5-25-09 Self-Discipline

Self-Discipline

Oh, how that is my favorite trait. Right? …lol. Some people say it is the character trait that everyone hates. However, did you know it is a quality that God wants for you?

So how’s your self-discipline today? Did you stick to all you needed to get done today? I know I didn’t. Did you have something come up & interrupt your day?
I did. Did you get your devotion time in? I’m still working on it. Your exercise time? Nope. Time with your family? Kind of.

As I ponder on "self- discipline", I discover it is a key trait. For without self -discipline you will not have the ability to have self control, patience, love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, gentleness, or faith. The very things we want in our lives depend on our self-discipline. For example, if we are not disciplined in our anger, we won’t have peace. For me, two of the hardest areas in my life to stay disciplined in is quality time with the Lord and exercise.

In II Peter 1:5-8 it says, "It is a quality you want to have, a quality that will make you useful and fruitful in the kingdom of God.” Of course this is not a quality Satan wants us to control.

In this world and in our lives we will have trials, heartaches, and interruptions. It is not only in these times we lose self-discipline, it is also in times of blessings. Yes, even in the good times. We get so caught up in the events of things going well, we can get too relaxed or too busy, sometimes even lazy. You can lose self-discipline in both areas, good or bad. It is a constant task to keep self-discipline.

I am reminded and encouraged of Paul when he said, "Why do I do the things I don’t want to do and the things I want to do, I don’t do”. I have always taken great comfort in Paul’s honesty in this statement. How he also struggled in continuing to achieve this quality.

So what can cause this? It can be as simple as everyday requirements of life of our work, family, and school among other things. In II Timothy 1:7 the word says, “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline." He has given us the ability to have discipline. I have had to call on His help lately myself. Right now in my life, I have had a hard time balancing:

• Time with God, carpool, school ,homework (my son), family, church, exercising, wedding planning and the list goes on.

When you get overloaded you can loose your self- discipline. Let’s look at what self discipline is. It means, “a calling to a soundness of mind or to self -control."

So how do we obtain this? First and foremost we are to commune with the Lord and seek him in every area. I even have the Lord helping me to learn to run. I know that sounds strange but I can’t run very far, yet. So, he has me run short distances and walk in-between. It is hard to be disciplined in new areas of your life! Stick to it, the reward is great!

Another example: Have you ever lost your control and snapped at your kids? I know I have. Thank the Lord there is no condemnation in those who are in Christ Jesus, that He is still perfecting us. This is an area for patience and peace and we all know it takes self-discipline to have patience.

When we have a soundness of mind, we will have joy, peace, love, kindness. We will be able to achieve the goals God has for us and to walk the path Christ has laid before us. I was reminded tonight of Abraham & Isaac, how through his faith and self-discipline he offered his most precious gift to God, his son. That took a lot of self-discipline and how God rewarded and blessed Abraham through this! It was through Abraham's devotion to the scriptures, setting his mind on God, and making his body obedient to do the will of God that he became the Father of many nations. Unlike another man named Samson who had lack of self-discipline and it cost him dearly. He had been a strong and mighty man, but lost it when he had lack of self-discipline and was foolish. However, in the end even Samson obtains self-discipline.

So my charge to you is to embrace self-discipline and run the good race! You won’t be disappointed.

Blessing to you,
Susie K

Devotional 5-11-09

Standing on His Promises


This week, as I was thinking about what to write and knowing that we were going to be looking at the promises of God. This song came back to mind that I sang a lot in church growing up. I have to say it has much more meaning to me now than it did then. I sang it because it was the song they picked for the day to sing not because I was truly standing on God’s promises. I sang it without meaning.


Standing on the promises of Christ my King,
through eternal ages let his praises ring;
glory in the highest, I will shout and sing,
standing on the promises of God.

Refrain:
Standing, standing,
standing on the promises of Christ my Savior;
standing, standing,
I'm standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
when the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
by the living Word of God I shall prevail,
standing on the promises of God.
(Refrain)

Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord,
bound to him eternally by love's strong cord,
overcoming daily with the Spirit's sword,
standing on the promises of God.
(Refrain)

Standing on the promises I cannot fall,
listening every moment to the Spirit's call,
resting in my Savior as my all in all,
standing on the promises of God.
(Refrain)

I have to say that I am learning more each and every day about truly standing on the promises God gives us. There are many of them in His word. I am thankful for a Pastor and leaders of our church that have encouraged us to declare the promises in our lives. It is a daily declaration in one way or another. The enemy does not want any of us to serve the Lord and he will bring circumstances and temptations that can cause us to not look to God our Savior.

