To discipline yourself for godliness means saying “No” to old habits and ways, and replacing those ways with new ways… new ways that are made by following Christ and obedience to His Word. The Holy Spirit enables a believer to put off the old man and put on the new man.

An amazing thing happened to me, actually this truly amazing thing happens to all Christians when we decide to get serious about God and adjust our lives towards Him… living godly becomes so natural to us that we don’t even have to think about where to begin anymore. We just do it. This is the way our Creator has made us.

Think about this… It’s your first time sitting behind the steering wheel. You think to yourself, “Here is a steering wheel, and here is a gear shift, and here is a really complex instrument panel, and foot pedals down below. I have to learn how to use and manage all of these things. And at the same time I have to keep my eyes on the road; pay attention to signs, pedestrians, traffic lights, etc. Can I ever do this? How am I going to do this? Yet billions of people do.” Now, after a little time and much practice, you just slide into that same car and someone comes along for the ride with you. You turn on the motor, shift the gears (or an Automatic Transmission), back out of the driveway, and head on down the road, all while arguing where you’re going to go for dinner! What an amazing feat! You’ve learned to perform a highly complex behavior UNCONSCIOUSLY! And how did you learn? You learned by practice… disciplined practice. It has become second nature to you. Scripture speaks so clearly about this…

“For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.” Hebrews 5: 13-14

<... [Read More]

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” 2 Corinthians 5: 17

The Holy Spirit has put it inside of you to desire godliness, putting a new focus on everything in your life; that’s why true children of God ache for holiness and godliness. But that doesn’t instantly make you godly. It’s very important to realize that while Christ gives us a new life, many practices of our day to day routines don’t reflect godliness. Our “old man” (old ways of living) is constantly fighting against our “new man.” Seriously think about this… being godly takes DISCIPLINE (you can bet I’m preaching to myself)! Godliness just doesn’t happen overnight – Period. “But how can I discipline myself?” you ask.

Discipline means work – no way around that! My Bible dictionary tells me that the word discipline means to train by instruction and control.

“I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.” 1 Corinthians 9: 27

Gotta love Paul’s many comparisons to athletes (ex: running the race of faith). An athlete becomes an expert only by years of hard practice. There’s no such thing as an instant athlete. It takes years of practice to acquire skill. Athletes must work daily, day after day, until what they are doing is second nature to them. Continued daily effort is an essential, if not the most essential element of discipline. So to answer your question on how to discipline yourself…

“Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. “ Luke 9: 23

Jesus didn’t mean denying something. He didn’t mean “For Lent, give up sweets.” What He did mean is to deny self (old desires, old ... [Read More]

Remember when you first asked Jesus to come into your heart? You were all fired up-sold out for the King. Life happened, and somehow that fire has burned out. Or maybe the fire is still there but not as red hot as it used to be. Oh, but don’t get me wrong… there’s been some change, some growth, and blessing. But you know there has to be more-something has got to give. From time to time you have met other Christians whose lives are different. They talk the talk and walk the walk. You think to yourself, “Somehow they must have found the answer.” You still have the same God, the same Bible, and the same power available as they do. Yet there is a profound difference between you and them.

You may hear a sermon, listen to a tape, read a book, or whatever… something inspires you. You want to be more godly. You wantto do the right thing; yet you so rarely achieve it. So what’s the problem? I think too many well meaning Christians want instant godliness. Sorry, but there’s no such thing. The world has made many things for us that are instant and very convenient. The problem is that some of us want a simple three step guide to godliness, and we’ll take them next Friday and be godly. It doesn’t work that way.

“Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.”1 Timothy 4: 7

Paul is telling Timothy to “train” himself. Discipline… Discipline… Discipline… that’s the key! We hardly hear that word anymore. And yet, there’s no other way to attain godliness. You must learn to discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness. The godly person leads a life that reflects God. As Christians, our lives must please God by being, thinking, doing, saying, and feeling the way that He wants us to; that is our goal. I’ll be the first to say that discipline is sometimes H-A-R-D, but if we want to learn discipline, we first have to learn patience. There’s that dreaded “P” word again!

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For you, my friends, I’m making the First Volume of My Memoir, “A Blessing in the Storm… Muscular Dystrophy messed up my life and made me whole,” free for any e-reading device from now throughout the month of February! Hope you enjoy

Format	Full Book
Online Reading (HTML, good for sampling in web browser)	FREE
Online Reading (JavaScript, experimental, buggy)	FREE
Kindle (.mobi for Kindle devices and Kindle apps)	FREE
Epub (Apple iPad/iBooks, Nook, Sony Reader, Kobo, and most e-reading apps including Stanza, Aldiko, Adobe Digital Editions, others)	FREE
PDF (good for reading on PC, or for home printing)	FREE
RTF (readable on most word processors)	FREE
LRF (Use only for older model Sony Readers that don’t support .epub)	FREE
Plain Text (flexible, but lacks much formatting)	FREE

… go to Smashwords, click buy and enter the coupon code

Coupon Code: EH52J
Expires: February 29, 2012

Please pass this on to your friends! Perhaps someone needs to hear my story, and be encouraged! Thanks!

