Morning Devotional
October  26, 2005
"Clutter" (Part 3)     
    by Don Emmitte

"When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest but finding none. Then it says, `I will return to the person I came from.' So it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and clean. Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before. That will be the experience of this evil generation." (Matthew 12:43-45 NLT).

 

I hope you have been following this little series in uncluttering our lives. If not, go to my web site and read the first two in this series from 10/24/05 and 10/25/05 (www.GraceRestoration.org). Today I want to go a little deeper into the spiritual dynamics often at work in cleaning out the old patterns of our lives. So, here are some very specific things to think about:

 

1.      First, decide on what you want your new habit to be. It is important that you be as specific as possible. Generalities are much more difficult to manage than specifics. A habit of drinking more water is problematic whereas a habit of drinking 6 glasses a day is easier to accomplish.

2.      Second, set up some “triggers.” You have to set up reminders to help you accomplish the action at the time you want to do it. There is some study that indicates we do many things in our lives automatically. To change that, it is necessary to consciously force ourselves to think differently. For example, when you see “coffee” try to say, “mug” instead of “cup.” You’ll see the difference immediately. By forcing yourself to say mug you are forcing the old habit to the surface of your consciousness. Triggering our conscious minds to action is vital.

3.      Third, enlist some help. Ask a friend to come by every day to do it with you. Promise yourself a reward for each action. Find someone you would not want to disappoint and make a promise to them. Do whatever it takes for the first two weeks of your new action to install it in your life.

 

I would like to suggest just a couple of key thoughts to take away. The only way to fail to accomplish your goal is to fail to initiate the first action. Start by cleaning out the old. That is done through the surrender of prayer. Develop your plan. Be specific in your target. Then start. Acknowledging successes count. Admonishing yourself for failures is useless. Never think you are bad, or weak. You have the power of the Creator of the universe within you. Nothing is impossible with the Lord. Remember that behavior is based on habit. You are following well-ingrained patterns that have developed over time. However, you have options about your approaches and can choose useful ones over useless ones. I am confident that you can change and I look forward to hearing your stories. Write me and let me know how you’re doing. I would be happy to individually respond to your questions and encourage you on your path.