I have been faced with some things over the last few months that I cannot go into detail about. I can tell you God has been faithful in fulfilling His promises. Just declaring them when the days were tough brings new light and perspective to the circumstances. It brings strength and peace in the midst of the storms. I know in my own life fear has been a big issue. It has held me back at times. This is an area that the enemy knows and tries to bring back all the time. I have learned not to let fear come in because I know what God’s word says about it. There are many verses in the Bible about fear but my favorite one is Isaiah 41:10 “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will uphold you with my victorious right hand."



Wow, there are many promises in that verse.

One of the definitions of promise is:

an express assurance on which expectation is to be based: promises that an enemy will not win.

Every promise has a foundation, even God’s promises. He is the foundation.
In a book I read recently the author stated “Every divine promise is built upon four pillars.”

God’s holiness, will not allow Him to deceive:

His goodness, will not allow Him to forget:

His truth, will not allow Him to change;

His power, will make Him able to accomplish!

Can you sing the song with meaning? If not I urge you to learn the promises of God and then begin to declare them in your life. It will set you free. Freedom from this world is what God wants for all of us.

It begins with “Are you willing to stand on His promises?” It begins with us doing our part.

- a willingness to follow God even though at times you stumble and fall (Philippians 3:14)
- a willingness to ask for forgiveness when you falter (John 1:9)
- a willingness to stay in the battle of becoming a man or a woman after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22)

I believe the author of the song above had learned the meaning of standing on God’s promises. He learned that God’s promises cannot fail, God's word will prevail. In the last verse he refers to standing on God’s promises -“I cannot fall”. Why, because by standing in God’s promises we are resting in our Savior. I do sing this song now with meaning and praises to the one who gives me strength to stand.


Love in Christ,
Sandy Heberlein

Devotional 5-4-09

More than Conquerors

Romans 8:37-39 NKJV
Well if you have been joining in the all-church scripture reading through Romans this month, you might have been reminded that in Christ we are “more than conquerors”!

Paul is writing to his Roman audience in this chapter about living life according to the Spirit and that “all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Rom 8:28). He then goes on to talk about the everlasting love of God and this is where Holy Spirit nudged me to pay closer attention!

Verse 37 begins, “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (emphasis mine). Let me stop here for a moment and tell you about “more than conquerors” translated from the Greek word, hupernikao. This is taken from the word huper, “over and above”, and nikao “to conquer”. The word together describes one who is super victorious, who wins more than an ordinary victory, but who is overpowering in achieving abundant victory! That is an awesome confidence of the power of Christ’s love!

Now continuing in verses 38 and 39, “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Wow, we are super victorious and unable to be separated by ANYTHING from the love of God!

I had to ponder this for a moment and I thought about how often I don’t talk or think like a “super victorious, inseparable woman of God”. Let me take our recent news of becoming pregnant and how I am blown away by the amazing love of God.

My husband and I just decided to stop trying to not have a baby and let the rest take its course. Well, six weeks later we had a positive pregnancy test! I had a feeling it wouldn’t take long (thank you Holy Spirit), but when that little stick said “pregnant” I had a hard time believing it was true. In fact over the next couple of weeks I could not stop asking God why was I so blessed after all the bad decisions I have made in my life and yet this came so easily. I was often brought to tears that my Father in heaven loved me so much that even the fears I had that I would never bare a child didn’t stop His outpouring of love and blessing. When we finally went in for the first ultrasound and I saw that tiny heart beating away, I knew I was and am more than a conqueror that cannot be separated from the love of Christ!

I think sometimes we get so caught up in the things that could separate us from God that we don’t see how He is always at work around us and working all things together for our good because we are called according to HIS purpose. NOTHING can separate us from the love of God which means He will NEVER stop working things together for good! Let that soak in for a minute…seriously! Where do you think God is not at work, what are you about to give up on? Take a closer look my friends, God is always at work and no matter how hard times feel or how far away you feel, NOTHING can separate you from His love and His goodness!

Lord God, help us to walk in your truth, in your Spirit, and know that we are more than conquerors who will rise up in abundant victory in all circumstances in Jesus name, amen!

Be blessed, Jenny Loveland