This is an attempt to dig a little deeper into how to use the Word of God as the sword of the Spirit and its  relationship to faith and the heart.  This can only be the at best a short outline, but hopefully, will be useful.

Romans 10:17  So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Hebrews 11:1  Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen.

Before the fall, Adam and Eve walked with God in the cool of the evening.

They had heard things like this from God.

Genesis 1:28   God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food.

Genesis 2:16 Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; 17 but you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”

The serpent came along, sowed doubt, Adam and Eve disobeyed, and the Fall of mankind in the Garden occurred.  You can read the whole account in the first few chapters of Genesis.   No matter what the topic, the serpent sows doubt as to the truth of God’s Word.

Genesis 3:1  Now the serpent was more subtle than any animal of the field which Yahweh God had made. He said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?”

Fast fowarding to today.

Jesus came to undo what happened in the Garden.  He did undo what happened in the Garden.

There is one important key.   Even though Jesus Christ offers a complete salvation, it has to be individually asked for, received, and applied.

There are a lot of examples that could be given to help illustrate the point.  Here’s one.  If you have a car, and a key to the car, but you don’t put the key into the ignition, and turn the key, neither the key nor the car will do you any good.  I know, now there are some keyless cars, but walk back in time a little for the application.

So this brings us to the Word of God, how to use it as a key, or as the Bible says, as the Sword of the Spirit.

The Word of God does several things.  It builds faith because faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.  Faith comes by hearing the Word of God preached in a church, a podcast, or wherever it is preached.  It also builds faith when you say the Word of God out of your own mouth to yourself…in your home, getting ready for work, washing dishes, walking by the way…the Word of God out of your mouth goes into your ears and hearing the Word of God builds faith.

But how do you use the Word on a regular basis when problems come?   This is where the rubber meets the road.

Now this only applies to believers, because only they have access to the promises of God.  You have to be born again to have access to the promises of God through Jesus Christ.

For the Word of God to work in your life as an effective tool, as the Sword of the Spirit against lies, you have to settle that there is one truth about any situation.

That is the Word of God.

The Word of God covers all sorts of situations.  There are all sorts of promises of every kind from health to provision to emotional healing to deliverance to family and more.  You have to find the ones that apply to what you are dealing with and then, you have to count on it as the final word.

Think about Adam and Eve in the garden.  It really wasn’t hard for them to believe that God was good.  God had created a beautiful garden.  It wasn’t hard to believe that their needs were supplied.  The Lord God had told them they could eat of any tree of the garden.  It wasn’t hard to believe that they were healthy.  They were created perfect, in the image of God, in the prime of life.  There was neither sin, sickness, nor death prior to the fall.  All was perfect.

So in a sense Adam and Eve did not have the same challenge of faith that we have.  Everything around them was beautiful and perfect.  Nevertheless, in spite of that perfection, the serpent still lied to them, they believed the lie, disobeyed, and they fell.

Due to the fall, sin, sickness and death entered the world.

When Jesus came, He restored the ability for mankind to partake of the promises of God.  However, it is not automatic.  And this is where the Word has to become food, faith, a sword, and an examiner of the heart.  And now, in a sense, we have to do the reverse.  We are in the midst of a fallen world.  Jesus holds out the promises of God to us, the perfect promises of God, and we have to believe in spite of what we see, hear, or feel.  It’s a different kind of challenge.

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

When you read the Word of God, what do you believe?  Do you believe what you are reading?  Or do you doubt?  Because it is faith that inherits the promises.

Sometimes the Bible is used in a “that’s nice” type of sense, but not as a sword to win a battle.  In other words, you read the Bible, you’re drinking your coffee, that sounds nice,  it makes you feel better, and that’s good.

But you may still have a battle to win.

Sometimes we don’t always feel good.

In the battles of life, when you don’t feel on top of things you need to use the Bible, the Word of God as a sword.  Jesus used “it is written” to defeat satan and we must also.

How do we do this?

