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Hebrews 13:5 - “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.” 

All through my life I have been reminded by that verse that even when God seemed far, or life was hard , God is faithful. That He will not leave or forsake me. Even when sometimes I feel I don't deserve His love.

Ephesians 6:12 - “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

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Deuteronomy 32:4 - “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.”

Isaiah 41:10 - “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Romans 12:2 - “Do not be conformed to this world,[a] but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

The Old Testament gets a bad rep sometimes, but even then God's love has always been present and may be strict but always for our good! These verses help remind me that even when things get tough, or scary that God is always with us and is our rock and to focus on what he's accomplishing through us for His Mission. 

Psalms 103:1-5 - “Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”

Prayer 

Psalm 119:11 - "I have hidden your Word in my heart that I might not sin against you." 

Years ago the Lord gave me an amazing insight into all of Psalm 119. Since Jesus is the Word made flesh, when I reread Psalm 119 and replace each occurrence of "law, Word, commands,"etc, with "Jesus" the whole chapter exploded with new meaning, fresh passion for Jesus, and a deeper appreciation of all He has done for me. Verse 11 not only says to me, "I have hidden Jesus in my heart that I might not sin against you" but it also showed me that the more hidden he is within me, the more pronounced and open he is in my life for others to see.

Communications 

Colossians 1:13-14 - “??For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

Honestly, all of Colossians chapter 1 is probably my favorite and reminds me of just who God is, but these two particular verses also remind me of who I am without Christ - a sinner, broken, wicked, and unable to do good without Him. And it’s not because of me that I was saved or allowed into the kingdom of heaven. No, HE rescued me from darkness and transferred me into the kingdom of His beloved Son because it is through him and because of him that we have redemption and can be forgiven. Reconciliation was and is only possible through the work of Jesus on the cross and without him I am unable to build or maintain any other relationship he’s blessed me with on Earth. That’s what this verse reminds me of every time I read it. 

Development 

John 3:21 - “But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.”

If you’re like me you love podcasts of all kinds. Christian podcasts, scripted fictional podcasts, and sometimes even a good true-crime podcast will keep me entertained for hours on end while I complete day-to-day tasks around the house. 

But if you’re also like me, you’re terrible at disciplining yourself, especially with spiritual disciplines. It’s easy to start disciplining yourself and then fall off the wagon within a few weeks of thinking you’ve mastered the art of whatever discipline you're practicing. This can be incredibly discouraging and often leads us to give up disciplining ourselves altogether. 

Podcasts and spiritual disciplines probably mean nothing to you together, but I promise it will all make sense. 

This week I listened to the Podcast “Let’s Talk” starring Melissa Kruger, Jackie Hill Perry, and Jasmine Holmes. The episode was called, “Spiritual Disciplines in Busy Seasons”. Although their style is very much like an open discussion, I believe they offered some really great insight into practically putting into motion spiritual disciplines especially when our day-to-day lives seem to get in the way.  

Their discussion was so good this blog is probably going to be 80% counsel from them, but I hope what they have to say, in addition to a couple other resources, and what is contributed by me will be helpful to you. 

Another resource I will be referencing is a book called The Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney, which was also mentioned in this episode of “Let’s Talk”, and was a book I read back in college. It’s also the book my church is currently going through during our Wednesday night bible study at church (things have a way of just working out, don’t they?) 

First off, what are spiritual disciplines? In his book, Whitney lists out the following: Bible intake, prayer, worship, evangelism, service, stewardship, fasting, silence and solitude, journaling, and learning as spiritual disciplines. Whitney said, “Spiritual disciplines are those personal and corporate disciplines that promote spiritual growth.” So, many others could be added to this list, but these are great to get down first! 

I, just like you’re probably thinking right now, didn’t know half of those disciplines even existed, but each of them equip us to grow in our relationship and walk with Christ. Don’t worry though, my goal isn’t to give you a paragraph on each discipline and leave you on your merry way (you’ll have to read Whitney’s book for that), but rather to show you how spiritual disciplines are best applied in general and what obstacles stand in our way of practicing said disciplines. 

