Passage for Study: 1st Corinthians 6: 12 - 14 … 12 All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. 13 Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power.
Secondary passage: 1st Peter 5: 6 – 11 … 6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. 8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. 10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. 11 To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
My Journal for Today: When I read and pray and meditate upon 1st Peter 5: 8, I realize that Satan is stalking me like a lioness stalks a flock of sheep in the wilderness, trying to roar or to allow his scent to drift downwind to the flock so that the lion can frighten or distract me from staying close to the Shepherd. Being part of Christ’s flock, Jesus is, of course, my Good Shepherd; and it behooves me to do all I can to stay close to Him and not allow my stalking enemy to distract me or to frighten me in some way which would separate me from my Shepherd.
And I believe that was Paul’s desire for Christians when he penned Romans 12: 1 – 2, a passage I hope you have memorized in your mind and deeply internalized into your heart. So, I am assuming that you know this passage [if you don’t let me link you to it here]; and I hope you realize what Paul was exhorting Christians (i.e., you and me) to live out our lives as worship to our Savior, separating ourselves from worldliness and fleshly living; doing all we can to let God’s Spirit transform our minds so that our lives will “… prove what is that good and perfect will of God.”
In that regard, I have decided to document those elements of my life [my habits, choices, and disciplines] which I believe God’s Spirit is using to shape me into Christlikeness. I know that I have become lax or complacent in some of these during the latter part of 2009; and moving into the New Year, it’s a good time to be doing an inventory of my habit patterns and doing what I can (or should) to form stronger covenants of commitment to my Lord, … doing those things which will prevent me from being separated from God’s flock as well as those behaviors which I pray will be viewed by others as Christ’s light shining in the darkness.
Therefore, for the next 40 days, beginning tomorrow, I will do a “40 days of purpose,” documenting the elements of my life I believe God has shown me will keep me close to the Shepherd and protect me from my stalking enemy. I’ll be praying that making these daily choices and carrying out these disciplines will bind me more closely to my Savior and build up my full armor (those elements brought out in Ephesians 6: 13-18). When I complete these 40 days of habit formation [or reformation], I am praying that these committed behaviors will launch me into the new year, allowing me to become that “living sacrifice” of daily worship spoken of in Romans 12: 1 – 2.
And if anyone reading here would like to join me, you can read each day as I journal/blog my daily devotionals, for at least the first 40 days of 2010, I will be documenting my previous day’s behavioral log. In this way, I hope to be accountable for what I’m committing to do in these first 40 days of 2010. Let me pray for those of us who desire to solidify our choices and become more like Christ into this New Year.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, we who love You are weak, in an of ourselves, to do something like this; but I know You desire that Your Spirit shape us into Your image. So, Lord, I pray that You pour out Your enabling grace, giving me and my dear friends Your power to do these things for Your glory. And we pray that what we’re doing in these 40 days will be our worship of living sacrifice FOR YOU; and, may heaven forbid, we don’t do these things for our own glory. We so want to be like You, Lord; and so, let our choices and behaviors shine Your light into the world. Help us, dear Lord! Amen
Blogger’s note: Below you’ll see the listing of the behaviors/habits, God’s Spirit has led me to commit to 40 days of purpose into the New Year. Please don’t use this as your inventory/list unless God so leads you to use something from my list for your own edification or commitments to God. I’m simply going to be reporting my 40 days of discipline so that God Spirit can mold (or remold) me into His image. <’BB><
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40 Days of Covenant and Commitment: My desire with this daily documentation of events in my day is to do the things I believe will honor my Lord, build Godly habits which shine Christ’s light into the world, and allow God, the Holy Spirit to shape me into Christlikeness. I pray that I’m not just doing a checklist of good things to make me look good in the eyes of my fellow Christians, but rather I am doing these things to worship my Lord and to be that “living sacrifice” of Romans 12:1-2, separating myself from the world, my own flesh, and the ways Satan would lead me to follow him.
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Previous Day … Date – 1/1/10
Element, Discipline, Behavior ... Completed=X ... [Comments in brackets]
Prayer on awakening
AM meds and supplements
Sinus rinse
Blood Glucose Level
AM Devotional Bible Reading
AM Devotional book study
AM Devotional Prayer
AM Devotional Journaling
AM Devotional Posting (online)
Dental Care (brushing, flossing)
Shaving
Bathing
Pool Exercising [>30 minutes]
BPM Online Ministry
Email processing
Calories below 1500
Fat Grams below 60
Other:
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