First of all, when you read the Bible, or when you go to church, take note of those verses that are particularly meaningful to you in a situation you are going through.  Whenever you notice something, you may not need it right then, but the Holy Spirit might be pointing it out to you for the future.  Take note of it.  Make your own personal notebook of promises unique to your situation.  You have to have a promise to offset the problem.  Find the promises that are meaningful to you for the problems that you are facing.

Finally, in your heart, at the very bottom of any situation, which is actually in the bottom of your heart as to what you believe and choose, it is what you believe, what you choose to believe,  it is  in the heart where you have to decide, what is true?  Are my feelings true?  Is my circumstance true?  Is the Word of God true?

Proverbs 4:23  Keep your heart with all diligence,
    for out of it is the wellspring of life.

Proverbs 4:23 Above every charge keep thy heart, For out of it [are] the outgoings of life.  (Young’s)

Proverbs 4:23  Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.  (KJV)

Proverbs 4:23 (multiple verisions for comparison)

The heart, and what you believe in your heart, is the “heart” of the issue for out of the heart flow thoughts, words, and actions.

It may be true that there are clouds in the sky.  It is also true the the sun is shining behind the clouds and that the clouds may be moved away by the wind.  Circumstances can change.  God’s Word is immoveable.

So yes, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation.  But being born again does not automatically renew  our minds.

The Apostle Paul says this in the book of Romans.

Romans 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

So even if your spirit is born again, you can still have lies come to your mind.

Psalm 58:3  The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.

You can be newly born as a new creation in Christ, but if you continue to speak the lies of the past and things contrary to the Word of God, it will lead you astray.  This is why it is imperative to understand these issues of the mind and heart at the beginning.  Like Jonah, there can always be a course correction, but it is easier not go get off course in the first place.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for and faith is related to our believing and faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.

Isaiah 53:1  Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?  (KJV)

Matthew 9:29  Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.”

To receive, we have to remain stable in believing the Word of God.  Stable.  Steadfast.  Immoveable.  Without doubting.

James 1:2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 Let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, without any doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed. 7 For that man shouldn’t think that he will receive anything from the Lord. 8 He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Do we need to do anything else?  Maybe.  This is where prayer is more than asking God to solve a problem, but asking and listening for guidance.    Some people keep prayer diaries or write things down.  They can look things over later.  Certain scriptures or directions may be repeated as time progresses.  Also, if you write things down that are distracting your mind, like, “I have to remember to pay that bill today”, it will clear your mind so you can keep your mind centered on prayer and hearing God.  Then you can deal with those issues later.

Ephesians 6:13  Therefore put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

The only way we can know if we have “done all’ is to keep seeking God for any particular guidance in any particular situation.  For example, if you are dealing with a financial issue, consider if you have been tithing on a regular basis.  For finances, that would be one thing to do as part of “having done all”.

But if you feel  you are the point where the “having done all” is covered, then stand.  Stand knowing the Word of God is the final authority and as you use it the way Jesus did, saying “it is written”, as the Sword of the Spirit as it talks of in Ephesians, then faith is built and faith is the substance of things hoped for.

Matthew 4:  But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of God’s mouth.’”

Ephesians 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;

 

A scripture I like to remember to stay focused on the promises of God is this one.  In other words, don’t look at the circumstance or how you feel.

Jonah 2:8  Those who regard lying vanities forsake their own mercy.

Remember what was said earlier about finding promises that are meaningful to you?  Or another way to say that is to find those verses that keep you on track so you stay focused on the Word of God.  Depending on the circumstance, the verses could be different, but the principle is the same.  Ultimately, you have to know that the Word of God is the final authority and settle that in your heart.

Here is an example of  using the Word of God as the Sword of the Spirit.   (This is a true example.)

