Latest / PAMOJA PODCAST | PAMOJA MINISTRY, A LIFE OF CHRIST INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES / REFINED FOR A PURPOSE — Conversation III: Discipline Protects Vision

Transcript

REFINED FOR A PURPOSE — Conversation III: Discipline Protects Vision · PAMOJA PODCAST | PAMOJA MINISTRY, A LIFE OF CHRIST INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES

• 0:00
  Welcome to Pamoja Ministry. In our first conversation,
• 0:06
  we asked, what if the intervention was about
• 0:09
  you? What if while we were asking God to change
• 0:13
  what was happening around us, God was using the
• 0:16
  fire to change something within us? Then in our
• 0:20
  second conversation, we discovered another truth.
• 0:24
  The fire reveals what success can hide. Pressure
• 0:27
  can expose anger. Waiting can expose impatience.
• 0:32
  Authority can expose pride. Opportunity can expose
• 0:35
  appetite. Opposition can expose our reactions.
• 0:40
  And our words can reveal what is really happening
• 0:43
  within our hearts. But now we have to go somewhere
• 0:46
  deeper. Because revelation without response does
• 0:51
  not produce transformation. It is one thing for
• 0:55
  God to show you something. It is another thing
• 0:58
  for you to do something about what He has shown
• 1:00
  you. And this is where we arrive at one of the
• 1:03
  foundational principles of this entire theology.
• 1:07
  Discipline protects vision. Remember this truth.
• 1:13
  God gives vision, but it is our responsibility
• 1:16
  to steward it. When God gives someone a vision,
• 1:19
  there is God's part and there is our responsibility.
• 1:22
  God calls. God gives grace. God empowers. God
• 1:26
  opens doors. God provides opportunities. God
• 1:30
  gives gifts. God anoints. But after God entrusts
• 1:34
  something to us, we become responsible for how
• 1:37
  we carry it. The Bible repeatedly speaks about
• 1:41
  stewardship. And stewardship means that something
• 1:45
  valuable has been placed into your hands that
• 1:48
  does not ultimately belong to you. Your calling
• 1:52
  is something to steward. Your family is something
• 1:56
  to steward. Your influence is something to steward.
• 2:00
  Your body is something to steward. Your relationships
• 2:04
  are something to steward. Your opportunities
• 2:08
  are something to steward. Your words are something
• 2:12
  to steward. Your time is something to steward.
• 2:16
  Your vision is something to steward. And if something
• 2:20
  is valuable enough to steward, It is valuable
• 2:24
  enough to protect. That protection requires discipline.
• 2:30
  This statement must be highlighted in our hearts.
• 2:34
  Anointing does not cancel discipline. Sometimes
• 2:38
  Christians speak about anointing as though anointing
• 2:41
  automatically protects someone from failure.
• 2:44
  But scripture does not teach us that. A person
• 2:47
  can be called and still make destructive decisions.
• 2:51
  A person can be gifted and still become careless.
• 2:55
  A person can experience the presence of God and
• 2:58
  still struggle with appetite. A person can carry
• 3:02
  revelation and still struggle with pride. A person
• 3:06
  can pray powerfully and still need boundaries.
• 3:10
  A person can preach truth and still need accountability.
• 3:15
  The presence of a gift does not prove the absence
• 3:18
  of weakness. And this is why spiritual maturity
• 3:22
  requires more than discovering your gift. You
• 3:26
  must develop the character capable of carrying
• 3:29
  it. Paul understood this. In 1 Corinthians chapter
• 3:33
  9, Paul compares the Christian life to an athlete
• 3:37
  preparing for competition. Athletes exercise
• 3:41
  self -control. They train. They establish routines.
