Why We All Need Discipline and Focus by Rick Joyner

Your weekly dose of Rick Joyner coming right up!

I was just about to go through my daily devotionals, when my weekly serving of MorningStar Ministries' bulletins appeared in my inbox. I am amazed at how this spoke to me and could be applied to the need of another dear friend of mine..

I decided to repost because I did say that I will regurgitate Rick Joyner's messages to share with us all.

Just as an addendum to his message, I would like to say that my earthly father always told me to have focus and discipline. But like any post-Woodstock child, I rebelled against that, thinking my talents were more than enough to carry me across the bridges I had to cross. Only when God showed me that my talent and so-called brains are as filthy rags to Him, and that:

An inheritance quickly gained at the beginning will not be blessed at the end.

And also:

Before his downfall a man's heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.

The fear of the LORD teaches a man wisdom, and humility comes before honor.

This season of learning humility and submitting to authorities had been pretty harsh. But as my wise CCC Ate had told me, I have a high tolerance level for pain, that is why God had to subject me to the kind of extreme hewing that extremely hard rocks have to go through. Believe me, it was not fun. So not fun at all. And I didn't want to stay in this season. Heck, I had wanted it to be over and done with ASAP.

But when I go back to the warning about a quickly-attained inheritance, though I get crestfallen that I have to suffer a little bit more, I am thankful of the promise that when I will emerge from this season, I will be wiser, and clothed in a deeper humility and a more grounded character, than if I blindly went through life needing and gaining affirmation from society that I am a success, even though the very foundations inside me could easily crumble.

In like manner, I believe others would also go through the same paradigm: that in spite of being talented or gifted with much, we will desperately need discipline and focus, and by God's grace, we will come into the inheritance set for us. Not by our might or power, but only by the Spirit can this discipline be lasting.

Before you get to Rick Joyner's inspiration of the week, let me repost something I shared on a friend's blog:


I always battle with my mom or the other "moms" in my life regarding this (Keeping a foothold in a secure, secular job, while pursuing God in faith through a job I love). You guys believe that it's okay to live this way, to endure in something that gives stability while working on another thing that would give you the greatest joy.

I agree with this to some degree, but I would like to add that there are some people who are shaped differently.

There are some people whom God calls to a different paradigm altogether, that the job they would enter would only break them, if they walk in disobedience to God.

I guess my life's experiences had broken me enough that I would rather not step out of God's will.

A wise cellmate of mine told me that if I no longer have peace with, or can no longer submit to a boss, it is better to leave.

I am glad that working at home has allowed me to live still. I know this is not the fullness of what I want for myself, but I took comfort in:

Proverbs 15:33 The fear of the LORD teaches a man wisdom, and humility comes before honor.

Proverbs 18:12 12 Before his downfall a man's heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.

I was a very proud young lady. I still have issues, I must admit. But I thank God that He gave me the grace to learn quickly.

I have to admit that I had to spit out my pride in order to contact my other former employers when I finally left my season of pride and rebellion.

I cannot force myself on the people I had hurt, and I only have the ashes left of the bridges I had burned. I guess I just have to take comfort in how the discipline and the lessons were clearer now than before.

Proverbs 12:1 Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.

Also, I guess this is also what God wants me to realize:

Proverbs 20:21 An inheritance quickly gained at the beginning will not be blessed at the end.

I guess I would rather plow this field, because writing is my passion, even if the road is hard and the certainty is nonexistent. Because if I go the way of straddling two waters, what I envision will not come to pass because I will only be scattering my energies.

In the end,

Romans 8:28

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.


I still adamantly hold on to the paradigm God has set for me. I believe that as you live, whether you're still in high school, college or in your 20's, when you are still not sure what God wants you to be, go and seek Him. Observe yourself closely. What passions do you have? What interests you the most? What are your best talents?

Note these down in a journal, while you still don't have the bigger picture. Know that at its very heart, your purpose is to:

1. Worship God.
2. Cooperate with Jesus in being more motivated by Love with every day that passes.
3. Make disciples or ensuring that your next generation would love God passionately, recklessly, unequivocally..

(More of this in a previous post..)

