Healing And Deliverance Tools

Exercise Yourself Towards Godliness (Part 4)

• Dr. Gilbert Mwachia

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In this episode we pickup where we left in our last teaching. In case you missed it, here is the summary: "Are there benefits and rewards in exercising ourselves toward godliness? Athletes work hard at their games because of the promised rewards if they win the prize. In this episode, as we continue to dig deeper into our topic, we will look at the motivating factors to pursue godliness. Get inspired by these truths that make your spiritual journey worth it all. Godliness is the best life you can have here on earth, and the life that is to come. Discover more in our teaching."

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Speaker 1:

Hallelujah. So welcome to our time for studying the Word of God, and we're delighted that you can join us wherever you're watching. We pray that God will bless you in Jesus' name. We are in 1 Timothy 4 and verse 7, and I read here. It says but reject profane and old wives' fables and exercise yourself toward godliness. For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, is profitable for all things having promise of the life that now is and that which is to come. We have been looking at these scriptures and studying using that subject there exercise yourself toward godliness. Exercise yourself toward godliness, please.

Speaker 1:

If you miss our previous teachings, I encourage you to look at YouTube and our YouTube channel. You will be able to see there those teachings that have gone Very important words that we shared. We began to look at the promises for the life that now is, and we covered two of them. I want to bring in a couple of others we talked about. There is a promise as we train ourselves to become more godly. Paul says that godliness has value. Godliness is profitable for the life that now is, the present life and the life that is to come. So we are looking at the promises that are there in the present life. I told you I cannot cover all of them, but I'm just mentioning a couple of them to whet your appetite, to know that what you are doing when you stretch yourself, when you wake up in the morning to have some time with the Lord, or maybe, if you are a night owl, when you extend some hours, an hour or two in the evening before you go to bed, you say my best time to be with the Lord, to exercise, to do my spiritual exercise, is at night, when I'm done with eating at eight. I don't know how you can do that, but some people are good at that. When they they have eaten their dinner early and then around 8 o'clock they're able to use an hour or so to study the Word, to pray, or to praise or to look themselves out before going to bed. Maybe you are that kind of a person. I love it in the morning. I love it in the morning. I just come out. It's not easy to get out of bed. It's not easy. Ask any athlete I say that and I repeat it Ask any athlete who is training themselves, who is disciplining themselves. They will tell you to achieve anything, to be a discipline. It's not easy. Because you wake up in the morning, or it is in the evening and you want to do some exercise, the first thing your body tells you not now, do it tomorrow. No, you're too tired. No, it's too early, you need to sleep a little bit more. Or you're too tired, you need to get some rest for tomorrow. There's always an excuse not to do an exercise, excuse not to do an exercise. So it has to be a disciplined life that will bring you these benefits that we have mentioned here.

Speaker 1:

Some words that are coming in my spirit. Don't forget this. Don't forget, so I'll bring it out. This one I didn't bring. Let me bring it. Please write down, and please have the habit of writing down some revelations, some things. We can't remember everything you can't. So take some notes, write down some things. It will help you. You can go back, you actually improve your memory because you are hearing, but also you are writing down. So that's good. So I encourage you to do that.

Speaker 1:

But there's something that I read in my studies from a Bible teacher, pastor Kent Hughes. He was talking about disciplining ourselves, disciplining ourselves, and this is what he said. This is what I wanted to write down the need for discipline. Okay, now let me quote. He says no discipline, no discipleship, no sweat, no sainthood, no perspiration, no inspiration, no pain, no pain, no gain. You know that no manliness, no maturity. End of quote. I'll repeat that. What was that? I loved it, so I'll repeat it again. It bears repetition, it's not a waste of time. It says this no discipline. It bears repetition, it's not a waste of time. It says this no discipline, no discipleship, no sweat, no sainthood, no perspiration, no inspiration, no pain, no gain, gain, no manliness, no maturity. When I read that, I said wow, I'm going to share, end of quote, though. But I said I'm going to share that with my brothers and sisters here.

Speaker 1:

You see that it's a life of discipline, but there are rewards. So we are looking at some of the rewards that come along with us practicing to be godly, and we covered. Number one is the presence of God, the promise of the presence of God. Paul says having the promise for the life that now is the presence of God. We covered that. And the second one we covered was the peace of God. We have peace. We have peace, we have contentment, we have a joy that nobody can take away from us, and we looked at how, even Jesus himself. We looked at Isaiah, the famous verse for our brother Mark, where in Isaiah 26, verse 3, he shall keep him in perfect peace, him whose mind is stayed on him. And we added there because he trusts in him. All right, that's the completeness of the verse. But then we went to Jesus as well. Jesus promised. He said don't let your heart be troubled. So we covered that in our last teaching and I want to belabor that. I want to go into the other blessing, other promise. So first of all, presence of God. Number two, peace of God. And now number three, provision of God. Provision of God, having a promise of provision. God has promised to provide for those who seek him diligently, for those who pursue righteousness. There's a promise that God will meet our needs.