• 3:46
  They deny themselves certain things. Not necessarily
• 3:50
  because those things are evil, but because there
• 3:53
  is something greater they are pursuing. Then
• 3:56
  Paul says, I discipline my body and keep it under
• 4:00
  control. Think about who is speaking. Paul, an
• 4:05
  apostle, a man who encountered Christ, a man
• 4:09
  who carried extraordinary revelation, a man through
• 4:12
  whom God performed miracles. And Paul still understood,
• 4:17
  I must govern myself. Why? Because anointing
• 4:21
  does not eliminate appetite. Calling does not
• 4:24
  eliminate temptation. Vision does not eliminate
• 4:28
  weakness. And spiritual experiences do not eliminate
• 4:32
  the need for discipline. Remember this, self
• 4:37
  -discipline is not self -sufficiency. Now we
• 4:40
  must be careful here. When I speak about self
• 4:44
  -discipline, I am not teaching independence from
• 4:47
  God. Christian self -discipline is not, I am
• 4:51
  strong enough without God. It is exactly the
• 4:55
  opposite. Galatians chapter 5 identifies self
• 4:59
  -control as fruit of the spirit. That means genuine
• 5:03
  Christian self -control. develops through a life
• 5:06
  surrendered to the Holy Spirit. We need Him.
• 5:10
  We need His conviction. We need His wisdom. We
• 5:13
  need His strength. We need His warnings. We need
• 5:17
  His guidance. But the Holy Spirit's involvement
• 5:21
  does not eliminate human responsibility. He may
• 5:24
  convict you. You still have to respond. He may
• 5:28
  warn you. You still have to listen. He may show
• 5:31
  you the boundary. You still have to respect it.
• 5:34
  He may reveal the relationship. You still have
• 5:38
  to make the decision. He may expose the seed.
• 5:42
  You still have to stop watering it. He may show
• 5:45
  you the exit. You still have to walk through
• 5:48
  the door. Grace empowers obedience. Grace does
• 5:53
  not make obedience unnecessary. Self -discipline
• 6:01
  is learning to police yourself because there
• 6:04
  is something you want to preserve that is greater
• 6:07
  than the temptation standing in front of you.
• 6:10
  It is the ability to tell yourself, no. Not because
• 6:14
  you don't have the opportunity. Not because nobody
• 6:17
  wants you to do it. Not because someone is watching.
• 6:20
  But because you know what you are carrying. That
• 6:23
  changes everything. Self -discipline says, I
• 6:26
  could say it, but I won't. I could respond, but
• 6:30
  I don't need to. I could go there, but I won't.
• 6:33
  I could entertain this conversation, but I won't.
• 6:36
  I could satisfy this appetite, but I won't. I
• 6:39
  could retaliate, but I won't. I could expose
• 6:42
  what I know, but I won't. I could take advantage
• 6:45
  of this opportunity, but I won't. Why? Because
• 6:49
  there is something greater at stake. My relationship
• 6:52
  with God, my family, my marriage, my children,
• 6:56
  my testimony, my character, my ministry, my calling,
• 7:00
  my future, my vision, my purpose. Some things
• 7:04
  are simply too expensive. A question. Remind,
• 7:07
  what is the real price of temptation? Temptation
• 7:11
  usually advertises pleasure. It rarely advertises
• 7:15
  price. It shows you the moment. It hides the
• 7:18
  consequences. It shows David Bathsheba. It does
• 7:21
  not show him Nathan standing before him. It does
• 7:25
  not show him the turmoil coming into his household.
• 7:28
  It does not show him the years of consequences
• 7:31
  attached to one decision. Temptation says, look
• 7:35
  what you can have. Discipline asks, what could
• 7:38
  this cost? And mature people learn to calculate
• 7:41
  beyond the moment. Because sometimes five minutes
• 7:44
  can affect five years. One conversation can affect
• 7:48
  a marriage. One message can destroy trust. One
• 7:52
  uncontrolled reaction can affect a career. One
• 7:56
  financial decision can affect a family. One moment
• 7:59
  of anger can destroy a relationship. One secret
• 8:03
  compromise can eventually threaten a public assignment.
• 8:07
  This is why discipline is not punishment. Discipline
• 8:10
  is protection. This statement is true. Character
• 8:15
  is built in the private no. We often celebrate
• 8:19
  public victories, but character is usually developed
• 8:22
  privately. Nobody applauds when you close the
• 8:26
  door on temptation. Nobody knows when you delete
• 8:29
  the message. Nobody sees when you decide not
• 8:32
  to respond. Nobody celebrates when you walk away.
