Joel Knoop Joel Knoop

HEAR & OBEY: Why Discipline Begins in the Soul Before the Body

In the Kingdom, discipline doesn’t start with effort—it starts with listening.
The Hebrew word for discipline, מִשְׁמַעַת (mishma'at), shares its root with שְׁמַע (Shema)—the ancient call to hear and obey.

This isn’t passive hearing. It’s not nodding through truth. It’s hearing that rearranges your life.
Because in the language of Scripture, to hear is to obey.
And obedience—that’s where discipline is born.

Discipline isn’t performance. It’s not about earning anything.
It’s about bowing your life to the voice of the King.
And when you fall, you listen again. Because discipline is not the goal—it’s the proof you’ve truly heard.

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Joel Knoop Joel Knoop

SELF-CONTROL IN ALL THINGS: THE PROOF OF THE CALLED

THIS IS WAR.

Not a metaphor. Not a theory. A reality. You were born into it. The serpent still speaks. The flesh still whispers. The world still sings lullabies of compromise. And you—if you belong to the King—are called to war.

Self-control is not about behavior modification. It is not about looking disciplined to be admired by men. It is the battlefield where allegiance is proven. Your cravings are not neutral. They are not innocent. Every ungoverned appetite is a foothold for your enemy.

You will either rule your flesh—or be ruled by it.

The Word doesn't say "try your best." It says: "Put to death therefore what is earthly in you." (Colossians 3:5) That’s execution language. That’s what love for God looks like when it’s real.

If you don’t master your desires, they will master you. If you don’t crucify your comfort, it will crucify your calling. And if you don’t build a life of obedience in secret, you will collapse in the open.

Discipline is not about being strong. It’s about being submitted.

Grace trains us. But training is not painless. It wounds the lazy. It humiliates the proud. It breaks the self-reliant. That’s why most run from it.

But you—child of the Covenant—you were not saved to be soft.

You were saved to be set apart.

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Joel Knoop Joel Knoop

THE DISCIPLINE OF REST: OBEDIENCE BORN OF GRATITUDE

Modern hustle culture celebrates constant work — but without true Sabbath rest, we lose more than energy. We lose focus on God's design. Here’s why observing Sabbath isn’t just ancient history — it’s discipline in action.

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Joel Knoop Joel Knoop

Discipline Is Worship: What I Realized That Changed Everything

It all begins I used to run for self-improvement.
To push harder. Be better. Outwork the man I was yesterday.

But that day, something shifted.
I didn’t run to prove anything. I ran as a thank you.
Not “me vs. me”—but me before God.
Gratitude, not grit, was driving me.

That’s when I realized:
Discipline isn’t about achievement. It’s worship.
A quiet yes to God… repeated daily.with an idea.

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