Speaker 1:

And we can read so many verses, but I want to read a couple of them. Let me begin by reading a testimony of David in Psalms. Where is my mind going? Psalms, chapter number 37. Many of you know this verse. Some people where these teachings are going, they don't have Bibles or they don't know Bibles. So Psalms 37 in verse 25.

Speaker 1:

I love this verse. I love this verse. I love this verse. It says this is David. David saying I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants, begging bread. Look at that promise, lovely promise. Yeah, david says I was young and now I am an old man. I have never seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants, begging bread. Those are powerful promises. It's a powerful promise, a testimony of David which we also can lean on.

Speaker 1:

And I can give you a testimony even of my own life, my own family, from where I came, from, the circumstances that we came from. I was blessed to have godly parents. They didn't have much, they didn't have money, they were poor, they didn't have education, but my parents pursued godliness. They pursued to when Christianity was coming to Africa. They were amongst the first people to surrender their lives to Jesus Christ. And I tell you what, oh my goodness. This is a testimony I can give over and over again. We are eight of us in our family, four boys, four girls, but God tremendously blessed my family blessed, our home blessed, my brothers and sisters, blessed everyone that these parents of mine had. We were blessed just because of our parents, without anything else. We grew up. There was no way we could come up. There was no way I could be what I am today. There was no way I could be where I am other than the fact that I am enjoying the blessings that came as a result of my mother and my father's blessing, and I have seen this repeated in other people as well.

Speaker 1:

Let me read you another verse. Let me read you another verse in Psalms. Again, I love Psalms 112. Psalms 112, you can run there quickly. I'll just read verse one, two and three. Okay, verse one, two and three. This is lovely stuff. This is lovely stuff. This is good stuff.

Speaker 1:

Psalms 112, verse 1, 2, and 3. This is what I said. Praise the Lord. Blessed is the man who fears the Lord. Did you hear that? Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who delights greatly in his commandments. His descendants will be mighty on earth, the generation of the upright will be blessed, wealth and riches will be in his house and his righteousness endures forever. You can continue down and down and down, as the psalmist continues to bring down the blessings that go along with the man that fears God, the man who pursues godliness. Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who delights greatly in his commandments, his descendants. You see, the blessings of God go beyond me. They go, they trickle down. His descendants will be mighty on earth, the generation of the upright will be blessed, worth and riches will be in his house and his righteousness endures forever Beloved.

Speaker 1:

This is a covenant, is a covenant blessing is a covenant promise for the life that now is. We're not going to be blessed in heaven, we will be blessed here. We need the blessings here and God has promised to bless us and to bless our generation. Oh, you're asking. Oh, how comes? Maybe you are watching this and you love the Lord, you're walking with the Lord, but maybe your children are not where you think they should be with the Lord or they should be in this life. And you're wondering why are these promises not being fulfilled in my life? You don't have to continue wondering.

Speaker 1:

Engage also in spiritual. When you get a promise of God, you got to take it to the Lord in prayer and you begin to speak. Don't look at what you are seeing your children doing. Don't let the circumstances detect what you are seeing. Go beyond that. Begin to declare the promises of God over your children. Say God, you promised as I delight myself in you, your blessings will be over me. Your blessings will be over my children, over those that are my descendants, will be mine. I speak greatness over my children. I speak greatness. I see greatness in them Because why? God has said it. God has said it. As I pursue God, as I seek God, as I pray, these fellows are lucky. They are lucky people because I'm bringing them before God in prayer and the devil would want to hit you and discourage you that your prayers are oh, god is not keeping his word because what you are saying is happening to your children. Don't allow that. Don't allow that to happen. Hold on to the stand on the word of God and see God begin to move. As you declare, as you stand, god begin to move over your descendants. You have, they have your genes. They have your blood. They have. There is a part of you that is in them. So when you pray, there is power in that. You see, the Bible says in James, chapter four, verse three we have, not because we ask, not Just because God has promised it doesn't mean it's just going to happen. No, we have to pray. We got to pray for it.

Speaker 1:

I still remember my parents gathering us up, you know, as children in our family and they will pray every night and our villagers will pass and they will hear us singing. They were not very spiritual but they loved the Lord and our home was just next to the road, the main road. It was only one street really in my village and so they will pass there and they will hear us around nine o'clock before we go to bed. It was a tradition. We are gathered together and we have to pray as a family and I still hear the prayers of my father and my mother saying God, you give me these children. I have no way to bless them. I have nothing to give them, but you have everything to give them. Protect them, just bless my children. Very simple prayers.

Speaker 1:

My father never bound a devil In the church where he grew up in his salvation. They didn't teach him about spiritual warfare. He never did any spiritual warfare, never bound any demon, never cast out any demon, never stood. But he just prayed. He just said God, you gave me these children. They are yours. Bless them. I cannot protect them, I cannot provide anything for them, but I am looking to you to bless them. And I tell you what. You go to my village today. They no longer love the salvation of my father. They can't because of what they have seen God has done to this family of this righteous man. It has stood as a testimony of the goodness of God, god keeping his word. I'm encouraging you pray for your children. Pray for your children.

