A Life of Discipline
Author: Rev. Esther Holmes
May 10, 2018
Think about it! II Peter 1:1-10
Most of us are living lives which
are seriously lacking in discipline and in order and in arrangement. I
Cor 14:33, 40
Distractions are numerous.
Excuses of why we don’t have the time for church, church work, for prayer or
Bible reading and study are numerous also.
Cause – A sheer lack of
discipline. You have to do it. It can’t be done for you. No sense
in complaining about circumstances; it simply comes back to this: we all have
time. We are failing to put our life in proper order. Examine your
priorities.
Relationship with God –
Marriage/Family – Ministry
All diligence – make every effort to
do these things. All zeal – be more zealous to do these things than ever
before.
Greatest characteristic of a Saint
greatly used by God – discipline and order. Heb 11:6
Add to your faith – you furnish the
performance (put action to it). Add to it – virtue – energy, power and vigor.
Walk with strength, don’t just shuffle along. Add to virtue, knowledge –
not doctrine but understanding or enlightenment – strive for this, seek it,
work for it, labor in prayer and study – it doesn’t just happen.
Add to that temperance – self
control – you must have self control in every area of life. Add to that
patience – endurance, keep on through everything that discourages you. You have
to add this to your faith day by day. Add to that godliness – careful
about our relationship with God. Brotherly kindness – our attitude
towards people in the church. Charity – love towards people outside the
faith.
Remember who you are – you are
partakers of divine nature. Don’t forget you have been purged from your
old sins. If we want our election and calling sure, we must be diligent
and do all these things daily. Then you will have happiness and joy.
If you do all these, your reward
here on Earth is that you will never fall.
Last and greatest promise – If you
discipline your life, put your life in order and furnish out your faith and
with all these other qualities you’ll never fall in this life on Earth and when
the end comes you will have added to you a promise of a great entrance into
your eternity with Christ! Hallelujah!
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