• 8:37
  Nobody hears the conversation you refuse to participate
• 8:40
  in. Nobody knows that you could have retaliated
• 8:44
  but chose restraint. Nobody knows that you were
• 8:47
  angry and decided to pray before speaking. Nobody
• 8:51
  knows you wanted something badly but refused
• 8:55
  to violate your convictions to obtain it. There
• 8:58
  is no audience. There is no microphone. There
• 9:02
  is no applause. But heaven sees something happening.
• 9:06
  Character is being built. Every disciplined knows
• 9:10
  strength in something inside you, and every repeated
• 9:13
  compromise weakens something inside you. That
• 9:17
  is why small decisions matter. This principle
• 9:22
  connects to the theology of seeds we explored
• 9:25
  in our Season 2. We have talked before about
• 9:29
  seeds. Some seeds are planted without our knowledge.
• 9:33
  Some are planted with our knowledge, and some
• 9:36
  seeds we continue to entertain and water. Now
• 9:40
  we can see why that theology matters here. Because
• 9:43
  whatever you repeatedly entertain begins training
• 9:47
  your appetite. And whatever repeatedly trains
• 9:50
  your appetite can eventually weaken your resistance.
• 9:54
  The first compromise may trouble you deeply.
• 9:57
  The second becomes easier. The third becomes
• 10:01
  familiar. Eventually, What once convicted you
• 10:05
  can begin feeling normal. And once compromise
• 10:08
  becomes normal, discipline becomes increasingly
• 10:11
  difficult. This is how dangerous seeds work.
• 10:15
  They rarely announce, I have come to destroy
• 10:18
  your future. They arrive small, a conversation,
• 10:22
  an image, a thought, a resentment, a relationship,
• 10:26
  an appetite, a private habit, a justification,
• 10:30
  a secret. and then we water it, until eventually
• 10:34
  the seed begins producing something powerful
• 10:37
  enough to challenge our self -control. This is
• 10:41
  why discipline sometimes means starving the seed.
• 10:45
  Stop feeding what you are asking God to deliver
• 10:48
  you from. Let's explore the life of David when
• 10:53
  desire became more important than vision. We
• 10:58
  touched David in our previous conversation. But
• 11:01
  now let's look specifically at discipline David
• 11:05
  had a kingdom David had authority David had a
• 11:09
  family David had a relationship with God David
• 11:13
  had a history with God David had survived battles
• 11:17
  that should have killed him David had purpose
• 11:20
  and yet for a moment Desire became more important
• 11:26
  than everything attached to his purpose That
• 11:29
  is what lack of discipline does. It shrinks your
• 11:33
  vision until all you can see is the appetite
• 11:36
  immediately in front of you. In that moment,
• 11:40
  David was not thinking about the kingdom. He
• 11:43
  was not thinking about his family. He was not
• 11:46
  thinking about Uriah. He was not thinking about
• 11:49
  consequences. He was not thinking about tomorrow.
• 11:53
  Desire had narrowed his vision to now, and discipline
• 11:56
  does the opposite. Discipline widens your vision.
• 12:00
  Discipline says, look beyond this moment. Remember
• 12:04
  who you are. Remember what God entrusted to you.
• 12:08
  Remember who is connected to you. Remember where
• 12:11
  you are going. Remember what this could cost.
• 12:15
  Let's examine Peter's life. Passion without control.
• 12:19
  Peter loved Jesus. There is no question about
• 12:22
  that. Peter was passionate, committed, bold,
• 12:26
  ready to fight. And when soldiers came to arrest
• 12:29
  Jesus, Peter drew his sword and cut off the servant's
• 12:33
  ear. Peter thought he was defending Jesus, but
• 12:36
  Jesus had to correct Peter. Why? Because sincere
• 12:40
  passion without self -control can still produce
• 12:43
  damage. You can mean well and still react badly.
