4-23-2022 West Palm Beach 7th Day BAPTIST Pastor Garfield “The Art of Discipline” Nehemiah 2;11-20
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I want to say to us Christians that the life we are living may require us to change our name or change our conduct. I want to challenge someone right now that it is discipline that will make the difference in your lives. It’s amazing what a little discipline can do. We have disciplines in our lives but the problem is that we are wonderful people when it comes to settling. Our objective may have been to lose 100 pounds but when we lost 50 pounds we started to settle and eat rice again.
Sometimes we settle instead of going all the way. The art of discipline. The word discipline; the verb is for punishment or putting somebody in order. Discipline is also a noun that means someone is aligning themselves to an expected norm of the society they dwell in. Church of God I want to reason with you a little bit. You call yourselves Christians, I and me also. So verses like Galatians 3:13 mean something to us. Jesus has redeemed us from the curse of the law having become the curse for us that the blessings of Abraham might come upon us, all Gentiles in Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This is so that we may receive the promise of the Spirit. II Corinthians 5;17 says therefore if you are in Christ you are a new creation, old things have passed away, behold all things have become new.
Jesus Christ is your righteousness. The real truth of the matter is that when you are a Christian, you are someone who will inherit from the Kingdom of Heaven. When you go on the road to travel, people may not be able to tell where you are from. They may not be able to tell your address but they can tell what kind of life you are living. I want to say to us as Christians, they should know that you are a Christian; not even by how you are dressed but by how you act. The real truth is that there are some of us, including myself, as Christians we are as undisciplined as those who are not Christian. One thing we must understand is that as we follow Christ, there are some things that we have to leave behind. As we follow Christ there is a level of commitment that we must make to the things of God. As we follow Christ it is not so much about what I want or what I like but what is required of the citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. Let’s go back to Sister Carol’s testimony where she wanted to be smaller and lose weight. She determined in her heart to do things differently. And brothers and sisters she missed many rice meals and many sugar meals. She now has a big smile on her face after losing almost 100 pounds.
I can tell you that the long term goal is better than the short term success that we are working toward. It is time for us to realize as individuals of West Palm Beach, as individuals of the church of God, as individuals who like Jesus Christ, as individuals who accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, as individuals who want to walk like Jesus Christ, as individuals who want to deny Satan, as individuals who want to be Christ like, that there are some things that are expected of us. Discipline as a noun is the action that regulates us toward an expected behavior. How disciplined are you to do the things that are required of you? Discipline is a standard of behavior and it is navigating a process toward the goal that God has intended for your life. Church of God it is important that we understand some things.
== Go placidly amid the noise and remember what peace there may be in silence. Placidly means to go calmly or go peacefully in a peaceful manner.
==As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all people. Church of God, because we are undisciplined we don’t understand what peace is. Because we are undisciplined our task is not to be on good terms with anybody but it is to be on good terms with our own points of view.
==Speak your truth quietly and clearly. This requires a lot of discipline when you really believe the other person is talking foolishness.
==Listen to others. Even the dumb and ignorant have their say. This means that even if they are not making any sense, take the time to listen. You just may get something out of it.
==Be at peace with God. Whatever your labors and aspirations are in this noisy, confusing life, keep peace in your soul.
Brothers and sisters let us reason together in that very often we start a task and we don’t bring it to completion because of indiscipline. Very often we start a task and it needs to be done in a timely manner and we finish it 10 days or 10 weeks afterwards because of indiscipline. Very often we blame our circumstances for why it wasn’t done on time when we know that we are lying to ourselves. The art of discipline is taking us to a place where we use our knowledge, our skill and our creativity to accomplish the standard of behavior that the Kingdom expects.
When you are disciplined you become unassailable. The word unassailable means you can’t be attacked without victory being guaranteed to you. As Christians our responsibility is to be unassailable to Satan and to be unassailable to anybody that stands with Satan. Brothers and sisters let us reason together that very often we are being tossed and boxed by the enemy because we are not disciplined. This account of Nehemiah is about a man who had a vision in his heart and a strong dose of discipline. He set out on a job, on a work, on an assignment or on his purpose. Church of God every single one of you inside of here has a purpose. Every single one of you on Zoom has a purpose. Every person on Facebook be it in 2022 or if you are watching this in 2025, you have purposes.
Church of God listen and listen good. We need to understand and wake up to the fact that Satan is real and he has a plan. I want to assure you that in every situation that you are in, the enemy is there and he’s not going to stay very far from where the action is. The text in verse 19 tells us about the enemy Sanballat and Tobiah who laughed at them and had some remarks. My favorite verse in Nehemiah is verse 20 which tells the way Nehemiah responded to them. I'm saying to all of you that when the challenges come in your lives and when the conflicts or worry comes then you must remember this verse; Nehemiah 2:20. “So I answered them and said the God of Heaven, He will prosper us”. Brothers and sisters whatever you are going thru right now, God of Heaven Himself will prosper you. The God of Heaven will prosper you. You didn’t hear me? The God of Heaven will prosper you. Therefore his servants will arise. It takes a strong dose of discipline when you are being boxed down, when everything looks down and dark in your lives. Then you are to rise up in Jesus Christ!
