Category Archives: SPIRITUAL INTEREST

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Spiritual Disciplines for the Believer

SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES

I was in my forties when I first became aware of the term ‘spiritual disciplines.’ Since I didn’t know what they were, I purchased a book on spiritual disciplines to educate myself. Not long after, my brother mentioned spiritual disciplines to me. He was surprised that I was reading up on the subject. We had a lively discussion as a result.

There are many forms of spiritual disciplines. Some of these should be incorporated in all believers’ lives. They help develop your spiritual depth of understanding and commitment to your faith and to God.

Why? Being intentional in our faith is a necessity for there to be sustained, active, and genuine growth. Stale spirituality is unattractive and has no life to it. Certain spiritual disciplines will guide this process and help us grow in our spiritual life. A spiritual discipline is a practice you cultivate to grow deeper in your faith and in a manner worthy of the purpose we are called to. This requires personal discipline, motivation, and spiritual intention. Reading God’s Word and praying are two mainstay disciplines in a Christian’s life.

The following list is comprised of several spiritual disciplines in my life. Like me, you will find your own way as you discover what disciplines you need to develop. Spiritual maturity means you are serious in your walk with God and want to develop spiritual legs. You should desire an ever-deepening walk of faith and a determined path to get there.

This list is not exhaustive. I first wrote it in 2007 as a handout for my church family to pass out after my talks. They were the disciplines I was practicing at the time. They are what helped shape my spiritual life. Intercession is another important discipline.

Spiritual Disciplines That Work

God time:  Spend long periods alone with God, in bible reading, meditating on scriptures, and in oral prayer. Schedule time in your week. Make this like an appointment, a hallowed time, set aside for time with God.

Journal writing:  Keep a journal handy to note scriptures, quotes from books and prayers, and to record daily praises and happenings. Come up with a system for easy access to your verses and quotations. Make sure to note book and page number for later reference.

Disciplined reading:  Every day read in thought-provoking books about God, faith, emotions, behaviors and spiritual bondage issues, written by credible authors, intellectually challenging with stimulating discourse.

Study:  Study the Word of God. Study theology and doctrinal works. This is a powerful tool for going deeper and for the understanding of the themes found in God’s Word.

Active seeking:  Ask God to show you your true self that you might change; to use people, family, children, friends etcetera to speak truth to you. Read scripture with the intent to learn. Apply what God brings to mind. Become interactive with God.

Open access:  With open access, you choose to not ignore or run from your sin or yourself. You choose to deal with it and let God work in you as he sees fit. God will use events in your life to help bring about a spirit of willingness in you. What may seem severe or a trial, may be God calling to you to come to his loving embrace, to come home to him, and to trust him with your stuff.

On-going surrender:  This discipline makes surrender to God your heart’s desire.  Keep going deeper with this. Surrender starts small and grows. It is a daily attitude of giving God preeminence in your life. Either God is on the throne of your life or you are on the throne of your life.

Interactive asking and listening:  Cultivate a spirit of asking. Ask God for songs and verses when you are in need. It is helpful in the moment of distress to send a prayer up to God and ask for his help in giving you guidance. In Christ, you will be enabled.

Earnest prayer and fasting:  As burdens and concerns surface, respond by praying in earnest for the individual, individuals, or the situation—with purposeful spiritual intention to prepare for a work of God. I encourage you to include a form of fasting with a commitment to fervent prayer.  Fasting requires a giving up of something for the  benefit that it can accomplish spiritually.

Set boundaries:  Determine and adjust boundaries in relationships and choices even when it may put some distance in interpersonal relations. To be true to God is the first priority. This is difficult at times. Families don’t always understand. What matters most is to be true to God. Limit where he says to limit. Be careful with impulsivity. A caveat, though, make sure what you do is in keeping with scripture and the will of God. You answer to God first. This is freeing.

THE RESULT

I have found that God brings us to himself when we truly seek him.  He is our friend and he can be found. His friendship is different than all other friendships. It is full of meaning and strength, compassion and help, guidance and deliverance. There are some amazing fruits that bubble up when he becomes our all-in-all. Loving others is more automatic because he is loving through us.  Judging is no longer comfortable because love looks at people differently. Instead of seeing their failings, now we are able to see their neediness and pain, and their lack of peace and areas of bondage.