Not all of us will be in ministry. Not all of us will be celebrities. But as we all worship God, He will reveal to us what work He has cut out for us, and our job is to:

FOCUS.

Never be discouraged by trials and pain.

And when things get ambiguous, go back, go back to your main paradigm: What did you and God agree on?

As a personal note, there was a point in this season where in I was so confused about what job to take. I saw my transcript of records, and I was broke and the writing work seemed to have been pulled out from under me like a rug needing to go to the washers. I wondered if He wanted me to go for a regular job, as a teacher or whatever. But when the dust settled, and I asked God again what He would have me do, I felt in my spirit that He was asking me that question instead:

"What did you really want to become? What is your ultimate goal, as your far as your career is concerned?"

I wanted to feed myself through writing. That's all I could ever want.

"Then walk in it."

I chose writing, even as I had been trained as a Psychology graduate, because:

• Through writing, I can pursue all the other careers I would have wanted to be in.
• I like my schedule. It gives me time to pray and take care of people.
• Nothing beats having time on your hands, in your control.
  
• Secular counseling takes so much out of people, especially if it's become a career.
• I find it wrong to counsel people for a fee. THIS should be given for free!
  
• God takes such hold over my time that I would be fired from a job within a week, if this keeps up. Heheh.
• I get to read all the articles I want to in my spare time.
• I don't have to watch the bandiclock in order to get to what I really wanna do.
• I do not go home tired from the travel.
• I do not have to deal with office politics.

I am a firm believer that if one wants a certain career or targets a certain thing, all focus must be on it. Scattered energies mean a scattered focus, and not everything is spent in making that something you truly desire happen. The result is getting less than what you set out for.

James says:

(James 1:5-8)

If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You'll get his help, and won't be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who "worry their prayers" are like wind-whipped waves. Don't think you're going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open. (MSG)

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do. (NLT)

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. (NIV)


I praise God that He has given me self-sufficient parents, and no siblings, so I am free to focus on what He has set for me. For others who had been less fortunate and have to worry about their families.. I feel for you.

And yet, when you seek first His Kingdom, He did promise to add to His presence the very things you ask for: financial security, protection from loss and tragedies, and a robust health.

So yes, let us FOCUS our eyes only on Jesus. He is so near to dominion on earth. Let us labor to prepare the Bride, because frankly, our iniquities have reached a tipping point.

And on to the main act :