A king who did not believe in the goodness of God, had a slave who, in all circumstances, said: My king, do not be discouraged, because everything God does is perfect, no mistakes!

One day they went hunting and along the way a wild animal attacked the king. His slave managed to kill the animal, but could not prevent his majesty losing a finger.

Furious and without showing his gratitude for being saved, the nobleman said “Is God good? If He was good, I would not have been attacked and lost my finger.”

The slave replied only “My king, despite all these things, I can only
tell you that God is good, and he knows the “why” of all these things.What God does is perfect. He is never wrong!”

Outraged by the response, the king ordered the arrest of his slave.

Later, he left for another hunt and was captured by savages who made
human sacrifices.

In the altar, ready to sacrifice the noble savage had found that the
victim had not one of his fingers, was released. According to them: it
was not so complete to be offered to the gods.

Upon his return to the palace, he authorized the release of his slave
that he received very affectionately.

- My dear, God was really good for me! I was almost killed by the wild
men, but for lack of a single finger, I was let go! But I have a
question: If God is so good, why did he allow me to put you in jail?

- My King, if I had gone with you in this hunt, I ‘would have been
sacrificed for you, because I have no missing finger.

Therefore, remember: everything God does is perfect. It is never wrong

Often we complain about life and things that happen to us apparently
negative, forgetting that nothing is random and that everything has a purpose.

Every morning, offer your day to God.

Ask God to inspire your thoughts, guide your actions, to ease your
feelings. And do not be afraid. God is never w... [Read More]

“Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart.” Ecclesiastes 7: 3

Sorrow is better… really? Sorrow is a tool God uses to reach down into the depths of our soul to reveal who we really are. It uncovers the shallowness in our hearts. But most importantly, sorrow uncovers our unknown capacities for suffering and service. In other words, we find out how much stronger we are than we think we are. We only discover this by Divine Grace. Without His grace, our suffering is pointless. I’ll say that again… without His grace, our suffering is pointless! Lighthearted, frivolous people are never aware how shallow they really are. There is not one doubt in my mind about this, because experience is the authority given to me by which I speak.

Please be encouraged by what I write, as my words are meant to encourage you. You may be going through the greatest sorrow/test of your life. Hold onto Jesus. He’s heard your cries. He will help you – in His time. If you surrender all that you are to Him, you will have His Divine grace to get you through ANYTHING!! Memorize one of His gazillion promises. These are some I put to memory, and the Holy Spirit brings them to the forefront of my mind when the enemy starts attacking me or when my own flesh starts to question His love for me…

“Because the Sovereign Lord helps me I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.” Isaiah 50: 7

“O Lord You have known me and searched me. You know my sitting down and my rising up. You know my thought afar off. You comprehend my path, and my lying down, and are acquainted with all of my ways.

For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord You know it altogether. You have hedged me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. S... [Read More]

What is a good definition of being blessed? Having nice things? A good job? A nice car? A nice house? Nice clothes? A lot of friends? Being healthy? No, scratch that. If I don’t have good health… O my, I think that would be the deal breaker! If I have bad health, how is that a blessing?

Many people in the world are fearful. Some are even terror-stricken about what’s going to happen tomorrow. How could knowing what the future holds give us peace; the future is not ours to see. God doesn’t show us the entire picture. As I write this I’m reminded of something – a word that was spoken over me. Check this out… this happened around the time I was first saved, in January – the start of a new year. It had to be 2002, or it may have been 2003. The woman leading our small Bible study group, who had the gift of prophecy, told all the women in the group that God said that He wanted them to “push” ME through the threshold of the New Year.

Push me? That word was dead on!!! Nobody knew it at the time, but if I would have known all of the suffering and humiliation the future held for me… this is what I would have looked like…

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. “ Psalm 119: 105

This is the blessed life – Not anxious to see far down the road. It isn’t being overly concerned about the next step, not eager to choose the path nor weighed down with the heavy responsibilities of the future, but quietly following the Shepherd, one step at a time! The word is SOVEREIGNTY. If the sovereignty of our loving Shepherd moves us forward, it must be for the best – our best!

When I saw this video, I knew I must publish this. Anyone who grew up with an absent father will really relate to this. Those who didn’t have a proper daughter-father relationship will relate also…

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