Not too long ago I was suddenly feeling quite unwell, which is unusual as I walk in divine health.  I felt badly enough that I was going to call a prayer line, also unusual as I usually prefer to deal with things myself.  I had a prayer line number written on a piece of paper on a window sill because I had been told once to write it down, so I had.  I stood up, picked the piece of paper up, and I felt so badly it slipped out of my hand and drifted onto the table as I sat back down in the chair.  No longer having the number in hand and not really having the motivation to pick it up since I felt so badly, I simply started quoting the Word of God.  It is written, “by Jesus stripes I am healed.”   I watched the time.   I was positive that Jesus already paid for healing at the cross.  It was not a matter of questioning (as is sometimes done), well, maybe God will grant my prayer today, maybe not.  No, healing is a done deal but we do have to resist the lies of satan otherwise.  Satan is a defeated foe and it can take a bit of time to win the battle.  Lazurus was dead four days before Jesus came on the scene.  Jesus resurrected in three days.  The disciples dealt with the storm for a while before Jesus stilled it.  Times differ with different problems.   So I just continued to say, “by Jesus’s stripes I am healed”.  The fact of the matter is, for a while there I couldn’t have done much else since I didn’t feel well and it was a bit hard to begin speaking.  You know, sometimes it is hard to speak when you are not feeling well.  But I continued.  And somewhere between 12 and 18 minutes I began to feel better and within 18 minutes it was over.  I felt well and went on and did whatever had to be done that day.  But that was from a situation of feeling so bad that I was ready to call a prayer line and then didn’t because I was so weak that the number fell out of my hand to being up and about.

And it doesn’t have to be healing.  Problems come in sorts of sizes and disguises.  You have to have find the Word of God to deal with the problem.  You have to find the Word of God or promise of God unique to your problem.  You have to be a believer who is born again to be able to access the promises of God.   You have to decide that “Forever, O Lord, your Word is settled in heaven,” and that “You have magnified your Word about your name”.   You have to decide all this and settle it in your heart, and stand with “it is written”,  for God watches over his Word to perform it.

For a while what you feel or what it  looks like may not match what you think the  promises says.  But faith  comes by hearing and faith is the substance of things hoped for and if you know the Word of God is the final truth about any situation, sooner or later, the Word of God becomes the hammer that breaks in pieces the rock of a situation.

Am I saying that all healing is that quick? No.

Is it easy?  No.

Some things are easier than others, but it is not necessarily easy.

Jesus likened the soil of the heart to various types producing 30, 60, or 100-fold.  Even in the same person, a person may receive answers in one area easier than in other areas.   We have to keep working on the soil of our hearts in all areas by the washing of the water of the Word and the hearing of the Word.  It does both.

There are times in the Bible where people were healed immediately, where Jesus prayed for someone twice, where “as they went their way they were healed”, and where they were healed by speaking the Word.

This goes back to the discussion of “having done all, stand.”  So how do you know if you have done all?

Practice.  Keep praying.  Keep reading the Bible.  Keep going to church.  Keep listening to sermons.  Keep applying the things you learn.  Tithe.  Keep listening for God’s answers to problems as you pray.

It’s like learning to ride a bike.  A person can try to tell you how fast to pedal, to sit up straight, and try to walk with you while you get going learning to ride.   And you might try a few times and fall down.  But after a while you get a sense what you need to do to keep riding the bike.

With faith, you will get a sense of if there is something you need to do or how to approach it.  You gain experience.

Then there are other ways to deal with sickness.  It is how the Spirit of God leads you.

James 5:13 Is any among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praises. 14 Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the assembly, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord, 15 and the prayer of faith will heal him who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Confess your offenses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The insistent prayer of a righteous person is powerfully effective. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it didn’t rain on the earth for three years and six months. 18 He prayed again, and the sky gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

19 Brothers, if any among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back, 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

 

As stated in the very beginning, this can only touch on this very large topic.  But hopefully, it is helpful.

The Apostle Paul  speaks in the New Testament and says this:

I Corinthians 12: 12  For as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of the body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ. ¹³ For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free; and were all given to drink into one Spirit. ¹⁴ For the body is not one member, but many. ¹⁵ If the foot would say, “Because I’m not the hand, I’m not part of the body,” it is not therefore not part of the body. ¹⁶ If the ear would say, “Because I’m not the eye, I’m not part of the body,” it’s not therefore not part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the smelling be? ¹⁸ But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body, just as he desired. ¹⁹ If they were all one member, where would the body be? ²⁰ But now they are many members, but one body. ²¹ The eye can’t tell the hand, “I have no need for you,” or again the head to the feet, “I have no need for you.” ²² No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. ²³ Those parts of the body which we think to be less honorable, on those we bestow more abundant honor; and our unpresentable parts have more abundant propriety; ²⁴ whereas our presentable parts have no such need. But God composed the body together, giving more abundant honor to the inferior part, ²⁵ that there should be no division in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. ²⁶ When one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. When one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. 

