based on repetition and can be trained to reward good behavior. Soon it begins rewarding us with the feel-good juice for doing good things. The key point here is that we will have to want change and we must be prepared to be patient as we work at change.

And therefore, the first set of virtues that we should ask God for and seek after when we come to Him are wisdom, knowledge, and understanding like King Solomon. And above all, patience. We need patience with the process of change, patience with God, patience with ourselves, and patience with our fellow man. And in the same way, everyone who comes to Christ for salvation needs to be willing to put aside their old habits, their old sinful ways. They must be willing to put away the old man and put on the new man. It is the same for us today. When we accept Jesus Christ as Lord, we must turn from our old sinful life, letting go of all that is displeasing to God. And this is more than weeping over our sinfulness while continuing in them. This is turning from them and weeping and mourning over them until we conquer them. This is the sanctification process that God's Holy Spirit does on the inside of us as He perfects us. Trust the process, my friend. May God give you an understanding of this word today. May He strengthen you. May He make you wise. We thank God for grace and mercy for you as you push through the challenge of getting rid of those old habits which will pull you down and cause you to miss the return of Jesus Christ. God bless and keep you in Jesus mighty name. Amen.

You've been listening to this message and perhaps you do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We want to give you an opportunity to make that commitment today. Please engage your heart. Be prepared to change and say this prayer after me:

• Father, I am a sinner.

• I'm sorry for all of my sins.

• I crave Your forgiveness.

• Thank You, Lord, for Your forgiveness.

• Today, I invite Jesus Christ into my heart.

• Dear Lord Jesus, make my heart Your home.

• And please give me the Holy Spirit to help me change my habits.

• Please give me the Holy Spirit to cause me to put on the new man.

• Make me completely new.

• Thank You, Lord.

• Today I give You the key to my heart because I want to be made new.

• Please keep the key forever.

• Give me wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.

• Thank You, Lord, for saving my soul. Amen.

Welcome, friend, to the body of believers in Christ. There are so many of us here awaiting the return of the Good Master. In the meantime, let your pastor know you've committed your life to the Lord and you want to be baptized.

So many accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, but they do not get baptized. Get baptized, my friend. Let your pastor know, insist on being baptized. Begin reading the Word of God every day. Begin in the book of John. Then go to Matthew, Mark, and Luke, reading audibly as often as possible because faith comes by hearing the Word of God. Pray daily. Attend at your local church and one glad morning. The savior will come and receive us all unto Himself and we shall indeed forever be with the Lord. God bless and keep you in Jesus mighty name. Amen.