Dr. Charles Stanley - The Seven Habits of a Godly Life

You're having a good time, you're out drinking with the boys, now it's time to pay the

tab.

Well, there are court costs, attorney fees, higher insurance costs, damage to your car,

do you why fines?

Not to mention the damage to your social life, plan a sober ride or pay the price, drinking

and driving costs more than your drinks.

It could cost a life.

You're having a good time, you're out drinking with the boys, now it's time to pay the

tab.

Well, there are court costs, attorney fees, higher insurance costs, damage to your car,

do you why fines?

Not to mention the damage to your social life, plan a sober ride or pay the price, drinking

and driving costs more than your drinks.

It could cost a life.

Learn more at What'sTheDamage.org, brought to you by Virginia DMV.

Well, the title of this message is the seven habits of a godly life.

You should get everyone of them down.

Ask yourself the question, are you a godly person?

So first of all, I want to define a couple of things.

And first of all, I want to define what a habit is and a habit is a recurring, often unconscious

pattern of behavior that is acquired through frequent repetition.

That's what a habit is, something we do over and over and over again.

The second definition is simply this.

What is a godly life?

So what's godly?

It's a life no longer seeking satisfaction through a sinful lifestyle, but is now surrendered

to God and His will for your life.

What is a godly life, a life no longer seeking self-satisfaction through a sinful lifestyle,

but is now surrendered to God and His will for your life.

There were three we would call that a sanctified life, not perfect, doesn't mean you never

sin, but it means that your life is fully surrendered to Him.

So I want to give you seven habits that every single believer ought to make as a part of

their life.

And the first one is this.

The habit, first habit, is a life of prayer.

And you'll recall one of my favorite passages, very simple, in the Mark that first chapter

when the disciples, they never quite got a hold of this.

But the scripture says in chapter 1 of Mark, verse 35, in the early morning, while it was

still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was

praying there.

Salvation in His companions searched for Him.

They found Him and said to Him, everybody's looking for you.

And so that's sort of typical about the way people operate sometimes.

Jesus is doing the most important thing in life, and they don't quite get that.

And then again, for example, in the fourth chapter of Luke, and the fourth is second verse,

when they came, Jesus left and went to a secluded place, and the crowds were searching for Him,

and came to Him and tried to keep Him from going away from them.

And He said to them, I must preach the gospel in several of them now.

When we talk about a life of prayer, we're not talking about it once in a while.

We're talking about that every day you sense the need, the desire, and the joy, and the

awesome power that comes through praying, talking to the Father.

That is, it ought to be a habit, something that is recurring in your life, not just when

you get in trouble, when you get in need, but because you love God, because you're grateful

for who He is and what He's doing in your life.

And for example, on the eleventh chapter of Luke, the disciples came to Jesus and said,

now, would you teach us the prayer like John the Baptist teaches His disciples to pray?

And so they saw something absolutely different about Jesus praying.

It wasn't some ritual that people would usually go through in those days, but they could

sense that He was talking personally to the heaven and the Father.

So when I look at these verses and think about it, the truth is, you can't live a godly

life unless you have a prayer life, you're not, you can't.

You live in a world, we all live in a world of temptation and trials and heart aches and

burdens and sin, and everywhere you turn there is, you cannot live a godly life.

I didn't say a life without any sin, but a godly life, and we defined what that meant.

You can't live a godly life unless you have a good prayer life, because the prayer life

keeps you connected to Almighty God, sensitive to His will and His purpose and His plan for

your life.

You don't pray, you will live a godly life, and if you'll think about it, it's the most

important activity of your life.

I've been a Christian seventy-three years, and I got started off praying because my mother

here haven't a good time, you're out drinking with the boys, now it's time to pay the

tab.

Well, there are court costs, attorney fees, higher insurance costs, damage to your car,

do you why fines?

Not to mention the damage to your social life, plan a sober ride or pay the price.

Drinking and driving costs more than your drinks, it could cost a life.