 

Let’s think about the human body.  Each type of cell is shaped different according to its function.  A muscle cell is shaped differently than a brain cell.   A blood cell is shaped differently than a muscle cell.

Each organ has a different function.  The kidneys accomplish something different than the heart.

Each part of the body has a different function.  A hand operates differently than a foot.  An ear  operates differently than the eye.

All those parts of the body that belong to a certain function of the body will be similar.  But in some respect, they will be different.  Think about how many individual parts make up an eye, or an ear, or a hand, or a foot.

Some parts are so different, that if they met at a meeting (speaking metaphorically of course), an eye would probably exclaim to a tongue, “Why do you look like that, why do you do what you do, you are not like  us!”

God is so big, his purposes so large, that each part of the body has a different purpose and call.

Each must be focused on what God has called it to do.

There is probably one part of the body that relates more frequently to other parts.  That would be the blood.  The blood cells circulate around bringing oxygen and nutrition to the other cells.  They also remove waste.

There are some cells and parts of the body that, while different, are closely related.  For example, there is a place where  the muscles attach to the bone.  They are closely related, but different in function at the same time.

Consider the  immune system, how it functions.  It is quite complex, has multiple parts and if one of the parts is not working, the whole system will not be as effective.  Or, what if one of the parts  of the immune system, decided it wanted to try to be a different part than that which it was created to be?  It wouldn’t work out.

And while the body is one, there may be some parts of the body that never ever connect with another part of the body.  For example, a lifetime could go by and say, a toenail might never have any reason to deal with, say, the hair.

Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgment Seat;
But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,
When two strong men stand face to face though they come from the ends of the earth!
Rudyard Kipling

Most of the time that makes up our lives is spent proving us…how do we react in a situation, how closely do we follow the scriptures, how consistent are we…and many other tests along these lines.

There is only one place in the Bible where God says, “Prove me”.  That scripture is in Malachi.

I would be so bold as to say that anyone who has consistently, without fail, without doubting, consistently tithed day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, however their income comes in, will not stop tithing because they are aware of the benefits.

When it comes to money people say about churches, “all they want is your money.”  A church or minister would be negligent not to tell you to give to the Lord, just as it can be negligent for a health care professional not to tell you about lifestyle and how it affects your health.

A work-out center offers you weights and equipment to improve your health, but realistically, they are going to talk about your diet as well.

No matter what realm you work in, whatever topic you are talking about, ongoing lifestyle and prevention are important parts of the discussion.

You could buy a $100,000 dollar car, but if you don’t keep the oil changed and the maintenance up, you can trash it just as easily as a car that costs less.  The same goes for a house, or motor home, or boat or anything.

There is a tendency to think that because the things of God are more invisble, that they don’t operate by some of the same common sense principles as the things we see.  We know it costs money to keep a house repaired, to fix the plumbing, to lay down new tile, to paint with a fresh coat of paint, and to repair the roof.  Somehow, when a church asks for money to do the same, it is called “money-grubbing” or “all they want is your money”.

Just as a side note, you have to realize that Amazon and Wal-Mart and all those retailers are after your money as well, but the message is packaged differently.  A church is trying to pay for expenses so it can keep bringing you the Word of God week after week.  A retailer is after  your money for other purposes.

This problem is not new.  Here is an example of the same problem discussed in the book of Haggai.  Notice that after the people worked on the house of God, then the Word of the Lord came…I am with you.   This was an if…then proposition.

Haggai 1:1  In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, Yahweh’s word came by Haggai, the prophet, to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying, ² “This is what Yahweh of Armies says: These people say, ‘The time hasn’t yet come, the time for Yahweh’s house to be built.’”

