Discipline Determines Destiny - Part 1

Welcome to the intensified Catholic town Stanley Wednesday. Do you realize the things you do now turned the course for where you will be in the future. Here's the challenge to believers to live disciplined lives for the glory of God as followers of Jesus Christ.

It's only right that you and I would want to look your best.

Throughout best beer best and fulfill his purpose for life reach the goals that he would have followers but that's not always easy because are always things out the other hand rose if we allow, but as you think about your life is not easy.

Anyway you look at it and God has a purpose and a plan for a life. It's the best plan possible and people who are willing to walk in that plan always come out better but is reset is not easy, it demands something about us. It demands discipline and so what I want to talk about in this message is simply this, that discipline determines the destiny let me settle one thing right up front.

I'm not talking about your eternal destiny which was settled that you trusted Jesus Christ as your personal savior you trusted him as the atoning death for your all your sins not talking about that you saved your going to heaven. But I'm talking about life here and now and that is life here and now is a life that demands discipline the bus if we to fulfill God's purpose do the things that he would have us to do achieve the goals that he set for all of our lives. So the issue is this where this discipline fit in your life because discipline does determine your destiny not your desires. You can desire many things and miss it all but discipline determines your destiny so when you turn if you will to first Corinthians chapter 9 and in this passage the apostle Paul is referring to the Greek games and their participants in the necessity of discipline and running those games and he begins in this 23rd verse by saying I do all things for the sake of the gospel so that I may become a fellow partaker of do you not know that those who run in a race all of them.

Ron but only one receives the prize run in such a way that you may win.

Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control. This in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way as not without a box in such a way as not beating the air, but I discipline my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified and follow simple taking a sports illustration here to say in order to run the race is running well to discipline myself. He says I'm not running without any I'm not running just to be running aimlessly. I'm running with the goal in mind and my goal is to win and the truth is that every single believer should run the same way live out our life.

Listen to win the wind. What to win all that God has laid out before us all the things these promise the blessings with God is there, willing and ready to blesses in every single area of our life. It will simply walk obediently before him, and that requires discipline not easy, it's required but it works. When a person moves a discipline life. You going to be able to look your best to you best be your best to reach the goals that God is set for we look for an easy way is not easy.

It's not easy if you're a Christian it's not easy if you're not a Christian is just a whole lot better when you know Jesus Christ as your Savior and you know you have the Holy Spirit living on the inside of you, to enable you to reach those goals, whatever they may be. So in thinking about that. What I like for us to do is I'd like for us to consider this whole issue of discipline in our personal life and I want to give you a number of things I want to encourage you to jot down to what I like to do like to clarify a couple terms and first of all this look at self-discipline.

Self-discipline is personal training that develops self-control and character and results in an orderly and efficient life self-discipline, personal training that develops self-control and character and results in an orderly and efficient life so that demands something of us is somebody's as well. Now what about what the Bible says about discipline. So turn July Hebrews chapter 12 we oftentimes think about God's discipline and what he's up to in our life. And so there's another kind of discipline and that is there is divine discipline and divine discipline is simply this.

This is God's corrected measures in our life. We step out of his will failed to do what you have us to do this and what he says this 12 chapter my son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord North ain't when you are approved of him.

So for example when you and I disobey God, he doesn't discipline us. That is, he wants to get us back in line doing what he would have us to do to accomplish what he would have us to accomplish in life. Self-discipline is something we do. There was God does not practice self-discipline on us. He practices divine discipline.

It is up to us.

The practice self-discipline that is to be in control of our lives through the power of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our life in order to be the person she would have us to be and so discipline is a practice you don't suddenly know how to discipline you learn discipline. We practice because we are not perfect, and the fact that we practice it means that will make mistakes will falter and fall at times, but we don't give up, and we don't quit and we move on.

The second thing on us to notice here is the necessity of self disability comes the living a Christian life and if you look in first Peter for a moment and I want you to notice her couple of verses here in this first chapter a look if you will, in the list. Start with verse 15 and listen to what he says. He says, but like the holy one who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior so it is the will of God that you and I live a godly life and living a godly life.

