Self-Discipline

The key to self-discipline is to remove “self” from the discipline; "disciplined to obedience” is a better phrase.  Strive to abide, rest, exercise, eat, relate to others and serve in Jesus' Name and for His Sake.  Don’t research the art of discipline, you will be overwhelmed.  Moment by moment walk, talk, breathe and live in the Lord, and discipline will be a result rather than a goal; an effect of the Holy cause of abiding in Him   

Do not pray for self-discipline, pray to abide more consistently in the Lord.   

Abiding is a state the devil can’t disrupt; his strategies only spur you to abide more closely.  Understand that abiding in the Lord is your best pursuit.

Scripture: "Then he said to them all: 'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.  For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it...'" (Luke 9:23-24 NIV).

"If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you" (John 15:7, KJV).   

Easter

Participating in the cleansing provided by the Blood of Christ is not an admission of failure, and it does not cause Him to suffer more on your behalf.  The suffering of the Cross is complete; do not cause Him the sorrow of separation from you because of your aversion to being cleansed by the Blood.  You do not need to feel more shame but rather to feel more of the cleansing that is yours by heritage and by right; you have been adopted as God's own child. 

Discipline Is Your Friend

Embrace discipline, because it will serve as a vehicle for strength.  Push yourself a little bit. The fruits of this will be for good and not evil in your life.  The Lord is with you,  and He will protect you. 

"No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it"  (Hebrews 12:11). 

What You Can Do

You are not in charge of saving the world. 

You are unnecessary in the sense that you do not have to lift weights only the Lord can lift, move mountains only He has the strength to move, or bring about transformations that require the power of the Holy Spirit .  But you can pray the weight lifted, the mountain moved, and that the Holy Spirit will flow. 

Obedience makes a beginning. Obedience heightens the human spirit’s ability to flow with the Spirit of God.  When you are flowing in the same channel as the Holy Spirit, you place yourself in the path of His movement.  Cleansing is the result, cleansing, healing, and power to participate in the bringing about of God’s will on Earth and Christ’s second coming.

Heart Safety

Your safety lies in falling in love with your Lord. If you are in love with Him, your perspective will be transformed so that injurious words and actions are deflected from your heart.  God's love for you is a shield around you; but your love for Him grants a clarity of spiritual vision that protects your heart.  

Relationship

So long as you view your relationship with the Lord as a job you have to do rather than an experience that is yours to enjoy, you will struggle with rebellion against Him.  You are a child, not a servant; brethren, not a stranger.  Come to the family table! Do not hover at the door wondering what assignment will be yours.  Partake!  

"See what great love the Father has lavished upon us, that we should be called children of God.  And that is what we are!"  1 John 3:1

From Spirit to Flesh

The mystery of Christ is that we must die in order to live.  Giving up in order to receive is the opposite of the world’s philosophy, which tells us we must strive hard to obtain what we need and want. The Bible tells us that flesh must die to its own desires, giving way to the Christ-submitted spirit.    

The focus of the Christian’s heart is to know God, in fact, knowing God is to be the goal of our lives. The nurture God provides enables us to be lifted above the storm of earthly care, and we are provided every blessing in the Heavenly realms. This translates into corporeal blessing, because it is through intimacy with Christ that the reality of Christ is translated from Spirit to flesh. 

Scripture:  "...those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God" (Romans 8:14 NIV).