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Once you decide to change and grow in your Christian walk, you can just about guarantee there will be obstacles put in your path. The daily discipline of just doing the right thing all the time can seem overwhelming, but empowered by the Holy Spirit, you can do all things through Christ who is strengthening you. His power is released in you to live the life, and walk the walk as well as talking the talk. The daily disciplines of the Christian walk…. Study, prayer, meditating, worship, and living a fasted life, are what get you through obstacles and over into progress and success. It is the person who begins saving as soon as they start earning a wage that will have a large sum in the bank at retirement. The later you start the harder it is to catch up. That same principle applies with just about anything. Why not start today to live a disciplined life…. Because that is who you are!
Say this with me….
I am a disciplined person.
I am not conformed to this world, but am being transformed into the image of Christ. I seek God first, and seek those things which are above.
I set my mind on things above.
I give myself continually to the ministry of the Word and to prayer.
I study to show myself approved unto God, I’m a workman with no shame in my life. My life is changing because I believe what God’s Word says about me.

Perhaps you are looking at who you are in the natural, and thinking this is not who I want to be. One thing that is so awesome about serving God is not only can we have a dramatic change of direction through salvation, but our life continually can grow and change. We don’t have to continually do the same things over and over, we can make improvements. The biggest factor in changing is in choosing to renew our mind and to change the way we think. If we would take every thought captive as the Bible tells us to do, we would realize that we have some faulty thinking going on! To change that, we need to renew our mind, and begin to think and believe like what the Word of God tells us to do. To renew our mind means we take what we believe and make it line up with the Word. Past experiences, or what someone else has told you, can shape who we are. To change to be who God wants us to be, we must make our beliefs and thoughts conform with the Word of God.
Say this with me….
I am renewing my mind, and am putting on the new man, which is created in righteousness and true holiness.
I am putting off the old man, and becoming who God has made me to be.
I will take off the old me and put on the new me!
I keep the Word of God in my mouth and in my heart, so my way is prosperous, and I have good success! I hope that encourages you today!

Intro:
Do you know that what you think about is what you will become? Hi this is Dorette Schaal with your dailyeword. This week we’ll be talking about identity. Who do you think you are? Who in Christ are you? As believers we are known to walk way beneath our privilege as believers, but when we know who we are in Christ, we will never let that happen again. Be encouraged to be who God created you to be, starting now! Here is your dailyeword!

Who are you? Jesus asked that question to Peter…who do you say that I am? Well let me ask you the same question. Do you know who you are? Not just who are your parents, or what is your position, or occupation, but who are you really? Paul prayed that we would know who we are in Christ. What you believe about who you are is really a major factor in your life. God’s image of who we are is what we should go for! This what God says about you. You are His child, once you receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, in fact, you are a new person in Christ. The old is gone, and you are a new creation! God has raised you us to live in newness of life. You are made to be the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. He says you are blessed with everything that Heaven has to offer. Not only blessed with spiritual blessing, but also with everything that pertains to life and godliness. He says that your needs are met, and that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. You can overcome in any problem or situation or circumstance, because you are more than a conqueror. Wow! Those are great things to believe, and they are what God says about you! So, who are you? You are who God says you are! Those are encouraging words for you today!

Make time to quiet yourself before God. This is a discipline that is so powerful and so undervalued. Never underestimate what God can do when you are quiet before Him…on your couch, in a coffee shop, in the front seat of a pickup, or in a rocking chair. Have a place that becomes your place. I had a Jesus chair by my fireplace in our former home that was “my place”. I can’t wait to set up my secret place with Jesus in our new home. It is so important to develop that intimate relationship with the One who loves you most. You will begin to know God’s voice more and more and be more sensitive to His leading. We know that what we value, we make time for. Value your time with God enough to schedule it into

your day. As the leadership team at AGF, we value the time we get to build into the lives of those who call AGF their church home. We want to continue growing numerically, but are continually aware that by building BIG people who know His voice, God is building a strong church body that can change our world, one life at a time. It takes discipline, but boy oh boy is it worth it. When we practice daily disciplines, it becomes easier to love God, love people, and lovie life. So make time for some quiet time with God, be still in His presence and breathe in the discipline of stillness.

As you make your spiritual life a priority, a wonderful discipline to develop is to take time to schedule a daily appointment with God. That time can include worship, prayer, reading, listening and writing in a journal. Many of us are good at all of the above…. except listening! We do our talking, and then we are out the door. That doesn’t work well in human relationships, and it doesn’t work well with God! When we listen, we can hear the whispers of heaven. His still small voice can speak volumes of hope into our soul. When we hide in the secret place, God will tell us secrets, maybe of areas we need to adjust, maybe of ways to pray to prevent negative situations, and sometimes of things to come. We can learn to hear the voice of God above all other voices. We can become more familiar with His voice, because we are His sheep. If hearing God’s voice is valuable to you, make time and space to listen to Him. Make a God appointment every day!

