HEALTHY HABITS Week Two Notes

Use these notes to help you

review Sunday’s message.

Healthy Habits for your HEART, your MIND and your BODY!

God wants us to be healthy in every aspect of our lives – HEART, MIND and BODY – because
He wants His church to be healthy and growing and full of love. But in order for you and me
to do that, it’s going to require us to develop some good habits, and get rid of some old
ones. A lot of times that seems easier said then done, and we tend to get discouraged
when we don’t see results or success right away. But the Apostle Paul writes:

“He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion.” (Philippians 1:6)

And we centered our conversation last week around this idea: In that process of becoming
what we are to become, WE have a part and GOD has a part. Paul writes later:

“Work hard to show the results of your salvation” (that’s our part). And when we do that we
can have the confidence of knowing that, “God is working in you, giving you the desire and
the power to do what pleases him”. (Philippians 2:12-13)

On the practical side we said we needed to develop FOUR HEART HEALTHY HABITS:
1. Spending time in God’s Word
2. Spending time in Prayer
3. Practicing Generosity, and
4. Embracing Fellowship

And we talked about FOUR KEYS to Developing Habits the LAST:

1. Start doing things DIFFERENTLY.
2. Don’t try to do it ALL AT ONCE
3. Don’t Go It ALONE, and
4. When you get discouraged, DON’T QUIT.

We also introduced a very practical system for you to dial in the development of those four
healthy habits through CROSSROADS U and our upcoming 4-part Class called ROADIES 201,
where we will drill down into each of the FOUR HEART HEALTHY HABITS we talked about last
week.

At it’s core, this series is about MORE than habits and habitual behavior. It’s about CHANGE.
Because what marks a follower of Christ is not a better understanding of the Bible, or perfect
church attendance, or tithing on your gross income rather than your net income, or never
cussing, drinking or smoking (or dating women who do). What marks a follower of Jesus
Christ is a CHANGED LIFE.

Developing HEALTHY HABITS is not simply about behavior modification. Because being a
Christ-follower isn’t about behavior modification. It’s about HEART CHANGE, and doing
things that and propel that heart change forward.

You can give your heart to God, and if you don’t do the “work” of working out your
salvation, can slip very quickly into old patterns, old habits, and old ways of doing things.

By the same token, you can give your heart to God, and never realize that there is actually
work for you to do. You see, receiving eternal life through Christ isn’t something you can
“work” at. But LIVING your life FOR Christ is something that will only happen IF you work at it.

VIDEO CLIP (Secular, Clinical)

Behavior – Any kind of a habit is a learned behavior pattern. Your brain learns to create and
replay behavior patterns (see Neural Pathway research).

Reinforcement – Your brain has determined that there is some desirable outcome (“bad or
good”) connected to your behavior, and so it repeats that behavior over and over in pursuit
of that particular reinforcing outcome.

Learning – Your brain creates and restores patterns. (Example of dog learning to shake
hands).

Timing – When it comes to reinforcing behavior, timing really matters. (Example: dog peeing
on the rug when you leave the room). For reinforcement to be meaningful, the
reinforcement must be associated with the behavior you are trying to reinforce.

Good Habits – When we teach our brains good habits timing works to our advantage. The
reinforcers are immediate, generally obvious, and they resonate with us in a way that builds
self-esteem, because instinctively we know we’re doing the right thing.

Bad Habits – The actual consequences of unhealthy behaviors often take a very long time to
show up. But some immediate results may seem reinforcing.

Instant Gratification – The behavior feels pleasurable, or it tastes good, or it provides an

escape from reality. There’s no way that instant gratification is going to enhance self-
esteem. But compared to thinking about far-away consequences of bad habits, instant
gratification can often serve as a reinforcer.