For instance, an obstacle we face is the weight of discipline. It’s hard and sometimes because we have not been taught how to be disciplined so we end up just chasing our tails. Oftentimes we are weighed down by the pressure and the work that is disciplining ourselves in general whether that’s eating right, working out, waking up early (I feel a little called out with this one), or getting ourselves on a routine of any kind. It’s painful, hard work, and not so fun especially in those beginning days, weeks, and months. The same is true for spiritual disciplines. 

“When we talk about spiritual disciplines, the goal isn’t misery,”  said Kruger. “The goal is a soul that works right.” She later added,“Sometimes we think that it should feel good every time and that’s what actually makes us stop from doing it.” 

If there’s anything that rings more true in my life, it’s that comment right there. So the encouragement is to press on. Keep disciplining yourself even though you may not feel so “spiritual” or as on top of things as you may think you should feel. The goal is more than just practicing any discipline, the goal is Jesus himself. 

John 15:5 says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” 

Jesus is more interested in your heart than he is with how perfect your discipline may be. All he asks is that you abide in Him and he will do the same, giving you the strength and the wisdom to press on.

Spiritual disciplines are non-negotiables because “God demands our heart and our mind” as Jasmine Holmes explained. It is that abiding in Christ that brings us to a place of need for Jesus, not where we simply cross something off of our to-do list, but as Holmes described it - to a place where we feel like we could not survive without that intimacy and daily intake of Christ. In doing so we must guard ourselves from tendencies of pride and legalism. 

“I choose to remember that I’m doing this to know a person. I’m reading so I can know a person, I’m praying so I can speak with a person,” Perry added. “So, when it becomes about intimacy, and knowing Jesus, and doing the things you need to do so you can grow in your love for Jesus then you actually get distracted because now you’re not even thinking about yourself enough to say, ‘oh, I’m doing this so I can be this person.’ It just literally becomes about Jesus at that point.”

Because, as Whitney and these women warn us, spiritual disciplines can easily be driven by idols. Our “discipline” can become legalism, a means of people-pleasing, and an act of shame without the joy that is getting to know the person who is Jesus. They listed things like unbelief, self-sufficiency, ambition, pride, and busyness as additional idols that keep us from growing in our relationship with Christ. 

They brought up an interesting point that shame and despair (of feeling as if we have failed at being spiritually disciplined) often shuts us down to the point of not doing anything, never trying to discipline ourselves, and never reaching out to Christ for help or for that relationship. It’s the ever-hungry void that feeds on Satan’s lies and our stagnancy. It feels like overwhelmingly heavy chains that keep from our passion to draw near to Jesus. 

“The cure is the thing that you’re running away from, because the more that you learn about God, the more you learn about who He is, the more you learn about who He loves the less opportunity despair has to take root in your heart,” said Holmes. “So, just keep in mind that shame can be a tool of the enemy to keep us from going to God. It turns into the very thing that’s going to heal you is the thing that you think is going to destroy you, but that’s how Satan has always worked.”

“Underneath the despair are some idols,” Perry explained. “It should be concerning to you or alarming to you if you can continue your day-to-day life without any spiritual disciplines. That should alert you to where am I that this doesn’t concern me that I haven’t met with God, that I haven’t read his Word. I claim to say that I’m in a relationship, but I’m not doing the things that will help the relationship grow and flourish.” 

Kruger even suggested that sometimes our Christian actions can actually keep us from knowing Jesus. I think everyone, myself definitely included, is guilty of this to some degree. Sometimes our people-pleasing, busyness, and even our service in the name of God can look Christian. Service is important and is a spiritual discipline, but if we aren’t actually spending any time with God in our personal lives and the motives for our Christian service are sour, then our discipline is without real purpose. It’s all hollow if Christ isn’t who we’re running to through our spiritual disciplines. A passage Kruger, Holmes, and Perry brought up really speaks into this sin and comes from Luke 10: 38-42. 

It says, “Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.’ But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.’”

Martha, although thinking that her busyness, her work, and her people-pleasing was righteous and justified, missed out on the intimacy that was sitting at the feet of Jesus. Mary set her priorities from the beginning, deciding that the most important thing in that moment was to treasure and soak in every word of the Messiah. 