• 12:47
  You can love God and still need discipline. You
• 12:50
  can believe you are defending something righteous
• 12:53
  and still respond in a way that does not reflect
• 12:57
  the character of Christ. And maybe that is why
• 13:00
  God sometimes refines our reactions. Because
• 13:04
  passion must come under government. Listen to
• 13:08
  James 3. Can you govern something small? A bit,
• 13:13
  a rudder, a spark. Small things governing larger
• 13:17
  things. And maybe James is teaching us a principle
• 13:21
  that reaches beyond the tongue. If you cannot
• 13:24
  govern the small thing, eventually the small
• 13:27
  thing may govern something much larger. One sentence
• 13:30
  can redirect a relationship. One appetite can
• 13:34
  redirect a marriage. One habit can redirect a
• 13:38
  ministry. One reaction can redirect a career.
• 13:42
  One compromise can redirect a calling. The size
• 13:46
  of the seed does not determine the size of the
• 13:48
  harvest. That is why discipline matters. Remember
• 13:55
  this. You need boundaries before you need them.
• 13:59
  One of the greatest expressions of discipline
• 14:01
  is boundaries, and boundaries work best when
• 14:05
  established before temptation arrives. Do not
• 14:08
  wait until you are emotionally attached to decide
• 14:11
  what relationships are appropriate. Do not wait
• 14:14
  until you are angry to decide how you will respond
• 14:17
  when offended. Do not wait until money arrives
• 14:21
  to decide what integrity means. Do not wait until
• 14:25
  authority arrives to decide how you will treat
• 14:28
  people. Do not wait until opportunity arrives
• 14:31
  to establish sexual boundaries. Do not wait until
• 14:35
  thousands of people know your name to develop
• 14:38
  accountability. Do not wait until the fire starts
• 14:41
  to purchase the extinguisher. Prepare before
• 14:45
  pressure. Because discipline established in peace
• 14:48
  becomes protection during war. What are you protecting?
• 14:53
  Maybe this is the question we need to ask ourselves.
• 14:57
  What is important enough for you to discipline
• 15:00
  yourself to protect it? If your marriage matters,
• 15:04
  protect it. If your children matter, protect
• 15:07
  them. If your calling matters, protect it. If
• 15:11
  your ministry matters, protect it. If your testimony
• 15:15
  matters, protect it. If your health matters,
• 15:19
  protect it. If your relationship with God matters,
• 15:22
  protect it. If division matters, protect it.
• 15:26
  And sometimes protection looks like saying no.
• 15:29
  Sometimes protection looks like leaving. Sometimes
• 15:33
  protection looks like silence. Sometimes protection
• 15:36
  looks like accountability. Sometimes protection
• 15:39
  looks like confession. Sometimes protection looks
• 15:43
  like deleting something. Sometimes protection
• 15:45
  looks like ending access. Sometimes protection
• 15:49
  looks like apologizing. Sometimes protection
• 15:52
  looks like refusing to be alone with something
• 15:54
  you know has power over you. Sometimes protection
• 15:58
  looks like recognizing, I am not as strong around
• 16:02
  this as I thought I was. That recognition is
• 16:06
  not weakness. That recognition can become wisdom.
• 16:11
  This is a good one. Don't test yourself unnecessarily.
• 16:16
  There is no spiritual award for standing unnecessarily
• 16:20
  close to temptation. Joseph did not remain in
• 16:23
  Potiphar's house trying to demonstrate self -control.
• 16:27
  He ran. Sometimes the most disciplined thing
• 16:30
  you can do is leave. You don't have to prove
• 16:34
  that temptation no longer affects you. You don't
• 16:37
  have to revisit what God delivered you from.
• 16:40
  You don't have to maintain unnecessary access
• 16:43
  to someone who repeatedly weakens your boundaries.
• 16:47
  You don't have to sit beside the fire to prove
• 16:49
  you cannot be burned. Sometimes wisdom says run,
• 16:54
  and running is not cowardice when you are running
• 16:57
  toward purpose. Discipline today protects tomorrow.
• 17:03
  Maybe you don't see the full vision yet. Maybe
• 17:06
  you don't know how far God intends to take what
• 17:09
  he has placed inside you. Maybe you don't know
• 17:13
  who will someday depend upon your decisions.
