Spiritual Discipline and Standards

Introduction

I recently heard Steve Harvey say this:

“You need to fly first class at least one time in your life. When you fly first class, the seats are wider, the food is better, and the drinks are free. Yes of course it costs more money, but its so worth it. If you fly economy after you’ve flown first class, its hard because once you’ve had a taste of better, something happens in your brain and you start trying to find a way to get back to first class. The same thing happens when you start raising the standards in your life.”

Think about that for a minute. How many of you cook a really good steak at home? Now picture this, if McDonalds started offering steaks at their restaurant, and you knew it wasn’t as good as your steak which one would you choose. Yours. Why? Because the quality is better. You’ve set a standard for yourself that you don’t want to go below that standard. See, you’ve set standards for your life and you don’t even realize it. If I were to spit in a water bottle and offer it to you, would you drink it? Of course not, why? Because that’s disgusting and you have standards of living that you refuse to stoop below. So if we set standards for stuff that is as simple as this, why won’t we set standards for our faith? There is one thing I want you to understand and that is this: There is a better way to live! There is a standard that all of us as Sons of the King should live by!

Ephesians 1:3 NLT

3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.

2 Peter 1:3 NLT

3 By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.

You are Royalty!!!

1 Peter 2:6–9 NLT

6 As the Scriptures say, “I am placing a cornerstone in Jerusalem, chosen for great honor, and anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” 7 Yes, you who trust him recognize the honor God has given him. But for those who reject him, “The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.” 8 And, “He is the stone that makes people stumble, the rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they do not obey God’s word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them. 9 But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.

When you are considered royalty, there are expectations of you. Why?

Because when you are considered royalty, you are a representation of the Kingdom you belong to.

Let’s talk about the British royal family for example. They can’t just live to any standard they want and expect the admiration they get to just fall out of the sky. There are rules they have to follow. These are a few that stood out to me. See if you can identify some spiritual connections.

They can’t just propose to anyone. According to the Royal Marriages Act of 1772, royal descendants must seek the monarch’s approval before proposing.

There is a strict dress code. They are expected to dress modestly.

The Monarch is not allowed to sit on a foreign throne.

When the King stands, so do you!

Royals are expected to serve their country.

The royal family lives a lavish lifestyle, but only because they work hard at it, but also because they have a relationship with the King. See, we can have a relationship with the King of Kings. We can have a relationship with the one who has given us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms! We can have a relationship with the one who can do exceedingly, abundantly, above everything we ask or think!

Discipleship = Discipline

Guys, this sermon has been a few months in the making and I didn’t realize it until this week. When I was at Gateway Conference a few months ago, that’s the Pastors conference they have, I felt like God told me “I’ve got something more for you, but you’ve gotta come get it!” I didn’t know entirely what He meant at the time until last week. Guys, taking care of two units is exhausting. Doing all the paperwork, I-60s, faith changes, death notices, and volunteer hours for both units, just to name a few things is exhausting!!! In my prayer time, I didn’t ask God, I told Him, there’s gotta be a better way. I’m tired of coming home completely exhausted every single day of the week and then working a second job on the weekends. God, there’s got to be a better way!

God told me. “There is a better way, My way.” To truly be a man of God is to be disciplined.

See, you have to be disciplined in order to be a disciple. Did you know the word disciple comes from the word discipline?

Luke 6:46 NLT

46 “So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say?

John 8:31 NLT

31 Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings.

John 15:8 NLT

8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.

Office

I had to get disciplined. I had to get organized. It took me four years, and I’m glad that’s all it took, for me to get truly organized in the office. Recently, I took time to sit down, schedule my work days, and figure out how I can get everything done. What I’ve learned is, I have more time that I ever thought I did, if I schedule my time and stick to it. The result has been this: my email box is cleaned and caught up. My I-60s, on both units, are caught up. My office, doesn’t look like a tornado came through. My desk, inside and out at both units, are both clean for the most part. IT WORKS!!! You see, before I would just wing it. My mindset coming into work would be “ok, I gotta get this done, I gotta do I-60s, I gotta answer this email, I gotta coordinate this event, I gotta schedule these volunteers. And what I found out is that some of that stuff would get done and some stuff wouldn’t or I would get it all done, but then I wouldn’t have time to minister to anyone and I’d be exhausted by the end of the day.

And the best part about all of this is I’m not going back to the way I used to do things. Why? Because now I have a standard. I’ve lived through and seen what its like just to wing it in the office. I’m not going back to that because now I have a higher standard in my professional life.

See, preferences are things you can flex on, standards you won’t.

Finances

So not only have I been working two units, but for a good portion of this year, there would be weekends where I would get off work on a Friday and Saturday, both, and go do Uber in Dallas until Midnight or later. I made pretty good money doing it, but there was a problem. As it stands right now, I still have 0 dollars in savings and I’m still in debt. How does that happen when I’m making 300 - 500 dollars in a weekend at least once or twice a month?!? Yes, I was making the money, but I was blowing through it. I wasn’t disciplined. My wife sat down recently and we figured out our budget. It turns out we actually have a good amount of money after bills and groceries without me doing Uber.

But now, we have a plan. My wife and I have prayed about it and now we have a plan to put some money in savings and get out of debt completely by next Christmas. Now, we have a goal in mind and a standard of living that is going to make that goal possible. You can have nice things. You can live a good life and you don’t have to make 6 figures just to make it. But you have to be disciplined.

See, your goals will only be attainable by the standards of which you set and live for your life. Its one thing to set the standard, but its another to live it.

We Just Settle Spiritually

We have access to this abundant life, but we choose to settle for economy. I’m not saying there’s anyone that flies economy, because up to this point, all I’ve flown is economy. But lets shift gears here and relate this to our spiritual life. The plane represents salvation. Theres a lot of people that are flying economy. A lot of people get on the plane and just ride, but why can’t we enjoy the ride?

Colossians 1:11 NLT

11 We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy,

Philippians 4:6–7 NLT

6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 5:19–25 NLT

19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. 22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. 25 Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.

But how are you going to get that joy if you don’t have a relationship with Him? Better yet, how are you going to have joy if your relationship with Him is weak? Guys, a great relationship with God almighty isn’t going to just fall out of the sky. It takes work! God wants to see that you really want Him. That you have come to this place where you say “God, I’m completely dependent on You! Apart from You I can’t do anything. God, maybe what you want me to do is going to suck, but not my will but Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven!”

1 Corinthians 9:24–27 (NLT)

24 Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! 25 All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. 26 So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. 27 I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.

I’ve said it, and many other guys in here have said it. “I want to get closer to God.” The only way that we can do that is by spiritual discipline. We have to read our Bible daily. Scripture says that we need our daily bread. Scripture also says that we are His sheep and His sheep know his voice, but that is only because they have stayed close enough and long enough to hear and recognize his voice.

One last thing I want to leave you with is this. You can set whatever standard you want for your life. You can live your life to the highest quality or lowest quality that you choose. But remember this:

Discipline only comes when you want to improve or maintain the quality of your life based on the standards that you choose to live by.