LEARNING DAILY

Matthew 6;6 “But when you pray, go into your secret room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your father who sees in secret will reward you.”  Jesus

The church services have been going along very well and I have been learning a lot! But this past weekend Pastor had to preach a sermon that I knew was coming. Yes, he had to begin the new year with a message about discipline. Let me write this – I feel it is okay for me to write in the blog about discipline for you to read about. However, when I listen to the message about discipline in my life, it is different! All kidding aside, the word discipline can have a negative vibe to it because it can suggest rules to follow. In the Bible, the Pharisees had a lot of rules the people had to follow in order to get into heaven. Their rules placed a heavy burden on the people. Here was the target statement for the message this weekend; Spiritual disciplines don’t add burdens; they lift them. Pastor talked about several disciplines that I often mention in the blog – reading/studying/meditating on God’s Word and prayer – and he also included fasting. I want to summarize his thoughts about each and hope you consider making these disciplines a part of your daily walk on the narrow way.

He mentioned three Greek words for the Word of God. Graphe means the written word.; there is power in the written Word of God. Logos means the spoken word; there is power when the Word of God is spoken. Rhema means God’s word applied; when we face temptation and trials, we need to use Scripture to come against these things as Jesus did. I have heard people say that the Lord does not speak to them; The Bible is God’s Words to His people. Hebrews 4:12 tells us “The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword,” which tells us God speaks to us from His word (listener Guide). Pastor said that “we cannot make the Bible say what we want it to say; we must use other verses to help us understand or interpret what it is saying”. When we read the Bible, we must never take a verse an apply it without looking at the context of the passage or what other verses of scripture say about the subject matter. It is important to ask the Holy Spirit to open our minds to teach and help us understand the Scriptures (Luke 24:45) and to help us walk in the Truth of what it says (Psalm 86:11) (from the Listener Guide). Pastor Newton said an important statement about reading God’s Word, “If we say we love God, we must value what He says”! In other words, READ/STUDY/ MEDITATE on the Bible!

Prayer goes hand in hand with Reading the word of God. Believers are not to pray so others can see how great a Christian you are; find a place you can be alone with God. Take your Bible with you. When you pray give God adoration when you begin – God is your heavenly Father and His name is to be hallowed or sanctified (Matthew 6:9). Ask Him to search your heart and thoughts to see if there is anything that grieves Him and then confess it (Psalm 139:23-24). Pastor commented that as Believers, we need to be different in how we live our lives.  Then before we ask Him to do anything be thankful for what He has already done in our life (Psalm 103:2). Last, we begin to ask for our needs and the needs of others (Matthew 7:7).  Know that God desires for you to come into His presence just as you are and commune with Him and He with you! Do not take this discipline lightly!

The last spiritual discipline he talked about is one I must take more seriously – fasting. Jesus said in Matthew 6:16, “when you fast”. Notice the word “when”; He did not say “if”. Fasting is “giving up something good for something greater” (Listener Guide). At this time of the year, pastor suggests each person to consider fasting for twenty-one days. He suggests we give up something important to us in order to draw closer to the Lord. When the craving for that food or drink item or a particular distraction you have given up happens, the idea is to draw close to the Lord and give Him that time. It is a time of spiritual renewal, a time for a specific spiritual purpose, a time when believing for a victory, a breakthrough, a revival, a miracle, for wisdom or for spiritual success (from the Listener Guide).  

My hope in participating in these spiritual disciplines is to draw closer to the Lord as I walk on the narrow way into His eternal kingdom. I’ll let you know from time to time how I’m doing!