There are so many choices and voices that speak loudly into our lives. One area of daily discipline that we can all get better at is hearing from God. He does speak to us through His Word, so that means we need to be reading His Word to hear His voice. We can also have an inward knowing, in our spirit, to give us specific direction for our life. Not too often does anyone hear an audible voice, but our God is creative! He spoke through a donkey and a burning bush before, so He can speak to us. In my own life there have been times when God has spoken to me through the voices of my kids. Knowing the voice of God is so important to living a victorious Christian life, and shutting out the chatter of the world. One of the most important things to teach our kids is to know the voice of God. There are so many voices that try to convince them that they are not enough, or that they are not who God says they are, that we need to help them learn to recognize the truth found by hearing God’s voice. It’s a great discipline to think about what we are thinking about, and choose to only think on the truth of who God says we are.

Here are three things that often are a big factor in deciding to renew commitment to faithful church life. The weekly discipline of serving and worshipping in church regularly with your family and friends, adds so much to life. Where we are planted is where we will grow, and that is what daily disciplines help us accomplish. We grow in God in church. Remember this: 1) Church is a fun place to be. Serious spiritual work is done here, but it is a life-giving, joy-filled environment. 2) Those who are involved in church life get the best benefits of Christian community, because they work hand in hand…side by side other believers. 3) You will get recharged, refilled and restored, each time you serve or attend a service, so you can be a blessing to the people in your world all week long. We hope you make the choice to worship with your church body, every week. Come on Sunday, get involved in a small group during the week, and get your kids and youth to services that build a good foundation for life. You are a vital part of the body of Christ. Every joint supplies, and that means if you have a place to fill, that fits perfectly, because God sets each person in the body that he wants them to be planted in. Get your roots down deep.

Daily disciplines help us stay filled up so that we can live in the overflow. Its human nature to get serious about something when it is screaming for your attention. We don’t have to only study up on healing when our own body or someone we love faces sickness. Lets be full of the Word on the subject of healing so that we can live out of the overflow of health. It works in every area of life.

My husband actually spoke on living life in the overflow in church, and I wrote this poem/psalm during service.
Overflow Living
A well on the inside, a river that flows
Brings refreshing and blessing where ever it goes
A little splash here, and a bucketful there
A spirit filled life, overflows everywhere
From the heart’s abundance, your mouth will speak
From you life’s overflow, you’ll strengthen the weak
You’ll lift up their hands, and encourage their hearts
Overflow living is a great place to start 09/17/06

My prayer for you is that you can have the daily discipline to get the obstructions out of your life. Freedom in Christ is when water flows freely. Kinks hold us back! Let’s be “kink free” in Jesus’ name!

Yesterday we talked about kinked hoses. Kinks in our lives come in many forms – irritations, wounds, hurts, frustrations, wrong choices, bad influences, even having to deal with people who aren’t easy to love can cause kinks. Kinks cause us to be bound up. To remove a spiritual kink, you begin by walking in love and forgiveness. Walking in love and forgiveness is a daily discipline that can enhance, revive and restore relationships. When we believe the best in others, and make godly choices, life gets better. We realize that we can’t change others, but we can change ourselves. The disciple of love and forgiveness helps us do the most important thing which is to trust God completely! By receiving God’s love and giving it out we will have more than enough to give away. If we want more than a trickle in our river of life, we have to fill up and stay full of the love of God, and then let it flow out to others.

Intro:
Daily disciplines take daily discipline! Hi this is Dorette Schaal with your dailyeword. I know that is a heavy revelation, and any time we talk about disciplined living, people get uptight. Don’ get uptight, you are disciplined in many of the things you already do! You have living water flowing through your life, and the spiritual disciplines you have will make your life more meaningful throughout your life. Here is your daily eword.

Have you ever had a kink in your garden hose? We have hoses that are very flexible at our house, and it seems like I am always “unkinking” them. You have to follow the hose back to where the kink is, “unkink” it, and then go reset the sprinkler. It can be very frustrating.The same thing can happen with irrigation pipe. If something gets in the way, it doesn’t matter how much pressure your pump has, the water will not push out the clog so the water can flow freely. If we want the water to run freely, there can be no obstructions.

The Bible has all kinds of references to water – from us drawing from the well of salvation, to the rivers of life that flow from our inner man. Water represents life, and the flow of the Holy Spirit for us. Sadly, many people live with their hose kinked. They have all this water available, and it can’t get through. Maybe a trickle comes through, but not the over and abundant flow that God has for each of us. If we want the overflow, kinks have to be removed. Daily disciplines help remove the kinks from our hose, and let the water of life flow freely through us.