Comments on Discipline and Destiny

[Edwin]

The apostles of Jesus Christ were a select group. The term apostle meant sent one. They were selected and sent by Jesus. There were 12 of them who were chosen to be Jesus closest representatives in His ministry. One of them was Judas who betrayed Jesus. He was replaced later by the other apostles who drew straws to pick him. It is interesting that after he was picked his name never surfaced again. Why that is we do not know.

Jesus had many disciples. The meaning of disciple is disciplined one. So to be a disciple of Jesus meant that the person was disciplined to be in His service. There have been disciples of Jesus in every age, and there are disciples of Jesus today.

In my high school graduating class we started out with 40 some students. I don't know what happened to them along the way, but we ended up graduating in a class of 24 students. Some moved away I think, and others simply did not fulfill the requirements, so they did not graduate. Some of them indeed were not disciplined.

From when I was a little boy I wanted to be a minister. I did go through Bible College and spent many years in church ministry. I had many ideas besides that of what I might do. I dreamed for a while of being a state trooper, state highway patrol, state police, state cop, but my don't told me that I was not mean enough to be a good policeman, so I put that idea out of my head. In my 11th year of high school I was taking algebra and chemestry and dreaming that I might become a pharmacist, but I realized my calling and gave up that idea, then went on to Bible College. I have done many things in my life as well as ministry. I helped a carpenter build a house, then helped some my Dad with the building of his house. I worked at farming and ranching for a few years, and that is what I grew up with working on my parents farm/ranch, and for my brother farming, and that was during my summer breaks being between school years. I worked in the saw mill for 6 years. My back was never strong enough for the green chain, although I did work on it at times, but the stronger guys had to help me pull the heavier lumber, as my back would not do that. I kept honey bees at the same time, taking them in to pollinate the orchard trees, and producing honey. We tried to go to Alaska to start a church with the help of our organization, but it didn't work. I worked in an orchard for a short period of time, but when it was time to apply the orchard sprays I moved on as I did not want to breath that stuff. I went back to school, and then taught in the public schools for 10 years. I had a chance to work with the public in the tourist industry, and I enjoyed that a whole lot. Now I am retired, and I find things I want/need to do. I have projects that I work on like building/digging my cellar. Then I spend a lot of time playing the piano. We spend some time going to stay with and visiting our kids near Spokane, Washington also. We help our kids when they need help also.

I don't really need to lose weight, although I did lose 8 pounds between June and December. My exercise goal is to walk my 6.5 miles each day when I am able to do that. That keeps me in good physical condition. The calf of my left leg is sore this evening resulting from slipping on the compact snow or walking in deep snow; I'm not sure what I did to it. I walk every day that the weather is not extreme, or that I don't have another important obligation. I know walking is good for me, and that is why I do it.

My Dad was very serious about his work, and he worked extremely hard, more so than most people. He didn't have much sense of humor about his work. It was all seriousness to him. My older brother saw humor in his work. He saw something funny in everything, and I liked that about my brother. My Dad had a wonderful sense of humor, but not when it came to work; it was all serious business to him.

My Dad believed spare the rod and spoil the child. He had a double razor sharpening leather strap. We did not want whippings from him because it hurt badly. He told us that we should thank the Lord for those whippings he was giving us. He was doing that for our good. God does use circumstances to teach us and redirect us in His way. Many times we do not recognize the hand of God in those things.

Crisi, as always you are right on target with what you wrote in "Discipline Determines Your Destiny." I wil continue my commentary on what you wrote later, but for now I will limit my comments to this much.

[GiseleSer]

Hmm... so aspirin might be effective if taken at a significant dosage. I wonder if it would be worth it... I know that overly high dosages of aspirin can cause health problems, so it seems to me that even if this would help discourage cancer cells from growing, it might not be the best idea.

[Edwin]

Hebrews 12:14; "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:" Yes holiness is necessary in the Christian walk. No one will see God without holiness. Some people believe that a Christian can live in sinless perfection. While we are in this life I don't believe sinless perfection is possible. Jesus was the only sinless perfect person. I John 1:8; "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9; If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10; If we say that we have not sinnned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 7; But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."

What happens is that we do the best we can to live according to God's will. We attemp to attain to God's standard of holiness, and when we fail, we ask God for forgiveness and cleansing, then we continue to live for God. As Christians we do not practice sin. We do fail and sin, but we ask for God's forgiveness instead of continuing in sin. God's standard of holiness is what we strive for all the time. God says, "Thou shalt not commit adultery." Jesus forgave the woman caught in adultery, but she did not continue in her adulterous living. Christians do not practice a life of theivery, dishonesty, and immorality. A Christian may fall into telling a lie, but that Christian will quickly repent, ask forgiveness, and then not continue to tell lies. When a person becomes a Christian the old sinful life is gone, as the new Christian turns his/her back on sin. That Christian may commit an isolated act of sin, then ask for forgiveness, but that Christian will not live a life of sin.