The Army of God Mobilizes, Part 21 Last week we discussed how the most successful in any field are usually those who do the basics the best. I am sure you have noticed how I repeat some of these principles. I may try to say them a little differently, using different stories, but they are nevertheless the same principles. I am trying to make the teaching interesting and effective. Repetition is required in developing any skill, including Christian character. The wise embrace repetition and are always those who are the most serious about training and practice. The wise never waste an opportunity to review a truth and practice it. In our ministry, we have quite a few gifted musicians, songwriters, and worship leaders. Our School of Ministry seems to attract many very gifted musicians and worship leaders every year, and lately we have been astonished at how these extraordinary gifts seem to be increasing dramatically each year. This is a great encouragement to us, but we also know it is a great responsibility. MorningStar worship CDs have become known around the world. I hear songs written by our worship leaders and students played almost everywhere I go, even in some of the most isolated, remote places. This is gratifying because those songs have a message that is being carried forth, and even more importantly, they are helping people to worship the Lord. However, this did not just happen. We began with probably the most unimpressive worship on the planet. How did this change? There can be a great difference between wealth and riches. Riches tend to come easily and quickly, but also leave just as easily and quickly. True wealth is the result of diligence, hard work, faithfulness, endurance, and character, all of which help impart to the one who has the wealth and the wisdom to help preserve and expand it. The true treasure of the kingdom is the same. One of the true treasures of the kingdom is having our names written in heaven, where we are known there. It is a great treasure to be trusted with the gifts and ministries of the Holy Spirit and to be given authority and influence in the kingdom, all of which is built on character, which is called “the fruit of the Spirit.” Fruit is cultivated and grown. You cannot plant a seed and expect it to just jump out of the ground as a mature tree with fruit on it. I confess to getting impatient with people who ask me to pray for them and impart my gift of writing to them, as if this could be done just by me laying hands on them. It has taken me four decades of hard work to develop the skills that I have. We can be given the gift by God, but like the muscles He gives us, they will remain small or grow dependent upon how we exercise them. Imparting spiritual gifts is not like waving something like a spiritual magic wand over people and giving them a gift that is instantly powerful. It is true that gifts can be imparted by the laying on of hands, but if we impart something to someone who does not have the discipline and devotion required to develop it, we have helped to bring judgment upon them—the judgment of the “wicked, lazy, slave” (see Matthew 25:26) in the Parable of the Talents who buried what he was entrusted with. I have often desired a gift or power that would allow me to lay hands on people for instant spiritual maturity, but I do not find that anywhere in the Scriptures. Wisdom comes from a devotion to knowledge that is combined with experience with the humility to learn from our experiences and others. It is a mentality. I will confide this to you: One of my greatest disappointments and a grief that I carry is to have watched some of the most spiritually-gifted people fail, backslide, and bury the great gifts that they were given. Because my calling is to build people, the “talents” I have been entrusted with are the people. Though I understand that God has given people freedom to make their own choices, I still carry a grief for those who fail. I cannot help but to wonder what I could have done to prevent this. Don’t feel sorry for me or try to alleviate this feeling because it is basic that with authority comes responsibility, and I am not concerned with feeling better as much as I am with doing better. The only way that I will feel better is to see improvement, and I think that we are, but I also do not want to just sweep our failures under the rug. I want to learn everything I can from them so I can do better with the people the Lord entrusts to us. On the other hand, we have many success stories, and I get as much joy from hearing of their growth and success as I do grief from the failures. With every success or failure, I feel that I have learned different but priceless lessons. I want to pass these on. Though I may not be able to lay hands on people for instant maturity, the truly wise, who are the truly humble, will learn from other people’s lessons, whether mistakes or successes. I have seen one common denominator with all who I consider to be failing to produce fruit with the great gifts that were given to them—they all began to feel that they were so gifted that they did not have to work hard; they only wanted to do the fun part, which for a musician might be something like just playing before large crowds. After a while, we learned that if one’s personal discipline in private was not growing with their fame, then their fame would bring them down. Once when I was going out to speak at the International Church of Las Vegas, I asked a friend of mine who had been a great NBA basketball player to come with me. His name is Armen Gilliam, also known as “Armen, the hammer,” and he was one of the elite players of his time. On the way out, Armen told me about one of his college teammates that he felt was the greatest basketball player he had ever known, but who never made it in the NBA and had never been heard from since. Armen played in the era of some of the greatest basketball players of all time like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird. When I asked Armen if his former teammate was better than them, he assured me that he was and that when some of them had played together in summer leagues, this man, John Flowers, won the MVP award. Like Armen, I wondered how such a great player could just disappear like that. Then, while I was in the green room of the church preparing to speak, Armen came back and said he saw his friend, John Flowers, sitting in the audience. I asked him to bring him back, which he did. I told John what Armen had said about him, and he quickly agreed that he was the most talented player, even more so than all of the other greats of his era. When I asked him why he never made it in the NBA, his response was immediate—he felt that he was so talented that he did not have to work hard, so those who worked harder quickly passed him by. He was now a doorman at one of the casinos downtown. I, too, have learned over and over that those with the discipline and focus to work hard will quickly pass those who may have much greater talent but do not have the discipline or focus to work hard. Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods have obvious talents, but what really separates them from the rest is that they also have a discipline and work ethic. Michael Jordan refused to let anyone get to practice before him or leave after him. Teammates and coaches asserted that he practiced with more zeal than most played the games with. Think about this: Any one of you reading this could become God’s best friend in these times and do the greatest exploits for the sake of the gospel. Nowhere does it say that any one of us cannot do what Enoch did—get so close to God that He just takes us straight to heaven without passing through death. In fact, it could be that this is what the real rapture is—the bride, the church, becomes so perfect, without spot or blemish, and so in love with Him that He just takes her. If great athletes have such devotion for a sport, how much more should we be giving ourselves to run for the wreath that is imperishable? Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable (I Corinthians 9:24-25). www.morningstarministries.org

Rick Joyner, 5/19/2008