OF GOOD CHARACTER 5

NOISEMAKERS

_____________________________________________

GALATIANS 5:19-23

The sources of our character

Flesh – Spirit

_____________________________________________

RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD IS THE SOURCE OF OUR GOOD CHARACTER

I can walk out in my character the things He is promising.

Having a good character emboldens us to take up the authority God has given us.

_____________________________________________

REVELATION FROM GOD TRIGGERS OUR AUTHORITY

Hearing from God may be periodic or occasional, but our need to walk in our Godly authority is required constantly.

_____________________________________________

HEARING FROM GOD IS REVELATION

Living in God’s presence, in the dynamic of a relationship with Him, we are at the very epicenter of revelation, discernment, and promise.

_____________________________________________

RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD DISPELS THE FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN

God sent Jesus to reveal Himself to us

Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to help us discern Him

The Holy Spirit points us to Jesus so we can be in a relationship with the Father so we can walk out His promises.

_____________________________________________

LACK OF RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD HEIGHTENS THE FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN

Eg. Death is the unknown

The unknown creates anxiety. But faith is the excitement we have to jump headfirst into the unknown because we have complete trust in the revealed promises of God AND the authority He has given us over this world. 

The promises of God are confirmed through our intimate relationship with Him. And the promises of God eliminates the fear of the unknown.

_____________________________________________

RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD MEANS LIFE

Life with no fear, with no end, and with no limits

That kind of life is a life that exacts a good character.

_____________________________________________

JOHN 17:3

Eternal life means to know and experience you as the only true God, and to know and experience Jesus Christ, as the Son whom you have sent…

_____________________________________________

RELATIONSHIP JESUS AND THE FATHER (LINKED)

Knowing Jesus = Having the mind of Jesus

eg. Speaking South African

Being in proximity to Jesus means we are in proximity to the Father. Our relationship, our good character, our faith to walk through the unknown all revolves around being in a relationship with Jesus.

_____________________________________________

THE QUESTION BY PHILIP

JOHN 14:9

Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you?

_____________________________________________

THE RESULTS?

The result of a relationship with Jesus

The results of relationship with the Father

Revelation, discernment, wisdom, good character, and faith to overcome the unknown.

NO TRAP OF FEAR

THE GUIDE IS PROMISED

JOHN 14:15-17

“Loving me empowers you to obey my commands. And I will ask the Father and he will give you another Savior, the Holy Spirit of Truth, who will be to you a friend just like me—and he will never leave you. The world won’t receive him because they can’t see him or know him. But you know him intimately because he remains with you and will live inside you.

_____________________________________________

THE GUIDE (MORE)

The Holy Spirit points us to Jesus who in turn brings us into a relationship with the Father.

Relationship with God is not possible without the wonder of Christ and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit…

The very essence of our good character is the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

The wider your conscience is open to revelation from God, the louder the voice of the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

_____________________________________________

KNOW THE THREE

If you don’t know the Father, you will never know yourself!

The very

OF GOOD CHARACTER 4

THE ARENA OF PEACE

GALATIANS 5:19-23

The fruit of our character

A good character is not judged by how good it is but by how much it honors God.

Flesh: World focussed values and selfishness

(Gal. 5:19-21)

Spirit: Jesus focussed conscience 

(Gal 5:22-23)

Against these qualities there is no law

Freedom from bondage and strongholds

(Gal. 5:23b)

Another word for strongholds is habit

Our life is the sum total of all the small decisions, responses and habits that we take, make or have.

Habitual responses, thoughts, or behavior.

Are you bound to a way of thinking?

Are you held by excuses or unexplained responses?

Are you imprisoned by bad habits, addictions or thoughts?

To change our character we need to change its source.

CHANGE THE WAY YOU THINK

ROMANS 12:2

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.

SYSTEMATIC CHANGE

We need to make this change a priority, noting daily, incremental progress to having a character that honors God.

We don’t have time to quibble, make excuses, create comfortable theologies to accommodate our lack of good character, blame others, or justify our current status because we are simply too lazy to work out how to change our thinking.

THE URGENCY TO CHANGE MINDS, CHARACTER AND SOURCE

1 PETER 5:8-11

Be well balanced and always alert, because your enemy, the devil, roams around incessantly, like a roaring lion looking for its prey to devour. Take a decisive stand against him and resist his every attack with strong, vigorous faith. For you know that your believing brothers and sisters around the world are experiencing the same kinds of troubles you endure. And then, after your brief suffering, the God of all loving grace, who has called you to share in his eternal glory in Christ, will personally and powerfully restore you and make you stronger than ever. Yes, he will set you firmly in place and build you up. And he has all the power needed to do this —forever! Amen.

