Spiritual Disciplines...

King James Version Chapter 29

Where there is no vision, the people perish:

“Where there is no vision, the people perish...” ().

Discipline without “vision” will lead to dread.

Imagine miss Kenzie, who we’ve enrolled at Plum Grove Music school. Every afternoon she sits in the living room and reluctantly strums her violin while watching her friends ride bikes outside! She’s just disciplined but has no direction. She dreads practice.

Now, suppose that Kenzie is visited by an angel one afternoon during her practice time. In a vision she’s taken to a music hall in New York. She watches this young woman give a wonderful concert!

Every afternoon she sits in the living room and reluctantly strums her violin while watching her friends ride bikes outside!

She’s just disciplined but has no direction. She dreads practice.

Usually bored by classical music, Kenzie is floored by what she sees and hears. The woman’s fingers just dance up and down on the strings with resilience and grace. She thinks of how stupid and klunky her hands feel at times, as she stumbles over the chords. The young woman blends clean, soaring notes into a musical aroma that drifts from her violin. As Kenzie reflects on some of the toneless, screeching discord that comes stumbling out of her violin. But Kenzie is enchanted. Her head tilts slightly to one side as she listens. She drinks in everything. She never imagined that anyone could play the violin like this.“What do you think, Kenzie?” asks the angel. The answer is a soft, slow, ten-year-old’s “W-o-w!”

Now, suppose that Kenzie is visited by an angel one afternoon during her practice time.

The vision vanishes, and the angel is again standing in front of Kenzie in her living room. “Kenzie,” says the angel, “the wonderful musician you saw is you in a few years.” Then pointing at the guitar, the angel declares, “But you must practice!”

In a vision she’s taken to a music hall in New York.

She watches this young woman give a wonderful concert!

Usually bored by classical music, Kenzie is floored by what she sees and hears.

Suddenly the angel disappears and Kenzie finds herself alone with her guitar. Do you think her attitude towards practice will be different now? As long as she remembers what she’s going to become, Kenzie’s discipline will have a direction, a goal that will pull her into the future. Yes, effort will be involved, but you could hardly call it drudgery.

The woman’s fingers just dance up and down on the strings with resilience and grace.

She thinks of how stupid and klunky her hands feel at times, as she stumbles over the chords.

The young woman blends clean, soaring notes into a musical aroma that drifts from her violin.

As Kenzie reflects on some of the toneless, screeching discord that comes stumbling out of her violin.

But Kenzie is enchanted. Her head tilts slightly to one side as she listens.

She drinks in everything. She never imagined that anyone could play the violin like this.

“What do you think, Kenzie?” asks the angel.

The answer is a soft, slow, ten-year-old’s “W-o-w!”

The vision vanishes, and the angel is again standing in front of Kenzie in her living room. “Kenzie,” says the angel, “the wonderful musician you saw is you in a few years.”

“Kenzie,” says the angel, “the wonderful musician you saw is you in a few years.”

Then pointing at the guitar, the angel declares, “But you must practice!”

Suddenly the angel disappears and Kenzie finds herself alone with her guitar. Do you think her attitude towards practice will be different now? As long as she remembers what she’s going to become, Kenzie’s discipline will have a direction, a goal that will pull her into the future. Yes, effort will be involved, but you could hardly call it drudgery.

When it comes to discipline in the Christian life,

many believers feel as Kenzie did toward violin practice

—it’s discipline without direction.

Prayer threatens to be drudgery.

The practical value of meditation on Scripture seems uncertain.

First we must understand what we shall become.

It is said of God’s elect in , “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.”

God’s eternal plan ensures that every Christian will ultimately conform to Christlikeness.

We will be changed “when He appears” so that “we shall be like him” ().

This is no vision; this is you, Christian, in a few years.

Which lead us to ask what every Christian should ask, “How then shall we pursue holiness? How can we be like Jesus Christ, the Son of God?” We find a clear answer in : “...exercise yourself toward godliness.”

