Day 5

        

Spiritual Disciplines continued

Bible Reading: Trusting the Holy Spirit-inspired words of Scripture as our guide, wisdom, and strength for life.“Let the word of Christ dwell in your richly” (Colossians 3:16).  Thank God for the Bible! When we read (or listen to) the Bible rightly we submit ourselves to it (rather than using it to support our theology or agenda) and so we find that God surprises us with insights, convictions, and encouragements. The Bible washes our minds and restores our souls.

Worship: Praising God’s greatness, goodness, and beauty in words, music, ritual, or silence.

Prayer: “Prayer is a way of life in which we converse with God, at his initiative, so that we are “co-laboring” with him in all that we do to accomplish the good things that advance his Kingdom. For prayer to become a way of living intimately with the Lord it must first be a spiritual discipline.

Soul Friendship: Engaging fellow disciples of Jesus in prayerful conversation or other spiritual practices.

Personal Reflection: Paying attention to our inner self in order to grow in love for God, others, and self.

Service: Humbly serving God by overflowing with his love and compassion to others, especially those in need.

Let’s practice the discipline of Bible meditation as we end this week by mediating on Galatians 2:20

²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Suggestions for meditating on Galatians 2:20:

·         Read it repeatedly, slowly, prayerfully. 

·         Think about it over and over…

            How have I been crucified with Christ?

            How does Christ live in me?

Do I live by faith in the Son of God or my own will?

How can I set aside my life in exchange for the life of Christ? 

Bask in the great love of Christ, demonstrated by the fact that He gave Himself for me.  How does that impact me? 

·         Write it down:  how has this impacted you? 

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Spiritual Disciplines

Day 4

Spiritual Disciplines

Heather Weismiller

            To excel in anything in life discipline is required. This is true for athletes, musicians, plumbers, accountants, and disciples of Jesus. A discipline is something we can do that enables us to do what we haven’t yet been able to do by direct effort. Disciplines don’t set aside our need for grace nor do they earn us anything — they simply are means to help us be with Jesus to become like him.

The two key disciplines are Bible intake and prayer.  These are really the main point, and all the other disciplines are supportive of these two.  For example, fasting and solitude are means of intensifying prayer and enhancing the transforming power of the Word of God in us. 

Solitude: Solitude is a main discipline of abstinence in which we refrain from interacting with other people for a few hours or some days in order to be alone with God and be found by him.

We read in the Gospels that, “Jesus often withdrew into lonely places and prayed” (Luke 5:16).

Silence: “The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him” (Habakkuk 2:20).  Sadly silence is rare in our word today, including our Christian culture, but it is an essential discipline for the spiritual life in Christ. In the discipline of silence we abstain from sound in order to make space for a deeper engagement with God and other people.

Fasting: Going without food (or something else) for a period of intense prayer — the fast may be complete or partial.  While fasting Jesus said, “My food, is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work” (John 4:34).

Sabbath: Doing no work to rest in God’s person and provision; praying and playing with God and others. 

Secrecy: Not making our good deeds or qualities known to let God or others receive attention and to find our sufficiency in God alone.

Submission: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand that he may lift you up in due time” (1 Peter 5:6).   Submission is about denying ourselves the power or privilege we want. We’re choosing not to make things happen for ourselves, not to control people or situations even if we can, but instead to come under the Lord’s authority, wisdom, and power. Often this includes submitting to people as unto the Lord.

Spiritual disciplines are one of the key ways that we orient our lives around training toward godliness, as we read in our Upward Training core passage, 1 Timothy 4:6-10

What spiritual disciplines have you practiced?

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How did these impact your life?

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Which of the ones we read about today would you like to try? 

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Contingency Plans

Day 3

      

Dave Montgomery

Contingency Plans

A contingency plan is a plan devised for an outcome other than in the usual (expected) plan.  It is often used for risk management when an exceptional risk that, though unlikely, would have catastrophic consequences.

 Contingency plans are often devised by governments or business.  For example, suppose many employees of a company are traveling together on an aircraft that crashes, killing all aboard.  The company could be severely strained or even ruined by such a loss.  Accordingly, many companies have procedures to follow in the event of such a disaster.  The plan may also include standing policies to mitigate a disaster's potential impact, such as requiring employees to travel separately or limiting the number of employees on any one aircraft.