WE NEED TO DO THIS WITH ROMANS 12 DILIGENCE AND CONSISTENCY

Successful people do consistently what other people do occasionally.

The Johari Window provides us a system of self-observation that removes fear, the unknown and shame-based thinking and helps us step into the arena of peace.

The devil roars in some of these quadrants, but we have the vigilance and the diligence to push back.

THE JOB AT HAND

JAMES 1:21

So this is why we abandon everything morally impure and all forms of wicked conduct.  Instead, with a sensitive spirit we absorb God’s Word, which has been implanted within our nature, for the Word of Life has power to continually deliver us.

What delivers us? – The Word of Life

What delivers us? Jesus and our faith in Him

To be delivered from the fear, shame, and the unknown that keeps us in a constant state of anxiety, we have to diligently be increasing our arena of peace.

We need to readily seek the balance from the Holy Spirit, resist the temptations of our fallen flesh, receive restorations and deliverance by Christ, settle in the strength of our true identity and start walking out the power that comes from being free of laws that we create that hold us back from having peace.

THE LAWS WE CREATE

We create laws, theologies, and ideologies that seem appropriate and good but that are not always beneficial

(1 Corinthians 10:23)

The laws of shame and guilt.

The laws of justification.

The laws of blame.

The laws of excuses.

The laws of complaint.

BREAKING THE LAWS THAT HOLD US BACK

We can’t submit to the law of joy while we submit to the law of complaining

Peace -> Shame

Temperance -> Temper

GALATIANS 5:23B

Never set the law above these qualities, for they are meant to be limitless.

A limitless stat

Rarely end up at the wrong place because of one bad choice.

Didn’t get a bad spot all at once—One step—One bad habit.

WHO do you want to become?

Based on who you want to become, what habit do you need to break?

21So get rid of every filthy habit and all wicked conduct. Submit to God and accept the word that he plants in your hearts, which is able to save you. James 1:21 GN

Good habits: Usually starts more difficult—Payoff usually future.

Bad habits opposite: Immediate perceived benefit, Neg results later.

Acknowledge it—Can not defeat what you cannot define.

Attitude: Critical spirit, Complaining heart, Gossiping tongue 

MAKE IT DIFFICULT TO DO. 

Habit loop—Trigger, Action, Reward.

Remove the Trigger—and—Interrupt the Action.

Watch for the 5 Major Triggers:

Place 

Time

Mood

Moment 

People

WHO I want to become—Start habit—Break a habit.

Never underestimate how God can start something special…

10 Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin. Zech 4:10

The average number of steps an athlete will take when running a marathon is 39, 732. Maybe you are like me and it would more likely be closer to 54,182 steps because that’s the average number of walking steps it takes to walk a marathon. And I would definitely have to walk more than I ran!

Every step, from step number 1 to the step across the finish line, has a purpose. Its purpose is to set you up, to propel you forward to the next step. A step is not really a step if it’s not helping to plant your other foot down to make your next step happen. There is harmony, a rhythm, that begins to form as an athlete gets into the momentum needed to run a race well. As each step is measured and planted, setting up the next, gaining momentum, the athlete gets into a zone where all else fades away and the steps they take, become their sole focus.

Each step is needed to create the moments that make up your momentum. The origin of the word moment was used to describe a “movement of time”. Each intentional step we take is a moment that will create movement or momentum in our lives.

There is an intentionality about momentum and growth that has to happen as we run life’s race. We just can not afford to linger so long on step number 1, 245 that we never really get to step number 1, 246, never mind the step that helps us cross the finish line. I know that our past hurts and shame are often spoken of as some of the reasons why we don’t get moving and get into a rhythm of momentum. Shame, hurt, guilt and condemnation all keep us trapped in a moment that makes movement or momentum seem impossible. But just for a moment, I wanted to consider another reason why some of us never really run our race well – selfishness!