One more at What'sTheDamage.org, brought to you by Virginia DMV.

Warning, the following Zippercruder radio spot you are about to hear is going to be filled

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You're having a good time.

You're out drinking with the boys.

Now it's time to pay the tab.

$11,352.47 weight what?

Well there are court costs, attorney fees, higher insurance costs, damage to your car,

do you why finds?

Not to mention the damage to your social life, plan a sober ride or pay the price.

Drinking and driving costs more than your drinks.

It could cost a life.

Learn more at what'sthedamage.org brought to you by Virginia DMV.

Talked me to pray and taught me how important it was and would remind me since my father

died when I was nine months of age, which I've told you.

It was she and myself and we didn't have much else, but the two of us.

She taught me to pray, to trust God, not to worry and fret, but just to trust them and

watch him work in our life.

So that's what I've been doing all these years.

And the second thing about her praying was that she wouldn't let me lie in the bed and pray.

She had me to get out on Mondays beside her and pray.

The greatest lesson my mother probably ever taught me.

And so when I think about how powerful that is in every single area of life, and I remember

later on, I was already finished college and I was in seminary the second year.

And I remember my place to pray was over in the corner of the living room because the only

head I was married then only had a living room, a kitchen in the bedroom, and so had to

fund me a place to pray.

Well, my mother had made me an African.

So that's where I stretched that over in the corner.

And I'll never forget one evening, I don't have an hour to exactly when I was praying.

And it's like God said to me, whatever you accomplish in life, you'll have to accomplish

on your knees.

You can't trust your education.

You can't trust your abilities and talents and skills.

Whatever you accomplish, you'll have to accomplish on your knees.

That was a great message to me as a young guy because what he was saying is this, whatever

I do in your life is going to be a result of what you are willing to do in the area of

submission to my will, giving me time and listening to me.

How grateful I am for that simple lesson.

And if you're going to live a godly life, you've got to have a life prayer.

Secondly, the second habit is trust or faith, whichever word suits you best.

And I love that hundred and third Psalm and the nineteenth verse.

And the Bible says the Lord has established His throne in the heavens and His sovereignty

rules overall.

So if you'll think about what that verse says, if God Almighty has established His throne

in the heavens and watches His sovereignty, that is His all-knowing supernatural divine

power, rules over everything, then what does that do?

That gives me an awesome foundation to believe Him.

Knowing that He's in charge, He doesn't make a difference.

What happens?

How it happens through whom it happens, for whatever reason, I know that God is in control

and I can trust Him for whatever He allows in life.

And I think that's why that verse is so important is because if you don't trust Him, if you

don't trust Him, you're not going to pray.

And you have to ask yourself the question, well, where is trust in your own spiritual

life?

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not to your own understanding and all your

ways, acknowledge Him and heal direct your path.

And I quote that verse to you very often because it is a basic verse.

Now, somebody says, well, what happens when we don't do that?

Well, I'll tell you exactly what happens and if you'll turn to the 37th Psalm, because

people who do not pray and trust the Lord as they should, here's what they do.

And this passage of Scripture warns us about it in the 37th Psalm in verse 1, three times

in these first nine verses, he says, what?

Do not fret because of evil doers.

And he says, do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who

carries out wicked schemes.

And he says, do not fret, it only leads to evil doing.

So have a choice.

I like to either trust him or I'm fret about things.

Now, let's be honest, how many of you fret about things?

Why should you do?

We all have fretting about things.

So remember this, a godly life is stepped beyond fretting to trusting.

In other words, you have a choice when you start fretting about something, if it's something,

wait a minute now, who's in charge?

The Bible says God is for His sovereignty rules over all, therefore, if He rules over all,

why am I fretting?

I'm fretting because for the moment I'm not believing, I'm not trusting, I'm not believing

that He can handle this situation.

So three times in that Psalm, He says, fret not, fret not, fret not.

And when you're not trusting Him, what happens?

It builds intimacy with Him.