Yes, discipline is required to lose weight. Actually the interesting thing is that a person who is exercising and following a strict diet may even gain weight, but that person will look better and feel better. The reason for that is that lean body tissue weighs more than fat, so exercising and dieting you might be losing fat and gaining weight. That is the short term effect. I think the long term effect is weight loss, fat loss, lean body tissue gain, and a healthier body. Crisi, you are absolutely correct in that exercise and diet must go together. If a person is not eating and not exercising that person will lose lean body tissue, and he/she will retain the fat. A person who is exercising and eating too much will not lose the weight and will not get healthy benefits for the body. A person can't burn enough calories during exercising to off set eating too much. So diet and exercise must go together, and that only happens with discipline.

[crisipicada]

Thank you, Sir for your message about the topic. People try to fit their decision on themselves and not what the right things should be done. Many people try to make excuses or alibi regarding their actions seems, for them, it is right. People have tried so much to do things even against the will of God. Later on, regret what they have done, or just say that "it is because what the worlds says so or that is the world do so". What a low standard in life!

[Edwin]

You are welcome, Crisi! You mentioned wrong companionship, and that is very important. The Bible says that we are not to be unequally yoked together. I think this primarily means that it is not good for a believer to form a partnership with an unbeliever. This could mean in business, where one partner is into honesty and treating the customers right, while the other will cheat a customer to make a dollar. Also I think it means that a believer should not marry an unbeliever. If they are already married the believer is to stay with the unbeliever and try to win them with their testimony. But, the believer should not purposely marry a person who is an unbeliever. This could apply to different religions also. If people can agree, and the major doctrines are not affected then I think it is okay, as long as their differences do not cause devisiveness. The idea is they must pull together instead of being in disagreement on everything. So if 2 people believe and practice Bible religion, then they are equally yoked together. They will pull together.

You, Crisi, said that some people are proud to indulge in sex outside of marriage. They are not only sinful, but they are proud of being that way. Pride is the birth of sin. When Satan started the sin problem he had pride enter his heart, and he set about to put his throne above the throne of God. So pride is the basis of sin. Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. Yes, sex outside of marriage causes all kinds of problems. It causes mental and emotional problems. It also has the potential to be deadly because there are diseases that are spread through that kind of action. So while sex within marriage is a wonderful gift, sex outside marriage is very damaging, and yes it will ruin your whole system, besides bringing you into God's judgement. He does forgive the sinner who repents, and turns from his/her wicked ways.

[Edwin]

Paul is giving Timothy advice. I Timothy 6:6; "But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7; For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8; And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. 9; But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10; For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 11; But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. 12; Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses."

It is interesting that fashion often recyles every few years. What is in style today will be out of style tomorrow, and back in style the day after. Every so many years most of the styles come back, so it is foolish to get caught up in styles to where people live beyond their meanse trying to keep up with them. The word carnal, simply means fleshly. The flesh wars against the spirit, and the spirit wars against the flesh, and which one will win? It is whichever one we vote for. We can give in to the flesh and sinful desires, or we can go with the spirit and the things of God.

Addiction has to do with flesh or carnal cravings that are beyond what is normal. People become addicted to drugs, tobacco, alcohol, over eating of food, cravings for certain foods, which is okay unless a person is so desperate for that food that they are willing to commit sin to get that food. Eating wrong foods and eating too much puts us at risk for a number of diseases that may not kill us today or tomorrow, but will probably kill us the day after. Some of those diseases take many years to come on to people, but eventually they will cost people their lives. Some of those are diabetes, cancer, heart disease, stroke, cardiovascular disease, lung disease, the loss of immunity, and the risks of infections. Sometimes these things happen to people who do live right, but they have an inherited predisposition to these deseases. Some of these things come on people because of physical weaknesses that are inherited. God wants us to say no to all fleshly cravings that are beyond what is normal. Some people from our area, just down over the hill in town had a trucking business. We know them personally, and one of them was part of my cousin's family. Well, one of these people was addicted to drugs. He couldn't support his habit with money that he got from driving truck. They owned their own business, so he was making more money than a person who works for wages. He didn't have enought money to support his drugs, so he started stealing, and now he is in prison for, it seems like his sentence was 8 or 10 years. Indulging in sex outside of marriage is giving in to fleshly or carnal desires, and disease and death is what results.