Don't Listen to Yourself; Talk to Yourself

I can tell already that this is going to be one long post so you might as well prepare yourself now! ;) I learned something recently that has been extremely helpful to me. Its actually a pretty basic thing, but after talking with some of my siblings and even some of you all about it, I have come to the conclusion that its something that the majority of us could use some work on. And that is in the area of discipline. At Bible Study two weeks ago we all were discussing different areas that we wanted to see growth in, in our spiritual lives, and it was pointed out, that without realizing it, what we all really needed to work on was having some self discipline. So at our next Bible Study, this past Friday, that is what we discussed in-depth. It was so helpful to me and since then I have been able to make some changes in my life for the better. Some of my struggles recently have been with getting up early in the morning for my devotions, knowing what I need to change but not changing it, and knowing I shouldn't do a certain things but going ahead and doing them anyways. I was getting very frustrated because I kept asking God to change me and help me to get the victory in these areas, but then the next moment I'd fail at them...AGAIN! I am basically just going to share with you, my notes, from the challenge we had at Bible Study. Hopefully it will help you as much as it helped me, because I know that if it does, you'll learn a lot! ;) And if this doesn't help you at all, well, this is simply for my benefit then! It helps me to have to think back on what I learned in order to write it out. The first thing I realized was that, yes, I need to be trusting in God for the strength to face my trials, but I also need to be doing my part to prepare myself for the battles. Galatians 5:24 "And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts." We need to say NO to self. Our nature is to sin and so most of the times we sin without even realizing we are doing it! However we are commanded to change that nature and yeah...that takes a TON of work. It takes a ton of discipline. The purposes for being disciplined are 1. To be Godly- In todays world we are used to a "we want something and we want it NOW" attitude. Yet godliness cannot be attained in that way. You may want it and you may want it now, but it is a daily work that takes time. 2. It is a painless discipline- ok, when she first said that I was thinking "What?! Are you kidding!? Getting up early is not exactly painless!" ;) But then she continued by saying "The alternative for discipline is disaster. If you can't say no to the little things you wont be able to say no to the big things." (To him that KNOWETH to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin) ... Talk to yourself, don't listen to yourself. The Process for Discipline is habit. God has given us the ability to have habits. The problem is that we can have both good and bad habits. Still, all sin is a choice and we need to be taking the time to train ourselves into good habits. On Friday, we all tried to write our names in our left hand instead of with the right. Trust me, I tried very hard to draw it neat and I took an eternity just to write out my first name, but it still looked pitiful next to the way I had written my name with my right hand. However, if my right hand were injured, I would learn how to write with my left hand and it would eventually be just as neat as my right. In the same way, I need to be practicing discipline in my life until it becomes very easy for me to deny my self something. Thankfully we have a pattern to follow. Christ set the pattern for us. In Luke 6:12 it says he stayed up all night praying. He denied his flesh and sought the Fathers will. (Something else was pointed out to me that I thought was really interesting...Jesus knew more than His parents and yet he submitted to them. When Joseph was showing Jesus how to do things in the carpenter shop Jesus could have been like "Thats neat, but you see all those trees out there? I made those!" And yet, Jesus chose to be subject under his parents. Anyways... that was just a little side note. Back to my "being disciplined" notes.) Ok, so we know we're supposed to be disciplined but how can we do that? Well first off 1. It takes Effort- The job of a coach is to make his players do what they don't want to do, in order to make them be what they always wanted to be! 2. Prepare Yourself Physically- give yourself challenges and be strict with yourself about keeping them. Such as running every day or drinking 8 c. of water a day. Remember that God lives in you. 3. Prepare Yourself Mentally- We are supposed to be "renewing" (to make like new; restore) our mind. In order to do that we need to be memorizing lots of scripture for the specific things that we are struggling with. 4. Prepare Yourself Spiritually- Read your Bible, Do a Study on Prayer, Ask God for help. Don't talk to others about problems until you've already talked to God about those problems for the same amount of time. 5. And finally...be Obedient. It may not be easy, but its always right. Don't do what you want to do, do what He wants you to do. The pain is what brings about the desired goal. Also remember that God is FOR you! "Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world"

Ok...those are the majority of my notes. You can pray that God would continue to help me to be pliable and willing to be disciplined. It may seem like a simple thing, but it is something that was terribly lacking in my life and I have started working on it. I have even had to write myself a note that says "Be Disciplined" and put it on my alarm clock! ;) But its been working! God has helped me see what I need to change and by His strength He is molding me. (It may take Him awhile, because I keep getting in the way, but little by little He IS changing me.) He deserves not only to be first in my life but also first in my day.

I will end this "epistle" with a verse that has become a recent favorite in a matter of days... ;) Hebrews 12:11 "Now no chastening (or you could say discipline here!) for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby."

Trying to pray for you all,
Chrystal

"Develop the winning edge. Small differences in your performance can lead to large differences in your results."