He Will Do It!

Self-discipline is always something I've struggled with, especially in the area of eating and exercise. Why just eat one biscuit when I could eat five, or if I can possibly find the smallest excuse not to exercise then I will. I try hard, force my will into submission, have a good week but then let it slip for the next few weeks before going back to 'being good' for a while. This morning I picked up Beth Moore's book, Praying God's Word which I dip into every so often and started reading the chapter on 'Overcoming Food-Related Strongholds'. The book is a topical prayer guide with Scriptures in prayer form.

I found what she said really very obvious which made me wonder why I've not thought it through like this before and I'm so thankful for God's Word which speaks so powerfully into these areas of our lives:

The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

1 Thessalonians 5.24

You and I cannot get our bodies  and souls under continued control. Cease trying to "get yourself together" and be disciplined in your own strength. It is useless. We might make it work for a little while but failure is imminent.

'Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!' These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teaching. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

Colossians 2.21-23

"Self-imposed worship": If man could truly subdue all his fleshly appetites by the pure power of his own determination, he would simply worship his own will...God will never allow us continued success through our purely fleshly determination. He knows we would end up worshiping our own wills and methods. Through the might of his Holy Spirit released through the authority of his Word, we are empowered to say no to the things we should- to our excesses, withholdings, compulsions, and harmful consumptions- and say yes to freedom, moderation, and better health.

The question of authority is one we are challenged to answer every single day.The concept of rededicating our lives to Christ only at infrequent revivals or conferences can prove disappointing and defeating. Joshua 24.15 suggests a far more workable approach: "Choose this day whom you will serve". Christ repeated the concept when he calls us to take up our crosses daily and follow him.Do you want to know something wonderful? A daily recommitment is not to ensure that we'll never fail, but to help us develop the mentality that every single day is a new day. A new chance to follow Christ. Obedience to God is not some diet we suddenly blow. It is something to which we recommit every single day, no matter how we blew it the day before.Victorious living is not an instant arrival. It is the pursuit of one victorious day at a time until the sun sets on enough to begin forming victorious habits.

So are you about to give up? Good. Give yourself up to God, to the authority of his Holy Spirit. Both Galatians 5.22 and 2 Timothy 1.7 tell us that self-discipline is a work and a quality of the fruit of the Spirit. God is the only One who can sanctify and make every part of us whole..."and he will do it".

Beth Moore