There
Is Great Freedom In Discipline
And ye shall
know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. – John 8: 32
We all loosely use the
term freedom but do we really know what it means to be free? And more
importantly, do we know how to achieve freedom?
Jesus Christ said ‘ye
shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free’. I was always
intrigued by the use of the word ‘make’. The truth is the Word of God – that is
the only thing that will truly set you free.
If the Son
therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. – John 8: 36
Why is this Scripture
worded like this? Because you need to be born again of God’s Spirit by
confessing Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and believing that God hath
raised him from the dead.
That if thou
shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart
man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation. -- Romans 10: 9, 10
Jesus Christ says ye
shall know the truth, the truth shall set you free and ye shall be free indeed.
There is no question that you will be made free. Being set free by the Word of
God is genuine freedom in your mind and in your actions. It is not what is
referred to as patriotic freedom. There are many counterfeits to God’s true
freedom. We can achieve this freedom by doing one thing in our life and that is
to keep God first.
But seek ye
first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be
added unto you. – Matthew 6: 33
Who captivates,
enslaves and controls people by stealing, killing and destroying? The god of
this world does this to people on a daily basis. If you let him, he will take
your freedom away from you. Watch the contrast in the following verse.
The thief
cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I [Jesus Christ] am
come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. -- John 10: 10
In order to avoid the
first part of the above verse, we need to discipline our minds to STUDY and APPLY God’s
Word in our lives just like Jesus Christ. So we must get rid of the god of this
world who is constantly trying to influence our thinking and control what we
do. How do we do this?
Submit [addict]
yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. --
James 4: 7
The most positive
addiction you can ever have is to God and His Word. This is the greatest and
most important DISCIPLINE you can ever achieve. And as a result, you will
achieve the greatest freedom you ever dreamed possible in this life. First,
submit yourself to God [God is His Word], resist [stand against, oppose] the devil, and he will flee
from you.
Thou
believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and
tremble [shudder]. – James 2: 19
There was a time in my
life I remember clearly concerning a friend I knew. We both lived in a type of
boarding house and not at home with our parents. My parents did have serious
problems. But what I remember was how alive and spontaneous this person was at
this time. He told me that everywhere he went and everything he did seemed like
it was brand new. He had a zest for life that was quite noticeable. Why did
this take place?
This person told me
that he was recently discharged from the armed forces and it was obvious that
he had acquired much discipline while serving his country. He dressed
very neatly, kept a clean car, had a good job, and had a nice girlfriend. Why
did he feel so good about life? Why did he feel so free? Because he had learned
to be a disciplined person and therefore experienced great freedom. Now if the
armed forces can render such a change in a person, don’t you think that God
Almighty can do better? Here’s what happens when you renew your mind to God’s
Word.
Therefore if
any man be in Christ, he is a
new creature [creation]: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become
new. – II Corinthians 5: 17
To understand this
Scripture, you need to be able to distinguish between Christ in you and you in
Christ. Christ in you means to be born again. You in Christ is referring
to the renewed mind. In the above Scripture, God is referring to a man ‘in
Christ’, that is, someone who is renewing his or her mind to God’s Word. The
Scripture goes on to say that this person is now a new creation. Old things and
old ways of thinking are now passed away and all things are become new.
When I first got in the
Word in 1974, I went to my branch leader and told her that I felt like I was
using a part of my brain that I didn’t even know was there. I felt so great I
cannot even put it into words. This great and dynamic woman of God looked at
me, smiled, and said "Ralph, that’s your heart." She went on to
explain to me that the Word of God was taking down the walls around my heart. I
felt so free because I addicted myself to God’s Word. I disciplined myself to
stay involved in fellowships and take every Bible class I could sign up for.
This discipline of keeping God first and foremost brought me great freedom. We
need to pursue things of the Spirit, and not things of the flesh – we need to
discipline ourselves to do so.
For they
that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are
after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. – Romans 8: 5
And what is the
difference between the two?
For to be
carnally minded is death; but to
be spiritually minded is life
and peace. – Romans 8: 6
Life and peace – I’m
sure that includes freedom and the only way you will get that freedom is by
minding the things of the Spirit. There is just no other way. What does God
tell us about fleshly thoughts and minding the flesh?
Because the
carnal mind is enmity [at conflict] against God: for it is not subject to the law of God,
neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. --
Romans 8: 7, 8
Do you remember that
discipline my friend acquired? Believe me, it will not last. Eventually the
world will wear you down IF you do not renew your mind to God’s Word. Did you
ever study the teaching Joy Is An INSIDE Job?
Everything the world gives eventually fades away, while everything the true God
gives lasts for an eternity. That is IF we, by our own free will, decide to
DISCIPLINE our minds to God’s principles and not man’s. That discipline will result
in great freedom.