Speaker 1:

One time I shared with the church about a brother who was a homosexual. He was a homosexual and he just veered off, but he had a praying mother. He had a praying mom who prayed for and when he turned to become homosexual, the mother just told her son you know I don't agree with your lifestyle, but you are my son. And this man came to the Lord miraculously. But he found a letter that the mother had written and said my mother never brought up again the issue of my lifestyle. That was it. He loved. She loved me unconditionally and she began to pray for me. Pray for me. And one time she was in a bar and some people young men came in with a Bible and they started witnessing in a bar. And he got interested and said you guys are here with a Bible. What are you doing here in Los Angeles with a Bible in a bar? And we just come to spread good news and they invited him to church. Long story short, the guy went to this church and said I have to go and see this church that will bring young men to a bar. And the guy got saved and today he has a wonderful YouTube channel sharing his testimony.

Speaker 1:

I don't know where this has come from, but this is for somebody out there. Please pray. There is power in your prayer. Look at the promises of God for this life that now is. Lift up your children, lift up all that concerns you. Wage warfare. Don't look at what is going on with them. Just look at what God has said and say I'm standing on the promises of God. We never sing those songs these days. We've lost songs that encourage us to stand on the word of God. But wow, that is a promise. And I can go on and on. Man, I just get lost with that. But I hope you get something out of there. There is a promise of God's provision.

Speaker 1:

I'm reading I just read the Old Testament. My goodness, it looks like I'm only going to cover one. Wow, but it's not a waste of time. Okay, I'm going to read Matthew 6 and 31. Here we go. Therefore, do not worry saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear For after all these things? For after all these things the Gentiles seek For. Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Hallelujah, don't worry.

Speaker 1:

Jesus is talking about a father who cares, a father who knows us, a father who loves us so much. And he says don't worry about clothes, don't worry about food, don't worry about what you will drink. This is what the Gentiles, this is what the people who don't care about God. They are seeking after those. They are worried. What's my future going to be? No, he says seek first, make the kingdom of God a priority in your life. When he says seek first, it doesn't mean we should not seek business to make money. No, that's not what Jesus is saying. He's talking about priority. He's talking about priority Seek fast. That word fast is an issue of priority. Seek fast the kingdom of God and his righteousness. That's godliness. There you are seeking after the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And then he says and all these other things will be added unto you. That means now, when you are seeking these others, you already have your priorities lined up, then these are the things God will just bless you with. They will come in. They will come in automatically as you have ordered your priorities right, hallelujah, I hope you get that.

Speaker 1:

So it is an issue of priorities, an issue of knowing that we have a father. We have God, the father who cares for us, who is concerned for us, who knows what we need, and he will supply. Look at Philippians 4, verse 13. I know all of you are already quoting that, those of you who have read the Bible Philippians 4, verse 14. And my God no, not 14, philippians 4, verse 13,. And my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory. My God shall supply all your needs, not what you want all your needs according to his riches in glory. That's a promise of the life that is now for God to supply our needs, to supply our needs right now, in this life lives, hallelujah. You see, so we have promises that are so, so, so deep. God's provision. I can't believe. This is so sweet. I can't even move forward. I have two more others for this present life. But you know, do you see that beloved? Do you see God's provision? Do you trust him? Do you see that when you pursue godliness, there are fringe benefits that come along. There is what God has promised to follow us. Wait until we start looking at the promise of the life that is to come.

Speaker 1:

I hope you don't miss the next session as we come and begin to dig deeper, a little bit deeper, but there are sweet things in the Lord. Maybe you are not a born-again Christian, maybe you don't have Christ. Hey, pastor, what you are sharing, I feel I don't have it. I feel I don't have the peace, I feel I don't have the contentment. I don't have these promises. I tell you what just you need to order your priorities right.

Speaker 1:

Seek the kingdom of God, turn your heart to Christ, ask Jesus to come into your life and give you the fulfillment and contentment that you need and you'll have peace.

Speaker 1:

If you want to do that, we will pray with you and you can come to our website, go to the church website. We have ways of you getting saved, how you can get saved and how you can connect with us. But it's very simple. The Bible says whoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Just ask the Lord to come into your heart, ask him to change your life, surrender, ask him to forgive you. When you do that, jesus will come in, he will purify you, he will give you a new life. And make sure, don't keep quiet on it. Be sure to go to a church which talks and teaches the Bible correctly, and tell them you gave your life to Jesus and make a point of reaching to us and giving us your testimony so we can see how we can help you. God bless you. We'll continue with this. I hope you're getting blessed. I hope you're getting strength. May the Lord bless you and keep you until we come your way again In Jesus' name, amen.