You will find that you no longer want to be as busy doing and doing for Christ. You want to rest in being who he wants you to be. The positive works flow out of this being because it’s not in your strength but in his. The whole center of reference has pivoted from you doing good things for Christ to Christ doing good things through you. The mystery of seeking God’s will is not so mysterious after all.  When one walks closely with God, his will walks with you. It is the walking in his presence that is on-going spiritual challenge.

Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly-mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? –1 Corinthians 3:1-3

We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. –Hebrews 5:11-14

Spiritual disciplines separate the adults from the babies.
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How to Deal with Being Left Behind

You Are My Hiding Place

Have you ever been left behind? Intentionally or otherwise? A couple of months ago everyone at my house except my youngest daughter left early before dawn to drive eighty miles to the airport or to drive to southern California. Some of the family were flying across the States to their homes, and the other family members were traveling five hundred miles for my mother’s interment. That morning we didn’t say goodbye to my daughter before we left because she was asleep and we didn’t want to awaken her. Later she told me that it was sad waking up to an empty house. Being left behind without anyone saying goodbye made it feel worse.

I remember the feeling in college. Those last to leave on break would feel this emptiness. I remember wandering around the dorm wishing for someone to talk to. Left behind. Some left-behinds are far worse, like abandonments. My oldest daughter had a roommate in college who was left behind as a toddler outside an orphanage. She didn’t know her real birthdate, her real age, or real name.  That is hard psychologically. We don’t want to be left behind. My scariest moment was being left off a bus at a gas station in the middle of the night out in the middle of nowhere. I had missed my connection at an earlier stop. Thankfully the station had a pay phone and help eventually arrived. No cell phones in those days.

Can you see where this takes a person? Many people will go to great lengths to know they are wanted because they felt left behind, less important, or of no consequence. It’s punishing when others advance but you’re left behind. It can be a deal breaker, your confidence plummets, and you’re left bewildered. When your mate has left you behind, it does a number on you. Recovery can take years. I know about this.

Where You Find Relief

But there is one place where none of us are ever left behind. That is when we are in Jesus’ Kingdom fold. “I will never leave you or forsake you,” Jesus says. He promises His fidelity, love, and care. When your faith and trust is in God, you are part of His family. We are called God’s children, and we are to come as children. God is always your loving heavenly Father. The Holy Spirit is your Comforter and Guide. You can approach Father, Son, and Spirit any time of any day. You and I walk in their presence though we cannot see them. “Draw nigh unto God and He will draw nigh unto you” no matter the situation.

Do you feel orphaned right now? Are you lonely? Tell Him. God understands. He welcomes you into His warm embrace. He is where you can go that is safe. God is your hiding place. Your part is to seek refuge in God. Trust Him to take care of you. Cast all your cares upon Him for He cares for you.

“You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.” Psalm 37:2 KJV

I’ve been left behind on numerous occasions, someone else got the job, the promotion, the better circumstance.  The sting or fear in our sensitivities is defeating, crushing, and unsettling. Whatever it is for you, your best response should be to talk to God about it. Here are some suggestions:  Give it to God. Read. Listen to music or a podcast. Write in your journal. Read scripture. Visit with friends. Watch a favorite, uplifting movie. It helps to do something else to get your mind off it instead of over-thinking the ‘what if’s.’ Sort it through, what is true and what is not true. Then go from there.

This is not the end of the world. Look for constructive angles. Let the pain bring you to Father God and graciously allow Him to minister to you. You are precious to God. He has your back though it may be extremely difficult and you don’t understand. God says He covers you with His feathers. That’s a picture of protection, like a hen with her chicks nestled safe and secure under her wings. This is not ‘The end.’ It is a beginning.

Count your blessings and be thankful.

What You Will Learn in the Process

  • You will learn you are resilient.
  • You will learn to trust God for the journey.
  • You will learn that your worth and value is in who you are and who you are to God.

One of My Favorite Songs of Comfort and Hope