Friday, March 20, 2009
The word discipleship and the word discipline are the same word--that has always fascinated me. Once you have made the choice to say, "Yes, I want to follow Jesus," the question is, "What disciplines will help me remain faithful to that choice?" If we want to be disciples of Jesus, we have to live a disciplined life. By discipline, I do not mean control. If I know the discipline of psychology or of economics, I have a certain control over a body of knowledge. If I discipline my children, I want to have a little control over them. But in the spiritual life, the word discipline means "the effort to create some space in which God can act." Discipline means to prevent everything in your life from being filled up. Discipline means that somewhere you're not occupied, and certainly not preoccupied. In the spiritual life, discipline means to create that space in which something can happen that you hadn't planned or counted on.
With that definition of discipline established I want you to consider three disciplines that are important for all of us. They all come from a story in the Gospel of Luke 6: 12 – 26. Take some time to read it. Here are the Three:
1. Prayer – Jesus went to the mountainside to pray. Prayer is the best way for me to create space for God to work in my life. Prayer should be a daily exercise for all of us.
2. Spiritual friends – Jesus chose 12 to work closely with him. These were his closest followers. They listened to Jesus, watched Jesus and ministered like Jesus. God uses spiritual relationships in my life to make space for God to work in my life. Spiritual friendships can conform me to the image of Christ in a deeper way. These are friendships that are not just based on temporary things, like the stock market or the weather; but are based on eternal things, like the Word of God and my obedience to it.
3. Spiritual Truth – This passage indicates that Jesus went down to a level place and began to teach and heal. And then he looked at his disciples and taught them what we call the Beatitudes. If I’m going to create space in my life for God to work I must consistently feed my mind spiritual truth from God’s word. It’s as if Jesus looked right at the 12 and said, “Here’s the truth, know it, believe it and most of all, practice it.”
So, being a disciple of Jesus means I live a disciplined life; I create space in my life so God can work. Everyday I should talk to God and allow Him talk to me (Word Up with truth), and have some friends who are primarily interested in my spiritual formation.
Following Jesus,
Pastor Tim
With that definition of discipline established I want you to consider three disciplines that are important for all of us. They all come from a story in the Gospel of Luke 6: 12 – 26. Take some time to read it. Here are the Three:
1. Prayer – Jesus went to the mountainside to pray. Prayer is the best way for me to create space for God to work in my life. Prayer should be a daily exercise for all of us.
2. Spiritual friends – Jesus chose 12 to work closely with him. These were his closest followers. They listened to Jesus, watched Jesus and ministered like Jesus. God uses spiritual relationships in my life to make space for God to work in my life. Spiritual friendships can conform me to the image of Christ in a deeper way. These are friendships that are not just based on temporary things, like the stock market or the weather; but are based on eternal things, like the Word of God and my obedience to it.
3. Spiritual Truth – This passage indicates that Jesus went down to a level place and began to teach and heal. And then he looked at his disciples and taught them what we call the Beatitudes. If I’m going to create space in my life for God to work I must consistently feed my mind spiritual truth from God’s word. It’s as if Jesus looked right at the 12 and said, “Here’s the truth, know it, believe it and most of all, practice it.”
So, being a disciple of Jesus means I live a disciplined life; I create space in my life so God can work. Everyday I should talk to God and allow Him talk to me (Word Up with truth), and have some friends who are primarily interested in my spiritual formation.
Following Jesus,
Pastor Tim
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