Speaker: Bro. Froilan Hong, Director for Administration, The Lord's Flock Catholic Charismatic Community

“ Training for Disciplined Disciples”

The WORD of GOD is a training of obedience. Its emphasis is on disciplined obedience to the commands of God. Its hearers and doers are trained to be DISCIPLINED DISCIPLES.

THE BIBLE STORY – A STRUGGLE IN OBEDIENCE

The entire story of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation is a story of struggle in obedience:

•  From Adam and Eve who were told not to eat the forbidden fruit in the garden;

•  To Noah who was told to build the Ark but was ridiculed by other men for doing so;

•  To Abraham who was promised to be the father of many nations; his wife, Sarah, could not wait and gave her maid, Hagar, to lie with him;

•  To Moses who struggled amidst the never-ending grumblings of the Israelites about no food and no water;

•  To the time of King Saul who did not follow God's commands and was reproved by Samuel ;

•  To the time of the prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and others

•  To the time of Jesus as written in the Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; and

•  Up to the time of Peter and Paul as related in Acts of the Apostles, Romans and the New Testament letters.

The Bible is the written WORD of GOD. It embodies all of His commands. Biblical people struggled to obey these commands. Many obeyed and were rewarded with blessings; some disobeyed and curses came upon them.

The commandments of God are for all times and for all people . The struggle in obedience did not end during biblical times. It continued until today. It will continue tomorrow. As disciples, we must win in this struggle. We must train to be obedient to the WORD of GOD.

The stories in the Scriptures give clear emphasis on the role of discipline ( obedience to the WORD of GOD ) in achieving a godly life. Unfortunately, the present generation of Christians seems to be of little concern and in constant search for shortcuts to reach goals.

Paul admonished Timothy: “Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales: rather train yourself to be godly.” (NIV 1 Timothy 4:7). “Avoid profane and silly myths. Train yourself for devotion.” (NAB 1 Timothy 4:7).

TRAINING FOR DISCIPLINE

How do we train ourselves to become disciplined disciples? How do we train ourselves in the word of God? How do we get trained in obedience?

Training for discipline of disciples is similar to running in a race. Both training and running have similar goals; finish the training and finish the race!

There is however a difference between running and training. In running, the runner who is the fastest wins the race. In training for discipline, all disciples who finish the training are winners! It is important that disciples are trained hand-in-hand in obeying the WORD of GOD. No one should be left behind!

Training for obedience to GOD's WORD is more like an obstacle course than a track event. The obstacles include crossing deep ravines, swimming rivers, climbing mountain peaks. The disciples under training must overcome these obstacles [tests from God] and finish the course together. No one should be left out!

Training for disciplined obedience is also like carrying a heavy load on one's back. Such a load may also represent trials from God. The disciple under training should carry the load without grumbling. “God is faithful and will not let you be tried beyond your strength; but with the trial he will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Our Lord Jesus has promised : “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 10:28). “For my yoke is easy and my burden light.” (verse 30).

Our training for discipline is a continuous process. It is training every second, every minute, every hour, and every day of our life. Tests and trials can come any moment in our life. We must be ready to embrace such training in obedience to GOD's WORD and emerge victorious always.

TRAINING IN THE DISCIPLINE OF THE WORD

God commands our obedience to His WORD and gives us opportunities for training on daily and continuous basis. How do we organize our response to God's continuing challenges?

“ I call heaven and earth today to witness against you: I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live.” (Deuteronomy 30:19).

Everyday, let us be very careful and conscious of our decisions and response to God's commands. We actually make many decisions of life or death. Let us get organized and carry out the following six steps in our day-to-day training as disciplined disciples:

STEP NO. 1 – PLAN ON WHAT TO DO

•  You must think and make a plan on what to do and how to do it.

•  Determine first where you are in your life right now. In what areas of your life have you been victorious? In what areas are you still struggling in obedience?

•  How much WORD of GOD have you heard and learned? Do you now possess the necessary “arsenal” of GOD's WORD to fight problems and face trials?

STEP NO. 2 – ESTABLISH YOUR TRAINING GOALS

•  Establish your one-year goal. Where do you see yourself one year from today?

•  Better still, set your day-to-day goals or targets.

•  Find out the things you are still unable to do and commit to do them now!

•  With your plans, do what you have to do today and continue until you reach your goals. Pray for guidance from the Holy Spirit.

•  Study the WORD of GOD every day and apply them in your life and in dealing with your problems.

•  Commit to memorize a WORD of GOD a day.

•  With daily exercise in the WORD, you can mature in your training in obedience.

STEP NO. 3 – GO TO THE DISCIPLINE OF THE WORD

•  Embrace the WORD of GOD. You cannot escape from the WORD. “O Lord, you have searched me and you know me, You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, you know it completely, O Lord.” (Psalm 139:1-4)

•  Continue to be drilled in the WORD of GOD day in and day out. Read the Bible daily. Hear the WORD of GOD regularly. Apply the WORD always.

•  Be aware of blocks to your hearing of the WORD. Be honest with yourself and find out which blocks are still preventing your hearing and doing the WORD; a hardened heart? a serious doubt? procrastination? indecision? refusal to believe? unwillingness to reconcile?

•  Ask the Holy Spirit to help you discover the blocks within you, then exorcise their spirits from you.

STEP NO. 4 – OBEY THE WORD OF GOD

•  Obey the WORD of GOD completely . You can do so after eliminating all blocks in hearing the WORD.

•  Surrender fully your heart to God and you can obey the WORD always. The heart cannot be surrendered partially; it has to be offered to God 100%.

STEP NO. 5 – SET YOUR PACE OF TRAINING

•  Set a proper pace or speed in your training for discipline.

•  Make sure you are in a good physical, emotional, mental and spiritual shape all the time.

•  When tests and trials come, sometimes at the same time, do not lose composure. The devil wants you to panic. Don't panic!

•  Maintain your tranquility. Do not let Satan rob you of your joy. Resist him and he will flee you.

STEP NO. 6 – WATCH YOUR VULNERABILITIES

•  Watch areas of vulnerability and weakness in you life. Always look closely on your vulnerable tendencies.

•  Be on guard against attacks by the devil on your vulnerabilities and weaknesses.