How do we exercise or discipline ourselves?

The goal of these spiritual exercises is godliness, and

in keeping that in mind,

these exercises become a delight instead of something that you dread!

We are going to embark on a journey that will speak of spiritual exercises such as the

intake of Scripture,

prayer,

worship,

evangelism,

service,

stewardship,

fasting,

silence and solitude,

journaling, and

learning

are the habits of devotion and experiential Christianity

that have been practiced by the people of God since biblical times.

Godly people are disciplined people.

People do not come to spiritual maturity except through discipline.

Godliness comes through discipline.

Actually, God uses three primary spurs for changing us and conforming us to Christlikeness, but only one is largely under our control.

One spur the Lord uses to change us is people. “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another” ().

Sometimes God uses our friends to sharpen us into more Christlike living, and sometimes He uses our enemies to file away our rough, ungodly edges.

Parents, children, spouses, coworkers, customers, teachers, neighbors, pastors—God changes us through these people.

Another change agent God uses in our lives is circumstances. The classic text for this is : “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Financial pressures, physical conditions, even the weather are used in the hands of Divine Providence to stimulate His elect toward holiness.

Then there is the spur of the Spiritual Exercises. This spur differs from the first two in that when He uses the Disciplines, God works from the inside out. When He changes us through people and circumstances, the process works from the outside in.

Though growth in holiness is a gift from God (, , ), God has given us the Spiritual Exercises as a means of receiving His grace and growing in Godliness. by them we place ourselves before God for Him to work in us.

The Greek word for “exercise” is where we get our English words “gymnasium and gymnastics”. Think of the spiritual exercises like going to the gym and using weights to get stronger. Physical disciplines or exercises like that promote strength, so the spiritual exercises promote Godliness.

There are two accounts in Scripture of the way to think of the role of the spiritual exercises.

Luke 18:35-43 that gives us the account of a blind beggar name Bartimaeus and his encounter with Jesus.

As Bartimaeus sat by a roadside near Jericho, a crowd of unusual numbers and excitement came near.

When he asked what was happening, he was told that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by.

Even a social outcast like Bartimaeus had heard the incredible stories about Jesus that had come from all over Israel during the past two or three years.

Immediately he began shouting, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Those who were leading the procession, perhaps some of the local dignitaries, were embarrassed by the beggar’s disruptive behavior and sternly told him to keep quiet.

But he only cried out all the more, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

To everyone’s amazement, Jesus stopped and called for the one who was calling for Him.

In response to the poor man’s faith, Jesus miraculously healed Bartimaeus of his blindness.

The second Bible story is in the very next paragraph of Scripture, .

It’s the famous account of the conversion of the tax collector, Zacchaeus.

Perhaps it happened only minutes after the healing of Bartimaeus.

Because Zacchaeus was so short, he was unable to see Jesus in the crowd.

So he ran ahead and climbed into a sycamore tree

in order to see Jesus when He passed by it.

When Jesus came to the place, He looked up, called Zacchaeus by name, and told him to come down.

The two of them went to the tax collector’s house,

where he believed in Christ for salvation and

resolved to give half his possessions to the poor and return with interest all tax money he had wrongfully taken.

Think of the Spiritual Disciplines as ways we can place ourselves

in the path of God’s grace and

seek Him much as Bartimaeus and Zacchaeus placed themselves in Jesus’ path and sought Him.

As with these two seekers, we will find Him willing to have mercy on us and to have communion with us.

And in the course of time we will be transformed by Him from one level of Christlikeness to another ().

The Spiritual Disciplines then are also like channels of God’s transforming grace.

As we place ourselves in them to seek communion with Christ,

His grace flows to us and we are changed.

That’s why the Disciplines must become priority for us if we will be Godly.

Jesus was the most disciplined man that ever lived and yet the most joyful and passionately alive.

He is our Example of discipline. Let us follow Him to joy through the spiritual exercises.