I've been reading Godliness through Discipline by Jay Adams during my morning worship time. I'd highly recommend it. It's a short read at only 25 pages. Here are some gleanings from it.
1. Discipline is the secret of godliness-I Timothy 4:7.
2. Godliness is the goal of the Christian life; we must please God by being, thinking, doing, saying and feeling in the ways that He wants us to.
3. If you are going to learn discipline, you must first learn patience.
4. Discipline means work; it means sustained daily effort.
5. Continued daily effort is an essential element of Christian discipline; just like an athlete.
6. Jesus insisted that Christians must deny the self within them. By the self, He meant the old desires, the old ways, the old practices, the old habit patterns.
7. Taking up the cross means going to the place of death. It means putting to death the old life patterns of the old man.
8. God gave man a marvelous capacity that we call habit. We can't avoid habitual living.
9. You must become aware of your life patterns and evaluate them by the Word of God. The Christian life is a life of continual change.
10. Discipline first requires self-examination, then it means crucifixion of the old sinful ways (saying "no" daily), and lastly, practice in following Jesus Christ in new ways by the guidance and strength that the Holy Spirit provides through His Word.
11. Living according to feeling is the greatest hindrance to godliness that we face. Godly, commandment-oriented living comes only from biblical structure and discipline.
12. All of the stress that the Bible puts upon human effort must not be misunderstood; we are talking about grace-motivated effort, not the work of the flesh.
13. If we want to discipline ourselves toward godliness, a most essential factor is the regular study of God's Word in order to make application of its principles to our problems.
14. It is by willing, prayerful and persistent obedience to the requirements of the Scriptures that godly patterns are developed and come to be a part of us.
15. Structure alone brings freedom. Discipline brings liberty. Liberty comes through law, not apart from it.
I am a great one for making lists and schedules. For the most part I stick to them and am productive. But there usually comes a time when I rebel and do what I want. I am very feeling driven which I'm learning more and more is just plan selfishness.
I have also learned that when I get this attitude that the only thing I get done is reading. I know there's a time and place for relaxation. I'm not saying that. I'm the Queen of relaxation! But when I need and want to get things done, I need to stick to a schedule. So this summer my schedule looks like this:
6:00 Worship7:00 Exercise8:00 Breakfast, cleanup, and get dressed9:00 Housework10:00 Writing11:00 Photography12:00 Lunch and cleanup1:00 Housework-Clothes Repair-Ironing2:00 Rest and Reading3:00 Project-House, Art, Sewing, or misc.4:00 " "5:00 " "6:00 Cook supper7:00 Supper and cleanup8:00 Gardening and puttering outside9:00 Family worship and reading to Darcie10:00 Bath and reading11:00 Bed
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