And intimacy means that I have a relationship with Him.

I don't have to introduce myself to Him.

An intimate relationship with a person means that you are close, not only to their

heart, but their thinking, the way they think, the way they feel, an intimate relationship

is for every husband and wife ought to have all the days of their life.

Intimid relationship with God is you and He talked together.

He listens to you, you listen to Him.

You obey Him, He guides you as an awesome sense of intimacy in a life that trusts

God.

And if you want to know whether you're a trusting person or not, ask yourself this question.

What am I worried?

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F words.

When you're hiring, we at Zippercruder know you can feel frustrated, for Lauren even.

Like your efforts are futile.

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And right now, you can try Zippercruder for free at zippercruder.com slash zip.

With Zippercruder, you can forget your frustrations, because we find the right people for your

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In fact, 4 out of 5 employers who post on Zippercruder get a quality candidate within the first

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What about?

If you can't look around say I'm not worried about anything because you're trusting

him.

Whatever you're worried about is God's long, awesome thing of saying you're not trusting

me at this area of your life.

A godly life is a life of trust.

Third habit in this awesome life is the habit of meditation in the word of God.

Now I don't know how you describe how important this is, but the scriptures are there and

I want to look at it for just a moment.

And the Psalmist said in the 63rd chapter in the 6th verse, listen, when I remember

you on my bed, I meditate on you in the night watches.

For you've been my help and the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.

My soul clings to you.

Your right hand upholds me.

Now what does it mean to meditate?

It means that I read it.

It means that I think about it.

I search my heart in the light of what God is saying.

I ask him whatever questions I have on my mind.

I surrender whatever he brings to my mind.

And meditating upon him, here's what meditation does.

Meditation is like looking into a mirror, but it is also looking beyond the mirror.

That is, I see what God sees and then I see beyond that and I see Him.

Your focus is on Him.

And when you begin to focus on God, here's what happens.

Where is drift away, concerns drift away, your mind is no longer contaminated with all

kinds of things that do not do you any good at all.

And for example, in 119th Psalm and the 133rd verse, listen to what He says, establish my

footsteps in your Word.

Do not let any iniquity have the meaning of a meeting.

Then keeps us fresh and alert and sensitive to whatever God wants to do in our life.

So ask yourself the question, well, let's put it this way.

Do you have a time in your life when just you and the Lord are together by yourself?

And you have opened His Word and you are reading the Word and you're asking God to speak

to your heart.

And let me ask you this question, what do you think most people do last before they go

to bed?

What do they do?

And we're not talking about how you dress.

What do most people do right before they go to bed?

They turn, nothing.

Most people turn off the television.

Right before they go to bed.

Amen?

It's the truth.

They turn off the television.

So what do they do?

They carry to bed with them all the bad news, all the bad movies, all the things that

they go instead of with God, they feel their minds with what the world has to say.

Listen, if you meditate upon God's Word, you are not going to fret and worry.

Wake up in the middle of the night and churning over this and that and the other for the

simple reason your mind's full of the world's stuff.

Meditation is an absolutely essential part of living a godly life.

And where there's no meditation, you're not going to live a godly life.

You can't.

You can't think about it when you get up in the morning.

How much of the world crowds itself into your thinking?

You have to get dressed, of course, and you're breakfast and you've got to get in your

car and drop down the expressway or somewhere and finally get to work.

And as soon as you do, it's chatted, chatted, chatted, chatted, chatted all the day.

The keyboard's flying all the day and your mind is full.

Then you've got to get back in your car, get back on the highway and dodge the traffic

again all the way home.

When you get there, you dress inside a relax and then there's dinner, I can fill up

you a day and not even know you because that's what we do.

And so where is God, where is God's private time with you?

What leads to a godly life is the time of being alone with him, longing for him, meditating

upon him, thinking about him.

And as I say again, the last thing you should do before you go to bed is not watch television.

Listen to this.

Listen, you can listen to what these commentators say about the world, they don't agree.