³ Then Yahweh’s word came by Haggai, the prophet, saying, ⁴ “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies waste? ⁵ Now therefore this is what Yahweh of Armies says: Consider your ways. ⁶ You have sown much, and bring in little. You eat, but you don’t have enough. You drink, but you aren’t filled with drink. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm, and he who earns wages earns wages to put them into a bag with holes in it.”

⁷ This is what Yahweh of Armies says: “Consider your ways. ⁸ Go up to the mountain, bring wood, and build the house. I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified,” says Yahweh. ⁹ “You looked for much, and, behold, it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?” says Yahweh of Armies, “Because of my house that lies waste, while each of you is busy with his own house. ¹⁰ Therefore for your sake the heavens withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit. ¹¹ I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on that which the ground produces, on men, on livestock, and on all the labor of the hands.”

¹² Then Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed Yahweh, their God’s voice, and the words of Haggai, the prophet, as Yahweh, their God, had sent him; and the people feared Yahweh.

¹³ Then Haggai, Yahweh’s messenger, spoke Yahweh’s message to the people, saying, “I am with you,” says Yahweh.

¹⁴ Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of Yahweh of Armies, their God, ¹⁵ in the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.

In today’s world, it is easy to go to Facebook, YouTube, and other online places to hear sermons or listen to audio broadcasts of the messages of God.

I would suggest to you that in the midst of all that, don’t forget to tithe.  Tithe to to those places that you listen to, even if you are not local.  They still have expenses to bring the message to you electronically.

With all the fuss about the separation of church and state, which actually has been misinterpreted in modern times…the state was supposed to stay out of the church’s business, and not the other way around, but in any case, with all of the fuss about the separation of church and state do you think that the church is somehow a welfare arm of the state and that it is funded by them?  No.  Those soup kitchens and clothing shops and various things churches offer are there because of donations of church individuals, and those individuals have to deal with the same higher gas and food prices th at you do.  So don’t think that churches somehow have some “magical” donation button they push with the government to fill their coffers.  They don’t.

They are upheld by the tithes and offerings of those who attend them.  In turn, God blesses those who give tithes and offerings.

If you say, I have seen people blessed that don’t give tithes and offerings, consider that “the wheels of God grind slowly, but grind exceedingly fine.”  There was a time during the Great Depression when all those who had money and perhaps no faith in God lost quite a bit.  Some committed suicide.  The time comes when what used to work, like Sampson’s strength, no longer works any more.

Proverbs 10:22  Yahweh’s blessing brings wealth,
and he adds no trouble to it.

Why do I think there is such economic trouble in this land?

I believe it is because the majority of people in this nation, including Christians, did not tithe. (tithing statitics here)  So, the devourer was not rebuked.  Over and over you will see a theme on this site that if there is a problem, rather than blaming God, look to see where there have been sins of omission, sins of commission, or a combination thereof to bring about a problem.

Proverbs 26:2 Like a fluttering sparrow,
like a darting swallow,
so the undeserved curse doesn’t come to rest.

There are varying translations of this verse, and some use the word “him”,  others the word “me”.  I prefer the “me” translations as I think they express the problem more clearly.

Job 19:28  If you say, ‘How we will persecute him!’ because the root of the matter is found in me,

For you say: ‘why do we persecute him?’ For The Good Word has found occasion against me (Aramaic Bible in Plain English)

But ye say, ‘Why do we pursue after him?’ And the root of the matter hath been found in me.  (Young’s Literal Translation)

Remember, as the popular saying goes, “I don’t have a dog in this fight”.  I’m not a church.  I’m just trying to help some of you out who wonder why your prayers for financial help are not answered or slow to be answered.  Consider these things and consider giving to the church(es) where you get your spiritual food.  Tithe to one and give offerings to others.  Just make sure those churches preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and lead people to salvation.

