“Do you take a bite?
February 4, 2019
Good Morning Lovelies. I greet you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Father, thank you for intervening in my life and allowing me to have a personal relationship with You. Thank You for Your love for me today and forever. Thank you for the blessings You’ve given me and my family. Help us use those blessings to bless others. May my life show You to others. May I live a life of true joy as I see You at work around me today. In the Mighty Matchless Name of Jesus. Amen!
God has consistently provided for us, but unfortunately, we continue to refuse to see what He has done for us. We blatantly show no interest in thanking Him. Ungratefulness is a common human fault. Many of the benefits and privileges we enjoy are the direct result of the loving actions done long ago. Hence the phrase “Somebody prayed for me!” We all have or had parents, grandparents, and others that have prayed for us. Especially while we were in our lost state. With some of us still being there but growing.
So, if these individuals are still with you or you know who has made your life better through their love, thank them. But, begin by thanking God for all His blessings. Because if you experienced any of the above then that was and is one of His blessings.
We have to also realize that with God’s blessings also come discipline for the times that we don’t listen or are disobedient. The great thing is that God gives grace, mercy, and doesn’t discipline us for everything that we do thankfully. Sure there are consequences for choices and decisions that we make. But, if God disciplined us for all the things that we do on a daily basis we would be getting a whooping every day by God 24/7. Because if we truly apply the word to our lives there are things that we do that don’t seem like sins but they are. We have a responsibility though to also discipline ourselves. Is our prayer life lacking? We need discipline. Oh, I’m sure you have experienced those times when you set out to pray and meditate and as soon as you do that Ol’ buzzard will rear his ugly head trying to take your focus. I don’t know about you but I’ve definitely experienced this.
God’s discipline requires times of leading, times of feeding, and times of chastising. (Because you know we all needed to get that whooping every now and then when we were growing up. It’s no different growing up in the Lord.) Sometimes the rope is stretched and pulled tight and sometimes He gives us slack. But, His discipline is always loving, its object is always our well-being. Discipline is what believers need the most but want the least. Much of the restlessness and instability in the lives of many Christians can be traced to the basic fault of an undisciplined way of living. I’m sure there may be other secondary causes, but somewhere behind all of them is a fundamental need for discipline.
Being disciplined is not always a bad thing. The common mindset of many is that discipline is a negative thing. Discipline is the key to power. The advantage that the disciplined person has over the undisciplined one shows up in many ordinary matters of daily life. Think about it. The disciplined person picks his clothes up when he takes them off, but the undisciplined one will just leave them lying around. Wow, reality check right here. Moving on. One wipes clean the bathroom sink after using it, the other leaves it dirty for someone else to clean. One is always on time for appointments and events, the other is always fashionably late. I think you get the picture.
The difference in all these examples is not one of character but of habit. No one can reach full maturity unless he or she is disciplined in daily life. Our physical appetites. Mind, body, and soul. Yes, all three are feed. A truly disciplined person is wise enough to subject less important things to more important ones. Herein lies the most crucial problem that we face in our day and age. We cannot do everything so we select. We cannot read everything so we select what we do and read. This requires the discipline to reject day by day, that great list of activities that scream for our attention and time. Reinforce your motivation for a disciplined life and watch how things change for God’s Glory!
Paul said, “Like an athlete, I punish my body, treating it roughly, training it to do what it should and not what it wants to. Otherwise, I fear that after enlisting others for the race, I myself might be declared unfit and ordered to stand aside.” 1 Corinthians 9:27
Live life, give people hope and share your heart, wisdom, and resources. Never place a period where God says there should be a comma.
As always peace and blessings, be safe. Take advantage of your opportunities, but never allow your opportunities to take advantage of you. Remember God loves you and so do I. ©krw 02.04.19
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