Job 5:17-18  “Blessed is the one whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.  He wounds, but he also binds up; He injures, but His Hands also heal.

As the above question stands, a disciple has very little impact on exemplifying true discipleship when failing to operate in the spirit of self-control.  My immediate thought went to comparing our human nature to that of a sheep.  In my discovery, sheep are terribly difficult to instruct once being taught to perform out of their natural way of doing things.  This was oddly familiar to human behavior.  When God instructs us in His Word on how to live, there is great restraint from us.  Excuses start to flood like a broken dam in the Mississippi River.  Boasting about how our way has not been so bad thus far is one of many we use as comfort instead of relying on The Comforter.   Choosing to live as if His Perfect Way does not yield a better outcome is complete deception.  Our way is wrapped in lies with a nice little bow in the front sealed with destruction and despair.  Meanwhile, God’s impeccable Way is wrapped in Truth with nails and jagged wood sealed with Love and an Eternal Promise of a Prosperous Purpose.  All of this ties into the all too familiar New Year’s Resolutions.  Typically, we are so enthused about the upcoming year, that we ignore the required discipline to execute our listed desires.  

  The mere thinking of creating a plan is great, but we are required to perform outside of emotional stimulation.  Motivation and discipline go hand and hand.  Don’t get me wrong, motivation is greatly significant when pursuing an objective.  However, discipline is instrumental in seeing the plan through.  Only focusing on our motivation is how many of us have goals, but never obtain them or once obtained it’s not maintained!  Realizing both are vital will vastly grow our intent into manifestation.  Developing this mindset points back to the comparison between humans and sheep.  We resist God’s discipline not only because it is out of our comfort zone that is built in familiarity, but because it doesn’t always “feel” good.  Feeling motivated is psychologically better for us than facing the pain of dying to our flesh, so we think.   After proven biblical testimonies as well my own, I can attest the pain of our flesh dying produces a far greater impact.  Only adhering to our fleshly motivation temporarily benefits us.  Whereas, dying to our natural ways, benefits the world and progressively matures us into better Christians!

Don’t believe me?  Jesus love was the motivation, but His discipline to do His Father’s Will is how He accomplished the Purpose.  His discipline allowed the cup not to pass.  His discipline made us free and apart of the Royal family.  Our discipline will catapult us into our Purpose and is what will help set others free because it says men will see our holiness and will then see God(Heb 12:14). Men can’t see God if they can’t see His fruit active in us.  That fruit we are focusing on today is discipline.  So, it is my great pleasure to inform you that we are unable to be disciples without active discipline.  It is impossible to draw people to Jesus living an untamed life and aimlessly writing goals with no execution towards Purpose. A few questions to consider: If God gave us our purpose, then would it not be by His Spirit to carry it out?  How long will you settle and fight against the Shepard?  Think about the people who are watching you as a proclaimed disciple.  In what ways is your life illustrating lack of discipline.  On the contrary, what will your discipline allow you to finish?  

I pray that this edified you as much as it did me.  God gave me great insight as well as a wake-up call and I am thankful to digest this with you.  We are here to grow together. 🙂  Scurry on over to the Tag You’re It! tab.  Also, don’t be a stranger! The Prayers/Testimonials is available for your requests!