I was going to end it there, but here’s another scripture, at least part of one; the chapter is longer.  This goes back to the question of why are the economic conditions the way they are?  There was a time when the economic outlook of the country was bright.  The good times were “rolling” so to speak.  But during that time, were tithes given?  Were offerings given?   Did people remember the Lord, enough people, that is, not just some, but enough.   Like the history in the book of Jonah, which is a small four-chapter book found towards the end of the Old Testament, it took national repentance for the direction of the nation to change.  And, in the book of Jonah, there was a bright outcome.  They did repent and change.

Deuteronomy 28:47  Because you didn’t serve Yahweh your God with joyfulness and with gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things; ⁴⁸ therefore you will serve your enemies whom Yahweh sends against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in lack of all things. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you.

 

Natural events are precipitated by spiritual causes.

And I will add this too.  In translation, the Bible is translated often in terms of implying God is going to do some kind of judgement.  And while in some cases that may be correct, there is a certain amount of translation that is more like, you enter into a law (by obedience or disobedience), and the law brings the consequences.

In other words, if someone jumps off of a high cliff (don’t do it), the law of gravity goes into action.  God does not sit in heaven deciding to judge the person for jumping and personally bring a judgement of that person getting squished on the bottom of the valley.  No.  The person entered into the law by disobedience, and reaps the consequences of the same.

The reason I mention that is because the Old Testament God sounds very different from Jesus due to translation issues.  There is a certain amount of translation going on that should be more like “God lets it happen”.  That would change how God is viewed if the translations were consistently like that.

In other words, if you move out of an umbrella of protection by disobeying God, God “lets it happen” that you get wet.  It’s not God doing it.  This is why I continually repeat, “Don’t blame God.”

This group was mentioned in a prior post on alms giving.  They are raising money to drill water wells.  Their cut off date for donations is March 18.

If you are interested in donating, you can copy and paste the url in your browser.

https://lifetoday.org/life-sustaining

Donations are gathered together and every time the combined donations reach a certain amount, they are able to drill another water well.

This might be a good project to present to your church, or children’s church, if they are looking for an outreach, but the window is closing quickly.

https://lifetoday.org/life-sustaining

One ministry from which I received correspondence is in the process of drilling water wells.   If you are interested in that project, here is the link.  (Copy and paste it into your browser.)

https://lifetoday.org/outreaches/water-for-life/

Psalm 41:1  Blessed is he who considers the poor.
    Yahweh will deliver him in the day of evil.
² Yahweh will preserve him, and keep him alive.
    He shall be blessed on the earth,
    and he will not surrender him to the will of his enemies.
³ Yahweh will sustain him on his sickbed,
    and restore him from his bed of illness.
⁴ I said, “Yahweh, have mercy on me!
    Heal me, for I have sinned against you.”

 

Matthew 6:1  “Be careful that you don’t do your charitable giving before men, to be seen by them, or else you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. ² Therefore, when you do merciful deeds, don’t sound a trumpet before yourself, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may get glory from men. Most certainly I tell you, they have received their reward. ³ But when you do merciful deeds, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand does, ⁴ so that your merciful deeds may be in secret, then your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

 

Matthew 25: 31  “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. ³² Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. ³⁴ Then the King will tell those on his right hand, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; ³⁵ for I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? ³⁸ When did we see you as a stranger and take you in, or naked and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and come to you?’

⁴⁰ “The King will answer them, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

 

James 2:14   What good is it, my brothers, if a man says he has faith, but has no works? Can faith save him? ¹⁵ And if a brother or sister is naked and in lack of daily food, ¹⁶ and one of you tells them, “Go in peace. Be warmed and filled;” yet you didn’t give them the things the body needs, what good is it? ¹⁷ Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself. ¹⁸ Yes, a man will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

¹⁹ You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe, and shudder. ²⁰ But do you want to know, vain man, that faith apart from works is dead?

“Disciple” and “discipline” are similar words and come from a similar Latin root.

A disciple is one who learns and follows.

Discipline is self-control.

You can read more extensive definitions of “disciple” and “discipline” here.

Discipline is a friend.  Discipline is a good thing.  It may time time and effort to get disciplined in any area of life, but once you have a discipline in place, it will work for you, not against you.

