DISCIPLINE

When we hear the word, discipline, we often think of punishment for a wrong done. There is another aspect to the word which actually is a preventative for the punishment side of the meaning, and that is mental or spiritual discipline. The Encarta Dictionary puts it like this,

Mental self-control used in directing or changing behavior, learning something, or training for something.

When you make yourself do something that you would not normally do, it takes discipline. For me to get on the treadmill and walk for thirty minutes every day, takes discipline.

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. ²⁵Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Galatians 5:24-25 (NLT)

I like that phrase, “…nailed the passions...” Have you ever hammered a nail into a piece of wood? Sometimes you miss and hit your thumb! That doesn’t mean you never hammer a nail again, it just means you keep trying until you get better at it.

It is much the same with spiritual discipline; you keep trying until you get better at it.

In the Old Testament book of Daniel there is an account of some men trying to get Daniel, a Hebrew, in trouble with King Darius, a Mede. They tricked Darius into signing a document that took any person who prayed to anyone, divine or human—except to Darius and had them thrown into the den of lions (Daniel 6:7). Here is Daniel’s response…

Now when Daniel knew that the document was signed, he entered his house (now in his roof chamber he had windows open toward Jerusalem); and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously. Daniel 6:10 (NASB)

Notice it says “continued kneeling”, praying, etc. For you and I that might be a spiritual discipline feat in itself. But here is Daniel doing this even in the face of a horrible punishment! Of course, if you read the rest of the story you see that God rewarded Daniel’s incredible faith and discipline by bringing him safely out of the Lion’s den unharmed.

If we are to be followers of Christ, we too must have discipline in our prayer lives, the reading of the Word of God and in other areas that God brings before us. The point is we have to keep trying and not give up when we “miss the nail.” Set goals for yourself like reading five verses a day for a week. In the second week, expand it to ten verses. Your success in the small things will result in success in larger and larger things as you keep at it. Try a similar method with prayer. Start with five minutes, then ten and so on. God will reward your diligence.

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD

RELIABILITY

Have you ever asked someone to do something and they told you they would, only to discover later that they simply blew it off? That is the opposite of being reliable. We all want to be able to trust people to do what they say.

However, the most important aspect of that scenario is that we first make sure that we are reliable.

The dictionary (Encarta) says that reliable means…

Able to be trusted to do what is expected or has been promised.

It lists the following synonyms…

Dependable, Responsible, Trustworthy, Steadfast, Consistent, Unswerving, Unfailing

Here is an instance of its use in the Bible…

In all, there were 212 gatekeepers in those days, and they were listed according to the genealogies in their villages. David and Samuel the seer had appointed their ancestors because they were reliable men. 1 Chronicles 9:22 (NLT)

The Hebrew word translated “reliable” here literally means, firmness, fidelity, steadfastness or steadiness. Other translations say, responsible, trusted and dependable.

⁶ Many will say they are loyal friends,

but who can find one who is truly reliable? Proverbs 20:6 (NLT)

(Other translations: trustworthy, faithful, steadfast)

You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others. 2 Timothy 2:2 (NLT)

(Other translations: trustworthy, faithful, reliable, steadfast)

The Greek word used in the New Testament passages is similar to the Hebrew. Thayer’s Greek Dictionary gives the following definition:

Persons who show themselves faithful in the transaction of business, the execution of commands, or the discharge of official duties; one who kept his plighted faith, worthy of trust; that can be relied on.

As much as we would like others to be reliable, we need to first make sure that we can be trusted to do what we say we will do. We want to make sure that others know they can count on us or rely on us to be responsible and trustworthy.

After all, we that call ourselves Christians depend daily on the reliability and trustworthiness of Christ’s promise that one day we will be with Him forever. What better pattern of reliability could we ask for than the life and sacrificial death of Jesus?

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD

HONESTY

We had quite a few young people come into The SPRING Student Center during the six months that we have been open and tell us that they were born in 1995. You see, the minimum age for entry is twelve years of age and word got around that meant you had to say you were born in 1995.

Well we became suspicious and investigated actual birth dates. Initial examination uncovered seventeen individuals that had lied about the year of their birth. The next time one of those individuals came into The SPRING, I took the opportunity to discuss the important of being honest and used the following verse to illustrate an important principal. Jesus said,

¹⁰“If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. Luke 16:10 (NLT)

Thought I really felt bad that these kids couldn’t come in anymore (and then there were the tears!), I sincerely didn’t want them to think that they could get away with lying about things even if they weren’t earth shattering in their consequences. That’s how bad habits develop.

The Prophet Isaiah posed the question as to who could live in the presence of God. The answer is presented immediately following…

¹⁴ The sinners in Jerusalem shake with fear.

