The Disciplines of the Christian Faith
Character comes to our disciplined and growing Christian life infused in and by Christ and the outpouring of the Spirit and Fruit. A Discipline is a help that builds our spiritual life and maturity so we can better receive the Work of the Spirit and the knowledge of the Word to help us produce character. Thus, the distinction of character comes from our devotional life; discipline is our contribution to our devotional life.
This will be about exploring the classic disciplines of the Christian faith from what the Bible has to say, and how these can be effective and effectual tools for our Christian formation as well as our spiritual and relational growth.
Our goal here is to get you to think and pray to focus more upon Christ and His Word!
Hopefully, it will be one of that you know our Lord and seek to love and grow in Him. Hopefully, your life and ministry can be about something much greater than yourself or your own thinking; that it is about how to glorify God and enjoy Him so your life is an impact no matter what has happened or will happen.
The spiritual exercises we have done are Biblical and are meant as a "tool" to engage the Text with a surrendered mindset to grow deeper. These classic Disciplines are not the non-Biblical "junk" or the mind-numbing mantras or some kind of altered state of consciousness. For these are very dangerous endeavors and will cause dysfunction to your faith and to your church. Rather, our Bible Studies on the Disciplines are based on the classic "Biblical" disciplines that we have rewritten to help us focus and ponder on God's Word! These are also the tools the Reformers Calvin and Luther used as focusing tools and to awaken them to the wonders, truths and depths of God's Word the Bible!
Biblical curriculums to help us in knowing and applying the Disciplines of the Faith
Prayer is the intimate pursuit and practice of the personal communication we have available between God and us. It is the spoken and unspoken confession of our Christian faith by engaging and proclaiming our complete dependence upon Christ as Lord over our lives. Prayer is not just a selfish wish list to get God to cater to our needs and whims; rather, it's true purpose and the reason it is also a discipline is to shape us by what He has revealed, and to grow in faith, character, perseverance, and maturity. Prayer is meant to.
Repentance is both a "summons" to seek Him first and a "summery" of the Gospel's impact and "regeneration" upon us so we make a life change in Christ. The discipline aspect of repentance is the result and application (not the cause) of the fruit from our salvation and renewal that we do our part with and by our faith. We see this exhibited when we are remorseful for our sins and seek to turn around to God. It requires us to employ our faith and repent which means to.
Confession is the event of responding to the Gospel's message, then acknowledging our faith publicly. But, as a discipline, confession becomes a continual process where we conform our lives to His Way so our faith applies to our lives. This means we come to the grace, forgiveness, and authority of Christ; because of Him, we keep submitting by the application of His precepts to our lives that result in maturity and spiritual growth. This is a "grace" in that we receive the ability from Christ, and a "discipline" in that it requires the commitment.
Meditation basically means we are to focus, ponder, and reflect upon Christ. The discipline aspect of "biblical" Christian meditation means we commit to pay attention to Him, giving Him our total concentration as LORD over us. We are to "contemplate" and "deliberate," which is to put Christ at the center of our attention and will by deliberating on His instructions and comparing them to what comes across our paths in life. This way, we can conform our mindset to replicate His Way, precepts, and call. This will enable us to.
Fullness means we are filled with Christ and ruled by Christ. For a Christian, fullness is first seeking Christ and His work in us, so we are pursuing righteousness, and all that is good, as a way to glorify Christ as Lord. This means we are more Christ-aware and less self-aware. Fullness equals personally knowing for certain who we are in Christ, and what He did for us on the Cross-that our confidence comes from knowing who we are as complete in Him! As a result, we become more disciplined in His encompassing power and.
A Kingdom Mentality means we are under the reign of God-past, present, and future! He is in charge of all things, sovereign in Heaven and in our will. He is our identity and our LORD. In contrast to Fullness, which means to be led and ruled by Christ and to allow Him to discipline and run our lives, the Kingdom Mentality is more about how we lead and manage our churches. As a discipline, this means we are to realize and "practice" our faith and church life "as if" He is The Sovereign Rule (well He is!), so that we are.
Gratitude means we are practicing and producing an attitude of Gratitude, of being thankful, even when we cannot see what we have. This is an aspect of our worship of Christ-expressing to Him our appreciation and reverence for how He has benefited our lives. We are grateful because His blood has redeemed us. This also has a relational application in that it helps us deal with others as we show our support, appreciation, and benevolence to them for how they have benefited our lives. As a discipline, this means we are to realize our indebtedness to God and.