Hebrews 12:11  All chastening seems for the present to be not joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Another way of talking about discipline is to talk about forming a good habit.

You can pick anything in life.  If you have a problem and form a good habit or solution to overcome it, the discipline to create that good habit is worth it.

That covers so many arenas that it is only possible to give a very few common problems that people seek solutions to.

• Eating correctly
• Exercising on a regular basis
• Finding lost keys or cell phones
• Not taking a shopping list and forgetting what you needed and having to take a second trip
• Not calling in a presciption on time

The solutions are varied and books and webinars have been given on the topic of overcoming bad habits so that will not be addressed here, other than to suggest one possible solution.

• Write down one problem you are dealing with.
• Think about it and pray about it, ask for God’s wisdom and help
• Write down some ideas that come to you and see if you can at least find a first step among those ideas.

When you are praying it is easy to get distracted.  While you are thinking and praying about how to solve a problem, while you are asking God for help,  you may start thinking of things you need to do such as buy lettuce at the store, or write out a bill, or get the car filled up with gas the next time you are out.  Write those things down because in the act of writing them down, you will clear them from your mind.  It will free up your mind to stay focused on what you are praying about and your mind will stop going over and over what you need to remember to do.  And, of course, since they are written down, you will not worry about forgetting them.

It is possible, not only possible, but likely  that you will only get a first step idea or solution and not the whole picture or final solution.  In other words, if you are thinking of finding a new apartment to rent, you might think of talking to the property manager you met the other day.  Or, once you pray about it, you may end up talking to someone in the lunch room at work and they mention a room they know is for rent.  You might see a for rent sign as you drive to work and feel like you should stop in there after work.

The point is, pray, ask for God’s help, and then be open to ideas or help coming  in various ways.

If you are thinking of eating better write down the problem and then write down where you fall down.

Do you eat junk food cookies or snacks?  Write that down.

Do you buy a candy bar every afternoon?  Write that down.

Then look at the list.  How can you change?  Don’t buy the cookies and bring them home.  So then you have to decide what you will buy instead.  Apples?  Yogurt?  As for the candy bar, instead of standing in the checkout where all the candy bars are stacked, tempting you, go through the self-check out which usually has less temptation around it.   You might have to get a book on nutrition or learn some things online about healthy snacks.  You might find a group where you can be accountable in your effort to become healthier.  Any improvement for discipline in any area will take effort.

You will never solve a problem unless you look at it, confront it, actually think about how it is derailing your life, and then pray for God’s wisdom and guidance for solutions and follow it.

It is a matter of forming good habits and not breaking them.  It takes time and effort and discipline to learn about what to do and then take the ongoing, consistent effort to do it, but you will be very pleased with yourself and the results if you consistently beat a bad habit.  And you can thank God for His help.

Speaking of accountability, one of the organizations I admire is AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) because of the discipline and accountability there.   People with similar problems help each other.

At the Lindell Recovery Network,  a person is matched up with a recovered person of the same age and problem.

If you are  near Los Angeles, there is the Dream Center.

Accountability is why people of all walks of life have coaches.  People tend to stay more on the “straight and narrow” if they know they are accountable to someone for how they are following through on commitments.

Even the best professional atheletes at the top of their games have coaches.

Life is a lifelong process of improvement through more discipline and discipleship.  And, it is not a luxury, it is a necessity.  There are plenty of stories about when someone reached the top of their game in business or sports through hard work and discipline, only to lose it all through a lack of discipline in another area of life.  Being a disciple of Jesus and learning discipline is not a option, it is a necessity.

Proverbs 3:13  Happy is the man who finds wisdom,
    the man who gets understanding.
¹⁴ For her good profit is better than getting silver,
    and her return is better than fine gold.
¹⁵ She is more precious than rubies.
    None of the things you can desire are to be compared to her.
¹⁶ Length of days is in her right hand.
    In her left hand are riches and honor.
¹⁷ Her ways are ways of pleasantness.
    All her paths are peace.
¹⁸ She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her.