Demands discipline others, and in first Timothy chapter 4, I want you to notice a verse here looking he will in verse seven he says, but have nothing to do with the worldly fables fit only for all women on the other hand, discipline yourselves for the purpose of godliness for bodily discipline is only a little profit after you who do not like exercise that your verse pieces for bodily discipline is only of little profit but godliness is profitable for all things since it holds promise for the present life and also for the one become threes as if we going to live a godly life. You going to be an obedient person you live a Christian life. It demands discipline which means I have to make choices in life and so is you think about that in your life, and I thought I would ask you the day in one area of your life.

Can you say I am really discipline in this life you go to bed every night at 10 o'clock the you watch the news every night of the you stay up till about midnight. No words that you eat three meals a day know is what you discipline about all would you say will never thought about heaven that I had to be disciplined about anything will think about it though.

You don't have to knock and they were the results of in a moment. Let's think about this way when you trusted Jesus Christ as your personal savior. He came into your life to the Holy Spirit to live in you and to abide in you, and to enable you to become everything he requires of you achieve everything he wants you to achieve in life. But we have three enemies one of them we know is the devil, one we know as the world's system around us in the third when we know we call it different things Paul and the one hand, called it the flesh are our carnal nature or our naturalness in our naturalness is a good word for which means there are desires within every single one of us that do not fit the will and purpose and plan of God for a light we come into this world with that been away from that and so and naturalness is what we have to bring in the discipline get on the control he gave us the Holy Spirit to enable us that will be talk about them, carnality or flash or our naturalness. What we talk about talk about those legitimate desires that God is placed in our life that we have to bring under control. Just because we have the Holy Spirit does memory gotta be perfect.

Just because we say doesn't mean we don't live apart from all sin. We have to learn to live the Christian life. All of us have stumbled and fallen made mistakes in areas of our life. And so what happens God forgives. He teaches as we move on and we keep growing as a Christian you see it when the believer is not growing it's because they're not being discipline in one or more areas of their life are listening to this limit is name for natural desires. One of them is food. If you are undisciplined and what you eat, you gotta suffer the consequences another.

For example, his arrest if you are undisciplined that you going to get lethargic and lazy and slothful another one. For example, is companionship. If you're undisciplined about that you become dependent on someone to become dependent upon you, and that's no good relationship and there is sex and sex within marriage and the way God is provided is good when you break out of that in become undisciplined. What happens, it's like poison your system and ultimately will destroy so all of those are good things, but they must be controlled by us. There was God isn't going to control how much you eat, he will give you wisdom your give you direction here give you challenges in life.

He may let you get sick to show you whatever it might be you and the ones you must practice discipline so all these areas, God has given us many, many good things, but we have to practice discipline because you remember when you're a kid it if you could just eat all the candy you want to remember. My mother knew that I like chocolate cherries and so she brought me a box of chocolates or his home one afternoon from work.

I'll never forget this and she said well you just like him don't yes and yes ma'am.

And I've thanked the foreman a chocolate cherries to lower sick as a dog I don't know that I've only known since there's nothing wrong with chocolate cherries that I was totally undisciplined. I just more than one of them on the blog item that many things in life that people want that. There's nothing wrong with it except the fact that too much of some things will kill you, just a little bit of some things will kill you and so discipline is a vital part of the Christian's life is a vital part of anybody's life it was to accomplish anything in life. So with that in mind I wasn't think about. First of all I want us to think about what we can expect when we fail to practice discipline so this begin, you gonna follow your fleshly carnal naturalness you gonna follow that and you gonna step outside the will of God and you're going to suffer the consequences. Listen look around at all the things that tempt and try us all the things that would bring us down all the things that are so absolutely totally ungodly there everywhere. No discipline going down. Secondly, usually when a person is undisciplined they defend what they're doing and so we will begin to defend our wrong actions, and so for that, of course, one of the effects of it is not on our health. But think about finances thing about people who undisciplined their finances. If you don't control your money and see the credit card people love undisciplined folks because they got your interest. Before long they got your life and often times they truly growing up in their parents give her credit card total disaster that I have to work for it, then you have to hardly give an account for Dell got telephones all got TVs are not computers all got all us all. All these things, where's the discipline, how much of that. Should you have and how much time should you spend on it. Discipline begins very early in life and that's why godly parents, godly parents are parents you looking out. Listen not only for how their children look and how they do in school with and be proud of their looking out for their adulthood is their life going to count what differences are going to make that you brought that some of the dog in the world before the child is one that those parents have wisdom enough to say that we don't have a child what's our responsibility. What disciplines do we demand of ourselves to be the kind of parents we ought to be. So when they grow up, they'll be like ours and will be grateful them to be so we fail many many times in many ways simply by lack of this course.