I spoke recently and addressed the concept that our past successes and hurts are the very moments in our lives that qualify us all to have a strong passion and to be able to help others have better moments or steps in their lives. We are after all not running this race on our own right? If we suddenly stop in a marathon, runners behind us are affected, sometimes disastrously. But if we can allow good momentum to carry us through the difficult, tough steps, AND keep us moving through the pride of having made successful ones, we show others how to run and lead well too. But if we get so wrapped up in ourselves and our steps, we often stop in a moment that hinders our growth. Don’t get stuck on a difficult step or continue reliving the good ones, for the sake of others’ growth and your own momentum in life – MOVE ON!

Here are 4 Move On Habits for you to think about:

Be deliberate about your thoughts and responses – Take 3 moments when you would have defaulted to complaining and choose to be cheerful. Your moment impacts others moments. It’s called living with purpose!Get rid of excused behaviour – Maybe just maybe your excuse does not justify the behavior. Find someone you trust and be vulnerable about the last time you were accused or confronted about a weakness and why you were able to justify your behavior. Its called being vulnerable!Figure out unexplained behavior. You don’t know why you did something or responded in a ceratin way? Start to think through some of the reasons or triggers to your thoughts or behaviors and ask yourself if that trigger moment is still valid for the moment that it happened in or was it something from your past that still governs your current momentum? It’s called being transparent!Create meaningful feedback loops. Thinking that you are always right creates an immediate imbalance in your character. Setup regular opportunities to discover ways you could have improved in your responses, decisions,  and habits. It’s time to stop with all the excuses!

In the hustle and bustle of life, we can often get caught up in life’s “whats” keeping us very busy. “What” I have to do, “what” I have to get, “what” I have to say… But when we compare the hustle to the life proposed to us in scripture, we leave much of the passion, fun, and excitement of life behind as we rush forward to get the “what” done!

Haggai recorded God’s answer to this. When God saw the hustle of the people getting caught up in their “what” lives He commanded them: “Consider your ways!” God wants us to concentrate on growing and developing our character. He wants us to expand in our personal relationship with Him, and in that arena, our “what” doesn’t quite cut it! He wants your “who”!

So consider your week. Not only reflect but also plan to get more “who” you are and “who” you want to become type stuff done! That’s where the excitement is. It’s fun to grow in our character and develop better responses, decision-making processes, and habits. It might not seem like it, but speak to people who have kicked bad habits, learned to appreciate their spouse in a new way, or become better parents and you will see a glint in their eyes that the business of “what” could never have put there.

OF GOOD CHARACTER 5

NOISEMAKERS

GALATIANS 5:19-23

The sources of our character

Flesh – Spirit

RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD IS THE SOURCE OF OUR GOOD CHARACTER

I can walk out in my character the things He is promising.

Having a good character emboldens us to take up the authority God has given us.

REVELATION FROM GOD TRIGGERS OUR AUTHORITY

Hearing from God may be periodic or occasional, but our need to walk in our Godly authority is required constantly.

HEARING FROM GOD IS REVELATION

Living in God’s presence, in the dynamic of a relationship with Him, we are at the very epicenter of revelation, discernment, and promise.

RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD DISPELS THE FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN

God sent Jesus to reveal Himself to us

Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to help us discern Him

The Holy Spirit points us to Jesus so we can be in a relationship with the Father so we can walk out His promises.

LACK OF RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD HEIGHTENS THE FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN

Eg. Death is the unknown

The unknown creates anxiety. But faith is the excitement we have to jump headfirst into the unknown because we have complete trust in the revealed promises of God AND the authority He has given us over this world. 

The promises of God are confirmed through our intimate relationship with Him. And the promises of God eliminates the fear of the unknown.

RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD MEANS LIFE

Life with no fear, with no end, and with no limits

That kind of life is a life that exacts a good character.

JOHN 17:3

Eternal life means to know and experience you as the only true God, and to know and experience Jesus Christ, as the Son whom you have sent…

RELATIONSHIP JESUS AND THE FATHER (LINKED)

Knowing Jesus = Having the mind of Jesus

eg. Speaking South African

Being in proximity to Jesus means we are in proximity to the Father. Our relationship, our good character, our faith to walk through the unknown all revolves around being in a relationship with Jesus.

THE QUESTION BY PHILIP

JOHN 14:9

Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you?

The result of a relationship with Jesus

The results of relationship with the Father

Revelation, discernment, wisdom, good character, and faith to overcome the unknown.

NO TRAP OF FEAR

THE GUIDE IS PROMISED

JOHN 14:15-17

“Loving me empowers you to obey my commands. And I will ask the Father and he will give you another Savior, the Holy Spirit of Truth, who will be to you a friend just like me—and he will never leave you. The world won’t receive him because they can’t see him or know him. But you know him intimately because he remains with you and will live inside you.

