Keeping Company With Jesus

Spiritual Disciplines Introduction - 1 Timothy 4.

Ever think to yourself, “I wish I could know God more? I wish I could hear His voice. What is it like to be Spirit-filled? I wish I could pray and actually see results. Wish I could read the Bible and get something out of it.” Ever wondered, “Is this all there is to Christianity or spirituality – going to church and someday Heaven?” Ever said, “I want to go deeper. I want to know Jesus.” Ever thought anything like that?

First, you’re not alone. Secondly, who put that desire in you? Not the enemy. The Holy Spirit – tugging and nudging. What would cause God to tug on your heart, give you a little nudge, open up His arms and say, “Come a little closer?” Because He wants to know us, and for us to know Him.

1 John 5:20–21 NLT

And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and he is eternal life. Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.

When God draws us close to Him, there's usually another voice saying, “Uh, no. You don't have time for that. You can't do that. That won’t work. Hey! Over here!” See, something else is always competing for God’s place in our hearts. That’s what an idol is, by the way. So, when we listen to that competing voice rather than God’s voice, God’s voice actually get’s quieter, more distant, more difficult to hear, and we’re left thinking, “This spiritual life isn’t very spiritual. This Christian life – not all it’s cracked up to be.” But when we hear those tugs and nudges and whispers from the Spirit and respond and cultivate what the Spirit is calling us to do, then the spiritual life begins to emerge – and we get to know God more intimately, we hear His voice more often, and the spiritual life takes on a new dynamic, otherwise, we’re just like everyone else in the world ….

So how do we cultivate that?

1 Timothy 4:7–9 NIV

Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance.

1 Timothy 4:12 NIV

Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.

1 Timothy 4:15–16 NIV

Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

Key words to pick up on: Train. Set an example. Be diligent. Give or immerse yourself wholly. Watch your life. Persevere. In the Greek, these words are written in the present tense (means now or continuous). Train yourself – now or continuously. Watch your life – now. They are written as imperatives(commands). Do these. They’re in the active voice (the subject – i.e. the Christian - is the doer). And they are verbs (action).

These key words imply personal initiative, intentionality, investment, and responsibility in spiritual development.

Our spiritual development is not something that merely happens to us because we’re Christian, but rather, our spiritual development is a joint effort, a partnership between the person and the Holy Spirit. Spiritual development is something we do in conjunction with the Spirit.

It is a matter of faith and effort, of God doing something in us because we made space for God.

Ultimately, our spiritual development is about cultivating our love for God and receiving His love for us.

In other words, any relationship worth having, whether family or friend, takes initiative, intentionality, and responsibility – takes time and effort. Want to have a good marriage, good relationship with children, friends …? It takes time, effort, investment, and intentionality.

The time, effort, and intentionality we put into our relationship with Christ Jesus is known as Spiritual Disciplines or Christian practices. Spiritual Disciplines are a means of keeping in step with the Spirit, growing in godliness, and keeping company with (or abiding in) Jesus.

Keeping company with Jesus is something that I want us to hold onto for the next several weeks. Most of us know in Matthew 11, Jesus said, “Come to me, all who weary and I will give you rest.” Listen to The Message, a paraphrase by pastor Eugene Peterson.

Matthew 11:28–30 The Message

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

What a beautiful picture of what Jesus longs for, and the intent of Spiritual Disciplines. We come to Jesus; get away with Jesus – we learn from Him and keep company with Him, and we learn to live as free people – the way He intended.

But how do we walk with Him and work with Him and train ourselves to be Godly? Which by the way has value or benefit in every way, in everything, in every area of our lives. Got a problem area – marriage, coworkers, finances - maybe the answer is to train yourself to be more godly in that area. How often do we want others to change, when in fact ….

Back to the question, how do we train ourselves to be Godly? That’s what the next 7 weeks or so will entail. I’m going to follow the acronym

W.O.R.S.H.I.P.

Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices That Transform Us. Adele Calhoun

There are many books on SD – doing this one because of class.

The acronym WORSHIP stands for

Worship of God

Open myself to God

Relinquish the false self

Share my life with others

Hear the Word of God

Incarnate Christ’s love to others

Pray to God.

There are several disciplines within each of those categories we can practice that help us keep company with Jesus. For example, she lists about 14 different ways to pray. We’re not going to cover everything, but the intent to help us explore a variety of ways of connecting and staying connected with Jesus and training ourselves to be godly.

A few closing thoughts on Spiritual Disciplines

We don’t practice disciplines to be saved. Jesus did that for us, but we do them because we’re saved. Disciplines are a biblical and historical part of our transformation as the people of God.

“Spiritual practices don't give us ‘spiritual brownie points’ or help us ‘work the system’ …. They Simply put us in a place where we can begin to notice God and respond to his word to us.” ~ Adele Calhoun.

And that’s what Spiritual Disciplines do – they create space for the Holy Spirit to work in us in ways that He otherwise probably will not. Again,

“Disciplines are intentional ways we open space in our lives for the worship of God.” “God is free to come to us in spiritual disciplines as he wills, not as we demand. But unless we open ourselves to him through spiritual practices, we will miss his coming altogether.” ~ Adele Calhoun

Spiritual Disciplines, when done properly, teach us that we are finite creatures - limited in power, knowledge, time, and resources. They teach us the best way to live – trusting and depending on God

– which is so counter to how we want to live. When the Israelites were in the wilderness for 40 years, they had to discipline themselves to not gather manna on the 7th day. Why? God gave them a day of rest, a day to be chill, hang with Him. “But we’ve got work to do!” You need to rest. They had to trust and depend on God with their time. It was also a day when God provided their food. “No way this food will last until tomorrow?” When the did it God’s way, He took care of them. They had to learn to trust and depend on God.

Last thing – what’s the benefit of practicing Spiritual Disciplines – training ourselves to be Godly? We’ve already read what Paul said, there is benefit in every area of your life. But he also said, if we’re diligent and immerse ourselves we will save ourselves and others. Practicing spiritual disciplines will have a spiritual impact on others. Here’s a good example:

Acts 2:42–43 NIV

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.

Would you like to see more people come to Christ? Would you like to see more answers to prayer and some miracles? Would you like to see more of Jesus in your life and more of your life in Jesus? Then let’s take this journey together. I’m going to challenge us to try new practices, to get out of our comfort zones, out of our routines, and keep company with Jesus. I hope you’ll join me.