You can listen to the voice of God and you got it right.

That's the choice you have.

You do not have to carry the world with you to sleep every night.

You carry God all mighty with you.

And then there's a thought of having a very important one and the one you hear me say

all the time, obey God.

And I want to go back to Deuteronomy, 27.

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Infliction is killing me, but who cares, big retailers and making record profits.

That's why we support the Durban Marshall credit card bill.

Unfortunately, banks and credit unions help small businesses make payroll.

This bill would cut the vital resources they need.

While increasing Megastore profits, they deserve it.

Don't they?

Ed Sheeran,

Or a Durban Marshall credit card bill.

See, banks and credit unions help small businesses make payroll.

This bill would cut the vital resources they need.

While increasing Megastore profits.

They deserve it. Don't they?

Tell Congress, stop the Durban Marshall money grab for corporate megastores

paid for by the Electronic Payments Coalition.

Warning, the following Zippercruder radio spot you are about to hear

is going to be filled with F words.

When you're hiring, we at Zippercruder know you can feel frustrated

for Lauren even, like your efforts are futile.

And you can spend a fortune trying to find fabulous people

only to get flooded with candidates who are just fine.

Fortunately, Zippercruder figured out how to fix all that.

And right now, you can try Zippercruder for free at zippercruder.com slash zip.

With Zippercruder, you can forget your frustrations

because we find the right people for your roles fast,

which is our absolute favorite F word.

In fact, four out of five employers who post on Zippercruder

get a quality candidate within the first day.

Fantastic.

So whether you need to hire four, 40 or 400 people,

get ready to meet first straight talent.

Just go to zippercruder.com slash zip

to try Zippercruder for free.

Don't forget that zippercruder.com slash zip.

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All the way back in the Old Testament

because he makes it so crystal clear.

And it's 27th chapter and 10th verse.

God speaking through Moses to his people,

here's what he said.

He said, you shall therefore obey the Lord your God

and do His commandments and His statutes

which I command you today.

And then down to chapter 28 verse 1.

Now what should be, listen to this.

If you diligently, you know what that means?

Consistently, diligently obey the Lord your God.

Being careful to do all His commandments

which I command you today,

the Lord your God will set you,

listen, set you high above all the nations are there.

He was talking about Israel,

but put yourself in that position.

When you and I obey God, we, listen,

we think about this.

We're walking on a higher level.

Think about how the world lives.

They live with all kinds of evil thoughts

and busy, busy, busy, no time for God.

You have chosen to follow Jesus.

And the follow Him means you live on a higher level.

It doesn't mean that you're looking down on other people.

It just means that you have chosen

to live by a standard that's higher than the world's standard.

It doesn't mean that we're better than somebody else,

but it means our lifestyle is better

than the lifestyle of the world.

And so I ask you something question.

Now, do I have a habit of really praying

and trusting and meditating upon the Word of God?

And would I be considered an obedient child of God?

So I'll ask you this question.

What in your life is the greatest threat

to your obedience to God?

Now stop right there.

What's the greatest threat in your life

to your obedience to God?

What is that temptation, that trial or whatever's going on

that just threatens your desire or your willingness

or you think you're compassionate to obey God?

And how many times have you said it

and you said as well as I can?

The wise way to live is to obey God

and leave all the consequences

and circumstances to God.

Now we'll do that only if I have a life of prayer.

Only if I'm trusting, only if I'm meditating upon Him

that's the only way I'm going to do it.

So these are simple habits

that make your life what God wants it to be.

And let's think about this.

There's nothing that can keep you from obeying

and walking in these seven habits, nothing,

except the choice you make.

You have to choose some things.

You have to choose to go with them or with God.

Have this or have God.

Walk this way or have God's way.

And so the reason I said seven habits

because remember we said the habit is a recurring,

often unconscious pattern of behavior

that's acquired through frequent repetition,

something that you and I do continuously.

