Discipline– Regimen, practice, training, raise up, nurture!
1 Corinthians 9:24-27– “Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.”
Hebrews 12:1– “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”
3 John 2– “Beloved, I pray that in every way you may succeed and prosper and be in good health [physically], just as [I know] your soul prospers [spiritually].”
John is praying that Gaius physical health would match his spiritual health!
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24– “May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he’ll do it!”
Spiritual Disciplines for Spiritual Health
Hearing God’s Voice
IS HEARING GOD’S VOICE REALLY THAT IMPORTANT?
Jeremiah 7:24– “But my people would not listen to me. They kept doing whatever they wanted, following the stubborn desires of their evil hearts. They went backward instead of forward.”
Isaiah 55:2-3– “Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen to me, and you will eat what is good. You will enjoy the finest food. “Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, and you will find life.I will make an everlasting covenant with you. I will give you all the unfailing love I promised to David.”
DOES GOD REALLY SPEAK?
Job 33:14– “For God speaks again and again, though people do not recognize it.”
John 10:27– “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
So hearing God’s voice as a spiritual discipline to be spiritually healthy is about first:
- Believing
I believe I can hear God’s voice for my life! God wants to speak to me personally!
Isaiah 30:21– “Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, “This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left.”
BELIEVING IS KNOWING! YOU MIGHT ASK, HOW CAN I KNOW THE VOICE OF GOD!
Learn the Bible and you will learn to recognize God’s voice when He’s speaking to you!
2 Timothy 3:16– “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.”
Scripture is not simply a book that tells about God, it actually contains God. His breath is embedded in His Word!
“The Bible is the only book that while you’re reading it the author shows up!” (Pastor Bill Johnson)
And when He shows up, you hear His voice!
So hearing God’s voice as a spiritual discipline to be spiritually healthy is about first: Believing!
- Belonging
Romans 8:14– “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.”
John 10:2-4– “But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice.
YOU BELONG HERE!
Ephesians 2:19– “Now you are no longer strangers to God and foreigners to heaven, but you are members of God’s very own family, citizens of God’s country, and you belong in God’s household with every other Christian.”
So hearing God’s voice as a spiritual discipline to be spiritually healthy is about first: Believing and then Belonging!
WHEN I KNOW I BELONG! I HEAR HIS VOICE, EVEN THE VOICE OF CORRECTION LET’S ME KNOW I BELONG. THEN IT’S ABOUT:
- Becoming
Isaiah 6:1-9 – “It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. They were calling out to each other,
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory!”
Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke. Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.”
Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.” And he said, “Yes, go, and say to this people,……”
In this story we find Isaiah becoming who God called him to be and also hearing God’s voice and becoming God’s voice to his generation!
Jeremiah 1:5-9– “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” “O Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I can’t speak for you! I’m too young!” The Lord replied, “Don’t say, ‘I’m too young,’ for you must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you. And don’t be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and will protect you. I, the Lord, have spoken!” Then the Lord reached out and touched my mouth and said,
“Look, I have put my words in your mouth!”
Jeremiah is becoming who God called him to be and he is becoming God’s voice to his generation!
Your spiritual health is connected to you becoming all that God has called you to be becoming his voice to this generation!
2 Corinthians 5:17-21– “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”
WHERE DID IT ALL START FOR PAUL?
Acts 9:3-6– “As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?” “Who are you, lord?” Saul asked.
And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting! Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
Saul heard the voice of Jesus calling him and from that moment he started a journey becoming who God created him to be and in becoming who God created him to be he would become God’s voice to his generation!
CONCLUSION: Hearing God’s voice as a spiritual discipline is key to being spiritually healthy and fulfilling God’s plan for your life!
You believe! You belong! You become!
What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through this message? Have you heard the voice of Jesus calling you?