Terror seizes the godless.

“Who can live with this devouring fire?” they cry.

“Who can survive this all-consuming fire?”

¹⁵ Those who are honest and fair,

who refuse to profit by fraud,

who stay far away from bribes,

who refuse to listen to those who plot murder,

who shut their eyes to all enticement to do wrong—

¹⁶ these are the ones who will dwell on high.

The rocks of the mountains will be their fortress.

Food will be supplied to them,

and they will have water in abundance. Isaiah 33:14 - 16 (NLT)

God is holy and pure. There is nothing evil or deceitful in Him. Those last two qualities are a description of the devil, the father of lies (John 8:44). We are exhorted to worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).

¹ Who may worship in your sanctuary, LORD?

Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?

² Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right,

speaking the truth from sincere hearts. Psalms 15:1 - 2 (NLT)

The dictionary definition of honesty is in keeping with that laid forth in the Bible. Encarta Dictionary gives the following definition:

moral uprightness: the quality, condition, or characteristic of being fair, truthful, and morally upright; truthfulness: truthfulness, candor, or sincerity

What can be said for being dishonest? What is to be gained in the end?

For we cannot oppose the truth, but must always stand for the truth. 2 Corinthians 13:8 (NLT)

The Greek word for truth here is the same word used in the following verse…

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. John 14:6 (NLT)

In other words, we cannot oppose Jesus, but we must always stand for Him. He is the Truth. He is the essence of all that is true and honest.

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD

HONESTY

We had quite a few young people come into The SPRING Student Center during the six months that we have been open and tell us that they were born in 1995. You see, the minimum age for entry is twelve years of age and word got around that meant you had to say you were born in 1995.

Well we became suspicious and investigated actual birth dates. Initial examination uncovered seventeen individuals that had lied about the year of their birth. The next time one of those individuals came into The SPRING, I took the opportunity to discuss the important of being honest and used the following verse to illustrate an important principal. Jesus said,

¹⁰“If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. Luke 16:10 (NLT)

Thought I really felt bad that these kids couldn’t come in anymore (and then there were the tears!), I sincerely didn’t want them to think that they could get away with lying about things even if they weren’t earth shattering in their consequences. That’s how bad habits develop.

The Prophet Isaiah posed the question as to who could live in the presence of God. The answer is presented immediately following…

¹⁴ The sinners in Jerusalem shake with fear.

Terror seizes the godless.

“Who can live with this devouring fire?” they cry.

“Who can survive this all-consuming fire?”

¹⁵ Those who are honest and fair,

who refuse to profit by fraud,

who stay far away from bribes,

who refuse to listen to those who plot murder,

who shut their eyes to all enticement to do wrong—

¹⁶ these are the ones who will dwell on high.

The rocks of the mountains will be their fortress.

Food will be supplied to them,

and they will have water in abundance. Isaiah 33:14 - 16 (NLT)

God is holy and pure. There is nothing evil or deceitful in Him. Those last two qualities are a description of the devil, the father of lies (John 8:44). We are exhorted to worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).

¹ Who may worship in your sanctuary, LORD?

Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?

² Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right,

speaking the truth from sincere hearts. Psalms 15:1 - 2 (NLT)

The dictionary definition of honesty is in keeping with that laid forth in the Bible. Encarta Dictionary gives the following definition:

moral uprightness: the quality, condition, or characteristic of being fair, truthful, and morally upright; truthfulness: truthfulness, candor, or sincerity

What can be said for being dishonest? What is to be gained in the end?

For we cannot oppose the truth, but must always stand for the truth. 2 Corinthians 13:8 (NLT)

The Greek word for truth here is the same word used in the following verse…

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. John 14:6 (NLT)

In other words, we cannot oppose Jesus, but we must always stand for Him. He is the Truth. He is the essence of all that is true and honest.

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD

COURAGE

In our society, we tend to think that to have courage is to be able to run into a burning building and rescue someone. Some think that courage is being able to confront the bully or someone picking on you. I won’t argue either of those points.

What I would challenge you to consider is, what is the source of your courage? Is it based in the fact that you’ve trained as a fire fighter or recently taken martial arts classes? Those things may be well and good but your courage is still limited by your abilities.

Instead, I would have you look to Moses in the Bible…

Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land which the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance. ⁸“The LORD is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” Deuteronomy 31:7 - 8 (NASB)

Our strength, ability and therefore our courage must come from a higher source than ourselves. David put it this way in Psalms 121:1 - 3 (NLT),

¹ I look up to the mountains—

does my help come from there?

² My help comes from the LORD,

who made heaven and earth!

