The
Three Daily Disciplines.
As
a Christian, discipline is a must for smooth sailing in this present time. Now
I fully understand that we are saved by grace and not by our works. This is completely
true but the Bible also said in 1st Timothy 6 vs 11-12
“But
you, Timothy, man of God: Run for your life from all this. Pursue a righteous
life- a life of wonder, faith, love, steadiness, courtesy. Run hard and fast in
the faith. Seize the eternal life, the life you were called to, the life you so
fervently embraced in the presence of so many witnesses.”
Emphasis on the word “pursue”. For
you to pursue something you must be completely sold out to it. For you to run
hard in faith you need to discipline yourself, it takes discipline to live a
life of wonder, love, faith and STEADINESS. So, I have three daily disciplines.
If you can practice these things every day, apply them to every situation then
your daily walk with God will have more structure. In no way are these three
points rules or regulations, I’d say they are guidelines to help us stay rooted
and grounded in Christ.
1. Capture
all thoughts: 2nd Corinthians 10 vs 5. Now I
know I talk about this all the time and I do because I believe that before you
can win a battle physically, you must win it mentally. What does your mind say
about that circumstance? What does your heart say about that temptation? Have
you continuously allowed the devil to whisper all sorts of things in your ear
all day long? Have you allowed him to continuously tear down your spirit,
telling you that you are a big nothing, or that your sin is enough to separate you
from God’s love? In this verse Paul is telling us to bring EVERY thought into captivity
to the obedience of Christ. What does that mean? That means that if that
thought does not go in line with what God says, if the thought does not glorify
God, if it stands contrary to the Word of God then it must be brought under and
subject to everything God has spoken over our lives. So, next time when the
devil tries to tell you your prayers cannot be answered because of what you did
or said two days ago, you need to remind him that he has NO RIGHT to speak
where your affairs are concerned because you are a Child of the Most High. You
need to remind him that he lost the battle thousands of years ago when God sent
his one and only son to come and die for your sins. Therefore, sin has no power
over you and you walk in the light of Christ.
2. Let
your conversations be seasoned: Colossians 4 vs 6. “Let
your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you know how you
ought to answer each one.” *snaps fingers* Our conversations, our conversations,
our conversations! I had to type it three times to show how important it is. Let
our conversations be seasoned with salt, salt gives food taste. No one would
like to eat food without salt, it would be tasteless. So, what is this verse
trying to tell us? Avoid having tasteless conversations. An example of a
tasteless conversation would be gossip, endless chatter about sex,
tearing-people-down kind of conversations and the list goes on. The MSG version
of this same verse says “be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out
the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out.” If
you stay constantly throwing shade, jabbing and discrediting other people then
you need to sit at Gods feet and CRY OUT FOR HELP. (emphasis on CRY… lol for
real). The spirit cannot manifest in you if you continue speaking wrongly about
others or if you constantly talk dirty. Let no filth come out from your mouth.
There are so many other important things to discuss.
3. Pray
diligently and STAY WOKE: Colossians 4 vs 2 “Pray diligently.
Stay alert, with your eyes wide open in gratitude.” MSG. The NLT version says,
“Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.” Prayer
does things confrontations cannot. Pray, pray, pray. One of the best things you
can do for yourself is to remain in prayer. Commit everything to God, take all
your worries to God in prayer. I remember what my dad told me when I told him I
joined a small group in my church. He said “remember to do more praying and
less talking.” I literally had goosebumps, now I understand he is not telling
me to lose my voice in the group or not speak out but he is telling me that
more impact will be made if I remain in a place of prayer. Prayer does things
your “advice”, “reprimanding”, “confronting” will never do. Do you feel a brother
or sister is slipping? Instead of throwing stones, and giving out “your
opinion” lift them up in prayer FIRST. In that time of prayer, you would be
surprised how God will open your eyes to deeper issues concerning not just that
person’s life, but yours also. Lastly, pray in the Spirit. The devil
understands English, but he is completely clueless when we speak in the
language of the Holy Spirit.
I
hope you could pick up one or two things from this long write up. Lord knows I tried
to keep it short. (I really tried lol). I pray that as you continue to seek God
and live in the light, that you stand firm and completely unashamed of this glorious
life that we were called to live.