After saying verse 20, then Nehemiah said that they have no heritage or right in Jerusalem. I don’t know what heritage you have but I know that my home is in Heaven. I don’t know what heritage you have but I know my heritage is in Glory. Whatever challenges that want to come, my thought to you is that the God of Heaven Himself is with us. Church of God when we are going thru challenges, especially when you have what you regard as an earthly enemy, you have to smile to yourself sometimes. Smile to yourself and say listen I know that my God will take care of me. I know that my God will be the one who will deliver, the one who will change hearts, the one who will change circumstances, the one who will bring love, joy, peace and understanding. It is not about what I can do, brothers and sister, it is about what I will allow my God to do!
I must be disciplined enough to allow God to have His way in my life. Church of God listen now. When you think about the word discipline and the knowledge and skill we have, the different circumstances we have will need different sets of knowledge and skills. When we reflect, we are thinking on something carefully. There are times in our lives when we need to about where we are carefully. Forget about all the noise you hear around you and forget about all the dissenting voices. Think carefully about who you are and whose you are and where you are. Do not be afraid to recognize that there are some things in your life that need to be restored. With discipline we can rise up with the challenges that we have. Remember that the enemy is not the person before you but the enemy is certainly the one who was thrown out of Heaven. Satan, the dark one, prince of darkness and Lucifer are a few of his names. With the discipline of a Child of God, I will not be lowered into any traps of the enemy. If it requires me to be silent then that’s what I am going to do. I may look stupid but sometimes there is greater said in silence than with words. I need not to defend myself. God has already won the victory for each situation that we have been in or will be in. Don’t waste time on conflict because conflict is a distraction from the pit of Hell.
We must understand that these conflicts are set up by Satan and you have a responsibility to be disciplined. Don’t be shaken by the enemy. Don’t be disturbed by the forces of darkness. You must stand still and see the Salvation of our God. I desire all of us to live the kind of life where we can experience spiritual victories. We can have spiritual victory thru the discipline that we have. Three words to remember: submission, self-control and service. Nehemiah submitted himself to the project, he had self-control and he was in service to God. We must do the same thing by using discipline.
AMEN
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I want to say to us Christians that the life we are living may require us to change our name or change our conduct. I want to challenge someone right now that it is discipline that will make the difference in your lives. It’s amazing what a little discipline can do. We have disciplines in our lives but the problem is that we are wonderful people when it comes to settling. Our objective may have been to lose 100 pounds but when we lost 50 pounds we started to settle and eat rice again.
Sometimes we settle instead of going all the way. The art of discipline. The word discipline; the verb is for punishment or putting somebody in order. Discipline is also a noun that means someone is aligning themselves to an expected norm of the society they dwell in. Church of God I want to reason with you a little bit. You call yourselves Christians, I and me also. So verses like Galatians 3:13 mean something to us. Jesus has redeemed us from the curse of the law having become the curse for us that the blessings of Abraham might come upon us, all Gentiles in Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This is so that we may receive the promise of the Spirit. II Corinthians 5;17 says therefore if you are in Christ you are a new creation, old things have passed away, behold all things have become new.
Jesus Christ is your righteousness. The real truth of the matter is that when you are a Christian, you are someone who will inherit from the Kingdom of Heaven. When you go on the road to travel, people may not be able to tell where you are from. They may not be able to tell your address but they can tell what kind of life you are living. I want to say to us as Christians, they should know that you are a Christian; not even by how you are dressed but by how you act. The real truth is that there are some of us, including myself, as Christians we are as undisciplined as those who are not Christian. One thing we must understand is that as we follow Christ, there are some things that we have to leave behind. As we follow Christ there is a level of commitment that we must make to the things of God. As we follow Christ it is not so much about what I want or what I like but what is required of the citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. Let’s go back to Sister Carol’s testimony where she wanted to be smaller and lose weight. She determined in her heart to do things differently. And brothers and sisters she missed many rice meals and many sugar meals. She now has a big smile on her face after losing almost 100 pounds.
I can tell you that the long term goal is better than the short term success that we are working toward. It is time for us to realize as individuals of West Palm Beach, as individuals of the church of God, as individuals who like Jesus Christ, as individuals who accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, as individuals who want to walk like Jesus Christ, as individuals who want to deny Satan, as individuals who want to be Christ like, that there are some things that are expected of us. Discipline as a noun is the action that regulates us toward an expected behavior. How disciplined are you to do the things that are required of you? Discipline is a standard of behavior and it is navigating a process toward the goal that God has intended for your life. Church of God it is important that we understand some things.