³ He will not let you stumble;

the one who watches over you will not slumber.

David believed this to the end. Shortly before his death, he conveyed these words to his son Solomon…

Then David said to his son Solomon, “Be strong and courageous, and act; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you until all the work for the service of the house of the LORD is finished. 1 Chronicles 28:20 (NASB)

Is there a difficult topic you need to address with someone? Ask God for His wisdom, through prayer and by studying His word. Has God called you to do something for His Kingdom? Then simply remember that He is with you and will cause you to succeed as long as you depend on Him. He will never leave you or forsake you.

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD

VALUES

The longer the SPRING Student Center is open, the more we come to see that many kids do not have an appropriate (or any!) sense of values, a sense of what is right and what is wrong.

Values and morals are very closely related.

Values- (as defined in Encarta Dictionary online)

1. accepted principles or standards of a person or a group

Morals- (Encarta)

1. involving right and wrong: relating to issues of right and wrong and to how individual people should behave

To save space, I’ll skip to number five in Encarta’s definition:

5. good by accepted standards: good or right, when judged by the standards of the average person or society at large

6. able to tell right from wrong: able to distinguish right from wrong and to make decisions based on that knowledge

The Bible refers to morals in First Corinthians 15:33 - 34 (HCSB)

³³Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” ³⁴Become right-minded and stop sinning, because some people are ignorant about God. I say this to your shame.

The Holman Bible Dictionary says that morals and values are closely related to the terms,

Integrity, righteousness (Psalms 7:8), uprightness (Psalms 25:21) and blameless (Psalms 101:2).

How do we teach values or morals, what is right and what is wrong? As I mentioned earlier, it is very apparent that many of the teens that come into the SPRING have, either no apparent sense of right and wrong or a warped one at best. That is not to say that none of them does, lest I appear too critical. There are many of these teens that are polite, know when they’ve done something wrong and exhibit a positive sense of values in other ways.

Many though, have rejected even what the civil law says is right and wrong. We can see this in the numbers of teens who engage in underage drinking of alcohol, abuse of drugs (prescription and illegal) and fighting in school just to name a few.

My concern is this: how do we teach a sense of values to those that do not seem to have any? If these kids have not been brought up in the church, where do they get this sense of values or morality?

The answer of course is first to model Biblical morality while demonstrating the love of God. Then, we need to incorporate scripture into our explanation of why we have certain rules and regulations. All of that is simply groundwork to lead them to a life-saving, life-transforming knowledge of Jesus Christ.

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD

CHARACTER

What builds character? Do we have any control over our character or are we “just the way we are?” Can we help others to develop character?

I believe that we can help each other build character and can instill in the young what good character means. It is not an overnight experience and is not without difficulty. However, in the end, it produces quality fruit for the Lord Jesus Christ.

And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; ⁴and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; ⁵and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Romans 5:3 - 5 (NASB)

Young people (actually, everyone) today is faced with the world’s view of success, that being you must make more money, so you can buy more stuff. The one with the most stuff wins. Perhaps a little over simplified but I think you get my drift. The Bible cautions us specifically about that aspect of character.

Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,” Hebrews 13:5 (NASB)

Below are 17 different aspects of character (not an exhaustive list). As you go throughout the coming week, consider how you might encourage a young person to desire one or more of these character traits. For example, how would you go about trying to show someone that being humble was the right way to be?

1. Blameless and harmless…Phil 2:15
2. Contrite…Isa 57:15; Isa 66:2
3. Faithful…Rev 17:14
4. Godly…Psa 4:3; 2 Pet 2:9
5. Guileless…John 1:47
6. Humble…Psa 34:2; 1 Pet 5:5
7. Just…Gen 6:9; Hab 2:4; Luke 2:25
8. Loving…Col 1:4; 1 Thess 4:9
9. Meek…Isa 29:19; Matt 5:5
10. Merciful…Psa 37:26; Matt 5:7
11. Obedient…Rom 16:19; 1 Pet 1:14
12. Pure in heart…Matt 5:8; 1 John 3:3
13. Righteous…Isa 60:21; Luke 1:6
14. Sincere…2 Cor 1:12; 2 Cor 2:17
15. Steadfast…Acts 2:42; Col 2:5
16. True…2 Cor 6:8
17. Upright…1 Kin 3:6; Psa 15:2

Those of us who have accepted Christ as Savior know that without Him this is more than an impossible task. However, sometimes we have to see how impossible something is before we can say, “Lord, I can only do this with you help. Please come into my life and help me be the person you want me to be.”

And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on the character of Christ, like putting on new clothes. Galatians 3:27 (NLT)

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD