Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a video of Steve Green singing Find Us Faithful, declaring the faithfulness of those who walk the walk of faithful, carrying out the disciplines of the faith diligently every day.
Highlight Passage: 1st Corinthians 9: 26-27 [NKJV] …
26 Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. 27 But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.
… Paul knew his limitations; and through maintaining spiritual discipline, he kept himself in “fighting shape” to carry out his calling
============
Highlight Context – 1st Corinthians 9: 19-27 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul’s routine was his spiritual discipline to maintain his mission sharpness.
============
Reference Passage #1 - Psalm 119: 9, 11 [NKJV] …
9 How can a young man cleanse his way? … By taking heed according to Your word. … 11 Your word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sing against You.
…Hiding God’s word in our hearts (though contextualization, memorization, and internalization) takes great discipline.
Reference Passage #2 - 2nd Corinthians 5: 16-17 [NKJV] …
16 Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
… Take off the old and put on the new … EVERY DAY!!!
Reference Passage #3 - Ephesians 6: 13-18 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK ...
… EVERY DAY, putting on the full armor of God to do battle.
Reference Passage #4 - Colossians 3: 12-17 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Maintaining spiritual discipline is the way to building the character of Christ
My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread author, David C McCasland, used a very practical illustration to demonstrate the purpose in routine by telling about the so-called “rolling ball” clock found in a London Museum. You can see this clock in the attached photo.
McCasland wrote: A rolling-ball clock in the British Museum struck me as a vivid illustration of the deadening effects of routine. A small steel ball traveled in grooves across a tilted steel plate until it tripped a lever on the other side. This tilted the plate back in the opposite direction, reversed the direction of the ball and advanced the clock hands. Every year, the steel ball traveled some 2,500 miles back and forth, but never really went anywhere.
Sometimes doing something over and over and over and over, much as the rolling clock depicts, can seem boring and purposeless; but there are behavioral habits - or may I call them DISCIPLINES - which we carry out daily for a very purposeful reason. For example, I would guess that all reading here brush our teeth daily. … WHY? … Well, of course, we do it daily [maybe twice a day] to prevent cavities, … to avoid bad breath, … and to keep our teeth for a long, long time. It’s a physical discipline, which may seem boring and very redundant; but the discipline is necessary - FOR A REASON.
And that’s what the Apostle Paul was getting at in today’s highlight passage (see 2Cor. 9: 19-27 linked above). Paul knew that if he didn’t maintain certain Spirit-led disciplines in his life, like an boxer working out in preparation for a fight, he would not be as effective as he should be for the mission God had set before him.
And that, my fellow Christian, is why I’m here EVERY DAY, digging into God’s word and pouring His truth into my mind/heart (see the Ps. 119 and Eph. 6 and Col. 3 passages above). Being a “couch potato” type in my nature, I know that if I don’t choose to discipline myself DAILY with time in prayer and God’s word, I will not be well prepared for the battles which lie before me every day; and I will ultimately let my sin nature take over with my natural tendencies toward selfishness and laziness.
So, tomorrow if you come to this site, I’ll be here, posting what I sense God is giving me to put on His full armor and to prepare for the day’s battles. So, if you’re here tomorrow, … “see ya then!!”
My Prayer Today: Oh, my Lord, … I come here today - as every day - to be with You, hear from You, and set my day - FOR YOU - in motion. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
No comments:
Post a Comment