habits

Bad Habits or Impulses, Iniquities

Bad Habits
Jesus paid for Them at the Cross
How to overcome a Bad Habit... an Iniquity

Bad habits, or bad impulses, Iniquities:

The iniquities are the fabrics to make sins. For example, an alcoholic gets drunk many times. A homosexual will make many homosexual acts.

God forgives all or iniquities, 2Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: 3Who forgiveth all thine iniquities (Ps.103:3).

Bad habits, bad impulses, or evil desires, or iniquities, include all the works of the flesh mentioned by Paul: "Now the works of the flesh are plain: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." (Gal.5:19-21).

And, of course, these are only some of them... other lists: 1Cor.5:11, 6:9, Eph.4:25-32,.5:5-6, Col.3:5, 2Tim.3:1-5, Rev.21:8...

Here is the list of 2Tim.3:1-5:
"But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of stress. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, fierce, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding the form of religion but denying the power of it. Avoid such people..."

Let's be honest, you and I may be fighting bad habits, a dependence on alcohol or drugs, nicotine, caffeine or sweets for that matter. You and I may be trying to overcome bad habits, such as swearing, undesirable sexual activity, bad temper or gossiping... Pride, vanity, rancor, lies, stealing, anger, hate, avarice...

Habits develop without you noticing the consequences they are having on your life. Then when you finally see the results and decide to change, they have you in a trap. You want to quit, but you can't.

To say that these things have happened millions of times is probably no exaggeration.

Pride: It is the sin of Satan and of Adam and Eve: "you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Gen.3:5)... It is to have faith in ourselves instead of having faith in God... the "prostitution against God"... and, on top of it, the sin we usually don't confess! See Prostitution against God

Vanity: It is to want to be more than the neighbor, more pretty, stronger, healthier... it is the small daughter of Pride.

Rancor: It is the willing to have revenge on someone else, the grudge that creates a hell at home, at work... and specially creates a Hell in yourself!... the cause of many peptic ulcers, hypertension, asthma... and many go to the grave with that thorn in their heart!.
If we don't forgive others, we can't even pray the Our Father where we ask God to forgive us the way we forgive others (Mat.6:12-15).

Avarice: It is the willing to have more than others, more money, more power, more honor... the Bible says, "the love of money is the root of all evils" (1Tim.6:10).

Jesus paid for Them at the Cross:

"But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed" (Is.53:5)

At the Cross, Jesus paid both, for our sins (transgressions), and for the factories of sins: For our iniquities, bad habits, bad impulses... He did a full, complete job!... He made as whole!.

It is as if you want to get rid of all the beers in a city: You have to destroy all the bottles and cans of beer, but you also have to destroy all the factories to make beer, otherwise, next day you wold have the streets full of beer again.

The difference between the sin of alcohol or smoking and a spirit of nicotine or alcohol, is sin can be confessed but a spirit compels a person to continue in the act and sometimes against his will... and Jesus on the Cross paid for both, the sin and the spirit of sin, the bad habits.

How to overcome a Bad Habit, an Iniquity:

It follows the general rules of Divine Healing in the Bible for the Sick and the Model for Deliverance in the Bible

1- Do not get impatient, trust in the Lord... always trust in God, in Jesus (Ecc.38:8, Romans 8:37, Phil.4:13).

2- Pray to the Lord, and He shall heal you!... that's a great promise!... and the first prayer should be of thanks-giving, giving thanks for the bad habit!... because we have to give thanks to God for every thing and in all circumstances (Eph.5:20, 1Thes.5:16-18). (Ecc.38:8).
In the name of Jesus cast out the demon of the bad habit (Mk.16:17).

3- Call the elders of the Church, and let them pray over you, and anoint you with oil in the name of the Lord...and the prayer of faith will make you well, and will rise you up!... that's a big promise of Jam.5:15, alleluia!

    4- Make a good Confession of Sins: "Turn away from sin and order thy hands aright, and cleanse thy heart from all offence." (Ecc.38:10)... "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed." (Jam.5:16)...
    Confess all your sins, of that bad habit... 20 Times?... 20,000 times, always Jesus is waiting for you in the Confession (Matt.19:21-35).
    .. and most specially confess the sins of rancor, resentment, hatred, grudge... because if we don't forgive others, we can't even pray the Our Father where we ask God to forgive us the way we forgive others (Mat.6:12-15).