I Beseech
you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable [rational or logical] service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye
transformed [transfigured] by the renewing of
your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. – Romans 12:
1, 2
This word
‘transfigured’ is interesting in that it means to be transformed like a
caterpillar into a butterfly. It is where we get our English word
metamorphosis. Where all things used to be old, boring, worthless, and
meaningless, now life is exciting. When? When we renew our minds to God’s Word
and REPLACE old ways of thinking with new ways. You will find out that the
right way of doing something eventually becomes as easy or easier as doing the
wrong way. The transition part of the renewed mind is the most difficult part,
but well worth the effort. We must keep resisting the enemy until he flees from
us.
How did I discipline my
mind with God’s Word and attain great freedom in the process? Your individual
walk with God is unique so you may find different ways. However, I could not find
a more effective way than Scripture retemory. I learn Scriptures by memory for
individual situations. This had been the strongest renewed mind habit I have
ever developed. Here’s how it works.
Let’s say that on some
particular day, I seem to be thinking a lot about the past. I immediately say
in my mind by memory:
Brethren, I
count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto
those things which are before, -- Philippians 3: 13
Some day I may be
worried about something and no matter what I do, I just keep worrying. I can’t
fight it with carnal thoughts even though, due to our imperfection, I may try.
Finally I turn to God and His Word and I repeat in my mind:
Peace I
leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto
you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. -- John 14: 27
It’s that simple and
that drives the enemy or my old man thoughts out of my head. Darkness cannot
stand light and light will always dispel darkness. [See STUDY GUIDE]
I have disciplined my
mind by extensive study to learn maybe 100 Scriptures by memory. I carry the
Word of God around with me in the fleshly tables of my heart. I don’t have to
have my Bible with me everywhere I go. God’s Word is in my mind. I strongly
suggest that you learn Scriptures by memory. Remember, the Word of God never
comes back void.
So shall my
word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but
it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto
I sent it. – Isaiah 55: 11
For the scripture
saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. – Romans 10: 11
A believer will not be
disappointed in his expectation. Now I admit that sometimes God seems never
early, but He is never too late. We need to realize that for things to be done
right, they need to be done according to God’s timetable. When God does
something, it is done AT THE EXACT RIGHT TIME. This is why we get impatient
when our prayers are not answered when we
want them to be answered. When we understand this fully, we acquire
more discipline in our renewed mind and therefore experience more freedom.
Freedom from what? From anxiety and impatience. We know and believe that God
will help us at the perfect time and that blesses us. Logically, we are more at
peace and approach a problem with less, if any, anxiety. We trust God.
Remember, not one single thing that we learn from God’s Word comes back void.
There is always profit in learning and applying the Word in your life.
But the
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness,
faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. – Galatians 5: 22,
23
When we operate the
manifestations of Holy Spirit, we are able to experience the fruit of the
spirit listed above. Which fruit listed above relate more to discipline?
Obviously longsuffering [patience] is a blessing that helps us to feel free. We
mentioned this above. Gentleness is a quality that seems rare today and sets a
believer free from being harsh and rude and hard hearted. Meekness allows us to
be teachable instead of being full of pride which hinders us and closes our
mind from being able to learn new things. This type of discipline to God’s Word
allows much freedom in someone’s life to expand their frontiers, as the cliché
implies. I’ll mention just one more and that is temperance which is
self-control. Temperance is the mastery of self and this discipline results in
total freedom with endless possibilities.
When you have truly
disciplined your mind to God’s matchless Word, that discipline will bring you
the greatest freedom possible. You will know how to live life to the fullest in
any situation.
I know both
how to be abased, and I know to abound: every where and in all things I am
instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
– Philippians 4: 12
What Paul is saying is
that no matter what situation he is in, he knows how to enjoy life. He could be abounding in riches or he could just be
getting by. It doesn’t matter – he is still enjoying life because he has
learned, by disciplining himself to God’s Word, both how to abound and how to
be abased. He has been initiated into the secret of living regardless of
circumstances. Now that’s a disciplined believer and that is truly freedom.
I can do all
things [according
to the Word of God] through Christ which [who] strengtheneth me. – Philippians 4: 13
When you really believe
this, it has to come to pass. God wants His people to live in the fast lane and
to be winners. The Word of God will direct your life and show you exactly what
you should be and really want to be doing. This final Scripture will bless you
as you allow, by your own free will, God and His Word to discipline your mind
and in turn your actions so that that you can be free indeed and experience the
more than abundant life promised in John 10: 10b.
For the word
of God is quick, and powerful [living and energetic], and sharper than [above] any
twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and
of the joints and marrow, and is a
discerner [critic] of the thoughts [emotions]
and intents [ideas] of the heart. – Hebrews 4: 12
God’s Word living and
applied in the mind of a disciplined believer will cut out the old man
thoughts. Those are the thoughts that captivate and enslave us. And then God
will show you how you are supposed to be living and what you should be doing
with your life that benefits you and God the most.
The Word of God is
beyond description. Can you see the power and direction in that verse alone?
You truly want freedom? Discipline your mind and your actions to what God
Almighty has to say to you and you will manifest genuine freedom that will last
for an eternity.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~