Now each thing I've mentioned so far and you can do,

the reason you do not do it is

because you don't think it's important.

Now watch that.

The reason we don't do things that are absolutely sacred,

godly, awesome, life-changing, lifting habits

is because we've decided to choose the world's way.

And no matter who you are, how gifted you are,

how much money you have, how wise you think you are,

how much education you have, you cannot live a godly life.

The best life without practicing these seven habits.

Now, what is the fifth one?

The fifth habit is dependence upon the Holy Spirit.

And somebody says, well, what does that mean?

It means that I surrender my life,

listen to the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.

And I remember what Jesus said to his disciples.

He said, sit down, wait into Jerusalem

until you be in dude.

That is until the Holy Spirit comes into your life.

And when he does, then you'll be ready to do

of what I have called you to do.

So I've given you some scriptures here.

Some of them are familiar to you.

Maybe some of them are not.

But in Ephesians chapter five,

you remember what the scripture says

in this particular passage.

And let's look at verse 18.

The scripture says, do not get drunk with wine

for that is dissipation of waste.

But be filled with the Spirit.

Now, if I took a court-size jar and set it up here

and I had it half full of water,

you would say it was only half full.

It would only be full when it's up to the top brimming

complete.

When he says, that Greek verb says,

be being filled, which means it's a continuous thing.

And the morning when you get up and it's your prayer

before you meditate, before you even get out of the bed,

you should say, Lord, I just want you

to fill me with your Spirit today.

Now, here's what that means.

Jesus said to his disciples and Luke,

before you do what I called you to do,

wait in the city of Jerusalem until you

be endued until a Holy Spirit has come upon you

to end to nail you for the simple reason you are not equipped

to do what I've called you to do,

apart from the end-willing presence of the Holy Spirit

who will empower you.

He will empower you.

Access to affordable credit helps me pay my employees

that I don't really need it.

Infliction is killing me.

Who cares?

Big retailers and making record profits.

That's why we support the German Marshall credit card bill.

See?

Things in credit unions help small businesses make payroll.

This bill would cut the vital resources they need.

While increasing Megastore profits.

They deserve it.

Don't they?

Tell Congress, stop the German Marshall money grab

for corporate megastores paid for

by the Electronic Payments Coalition.

Finding great candidates to hire can be like, well,

trying to find a needle in a haystack.

Sure, you can post your job to some job board,

but then all you can do is hope the right person comes along,

which is why you should try Zip Recruiter for free.

At ziprecruiter.com slash zip.

Zip Recruiter doesn't depend on candidates finding you.

It finds them for you.

It's powerful technology identifies people

with the right experience and actively invites them

to apply to your job.

You get qualified candidates fast.

So while other companies might deliver a lot of,

hey, Zip Recruiter, find you what you're looking for.

The needle in the haystack.

See why four out of five employers who post a job

on Zip Recruiter get a quality candidate

within the first day.

Zip Recruiter, the smartest way to hire.

And right now, you can try Zip Recruiter for free.

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Warning, the following Zip Recruiter radio spot

you are about to hear is going to be filled with F words.

When you're hiring, we at Zip Recruiter

know you can feel frustrated.

For Lauren even, like your efforts are futile.

And you can spend a fortune trying to find fabulous people

only to get flooded with candidates who are just fine.

F***.

Fortunately, Zip Recruiter figured out how to fix all that.

And right now, you can try Zip Recruiter for free

at ziprecruiter.com slash zip.

With Zip Recruiter, you can forget your frustrations

because we find the right people for your roles fast,

which is our absolute favorite effort.

In fact, four out of five employers who post on Zip Recruiter

get a quality candidate within the first day.

Fantastic.

So whether you need to hire four, 40, or 400 people,

get ready to meet first rate talent.

Just go to ziprecruiter.com slash zip

to try Zip Recruiter for free.

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Power you, teach you how.

Give you guidance and direction to do what I've called you to do.

Now, most people don't have any idea who the Holy Spirit is.