We often miss out on the best portion, that intimacy with Jesus, and the joy of knowing and learning more about our God because the idols ruling in our hearts tell us what’s more important. “Our goal of spiritual disciplines is not to be perfect, we already lost that a long time ago,” Kruger said. “Our goal is to have a pattern of life that’s growing towards God.” 

So be enthralled with the good portion, with Jesus himself. See spiritual disciplines not as a chore, but as a means to know your Father in heaven who commands your heart and your mind to Him. 
 

I have been reading a Lent devotional with my church.  The devotional is walking us through Jesus' last days on earth. We've all heard the story how Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss, for 30 pieces of silver.  Having heard this story thousands of times in my life I've always cast Judas as the greedy, money hungry, villain who cared more about money than his relationship with Jesus. I assumed he was overall just greedy. 

After reading this devotional it made me stop and think a bit.  Judas had been following the Lord, he heard Jesus talking, he also knew about the Messiah and probably was so excited to be a part of the Messiahs troupe. I am sure he thought he was going to be on the winning side. He probably, like most of the disciples, didn't really understand everything Jesus said and did, but growing up he was taught the Messiah would overthrow Rome and make life better for the Jews.  So when he was called by Jesus, he was probably excited to be on the winning side of things.

And look.... Jesus is developing a following. He is healing people. People are flocking to hear Him speaking.  People are enamored and Judas gets to be in the "in-crowd"!  He is one of the few getting in the boat to go to the other side with Jesus. The one handing out the bread and fish that had multiplied. He gets to travel, talk with, and be part of Jesus' inner circle. It feels good. To be the important one. Recognized and esteemed.

Life is good.

Then it's not.  Jesus starts talking weird. Things about death and persecution. Things that don't sound very "Winning Team" like .  He even tells all his disciples they will betray him.  I now imagine Judas second guessing his choice.  Does he want to be lumped in with all these people who will be labeled crazy? If Jesus dies then what? None of them can do miracles. If Jesus dies, he will just be left with a mess to clean up. Known as one of the disciples, he will probably be persecuted, ridiculed and banned from both fellow Jews and the Romans. This is not what he signed up for.  I started thinking it probably wasn't all about money. It was about fear, fear of the unknown. And where does fear come from? Fear comes from not trusting that God has it under control. 

I have to confess, I have been very judgemental of Judas, thinking it was all about money and how shallow of a person would trade the Messiah for money.  I am  now starting to think Judas was probably more motivated in fear, and now I can relate. 

Being a Christian in the United States of America used to be the "thing to be". Everyone went to church. Everyone had a Bible.  But what is happening today?  We get criticized for saying men are men and women are women. We are hated for following what the Bible teaches. We can't believe a baby in a womb is a real life without being outed as a hater. You can't stand up for people's rights and give them grace for bad choices in their lives, without being called bigots and racists.   The tide has turned.

Life was good
And now its not. 

Its not going to get better in the way we want. (Sorry to be the bearer of bad news)  Just like the disciples lives didn't get better -and when I say better I mean easier. It got much much harder. But more rewarding. As the disciples spoke truth in love,  and didn't back down,  God showed up and used them to do incredible things. He wants to do the same with our lives. I am just afraid that much of the church has been just going through the motions, wanting to be on the "winning side" when it didn't call for a sacrifice.

We might not ever say we would betray Jesus for any amount of money.
But what about betraying Jesus out of fear.  Fear, that we might not be accepted. Fear, that life doesn't look like we thought. Fear, that it is going to be hard. Fear we might be on the wrong side. Fear we will be labeled.

The Bible tells us how it ended for Judas. It also shows that Jesus' death was not the end of the story. 

The USA moving farther away from Biblical truths is not the end of the story either. Do not find yourself stuck in the middle of the story, thinking it is the end,  reacting on feelings and fear. Remember we know the truth.  We know how it is going to end.  We know who is going to win. 

I want live knowing that I can trust the Lord no matter how hard life gets, that this world is not the end of life, just the beginning. 

"Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord".   2 Cor 5:8