Learned Behavior – The behavior feels pleasurable, or it tastes good, or it provides an escape
from reality. There’s no way that instant gratification is going to enhance self-esteem. But
compared to thinking about future negative consequences, instant gratification can
function as a reinforcer of a learned behavior.
Some Familiar Learned Behaviors – Not just physical actions, like smoking, or nose-picking,
but language patterns, thought patterns, attitudes, emotions, self-limiting beliefs… More
learned behaviors? How about: When behaving in an angry manner causes others to let
me have my way (see temper tantrums); when I mope or complain or exaggerate my
ailments and others give me sympathy; when I act lazy and it gets me out of doing things
others want me to do; when I go out drinking and “get lucky” (lol). In any case the
immediate result seems reinforcing, while the destructive personal consequences of that
unwanted behavior may be way off in the future, out of sight, out of mind.

MINDFULNESS is the Key – We can teach our brains the habit patterns we desire. What the
brain finds reinforcing will depend on the comparative values that YOU provide to it.
Negative Values or Positive Values – You are ultimately the one who decides what value you
assign to any particular behavior.

You get to CHOOSE – Whether you intend to or not, YOU are choosing the values that your
brain uses when determining what’s reinforcing. You’re making up your OWN mind about
what matters most. You ARE in control of your own mind. If you honor that power and apply
it with intention and with purpose, then you truly ARE in control of who you CHOOSE to be,
and how you CHOOSE to behave.

VIDEO OVER

NOW…follower of Christ…against THAT background of purely scientific understanding of how

behavioral patterns develop in our lives, how important is THIS Scripture:

“Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses.
Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose
life, so that you and your descendants might live!”
(Deuteronomy 30:19, NLT)

It begs the question from all of us: “What are you thinking?”

Ever have one (or several hundred) of those moments in life when you ask yourself, “What
was I thinking?” Ever look at your kids when they did something particularly foolish for the
umpteenth time and say, “Son, what were you thinking?”

I think about that all the time in the context of that Scripture from Deuteronomy. I have this
vivid image of God looking at me after I’ve done something for the hundredth time that I
DIDN’T MEAN, INTEND, or WANT to DO and Him saying, “Son, what were you thinking?” It’s in
this very light that the Apostle Paul writes, recorded for us in his letter in Romans:

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new
person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which
is good and pleasing and perfect. (Romans 12:2, NLT)
The video is right! MINDFULNESS is the key! What are you thinking? Your mind is a sponge
waiting for neural pathways to be established. Just as nature abhors a vacuum, so our minds
are open, waiting to be filled. If we are to be free of bad habits, and develop new and
better habits for our lives:

1. We have to be (INTENTIONAL) about how we fill our minds.

This is not some new-fangled, psycho-cybernetic, secular humanistic, mind bomb. This is
practical spiritual teaching that is thousands of years old, and in it lies the key to reinforcing
the choice we make – of our own free will – to become a follower of Jesus Christ: As the
MIND goes, so goes the CHRISTIAN. Listen to the Apostle Paul a little earlier in his letter to the
Romans:

5 For(A) those who live according to the flesh set their minds on(B) the things of the flesh, but
those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on(C) the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set
( )
D the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the
mind that is set on the flesh is(E) hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law;(F) indeed,
it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
(Romans 8:5-8, ESV) (SEE CROSS REFERENCES BELOW)
Cross references:
Romans 8:5 : Gal 6:8 Romans 8:5 : Gal 5:19-21
Romans 8:5 : Gal 5:22, 23, 25
Romans 8:6 : Romans 8:13; Col 2:18; Romans 6:21
Romans 8:7 : James 4:4 Romans 8:7 : 1 Cor 2:14

God says, “Choose life!” Paul says, “In order to REINFORCE that choice, there’s some “those
who live according to” choices you’re going to have to make.”