You are, as a follower of Jesus, as a believer of Christ.

You've trusted him for your salvation.

You are now already in dwelt

by the third person of the Trinity who is the Holy Spirit.

He's dwelling within you.

Oh, why is he there?

Listen to what Jesus said to his disciples.

He said, sit down and Jerusalem until you're ready.

You're not ready.

You're not ready until the Holy Spirit comes upon you.

The truth is you and I are not ready each day of our life

to live our life apart from the indwelling presence

of the Holy Spirit.

That is the third person of the Trinity who listen,

who indwells each one of us.

And if you look at these verses, Ephesians,

look at Ephesians chapter one.

In him, you also, after listening to the message of truth,

the gospel of your salvation,

having also believed you were sealed in Christ in him

with the Holy Spirit of promise.

That is one of the works of the Holy Spirit is the seal.

That is, when you got saved, you were sealed.

The Holy Spirit sealed you as a child of God.

And the scripture also says that you are sealed,

the fourth chapter, that third verse.

You are sealed onto the day of redemption.

That is your seal to the day God calls you home forever.

So that, when you and I choose to disobey God,

we choose to sin against the Holy Spirit

who is within us and whom God sent into our life

to enable us to become, to be, to do,

to accomplish whatever he has in life.

So you're never alone.

You're enthralled by God, the Holy Spirit,

who is there to enable you, help you,

encourage you, strengthen you, heal you, you name it.

He's there because we need God in our life

and he knew we would.

And so what you have to ask is this,

are you depending on the Holy Spirit

to help you do what God wants you to do?

Are you, for example, the use sense

that you sort of live in your life

and it's the world against you or you again,

many people feel that way.

They feel like that, well, I'm a Christian,

but they name all these things that are tough in life.

You have God living within you,

ready to release in and through you,

that which you need at the moment

to have whatever God has in mind.

And listen, otherwise, how can you live within a peace?

Peace isn't something we conjure up.

Peace is the awesome gift of God.

So when you're not waking in the mornings,

our first thoughts ought to be about Him.

And this is why I said habits,

something that happens continually.

And amidst what we are thinking early in the morning,

we thank God that we have the Holy Spirit to guide us

and lead us and point us the right direction.

And put it this way,

you're in the midst of doing whatever you're doing,

you get a phone call or some interruption

and something and you have a decision to make.

First thing you should think is God,

God, me, show me what to do.

Help me to know your will in this situation.

You have the answerer, the Holy Spirit living within you

that gave you clear direction in your life

at any moment you need clear direction.

And also to empower you or to give you the courage

and the faith to do what you need to do.

God doesn't leave us alone to live it out.

He gives us whatever we need to do whatever He's call us

to do at any point in our life at any time, if we trust Him.

If you see, this is what I'm saying,

these are seven habits.

This becomes so much a part of your life,

you don't even have to think about it at all.

It's just the way you live, it's who you are.

These are the habits of your life.

Their life-changing habits, they are Godly habits

that enable you to live the kind of life

that you really and truly want to live.

And then of course, there is the Sixth one

and that's giving to God and to others.

And in the Sixth chapter of Luke,

which is a very, very familiar chapter,

you remember what he says, give and it should be given to you.

Good measure, he says, listen,

they will pour into your lap a good measure,

press down, shaking together, running over

for by your standard of measure,

it will be measured to you in return.

Well, I think about giving to God,

my favorite example of that is,

I was thinking about this last night,

my first Sunday school teacher was this,

naturally I was probably three or four years old,

somewhere there abouts,

because I started school at five,

which was two early, never ever called up.

And then, but I went to Sunday school every Sunday

and I remember all the chairs

with different colors, green, red, yellow, blue and so forth.

And then the Sunday school teacher was this,

I don't know how tall she was,

but she looked like she's about 10 feet tall to me,

because sitting down, she had black hair,

sweet, wonderful lady,

and they came around to take the offering.

