Sunday, May 20, 2018

Morning Devotions with Chaplain Kenny - QUESTION: Can I Change Bad Learned Behavior?


Can I Change Bad Learned Behavior?

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
~ 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)

Have you ever looked at your life and felt that you always would be a victim of your circumstances? Maybe your parents neglected or abandoned you. Maybe there is a family history of alcohol and drug abuse.

You may feel as though your course is fixed, that you don’t have a say-so, and that it’s just the way it goes. But that isn’t true. God can intervene. I know from experience.

I didn’t have a father growing up; he just wasn’t there. I was left to myself a lot. My mother was an alcoholic, and I could have gone that direction. I could have followed that course. But God took hold of me, and the cycle was broken. He can do that for anyone. I am just an ordinary person who took God at His word.

Maybe you are trapped in some lifestyle, some pattern of sin, or some addiction. God can break that cycle. The question is whether you want Him to break it.

The Bible tells the story of a man who had been paralyzed for a long time. Jesus said to him, “Do you want to get well?” (John 5:6). We may wonder what kind of question that is to ask someone who can’t even move. It’s a very good question, actually.

Not everyone who is addicted wants to be delivered. Not everyone who is living a certain lifestyle wants to get out of that lifestyle. The question is do you really want to change? Do you really want to be free? Jesus can do that for you.

Even today God can make your life new. Maybe you have made some mistakes in life and have done things you regret. Maybe you are trapped in a cycle of sin right now that you don’t feel you can ever break free from. Here is the promise of God to you: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

What old things have passed away? Your old sins. God not only forgives them, but He also forgets them. He promises in Psalm 103:12 that “as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”

You change when you truly follow Jesus. Old values, ideas, plans, loves, desires, and beliefs vanish, and they are replaced by new things. You have a new desire to know God and learn more about Him and a new desire to be led by the Holy Spirit and be used by God. You have a new desire to bring glory to God, and a new desire to one day see God in Heaven.
Father, without you we can do nothing. By your Spirit, help us to know what is right and to be eager in doing your will. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
In Jesus,
Chaplain Kenny


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Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Have you ever looked at your life and felt that you always would be a victim of your circumstances?

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