Extroduction to Spiritual Discipline
The Life Abundant
an extroduction to the spiritual disciplines
If it's got nothing to do with Jesus, I want nothing to do with it.
Let's start here today. Turn to Deuteronomy 6:4-9. I know I often end up here, but tell me about this. What's the big deal? I learned something new this week, a picture to help me understand the Triune God as best I can understand the mystery. It looks like this:
H
ear, O Israel, the Lord our God, He is one God. And you shall love this God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And tell your kids about Him, and remember Him in all you do. Jesus talked a bit about this, too. In Mark 12:28-34. What did He say? And who is your neighbor? Do you do this? The law can be summed up in those two commands. Remember that. We will get back to it.
I said a lot of things this class session, and I want to clear up a few of them as we quit and move on to other things. The first is that of God as three persons, which I showed you the best way I know a second ago. Another is about God the Hero. I said that if you read you Bible with some other hero other than God, you're reading it wrong. This is true, I think. I just want to think through the idea of God as the only true hero a bit further with you.
I've heard it said that we have to put first things first. I've taught that we need to get our priorities straight.. I think I have even said something like that in this class. I think I was wrong. Kinda wrong, anyway.
Dad and I were talking last week and I said that if it doesn't have anything to do with Jesus, I don't want any part of it. If it's not about Christ, just go home. What I mean is this: we can do many things for Christ. In fact we, as Christians, are told to do all things whole heartedly, as unto the Lord (Colossians 3:23-24). The thing is, we can count pigeons for Jesus. We can build houses for Jesus. We can play base ball for Jesus. But there is a catch. We can preach NOT for Jesus. We can teach the Bible NOT for Jesus. We can feed the poor and clothe the naked and help the homeless NOT for Jesus. We've read this before, but let's revisit it. Matthew 25:31-46 and 23:13-28. We don't have to read these out loud. Somebody tell me what they're about.
So, what's the point? Same as always, right? As God said to Samuel at Jesse's house, “I look at the heart, not the outer appearance.”
I think that we need to be more Christ-o-centric. I think that, instead of making sure that God is first, that something else is in order. Any ideas? We need to put Christ in the center of all that we do. It's the difference between:
#. God
- F and
amily
and
amily
- Work
- Play
Think of Easter egg dye. Everything you put in it changes color. It's not that, “Whew, I got God out of the way and I kissed my wife today. Once I get work done, I can have some fun.” It's God showing up on everything we do. It's Christ's blood covering us, our lives, our actions, our words, our lives. It's taking our mistakes and covering it with the cleansing power of Christ's blood.
Let's Read 1 John 1:5-10. What does that say? We are cleansed, if we walk in the Light and confess our sins, God is faithful and Christ's blood cleanses us from all unrighteousness. That is the gospel, the good news. “The Messiah has come, your Savior,” the angels said in Luke 2, and He did the work to save us. He died in our place. He gave us the all access pass to His Father. (and they are both entirely the One God). All we must do is believe, which, as we said, implies action. (Any true belief implies action. If you believe that you will die if you get up to get another cup of coffee, you will stay in your seat).
With this knowledge, we should have Christ at the center of all we do. He should permeate our actions. He should guide our lives by the Holy Spirit (also wholly the One God). Like that Easter egg dye, His mark should be on everything we are and do. Jesus said it this way:
Luke 6:43-46 (NET)
43 “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, 44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from brambles. 45 The good person out of the good treasury of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasury produces evil, for his mouth speaks from what fills his heart. 46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and don’t do what I tell you?1
God should not be only first. He should be everything, a part of it all. He should be first and last, alpha and omega, as well as all those ones in the middle. We don't need to get our priorities straight, we need to get Christ in our hearts.
Let's look at John 5:37-47. What's this about? It is Jesus pointing out an important truth. He is the Hero of the Bible. That is what I'm getting at. Jesus is God (as is the Father and the Holy Spirit) and He is the Hero. The whole thing is about Him. He said so right there. He also said that He did not come to abolish, but to fulfill the law. He is the Hero, the rising action, the conflict and its resolution. He is the good news. He is the hub of the wheel. HE is the egg dye. He is everything. And I stick with my statement, if it's not about Him, then I don't want anything to do with it. If it's not for Him, go home. If it's without Christ, give up.
Let's read Ephesians 3:14-21. That is my prayer for you and for me. That we would know Christ, that He would live in us. That we could know God's love and love Him in return and in the overflow of His love, love others. I still say (as I believe Jesus was saying) that if we can simply love God and love people, that the rest of the Christian walk will come into our lives without extra effort. This is a great thing, because loving is not an easy thing.
This is our last class on the disciplines, and I have yet to mention them. So, what's the deal? Somebody tell me what this could possibly have to do with Christian Discipline.
Hopefully you know by now what the answer is. I'm not going to give it to you. I do want to say that I have enjoyed the disciplines. I have begun to see them as a joy, not a chore. I have left some of them behind, and that's okay. I think that different seasons call for different focuses. There are many I did not mention in the class. I want to say that there are some things we need to continually do to grow closer to the Father through the blood of the Son and the direction of the Holy Spirit. These are Bible reading, prayer, and obedience. We didn't really talk about obedience as a discipline. It is almost implied, but it is important and it is possible to read and pray without it, so I wanted to mention it here, before this ends. Ask God to reveal Himself to you. Read His Word. Ask Him to lead you. Do what the Word says. Thank Him. Make Him a part of everything that you do. Repeat.
1 Biblical Studies Press. (2006; 2006). The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible. Biblical Studies Press.
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