And I remember my mother would always give me

a few pennies to drop in.

She would never let me go without having something to give.

So before I could count,

my mother told me to give to God.

So when I got my first job, which was a paper out,

I made four dollars a week.

Well, I was grateful to God.

I thought, I can't get God changed.

I gave him a dollar, which was 45 percent.

I never thought about that.

I just thought, well, what did God get?

Then after that, I had a paper out.

I made 16 dollars a week.

And so I gave God more than a title and that.

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And then all of my life I've never just signed, never.

For the simple reason I learned bearer than life,

you cannot out give God.

And watch this.

Secondly, you can't even predict what you're going to need.

And if you can't predict what you're going to need,

how you're going to manage all of it.

So we give to God and trust Him to do exactly what He promised to do.

And so I'll give you this simple example

that many of you have heard before, because it's one

that's so impressed my life.

I knew the Lord He called me to preach.

It's finished in high school.

I want to go to college.

No money.

I had $75 to my name.

And I told my friend one night standing on the street

coming up that I felt like God was calling me to preach.

No, I needed to go to school, but I didn't have any money.

And so we were standing there talking

and by the sovereign power of Almighty God.

The past of the church came walking by.

This is the evening.

We're standing on a street corner.

And those days we didn't have TV.

So you sort of met on a street corner and talked.

And so he said to my family, he said,

I'm just a moment.

He said Charles, he believes God's calling to preach.

He wants to go to school, but he didn't have any money.

He'd think you can help him.

So he said to me, he said, well, Joe, come by and see me.

And let's just talk.

When by the same in a couple of weeks,

sat down, told him my heart about what God was doing.

And in a few short weeks, I had a letter

giving me a four-year scholarship

with all my expenses paid to go to college.

Now, that began, that didn't begin

with my $4 in the paper route.

That began with when my mother taught me to give to God.

So I never questioned the matter given to God

when you obey God, and that becomes a habit of your life.

You will never be in need any further than God

is using that need to do something in your life.

So you have to ask yourself the question,

is that going to be one of the habits in your life?

And then it all says that God loves the cheerful giver.

So if he loves the cheerful giver, what about those who

are stingy who don't give God?

God, I'll tell you why God's not pleased,

but it's just what it says.

I can do without him.

I'll handle it.

I can manage.

I don't need God to manage my money.

Think about how foolish that is.

Your money could burn up overnight.

The situation can be that you'd lose it all overnight.

You have nothing.

But listen to this carefully.

You will never be in the situation

where you don't have anything.

Because you have God living within you,

and everything you need, God has promised to provide.

And the awesome habit in your life.

Then I would give you the seventh habit.

And that is very important one.

And that is the habit of forgiving other people.

And the scripture, one of the very clear scriptures

in Ephesians chapter four.

And we've all read it many times before,

but it's the truth, and we read it again and again and again.

And the scripture says, listen.

Be angry and yet do not sin.

Do not let the sun go down on your anger.

Do not give the devil an opportunity.

Very, very important passage.

And then he says, don't grieve in verse 30.

Don't grieve the Holy Spirit of God

by whom you were sealed at the day of redemption.

Then he says in verse 31, let all bitterness and wrath

and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you

along with all malice.

Be kind one to another.

Intend to harden forgiving each other.

Just as God in Christ has also forgiven you.

Is that always easy?

No.

It's difficult sometimes to be forgiving to people

who have done certain things to you.

And I think one of the worst situations

is when you've been betrayed.

When you have trusted, really trusted somebody,

done your best to help them in lots of ways.

And then they betray you.

They do what would be the last thing you think

that they were doing in your life.

And yet we have to be forgiving.

And think about Judas of all the people who ever lived

who had a great opportunity who blew it.

He was a traitor to the Son of God.

He betrayed him.

He lived as if he were one of them.

He lived as if he were a true genuine disciple.

And he betrayed the Son of God.

Betrayals are still out there.

And yet we have to be willing to forgive and to try.

