Healthy Habits

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”

“Worship is our response, both personal and corporate, to God for who He is, and what He has done; expressed in and by the things we say and the way we live.”

Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, “How have we robbed you?” In your tithes and contributions.

“Devotion to Christ is where the human heart is most satisfied.”

Communicating With God

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.

…do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

When you pray, remember what PRAYER really is:

Being Real with Other Christians

As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

“You’re as sick as your secrets!” Ask yourself: who in my life can hold me accountable? In what areas of my life do I need accountability?

When we refuse to forgive someone, it’s like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

…Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

Forgiving someone doesn’t necessarily mean we will want to spend our vacation with them, but it does mean that we release the bitterness in our hearts concerning what they have done.

“A refusal to forgive means that God stands back and lets you cope with your problems in your own strength.”

Ask God: “Who do I need to forgive?” Ask God to give you strength and courage to release them.

Telling Others About Jesus

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

…Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

The Way to Get Is to Give

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written: “They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever.” Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

The tithe is returning to God what is already His. Giving offerings displays our generosity and commitment to advancing God’s Kingdom.

Is your attitude focused on giving or on getting?

Do you have Financial Peace?

What are you sowing?

Being a Witness by Showing Others the Love of Jesus

Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me… Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.

…learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Serve the needy at your local church.