During times of crisis, contingency plans are often developed to explore and prepare for any eventuality.

What happens when the unexpected happens in the life of a Christian?  Maybe you find out you have cancer or you loose your job or someone close to you dies and your world around you collapses.  It is at these times that we find out how strong our faith in God is.

God has a contingency plan for Christians it is.  Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart   and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

It sounds simple doesn’t it?  It is simple but it takes effort on our part to be able to implement it.  There is no such thing as instant Christian maturity.  Our part of the contingency plan is to develop and implement a life long habit cultivating our relationship with the Lord.  As we grow in our faith and our relationship with the Lord, we are able to trust Him for greater things.  We learn to lean on Him.

God’s contingency plan for you has never changed.  It does not need to be updated.  It does not need a crisis for it to be implemented.  You can apply it to your life starting today.  As we submit the strongholds of our life to Him, we learn that the promises in the Bible are true, for example; Philippians 4:19 says and my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus.  Another example is Philippians 4:7 and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 

God is our contingency plan.

Personal Reflection or Discussion Questions

When has your faith ever been tested almost to the breaking point?  (1 Cor. 10:13)

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How did your faith grow during that time? 

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Prayer: Reflecting specifically on this devotional, write out a prayer to God.

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The Gospel

Day 2

The Gospel

The following was part of a multi-media presentation we showed at the end of our October 13^th morning service.  It describes how the truth of the Gospel must frame and direct our lives. 

Before Christ

I was a different person

This person was my old nature

My old self

But that person died

And my life is now hidden with Christ

I am in Christ and He is in me

I am a new creation

This doesn't mean that I will never stumble or fall back into old patterns

But I will call them what they are

Old patterns

Old habits of the old person

I will confess them

I will thank God for His forgiveness

I will make amends

And then move on

Not because I am taking sin lightly

But because I am taking seriously who God says I am

Holy

Pure

Unstained without blemish

Not because of anything I have done

But because of what God has done for me

He has wiped my slate clean

I am blameless before God

Therefore shame has no place in my life

Because I am a new creation

And all of the ugly parts of my story

The parts I want to pretend never happened

Have been redeemed

And they have become the means in my life

When God's grace is most on display

Thank you God that

My mistakes do not define me

My past does not define me

Because God has defined my identity

I am his beloved child

In whom He is well pleased

This is my identity!

2 Corinthians 5:14-21; Ephesians 4:17-32; Colossians 3:1-17

What parts of the above writing spoke to you the most?  Why? 

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Prayer: Reflecting specifically on this devotional, write out a prayer to God. 

Real Life

WEEK 5

Day 1

Real Life

So far in Upward Training we’ve looked at the need to train ourselves toward godliness, the godliness gap and how to bridge it, and what personal factors need to be taken into account when training unto godliness.  This week we will be looking at the means of training ourselves toward godliness.   We are using the title “Real Life” because real godliness happens in real life, where we live, work and play, in the midst of our everyday circumstances.  The means of growth are a combination of applying the gospel to our perspectives and priorities, practicing spiritual disciplines, and putting Christ first in our real-life circumstances. 

Applying the mind-set of the gospel is the first of the means.  This impacts our identity, our hope, our purpose.  We tend to live consistent with how we see ourselves, and with our capacity to accept God’s definition of reality.  Training tools are spiritual disciplines such as Bible reading, prayer, fasting, silence, and many others that help tame our flesh and engage us in our relationship with our Heavenly Father.  Really our past two weeks, “Making it Personal,” were primarily about how to apply the training tools in a way that is most effective for our lives.  Life circumstances are the ups and downs, ordinary and unusual, chosen and unchosen events of life that come our way.  One of the most vital means of spiritual growth is surrendering to and honoring Christ in the midst of the variety of circumstances life deals us. 

Reflect on the following Scripture as we begin this week on the means of training toward godliness: 

²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.               Galatians 2:20

This reference is gospel-based and talks about not living the life of my own will but the life of Christ.  This is what the means are all about! 