They oftentimes overlooked when jobs come along. They pass them by. Why because their record shows they didn't show up on time, they had to be questioned about a number of things. Sometimes it was maybe their honesty, whatever it might be discipline fits you for the next opportunity. Discipline is God's way of getting us ready to move along in life and to move ahead in life and of course a person who is on this one is going to develop slothful habits and a slothful person is not going to do very well this is watch, only to be trained very in life in the room you make up your bed you hang up your clothes, whatever it might be a little bit of discipline goes a long ways. But you have to start somewhere and then after you've done those what God gives us goals but demand something of us and part of the demand is the discipline ourselves so that we give him our pool.

Our best look your best. Do you best be your best fulfill the purpose and plan of God for your life. Not easy, it demands discipline, but at the same time something good is happening to you. While that's going on. Discipline is very, very, very important, because look, if I'm undisciplined about my household more than like I'm undisciplined about something about life that was you just not going to be just wonderful discipline over here and sloppy over there. There's not going to be that way, but we are probably all more discipline in some areas than we are and others, but if you're going to live a godly life.

Discipline is a vital part of that.

Then of course I think sometimes a person who is undisciplined is reckless in their speech.

They say things that they wish they had not said. They say things that are true, that should not of been set at that moment, all they say things that are true, that should not of been said that particular person. We have to be careful that the lips, the tongue.

What we say in such a fashion that should either build up someone else, but never tear them down. Then of course the person who's always late person is always late what it says is I don't respect your time sometime. It's difficult to always be on time nobody's probably always on time but it says something about us. And then of course a person is going to waste time and energy when there undisciplined because you see we said in the very beginning. Self-discipline talks about self-control and orderliness that is how many of you have a schedule every day, and that the you live about schedule what you try to accomplish everyday and I learned long time ago if I'm going to accomplish anything before I go to bed at night. I need to make a list of all the things that I intend to do the next day and it's real simple.

You put on 3 x 5 card and when you're done you check them all at the end of the day, which you couldn't check off you put on the next day.

It's a simple thing I learned many many many many years ago, very early in life because admin responsibilities and I thought to how we don't get it all done. You only get it done if you program it into your life and work at it diligently and you have to discipline yourself. If you have certain things that have to be done is what that means, and certain other things I cannot do and so when a person is so lives aimlessly will do this and do that get whatever done I can not fret about it where you headed in life what you want to accomplish what kind of trail you leave and we can influence what kind of impact what's going on in your life if you are not discipline a lot of things that should not be there. No doubt that many people in life who don't have what they like to have because they're not disciplined enough to remove the things out of their life that drain their energy, their strength, their finances that time, discipline is absolutely essential if you're going to succeed at anything in life and never because Paul talked about here, he said, lest he become a castaway what he was saying is this, he was going to live a godly life less. After all, he may have done his witnesses testimony may put them on the shelf and we all have to remember this.

There are things in life that do not fit a Christian.

You say all now that's getting legalistic know that's getting biblical. There's some things that should not exist in the life of a believer. And so if that's one of those things, not the main anything that you know if there's something you like. It should be that you know what it is you have to decide God is going to make you that you have to decide do I value my Christian testimony on the drive value my relationship to God enough drive value the goals and the principles and the things that I want to accomplish enough to eliminate the stuff in my life is going to keep me from getting there. You can have everything. You can't be everything in all things to all people yet to decide who is it you want to be.

What is it that God wants in your life. What's his desire was his plan. What is he have in store for you. It is costly not to live a disciplined life.

It can cost you in many ways we just mentioned, body and finances. Things like that.

Many many things you had to pay the price for there's no discipline.

Thank you for listening to discipline determines destiny. If you like to know more about Charles Stanley for intense ministries that enhance tantalizing podcast is a presentation of intense ministries mandatory to