Posts Tagged ‘Discipline’

30
May

Bible Devotions From Philippians 3:8-16

Posted by: admin    in Philippians

What fills your mind is what fills your heart. If you make room in your thoughts to dwell upon that which is contrary to the Spirit, My Spirit, then I assure you that you can know that those are the things that are dear to your heart. You see here how that my servant Paul describes how his own heart was transformed so that the things that he once prized as very valuable he came to count as rubbish. They were accounted such by him because he came to see the supreme value of what had been given to him in My Son. Realizing this, he was able to declare that he could count the loss of all those things that he once prized as no real loss when compared with what he recognized as his gain in Christ. But this he saw was not something that he had already attained, but a great and wonderful goal, which he termed “the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus”.

And he declared that it was not something already achieved, but that towards which he reached to possess it. And in order to do this, he saw that he had to let go of things, which would be in the way of pursing that great goal. And he declares that it was indeed a state of mind, an attitude, a stance of life, that he took in the face of all that might compete and seek to hinder him in reaching towards that goal of the prize of My upward call in My Son. And because this involved that state of mind, he declares that there are disciplines of the thought life that are necessary to follow if one is truly to maintain that same state of mind.

And so recognize without qualification, without equivocation, that what you put within your mind is going to determine what you store in your heart.

If the things that you store there are, as My servant Paul admonishes, things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous and praiseworthy, then you will indeed be able to pursue this great goal.

But if they are things contrary to these good things that are mentioned here, be certain that you shall in no wise value what My servant Paul valued. And you shall in no wise be enabled to press towards that goal of the prize of My upward call in My Son. And therefore be assured that you will soon find that you are not reaching for this goal. And not only will you stumble yourselves if you pursue such a path, and not only will you prove to be the double minded person who is unstable in all his ways, but you will surely never be able to say to others, as My servant Paul declared, “The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in Me, these do, and the God of peace of will be with you”. No, instead of being such an example, if you turn away from the heart and the disciplines that are enjoined here, you can be sure that you will be more a cause for stumbling others than you will be an example for them to follow. And you can also be assured that if you pursue that way, that My peace will never be with you. Therefore it is a very serious call that I am placing before you this day, one that you cannot take lightly, for you see how much of your own blessing and the blessing of others and the glory of the fulfillment of My high calling to you depends upon it.

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22
Dec

Bible Devotions From Galatians 5

Posted by: admin    in Galatians

I have spoken to you now from this portion about what is involved in the yoke of bondage and also about what is involved in the liberty of the Spirit. My servant Paul declares here from the outset that you are to stand fast in that liberty which is in My Son. Consider those decisions and the discipline which he declares here as the way by which you stand fast in that liberty. The first is that through My Spirit you eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness, which is by faith. This means that you look beyond your present circumstances, and even beyond all that might pertain to what happens in your earthly life, to that which will complete and perfect righteousness in the earth. It is not something for which you wait merely with endurance, but with eagerness, with delight, with great expectation. You do not wait on the basis of something that you can perceive with your imagination, for it declares in another place that it has not entered into the heart of man to grasp those things which I have prepared for those who love Me. But it declares that My Spirit reveals them to you. And it is by My Spirit, by the act of faith, that you can wait for them eagerly in hope. And what does this faith accomplish while you are waiting? How does it operate? Here My servant declares it does not operate because of any special status or privilege that you gain through the outward sign of circumcision, nor is it denied one who may lack circumcision. Since it is imparted through faith, that faith works through love and that love expresses itself towards your neighbor. It manifests itself in serving, in caring, in laying the life down for one another, in resisting making your liberty in My Son an opportunity for giving in to the flesh. And My servant goes on to declare that the one who lives by the Spirit has a walk which is expressed by putting to death the works of the flesh, and by manifesting the fruit of the Spirit. Here then are those choices, those decisions, and those disciplines, by which you can stand fast in the liberty of My Son, and remain free from the yoke of bondage.

If you indeed have the Spirit, and you choose to live and walk in the Spirit, these you will choose and do.

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28
Nov

Bible Devotions From James 3

Posted by: admin    in James

In calling you to discipline as I have been, I have pointed out that discipline is not merely the exercise of outward conduct, but also, and very importantly, the exercise of the heart, the inner man who makes choices with the motivation to please Me or else with the motivation of pleasing self. In this portion My servant James is dealing with primarily those outward expressions of discipline, except when he speaks about that wisdom which is from above and that which is from beneath. But understand this, that his theme throughout this letter is the manifestation of faith through works, that which is seen outwardly. But you must also understand that without that inner work there is no genuine manifestation of that which is truly based on faith. He warns first of all that the office and function of a teacher should not be prized for the wrong motives, because such will be more severely judged. You know that there are many who attract with their eloquence, with their seeming cleverness, with what seems to be My anointing. But I who see the heart know that their motivation is truly what My servant describes as selfish ambition.

Therefore anyone who prizes such a ministry out of such motivation is warned, for he shall indeed be severely judged. Therefore the discipline that lies behind this admonition is the searching of the heart. But the discipline of the tongue is one that is not confined to one function or one office, but is that which is commended for all. And you are warned that this is a discipline that is exceedingly difficult. But again, did not My son declare that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. So is it not the condition of your heart that determines how you use your tongue?

And therefore the description of the different kinds of wisdom is both pertinent to the inner discipline, the discipline of the heart, as well as the outer discipline. For your conduct will truly be determined by the attitude of your heart. And here you see that My servant characterizes that which is from the earth as sensual, self-interested and devilish.

That which serves the self ultimately serves the devil and can in no wise glorify Me. But the wisdom which is from above is characterized by the very opposite of that which is from beneath, and both what is desired in the heart and what is manifested in the conduct demonstrates that it is truly from above. Why do you think that My servant stressed these distinctions? Is it not because, first of all, you have both the obligation and the opportunity to choose that which you will prize in your own hearts? And secondly, you also have a standard by which you can discern what is in the hearts of others who may look good by worldly reckoning, but whose heart motives are betrayed as something from beneath and not from above. If you will be diligent to embrace the disciplines of the heart, you will find that you will also manifest the outward disciplines that demonstrate that your source of wisdom, your judgments, your motivations are from above and you will also find it easier to discern what is the true motivation in the hearts of others.

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