Prayer: Reflecting specifically on this devotional, write out a prayer to God. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Reflection

Day 5

To close this week, let’s read and reflect upon Psalm 139 one more time. 

For the director of music. Of David.  A psalm.

¹ You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
² You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
³ You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
⁴ Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.
⁵ You hem me in behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too lofty for me to attain.

⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.
¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
¹² even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

¹³ For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.
¹⁷ How precious to me are your thoughts,^[a] God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸ Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand—
    when I awake, I am still with you.

¹⁹ If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
    Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
²⁰ They speak of you with evil intent;
    your adversaries misuse your name.
²¹ Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
    and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
²² I have nothing but hatred for them;
    I count them my enemies.
²³ Search me, God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.

What does Psalm 139 teach us about our individuality? 

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Prayer: Reflecting specifically on this devotional, write out a prayer to God. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Learning Styles

Day 4

Learning Styles

Heather Weismiller

God has wired us to learn in different ways.  A bright person who is devoted to God may not like to read.  Approaches to spiritual growth that require a lot of reading do not help him.  He learns by listening.  Others learn by doing. Some learn while more artistically engaged.  One size truly does not fit all!  Read through the lists below and see if you can identify yourself and others you know.

Visual/Print Learners

• Learns by seeing and by watching demonstrations
• Likes visual stimuli such as pictures, slides, graphs, demonstrations, etc.
• Conjures up the image of a form by seeing it in the “mind’s eye”
• Often has a vivid imagination
• Often stares
• Needs something to watch
• Is often quiet and does not talk at length
• Becomes impatient or drifts away when extensive listening is required
• Prefers the visual arts and media
• Often takes notes
• May like to write on the blackboard
• Remembers quickly and easily what is read
• Learns better after seeing or writing something
• Is often perceived as a “bookworm”
• Grasps important concepts on first reading of material
• Loves to read books, journals, magazines

Aural Learners

• Tends to remember and repeat ideas that are verbally presented
• Learns well through lectures
• Is an excellent listener
• Can reproduce symbols, letters or words by hearing them
• Likes to talk
• Enjoys plays dialogues, dramas
• Can learn concepts by listening to tapes
• Enjoys music
• Can repeat or fulfill verbal instructions

Kinesthetic/Haptic Learners

• Learns by doing, direct involvement
• Often fidgets or finds reasons to move
• Is not very attentive to visual or auditory presentations
• Wants to be “doing” something
• Tries things out and likes to manipulate objects
• Gestures when speaking
• Is often a poor listener
• Responds to music by physical movement
• Often finds success in physical response activities
• Learns better when able to move during learning
• Likes to move hands (doodling, tapping,) while learning
• Uses movement to help concentrate
• Likes a “hands-on" approach to learning
• Involves the sense of touch in learning
• Likes to do artwork
• Likes to piece things together
• May be fond of doodling
• Likes to trace words and pictures
• Is often seen “fiddling” with something
• Is successful with tasks requiring manipulation

(The above information is from learningstyles.org)

You might find after reading these that you might have characteristics from more than one category, but most of us tend to lean toward one major one.  By understanding our learning style we can adapt our spiritual learning accordingly. 

For instance, if you are a visual learner, you might learn best by watching videos, highlighting your Bible or your notes, memorizing scripture by reading it and even making mental pictures in your head corresponding to the verses.  You might also benefit from looking at maps or pictures of places corresponding to the scenes you are reading in the Bible.  A visual learner may also benefit from journaling.

An aural learner is more of a traditional classroom learner.  You might benefit from listening to the Bible on tape or reading your Bible or the Scripture you are memorizing out loud.  Try praying out loud, talk over Biblical concepts with a friend, and play Christian music, listening carefully to the words.

A kinesthetic learner may enjoy walking while praying or listening to the Bible or message on mp3.  If you are watching a video, pause it every once in a while and walk around.  Draw Bible scenes or doodle key words while listening to a sermon.  Try walking around a track while memorizing scripture.

Can you identify yourself in the above descriptions of learning styles?  Which would describe you?

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Which of the suggestions at the end might be helpful in your spiritual training?

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Prayer: Reflecting specifically on this devotional, write out a prayer to God. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________