5- Offer the Holy Mass, "Give a sweet sacrifice, and a memorial of fine flour, and make a fat offering" (Ecc.38:11)... the omemorial we have in Christianity is the Holy Mass, to offer the Father the Lamb of God, Jesus crucified an risen, praise the Lord!.

6- Call the Physician... ask for help to a pastor, a friend... (in Ecc.38:11-15)... it is usually the first thing we do, but it should be the last!... and in the quotation of James it is not even mentioned!... by the time you go to the Priest you may be already healed of your bad habit!, praise the Lord!.

It is your own Flesh:

Most of the times the bad habit will be healed by God, but using the good care and compassion of a pastor, of relatives, friends, neighbors... and your willpower and devotion!... it is the flesh!, your flesh stimulated by the devil and the world... but it is your own flesh you have to conquer!.

No one can overcome a habit who doesn't really want to do so. You must seriously want to change before you will be motivated to take the steps to freedom.

Confess to God your sin, surrender your will to Him. Do what you can do and what you cannot do, let Him do it. Simple like that... If you mean business, He will do what is needed!!!.

Gad have changed sinners into saints over and over: St. Paul, St. Peter, St.Augustine, St.Mary Magdalene... the Power that did it is no mindless machine, however. There is no guarantee that your experience will be identical to any mentioned here. God is too exciting for that sort of dull predictability. But there is a guarantee that God will work powerfully in your life, if you let him.

John 4:4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.

Romans 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more that conquerors through Him that loved us.

1Corinthians 15:57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Stop the habit immediately. Completely stopping the negative behavior immediately is by far the most effective method of breaking the habit. Make a firm commitment and destroy anything(as much as allowable) what is related to the habit.

It is God, like in Egypt, he will make the miracles of the 10 plagues and the opening the Red See, but it is you who have to walk through the open See!... Model for Deliverance in the Bible

Run the "race", that you may win. 1 Cor. 9:24
               With God All things are possible. Matt. 19:26
               We are more than conquerors through Him, who loved us. Romans 8:37
                I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. Phil.4: 13

We may be limited, but He can and will do the IMPOSSIBLE, if we surrender our ALL to Him. Selling out to Jesus Christ, is the ONLY way !

God does not need our abilities or qualifications to do things, He needs our surrendered will. He is quite capable of working everything out in our lives, if we allow Him to. Thank you Jesus !

Don't make excuses. Habits actually program you to resist change. Once a habit is ingrained, it can become invisible to the conscious mind and you try to ignore it. Or you try to make excuses. Refuse to think, I can't change, or nobody is perfect. Thoughts like that will only strengthen the chains the habit has on you.

    Be encouraged:
    Neither be disturbed by what you see around you, nor by your own thoughts. Don't look at your own limitations, abilities, disabilities, or qualifications. The Lord desires your surrendered will. Give Him ALL your burdens, great and small. Give Him the opportunity to create something beautiful out of your frustrations, your disappointments, your grief, your troubles. Allow Him to heal, to restore, to deliver, to raise you up. Let Him change your weakness into strength. Become a VICTOR in the power of the Holy Spirit.
    ... Grab the VICTORY in Jesus Christ... JESUS is standing with outstretched hands, ready to rescue you.
    ... Stand up straight . You can look people in the eyes again.

God is not asking us to do something we cannot do; neither does He ask us to depend on our own abilities. He has equipped us to be OVERCOMERS through Jesus Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit. He will enable YOU to overcome, IF YOU BELIEVE!

Don't be deceived by your own understanding or by the whispering of the devil that tries to give you reason as to why you cannot get rid of bad habits, bad temper or unclean thoughts. The only thing that is holding you back from experiencing Victory is your unbelief and your own stubborn will. You must search your heart and decide whether you really want to be free from these things that oppress you! It is up to YOU! Are you walking in His ways?

"Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions.
: Do not yield your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but yield yourselves to God as men who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments of righteousness.
: For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace." (Romans 6: 12-14).