All my support is in. It's been in for over two weeks now.
I know without a doubt many, many people have been and will continue to pray for me.
My team is awesome. I already know my team leader is going to be a blast to be with, but I can also sense that he's going to challenge us like crazy. I'm so pumped for that, even though I know there will be hard times. But it's like I always used to say with the worship cluster (at least I hope I reiterated it enough), I like when things go wrong because that shows growth can happen.
It's late so I don't want to spend too much time on this but, one thing I'm going to start really, really working on some during 1:8 but definitely afterwards, is my thoughts on spiritual discipline, and I hope and pray it will turn into a book. I'm not looking for anything other than to introduce many, many ideas or to remind my fellow brothers and sisters on some things I think can help their walk with Christ. I know, also, that there's a good chance the spiritual discipline book will not be the first book, because I feel like something has to be established before you reach this level of wanting spiritual discipline.
Real quick, I want to discuss... why Spiritual Discipline? And this may be a multi-part post, hopefully all before 1:8 but who knows. And this is definitely a goal of mine this summer is to establish a MUCH more disciplined lifestyle of obedience to what the Lord has asked of me, and of us.
First, the question, why discipline? Just the word itself. Why is discipline in existence? What is the purpose? I made a web a short while back, and of everything I wrote down, here are the three things I feel result from discipline.
1) It teaches us.
We learn what is right and what is wrong, and we learn how to recognize these things. It holds us accountable to a standard, and from children of parents to children of God, it reminds us that we are not in charge. I feel like that right there is one thing that holds myself back from a growing relationship with God. It's 3:37am, two days before I leave, and I know there will rarely if ever be a teammate or myself awake at 3:37am. It could happen, but I highly doubt it. So why can I not discipline myself to go to bed early (especially being a college graduate, mind you) so that my mornings can be super productive and I can be well rested? Proverbs 31 has a verse about a woman rising early to provide food for the household. Then I think about farmers who usually wake up about 4:30 to do as much work as possible before the daytime heat. I think there's something to that...
Oh and since I didn't provide a direct verse let me loudly clarify... I have highlighted in my Bible many, many places that talk about different facets of spiritual discipline. I even highlighted something in Revelation!!! And I did this in what I believe to be contextual as well, but I will definitely check before I write on these verses. Again, I'm in a hurry to do this.
2) It builds qualities.
Under this I wrote different leadership qualities...
- Integrity
- Consistency
- Character
- Humility
- Endurance
- Obedience
And also... all of this comes into eventually building and enforcing a lifestyle.
3) It keeps us out of danger and conflict.
We will know how to handle bad situations, temptations, flaming atheists, you name it. Again, the idea of right from wrong comes up, and we are reminded of what we have been taught through Scripture. And even in the fiercest of situations that most of us Americans just aren't used to being in, we learn how to survive. I obviously think about the military when I think of these, and they are trained rigorously so in case they are put in a dangerous situation, they know how to react calmly without putting themselves or others in danger. For us, it's learning how to handle different community issues and how to administer grace and love. That goes to #2 which is why I also added "conflict" to this.
All of this will come full circle as you see. So, in motivation and emotion (a psychology class) we talked about goals, setting realistic goals and how to achieve them. Well, setting the goals is something I am working hard on. Here are two end goals I see coming from this. Coupled with what is already listed are:
*A closer relationship with God through prayer and reading and meditating on the Word.
*An unwavering faith from peaceful times to the fiercest storm.
That is the very, very beginning thoughts of my passion for spiritual discipline. I cannot wait to write and blog on (and if God allows me, preach on) these as they bloom and flourish. I also cannot wait to see how God is going to use this. It is all definitely a role of discipleship; I want to see my fellow brothers and sisters grow in their faith and relationship with God, and I also want to learn and grow myself.
Donald Whitney uses the NASB version of 1 Timothy 4:7 to maintain his thesis for his book Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. It states, "discipline yourselves for the purpose of godliness." While we cannot be God, we are called to be image-bearers of Christ, and God states in Ephesians 2:10 "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." We learn that God wants us to take action before He will work, to take a step of faith. And in doing so, God will mold us into His masterpiece (workmanship), and then we will bear the image of Christ. And while we do what is commanded in Hebrews 3:1, that we fix our thoughts on Jesus, our minds will even become like Christ's.
Now my passion is coming forth, but sleepiness is winning. I hope you are getting as excited as I am about this.
Stay strong and pray for me as everything starts officially 1:30pm/12:30pm CT Tuesday!!!
God bless,
~Kevin~
man I'm glad I can type decently fast...
