Guard Your Steps by Leading a Disciplined Lifestyle

Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness. 1 Timothy 4:7 NASB

God doesn't reward laziness, misbehavior, of apathy. To the contrary, He expects believers to behave with dignity and discipline. God's Word reminds us again and again that our Creator expects us to lead disciplined lives - and we must take God at His Word, despite temptations to do otherwise.

We live in a world in which leisure is glorified and indifference is often glamorized. But God has other plans. He did not create us for lives of mediocrity; He created us for far greater things.

Life's greatest rewards seldom fall into our laps; to the contrary, our greatest accomplishments usually require lots of work, which is perfectly fine with God. After all, He knows that we're up to the task, and He has big plans for us; may we, as disciplined believers, always be worthy of those plans.

He who heeds discipline show the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray. Proverbs 10:17 NIV

A tip for guarding your heart
Be disciplined in your own approach to life. You can't teach it if you won't live it.

God's Words of Wisdom

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. 1 Corinthians 9:24-25 NASB

I discipline my body and make it my slave. 1 Corinthians 9:27 NASB

God hasn't invited us into a disorderly, unkempt life but into something holy and beautiful - as beautiful on the inside as the outside. 1 Thessalonians 4:7 MSG

Folly is loud; she is undisciplined and without knowledge. Proverbs 9:13 NIV

SUMMING IT UP - If you choose to lead a disciplined lifestyle, your steps will be protected. If you choose to lead an undisciplined lifestyle, your steps will be misdirected.

God is speaking to America today

HT: The Road to Reality by K.P. Yohannan (Pg.115)

This present generation of Americans, in particular, is receiving the most unearned and undeserved favor of all time. God has made this people the richest nation on earth, yet Americans carry on as if this wealth were a natural right - as if they have no obligation to a lost world, dying ion darkness without Christ.

God has been so patient with us. Why this awesome grace continues must be a question all heaven asks! Surely the United States today deserves His judgment and punishment. Yet the Lord has continued to show mercy to these wayward descendants of the Mayflower and Jamestown believers. The living God has been keeping the covenants those first settlers made with Him, mercifully keeping His promises to a prodigal people.

In my last meeting with Leonard Ravenhill, we discussed the mystery and wonder of God's long-suffering love for the American people - and the fact that it cannot go on much longer. I'll never forget his chilling words: "It's coming. If God does not judge this nation, He'll have to apologize a thousand times over to Sodom and Gomorrah."

May God teach us that all these blessings are only temporary and conditional. May He help us to see how late the hour is and how urgent it is we respond with obedience to His grace and mercy.

Jesus said the fields are white unto harvest now. Anyone who has worked on a farm knows what that means. When you've got a ripe crop in the field, everything else stops. You harvest it or it rots in the ground.

God has prospered us for a purpose. He is the king of Matthew 25:14-30 who entrusts wealth to his servants and goes on a long journey. When he returns, the king demands as accounting and a profit from what he has given to invest. What will we present to our Lord when He returns for an accounting? What kind of stewards are we being with the blessings He has shed on this nation?

WOW - what truth! Take time to thank God for all that He has blessed us with! May we use the things He has entrusted us to build His kingdom and His power to reach the lost at all cost!