• 17:16
  Maybe you don't know how many people will eventually
• 17:19
  be affected by your character. That is why discipline
• 17:23
  today matters. The private decisions you make
• 17:26
  now may be protecting a public assignment you
• 17:30
  have not yet entered. The boundaries you establish
• 17:33
  now may be protecting a family from pain years
• 17:37
  from now. The habit you confront now may be protecting
• 17:41
  a ministry you have not yet built. The anger
• 17:45
  you surrender now may be protecting people you
• 17:48
  have not yet been called to lead. The humility
• 17:52
  God develops now may be preparing you for authority
• 17:55
  you do not yet possess. You think God is dealing
• 17:59
  with something small. God may be protecting something
• 18:03
  enormous. We there refined for responsibility.
• 18:09
  Now perhaps we understand the fire differently.
• 18:12
  God is not merely refining us so we can say,
• 18:15
  I became a better person. He is refining us because
• 18:19
  purpose carries responsibility. The greater the
• 18:23
  vision, the greater the responsibility. The greater
• 18:26
  the influence, the greater the responsibility.
• 18:29
  The greater the authority, the greater the responsibility.
• 18:33
  The greater the access, the greater the responsibility.
• 18:37
  And therefore, the greater the purpose, the more
• 18:40
  seriously we must take character. God may anoint
• 18:44
  you for the assignment, but you must learn to
• 18:47
  steward the person carrying. the anointing. You
• 18:51
  must guard your heart, guard your eyes, guard
• 18:54
  your relationships, guard your appetites, guard
• 18:58
  your mouth, guard your reactions, guard your
• 19:01
  private life. Not because you live terrified
• 19:04
  of failure, but because you understand the value
• 19:07
  of what God has entrusted to you. Always remember
• 19:12
  this truth. Discipline protects vision. So today,
• 19:17
  I want you to look beyond the temptation. Look
• 19:20
  beyond the moment. Look beyond the emotion. Look
• 19:23
  beyond the opportunity. Look beyond the appetite.
• 19:26
  And see the vision. See your family. See your
• 19:30
  children. See the people God may call you to
• 19:33
  serve. See the assignment. See the years of prayer.
• 19:37
  See the sacrifices. See the purpose. And when
• 19:41
  something temporary asks you to exchange all
• 19:44
  of that for a moment, remember, Some things are
• 19:48
  too expensive. You have something worth protecting.
• 19:53
  And perhaps this is one reason God allowed the
• 19:56
  fire to expose your weaknesses before He expanded
• 19:59
  your influence. He was not rejecting you. He
• 20:03
  was preparing you. He was teaching you to govern
• 20:07
  yourself before giving you greater responsibility.
• 20:11
  He was teaching you to say no before opening
• 20:14
  bigger doors. He was strengthening your character
• 20:18
  before expanding your territory. Because the
• 20:22
  purpose requires more than gifting. The purpose
• 20:26
  requires more than passion. The purpose requires
• 20:29
  more than vision. The purpose requires character.
• 20:34
  And character is developed through thousands
• 20:37
  of decisions nobody else may ever see. The private
• 20:40
  no. The quiet restraint. The boundary. The surrender.
• 20:46
  The apology. The decision to walk away. The refusal
• 20:50
  to compromise. The willingness to obey the Holy
• 20:53
  Spirit when nobody else would ever know. If you
• 20:57
  didn't, that is discipline. And discipline protects
• 21:01
  vision. You are not simply learning to control
• 21:05
  yourself. You are learning to protect what God
• 21:08
  has entrusted to you. You are being prepared.
• 21:12
  You are being strengthened. You are being disciplined.
• 21:16
  You are being refined. Refined for a purpose.
• 21:22
  This is Pamoja Ministry. And in our next conversation,
• 21:26
  we are going even deeper into one of the smallest
• 21:28
  things capable of creating some of the greatest
• 21:31
  consequences. The tongue. Because James tells
• 21:35
  us that a tiny spark can set an entire forest
• 21:39
  on fire. And if discipline protects vision, then
• 21:43
  we must learn to discipline our words. Conversation
• 21:47
  four, taming the tongue when refinement reaches
• 21:52
  your mouth.