BE DISCIPLINED

GOD, HELP ME TO BE DISCIPLINED

·        Learning obedience is a lifelong process.

·        Even if you have walked with the Lord for 40 years, you still need to ask God to show you any area where you are not being obedient.

·        We get into trouble when we think we know what to do and we stop asking God, if we’re doing it.

·        We have NO excuse for not doing what we need to do when God says He will enable us to do it if we will just call upon Him for help. All we have to say is, “Lord, help me be disciplined enough to obey You the way You want me to so I can become the person You created me to be”.

PERSONAL OBEDIENCE

·        In addition to the rules we all have to obey, there are specific things God asks each of us to do as individuals in order to move us into the purpose He has for our lives.

·        “Lord show us what we are suppose to be doing”.

·        Whatever He asks you to do, remember He does this for your greatest blessing.

·        But you must understand that you may not hear Him speaking at all if you are not taking the other steps of obedience.

·        He expects all of us to take that are found in His word. “One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination” (Proverbs 28:9).

DOING THINGS YOU’D RATHER NOT

·        When we do things we don’t like simply because we know we need to do them, it builds character in us.

·        It makes us disciplined.

·        It forms us into a leader God can trust.

·        And there is always a price to pay when we forsake the things we need to do in order to do only the things we FEEL like doing.

·        We must be willing to make sacrifices for the blessings we want.

·        When you find it difficult to do what you know you need to, ask the Holy Spirit to help you.

10 GOOD REASONS TO OBEY GOD

·        There are countless reasons to obey God, but there is one primary reason: HE SAID TO!

1.          We get our prayers heard. “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear. But certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer” (Psalm 66:18-19).

2.          We enjoy a deeper sense of the Lord’s presence. “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him” (John 14:23).

3.          We gain wisdom. “He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly” (Proverbs 2:7).

4.          We have God’s friendship. “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you” (John 15:14).

5.          We can live safely. “You shall observe My statutes and keep My judgments, and perform them, and you will dwell in the land in safety” (Leviticus 25:18).

6.          We are perfected. “Whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him” (1 John 2:5).

7.          We are blessed. “Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you today” (Deuteronomy 11:26-27).

8.          We find happiness. “Happy is he who keeps the law” (Proverbs 29:18).

9.          We have peace. “Mark the blameless man, and observe the upright; for the future of that man is peace” (Psalm 37:36).

10.      We have a long life. “My son, do not forget My law, but let your heart keep My commands; for length of days and long life and peace they will add to you” (Proverbs 3:1-2).

A  STEPPING-STONE TO DESTINY

·        God has great plans for you.

·        He has important things He wants you to do.

·        And He is preparing you for your destiny right now.

·        But you have to take steps of obedience in order to

get there.

·        And you have to trust that He knows the way and

won’t hurt you in the process.

·        God’s rules are for our benefit, not to make us

miserable.

·                                                                                When we live by them – life works.

·                                                                                When we don’t – life falls apart.

·                                                                                When we obey – we have clarity.

·                                                                                When we don’t – we have confusion.

·                                                                                And there is a definite connection between

obedience and the love of God.

·                                                                                Even though God loves us, we won’t sense His love if

we are walking in disobedience to His ways.

·                                                                                There is also a direct connection between obedience

and getting your prayers answered (1 John 3:22).

·                                                                                If you have been frustrated because you don’t see

answers to your prayers, ask God if it is because of

disobedience. Say “Lord is there any area of my life where I am not obeying You?”.

·        Don’t keep telling God what you want without asking

Him what He wants?

You never know when you will step into the moment for which God has been preparing you. And it is not just one moment – it’s many successive ones!

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He wants you to be willing to let Him purify you, and grow you up in Him. But you have to play by the rules.

BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO HEAR THE WORD OF GOD AND KEEP IT!

Luke 11:28

WHATEVER WE ASK WE RECEIVE FROM HIM, BECAUSE WE KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS AND DO THOSE THINGS THAT ARE PLEASINIG IN HIS SIGHT.

1 John 3:22

HT My wife.