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You get qualified candidates fast.

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First of all, to take care of that,

no matter what happens.

So if I love the Lord, I will forgive no matter what.

Now, here are seven habits.

Listen carefully.

I could have done this in a lot of different ways,

but I wanted you to see every verse.

And they get all seven habits down

so that every single person in here fully understands

the seven habits by which you live a godly life,

a life that will be blessed over and over and over again

in many, many different ways.

But it's a choice you make.

And I would suggest that you make a choice right now.

We're gonna pray in a second.

And in this prayer, I'm gonna pray

that you'll be wise enough and say to God,

Lord, I want these seven habits in my life.

And I will begin today working them into my life.

It's a working process into your life.

Would you live up to all of them every day?

No.

But here's what you do.

You ask God to forgive you.

Show me why I tripped up on that one Lord.

And I just reaffirmed my desire to be forgiving to others

or whatever it might be.

A Lord, I was too busy.

This morning I got up and ran off,

forgive me for not stopping to meditate upon your word,

to surrender my life to you,

yield myself to you and make a mistake.

God, I don't wanna do that again.

You don't think God will correct you?

Yes, He will.

He will correct you.

He'll give you enough trouble one morning

after you get up and ignore Him

that you won't forget it.

Listen, you know what?

It's because He loves us.

Think about that there's a whole Bible full of truth.

But I believe those seven habits

absolutely will transform your life

and lead you to be able to accomplish in life

more than your heart could ever desire.

Now if you hear this morning and you're not a Christian,

you're not saved.

You never trust that Jesus is your savior.

I understand this is probably a little bit beyond you.

But let me say this,

you'll never understand or be able to enjoy life at its best

until you surrender your life to Christ.

Because you can't ever lose surrender into Jesus, never.

You say, what I have to do,

you ask the Lord to forgive you of your sin?

Not because you deserve it,

but because Jesus went to the cross.

That on the cross shed His blood for you.

Page your sin dead into all the Bible says,

and therefore when you ask God to forgive you

because of what He has done for you,

He paid your debt.

God forgives you and makes your child of God.

Then you begin the practice of these seven habits.

What an awesome life you have before you.

And I trust that you'll do it.

Father, we love you in praise you.

And thank you for the word of God from Genesis,

one, one, to the last verse of the revelation.

And this morning we're praying

that you'll give us wisdom to recognize

that with these seven habits,

everything else will fall in place.

That we will open a door to the best of your blessings.

And I pray for somebody here today who is unsaved,

who've never trusted you as their savior,

that they would be willing to ask you

to forgive them of their sins.

Believe that Jesus went to the cross

and paid our sin dead in full.

And by trusting His death at Calvary,

the shedding of His blood,

that confession and repentance brings

forth salvation.

And following salvation,

we would develop these seven awesome life

transform and habits in our life.

And Lord, I pray that for all of us today,

and that somebody seated here who's not saved

would be willing to ask you to forgive them

and to cleanse their heart

and surrender their life to you right now.

And we thank you for it in Jesus' name, Amen.

Access to affordable credit helps me pay my employees

that I don't really need it.

Infliction is killing me.

Who cares?

Big retailers and making record profits.

That's why we support the Durban Marshall credit card bill.

See, banks and credit unions help small businesses

make payroll.

This bill would cut the vital resources they need.

While increasing Megastore profits, they deserve it.

Don't they?

Tell Congress, stop the Durban Marshall money grab

for corporate megastores paid for

by the Electronic Payments Coalition.

Access to affordable credit helps me pay my employees

that I don't really need it.

Infliction is killing me.

Who cares?

Big retailers and making record profits.

That's why we support the Durban Marshall credit card bill.

See, banks and credit unions help small businesses make payroll.

This bill would cut the vital resources they need.

While increasing Megastore profits, they deserve it.

Don't they?

Tell Congress, stop the Durban Marshall money grab

for corporate megastores paid for

by the Electronic Payments Coalition.