You ARE a Spirit. You HAVE a Mind. You LIVE in a body. When you give your life to God, your
spirit is transformed (or made entirely new) to be like His. But your body (or your flesh) is dying
daily. Your spirit is born-again, and it is born ETERNAL and incorruptible. But your flesh is not
born-again like your spirit is. Your flesh is corruptible, is not eternal and not matter how many
sit-ups you make it do, or how pretty it looks in the mirror, one day it is going to die. Your
MIND is also not born-again when your spirit is born-again. So, like Paul says, you must RENEW
your mind (or change the way you think), because the way your MIND goes is how YOU will
go.

Your spirit ALWAYS wants to please God. Your flesh ALWAYS wants to please itself. Your mind
casts the deciding vote of who, and how and what you will be, and how you will behave.

As followers of Christ, we are in continual pursuit of getting rid of bad habits. And when they
continue to cling to us, we get disappointed, or angry with ourselves, or we allow ourselves
to feel beat-down, or we beat ourselves up over the bad choices we have made, or
continue to make.
At times we may even wonder WHERE GOD IS, because we’ve prayed and asked him a
hundred times to take some bad habit away, or cause us to stop thinking about things we
can’t stop thinking about. “God, I don’t want another ____________ (fill in your own blank).
Not ONE MORE TIME!”

And so we attempt to “ACT” good. And then that old habit, that old way of thinking, that
old attitude, that old addiction, that old ____________ (insert your own old whatever here),
comes BACK again, and we feel completely and utterly defeated. Here’s a great question
for all of us: “What we’re you thinking?” Here’s why we can’t seem to get over the hump:

2. You can’t beat (BAD) habits by acting (GOOD).

We can’t BEHAVE our way into pleasing God. There’s no power in it. Pleasing God isn’t
about behaving “good”, it’s about having FAITH. That’s where the power is, because God’s
will is for you and I to have FAITH. Paul writes:

Without faith it’s impossible to please God. (Hebrews 11:6)

You know better than anyone else WHAT your mind is FULL OF. And what your mind is full of is
exactly what you have allowed it to become filled with. That’s the “letting” that Paul is
talking about. Whether we INTEND it or not, our minds WILL be full. We WILL be MIND-FULL, so
we MUST be MINDFUL. When our minds are “full” of the Spirit of God, our bodies (flesh,
actions, habits) will follow.

See, here’s where we get hung up: As Christians, we want God to help us change the way
we act, but God’s not working in you to try to get you to act right, or act better, or be good,
or develop good habits.

Paul said, “God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases
Him”. God IS working in us, but not in the way we might think. What pleases God is
associated with the things of the Spirit of God.

In practical terms:

God will illuminate his Word to you when you study it.
He decided it, and He said He would.
God will hear and answer your prayers.
He decided it, and He said He would.
God will reward your faithfulness and generosity.
He decided it, and He said He would.
God will participate in your fellowship in the Body of Christ.
He decided it, and He said He would.

God will not sit in the bar with you and try to keep you from having another shot. You want
another shot? Have one. You decide.
God will not grab your pack of Marlboro’s and supernaturally throw them in the trash. You
want another smoke? Light up. You decide
God will not keep you from hitting on your best friends wife at the party. You want a fistfight
and divorce court? Go ahead. You decide

God will not remove the calories from banana splits? You want to buy two seats in coach,
and have a quadruple by-pass? Order up. You decide

BUT GOD WILL ALWAYS DO WHAT HE SAID HE WOULD DO!

And when you and I finally DECIDE to become MIND-FULL of the things of the Spirit, when we
allow our minds to become FULL of the Spirit of God (through time in God’s Word, through
Prayer, through Generosity, through Fellowship with like-minded believers…BY FAITH); when
we finally DECIDE to become SPIRITUALLY MIND-FULL, the things of the flesh, the concerns of
the body, the bad habits…just begin to fade away.

You cant beat bad habits with good behavior, but you can’t FILL YOUR MIND with the Spirit
of the Living God, and continue to be plagued, and ultimately destroyed by bad habits. The
two don’t go together. In fact Paul said it himself in Romans 8 7 For the mind that is set on
the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.