The Holy Spirit points us to Jesus who in turn brings us into a relationship with the Father.

Relationship with God is not possible without the wonder of Christ and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit…

The very essence of our good character is the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

The wider your conscience is open to revelation from God, the louder the voice of the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

KNOW THE THREE

If you don’t know the Father, you will never know yourself!

The very best characteristics of our identity are amplified through the Holy Spirit.

The relationship with the Father calls out the characteristics of Himself that He has already placed on the inside of you.

THE PROCESS OF REVELATION

The Holy Spirit is guiding you to Galatians 5:22-23

We begin to walk out the fruit of the Spirit we start to have the mind of Christ. As we start to think like Jesus thinks we get into the very presence of the Father.

Through revelation given to us of Jesus by the Holy Spirit, we walk in authority to claim the promises of the Father.

GETTING RID OF THE NOISE

Letting go of bad habits, responses, and decisions by staying focu

OF GOOD CHARACTER 4

THE ARENA OF PEACE

GALATIANS 5:19-23

The fruit of our character

A good character is not judged by how good it is but by how much it honors God.

Flesh: World focussed values and selfishness

(Gal. 5:19-21)

Spirit: Jesus focussed conscience 

(Gal 5:22-23)

Against these qualities, there is no law

Freedom from bondage and strongholds

(Gal. 5:23b)

Another word for strongholds is habit.

Our life is the sum total of all the small decisions, responses, and habits that we take, make or have.

Habitual responses, thoughts, or behavior.

Are you bound to a way of thinking?

Are you held by excuses or unexplained responses?

Are you imprisoned by bad habits, addictions or thoughts?

To change our character we need to change its source.

CHANGE THE WAY YOU THINK

ROMANS 12:2

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.

SYSTEMATIC CHANGE

We need to make this change a priority, noting daily, incremental progress to having a character that honors God.

We don’t have time to quibble, make excuses, create comfortable theologies to accommodate our lack of good character, blame others, or justify our current status because we are simply too lazy to work out how to change our thinking.

THE URGENCY TO CHANGE MINDS, CHARACTER AND SOURCE

1 PETER 5:8-11

Be well balanced and always alert, because your enemy, the devil, roams around incessantly, like a roaring lion looking for its prey to devour. Take a decisive stand against him and resist his every attack with strong, vigorous faith. For you know that your believing brothers and sisters around the world are experiencing the same kinds of troubles you endure. And then, after your brief suffering, the God of all loving grace, who has called you to share in his eternal glory in Christ, will personally and powerfully restore you and make you stronger than ever. Yes, he will set you firmly in place and build you up. And he has all the power needed to do this —forever! Amen.

WE NEED TO DO THIS WITH ROMANS 12 DILIGENCE AND CONSISTENCY

Successful people do consistently what other people do occasionally.

The Johari Window provides us a system of self-observation that removes fear, the unknown and shame-based thinking and helps us step into the arena of peace.

The devil roars in some of these quadrants, but we have the vigilance and the diligence to push back.

THE JOB AT HAND

JAMES 1:21

So this is why we abandon everything morally impure and all forms of wicked conduct.  Instead, with a sensitive spirit we absorb God’s Word, which has been implanted within our nature, for the Word of Life has power to continually deliver us.

What delivers us? – The Word of Life

What delivers us? Jesus and our faith in Him

To be delivered from the fear, shame, and the unknown that keeps us in a constant state of anxiety, we have to diligently be increasing our arena of peace.

We need to readily seek the balance from the Holy Spirit, resist the temptations of our fallen flesh, receive restorations and deliverance by Christ, settle in the strength of our true identity and start walking out the power that comes from being free of laws that we create that hold us back from having peace.

THE LAWS WE CREATE

We create laws, theologies, and ideologies that seem appropriate and good but that are not always beneficial

(1 Corinthians 10:23)

The laws of shame and guilt.

The laws of justification.

The laws of blame.

The laws of excuses.

The laws of the complaint.

BREAKING THE LAWS THAT HOLD US BACK

We can’t submit to the law of joy while we submit to the law of complaining

Peace -> Shame

Temperance -> Temper

GALATIANS 5:23B

Never set the law above these qualities, for they are meant to be limitless.

A limitle