Submission means having the willingness to voluntarily submit to Christ and also to others in authority. Thus, we make a commitment and resolve to yield our will, mind, and body for God's purposes so we can better hear, receive, and obey His Word. It is a call to submit and a Discipline because it takes our effort, even though we are not required to do so. When we are submitting to others, we are also submitting and serving Christ as Lord (Col. 3:23-24)! It is an aspect of the surrender of our lives to God so we are in His will.
Obedience is the practice of our pure loyalty to our Lord to go all out in faith. It helps us focus on Him and what He has done for us so we change from the inside out, our inward renovation becoming Christ-like to undergo His will, mind, and precepts. Obedience means having perfect confidence in Christ so we daily present ourselves to God as our LORD. We are essentially putting our faith into practice. We carefully seek what God requires of us and then align our lives with Him and His standards and call to the best of our.
Surrender means we trust our Lord Jesus Christ in all things without doubt or fault in our faith. We let go our hold on our perceived rights, agendas, and opinions that are not lined up to His. In this way, we can surrender to His love and embrace God's will for our lives, live His Way in holiness, and become a benefit to the lives of others. We come before God and under new management-His. The Discipline of Surrender is a discipline because we have to make it a daily decision and practice. It is something we.
Solitude is the practice of our "waiting for God" to act and complete His will, so our focus is on Him and then He fills us. This is an aspect of private prayer and worship, but instead of doing the talking we cling to Christ in silence and do the listening. This means we still ourselves to hear what God has to say. This is about our willingness to be examined by God, to hear His voice and see His call because we have moved anything that is in the way of Him.
Service means we are committed to serving others as Jesus called and exemplified. Our service is a response as we look at what we do. This is not about salvation; it is about our response to God. This is about duty; it is about allowing our love for the Lord to backwash us, that is, to flow in us from Him and then to others around us. Service builds and prepares us to be stronger in character and in fulfilling our responsibility for His Kingdom. Service also nurtures and strengthens us as a means of grace; as we grow, we serve. The more we serve, the more Christ-like we become.
Study simply means to receive information, then
process it with honest astuteness then conforming to the facts if it is valid,
helpful and effectual. So it impacts our thinking and experience. For the Bible,
it means we are committed to learn and know the Implanted Word which is the
message of God conveyed for us through His Bible. In order to be transformed,
renewed and be better for the Kingdom of God, ourselves and those around
us.
More Disciplines are on there way....
|
Developing your Walk with God!
Simply put, the Lectio Divina means to be praying in and with the Scriptures for understanding, worship, and intimacy in God's presence to benefit our faith, character, and spiritual growth. Thus, reading as a practice and a discipline means that as we read the Bible, we can and should be praying to our Lord, too. This combines two essential aspects of our Christian walk... Asking me to write about Fasting is like asking a dog to walk on two legs. The dog can do it, but he cannot do it very long nor can he do it very well. I am a person who does not like to skip a meal, who thinks a good buffet is a good way to worship God because He bestows us with blessings. At the same time, I value the importance of Fasting. Having practiced Fasting off and on for many years-sometimes even dreading to start it and thankful when it was over-I learned a few things I wish to impart to you... Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped.
1. GOAL: See where you are spiritually (Acts 22:8-10; Philippians 2. PROCESS: Understand there is a process at work (Psalm 3. PLAN: Planning ahead (Isaiah 26:3; Mark 4. CONTENT: Put into your devotional time variety and consistency (Psalm 16:8-11) in what you study. 5. FOCUS: Set aside time each day by focusing on the purpose for your growth and maturity (Psalm 119:130; Isaiah 42:16; John 6. MATERIALS: Get the best stuff you can get, and buy a good Bible (Ephesians 4:1-3) in an easily understood translation . 7. PLACE OR LOCATION: Select a quiet place (Luke 8. TIME: Select a quality time (Ephesians 9. SHARE what you have learned (Psalm 55:14; Matthew Click here for more: How to have a Quiet Time
When we are growing, we become contagious with the faith. We then are able to witness because we have something to say and something to model that people want. When we are growing, we will become the church that Christ designed, mobilized in Him to be welcoming and connective to others for Him. This is the church triumphant! Let us, as the church triumphant, pay heed to His call and follow it. Apply your faith. Then, watch your faith grow and become contagious to others!
|
Some of the Topics on the Disciplines of the Christian Faith we will be Engaging: Prayer Repentance Confession Fasting
Study
Devotions Simplicity Meditation
Solitude
Submission
Service Worship
Guidance
Celebration Hospitality Testimony Discernment Forgiveness Interpreting the Bible Encouragement Generous giving and receiving Suffering Listening Resistance to destructive forces Accountability Maturity Vision Be willing to Learn about yourself Friendships
|