That is why we say that the MARK of a follower of Christ is a CHANGED LIFE. Because as a
follower of Christ begins to FILL HIS MIND with the Spirit of God, he also begins to CHANGE.

And as the follower of Christ continues to REINFORCE that wonderful decision to CHOOSE
LIFE by turning their lives and their will over to the care of a God who loves them, by filling
their minds with the Word of God, practicing Prayer and Generosity and Fellowship, and truly
LIVING BY FAITH… What God did on the INSIDE becomes evident on the OUTSIDE.

What are you thinking?

God says, “It’s your choice, but I would desire, above all things, that you choose LIFE”.

HEALTHY HABITS Week Two Questions

Use these discussion questions
in your small group

“Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses.
Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose
life, so that you and your descendants might live!” (Deuteronomy 30:19, NLT)
 1. We heard about choices on Sunday. According to the video we saw, we are the
ones who make up OUR OWN MINDS about what matters the most. In light of that
understanding, why do you think God has given us freedom to choose?
____________________________________________________________________________________
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Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new
person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is
good and pleasing and perfect. (Romans 12:2, NLT)

2. Paul was writing to people in 1st century Rome. But have things really changed that
much? Discuss some of the behaviors and customs of our modern culture that Paul
might be referring to. What are some of the behaviors and customs of this world that
you have chosen to copy?
____________________________________________________________________________________
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3. But Paul says there’s another choice for those who follow Christ; a choice to be
transformed. The word ‘transformed’ comes from a word that might be familiar to
you: ‘metamorphosis’. Metamorphosis means “a profound change from one stage to
the next in the life history of an organism”. Have you allowed God to transform you?
How has your life changed since you came to faith in Christ? Is that metamorphosis
evident to others?
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For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those
who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind
on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. (Romans 8:5-6, ESV)

4. On Sunday we learned that “MINDFULNESS is KEY” when teaching our brains the habit
patterns we desire. What is your mind “FULL” of? (Dangerous question, right?) What
does it mean to you to “be intentional” about how you fill your mind? Discuss some of
the things you already do, or that you can do, to “set your mind on the things of the
Spirit”.
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law;
indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:5-8, ESV)

5. Paul said in Philippians 2:12, “God is working in you, giving you the desire and the
power to do what pleases him”. Do you believe that God is working in you? Why or
why not? Do you believe that your life is pleasing to God? Why, or why not?
____________________________________________________________________________________
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Connecting Point A personal note from Pastor Gene

First off, thanks so much for joining me in the front of the sanctuary! It’s such a huge blessing
and it helps me so much to know that I am communicating to people and not dark empty
seats. Thank you, again!! I encourage you to be bold about your small group participation.
As others see its importance in your life, they’ll consider its value in their own.

We’ve been talking about the Healthy Habits of spending time in God’s Word, practicing
prayer, embracing generosity and engaging in fellowship. These are habits that fill our minds
with the Spirit. And they always result in positive change for our lives and those around us.
Can I very directly ask you these three questions:
 Have you made a commitment to read the Bible daily?
 Have you made a commitment to daily prayer?
 Have you made a commitment to live generously?

If you have made such a commitment, let me celebrate that with you! Because you are
working out your own salvation, and God is working in you giving you the desire and power
to do what pleases him! If you haven’t made that kind of commitment yet, let me ask you
just one more question: If it’s true that kind of commitment is directly related to having your
mind-FULL of the Spirit, and if it’s true that having your mind FULL of the Spirit leads to LIFE and
PEACE, then when would be the very best time to start doing them? How about today?

 May you honor the freedom God has granted to each of us to choose for ourselves,
by choosing to follow Christ!
 May you honor the desire and the power God supplies to those who choose to follow
Christ by applying it in your life with INTENTION and PURPOSE!
 May you, as a result of that choice, live a life that is PLEASING to God!

Gene