== Go placidly amid the noise and remember what peace there may be in silence. Placidly means to go calmly or go peacefully in a peaceful manner.
==As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all people. Church of God, because we are undisciplined we don’t understand what peace is. Because we are undisciplined our task is not to be on good terms with anybody but it is to be on good terms with our own points of view.
==Speak your truth quietly and clearly. This requires a lot of discipline when you really believe the other person is talking foolishness.
==Listen to others. Even the dumb and ignorant have their say. This means that even if they are not making any sense, take the time to listen. You just may get something out of it.
==Be at peace with God. Whatever your labors and aspirations are in this noisy, confusing life, keep peace in your soul.
Brothers and sisters let us reason together in that very often we start a task and we don’t bring it to completion because of indiscipline. Very often we start a task and it needs to be done in a timely manner and we finish it 10 days or 10 weeks afterwards because of indiscipline. Very often we blame our circumstances for why it wasn’t done on time when we know that we are lying to ourselves. The art of discipline is taking us to a place where we use our knowledge, our skill and our creativity to accomplish the standard of behavior that the Kingdom expects.
When you are disciplined you become unassailable. The word unassailable means you can’t be attacked without victory being guaranteed to you. As Christians our responsibility is to be unassailable to Satan and to be unassailable to anybody that stands with Satan. Brothers and sisters let us reason together that very often we are being tossed and boxed by the enemy because we are not disciplined. This account of Nehemiah is about a man who had a vision in his heart and a strong dose of discipline. He set out on a job, on a work, on an assignment or on his purpose. Church of God every single one of you inside of here has a purpose. Every single one of you on Zoom has a purpose. Every person on Facebook be it in 2022 or if you are watching this in 2025, you have purposes.
Church of God listen and listen good. We need to understand and wake up to the fact that Satan is real and he has a plan. I want to assure you that in every situation that you are in, the enemy is there and he’s not going to stay very far from where the action is. The text in verse 19 tells us about the enemy Sanballat and Tobiah who laughed at them and had some remarks. My favorite verse in Nehemiah is verse 20 which tells the way Nehemiah responded to them. I'm saying to all of you that when the challenges come in your lives and when the conflicts or worry comes then you must remember this verse; Nehemiah 2:20. “So I answered them and said the God of Heaven, He will prosper us”. Brothers and sisters whatever you are going thru right now, God of Heaven Himself will prosper you. The God of Heaven will prosper you. You didn’t hear me? The God of Heaven will prosper you. Therefore his servants will arise. It takes a strong dose of discipline when you are being boxed down, when everything looks down and dark in your lives. Then you are to rise up in Jesus Christ!
After saying verse 20, then Nehemiah said that they have no heritage or right in Jerusalem. I don’t know what heritage you have but I know that my home is in Heaven. I don’t know what heritage you have but I know my heritage is in Glory. Whatever challenges that want to come, my thought to you is that the God of Heaven Himself is with us. Church of God when we are going thru challenges, especially when you have what you regard as an earthly enemy, you have to smile to yourself sometimes. Smile to yourself and say listen I know that my God will take care of me. I know that my God will be the one who will deliver, the one who will change hearts, the one who will change circumstances, the one who will bring love, joy, peace and understanding. It is not about what I can do, brothers and sister, it is about what I will allow my God to do!
I must be disciplined enough to allow God to have His way in my life. Church of God listen now. When you think about the word discipline and the knowledge and skill we have, the different circumstances we have will need different sets of knowledge and skills. When we reflect, we are thinking on something carefully. There are times in our lives when we need to about where we are carefully. Forget about all the noise you hear around you and forget about all the dissenting voices. Think carefully about who you are and whose you are and where you are. Do not be afraid to recognize that there are some things in your life that need to be restored. With discipline we can rise up with the challenges that we have. Remember that the enemy is not the person before you but the enemy is certainly the one who was thrown out of Heaven. Satan, the dark one, prince of darkness and Lucifer are a few of his names. With the discipline of a Child of God, I will not be lowered into any traps of the enemy. If it requires me to be silent then that’s what I am going to do. I may look stupid but sometimes there is greater said in silence than with words. I need not to defend myself. God has already won the victory for each situation that we have been in or will be in. Don’t waste time on conflict because conflict is a distraction from the pit of Hell.
We must understand that these conflicts are set up by Satan and you have a responsibility to be disciplined. Don’t be shaken by the enemy. Don’t be disturbed by the forces of darkness. You must stand still and see the Salvation of our God. I desire all of us to live the kind of life where we can experience spiritual victories. We can have spiritual victory thru the discipline that we have. Three words to remember: submission, self-control and service. Nehemiah submitted himself to the project, he had self-control and he was in service to God. We must do the same thing by using discipline.
AMEN
